Slide Rockers...

I have heard again Golden Earring's record Contraband. Great slideguitars by their 2nd guitarist Eelco Gelling.

I also remember to the great Duane Allman...

 

You mention slide guitar, and the first thing that popped into my head was the frenetic electric slide of Johnny Winter on his cover of Highway 61 Revisited from the Second Winter album.

I also think George Harrison developed a very unique slide sound in his solo years.

 

Ry Cooder is one of my favorite slide players. Check out "Lipstick Sunset" on John Hiatt's Bring the Family album ... That's one of my favorite guitar solos on any record.

George Harrison also developed a very identifiable slide style, which definitely distinguished so much of his solo work. Didn't work on every song for my tastes, but when it did (think of the intro to "Blow Away") it was gorgeous.

Brian Jones did some tasty slide playing for the early Stones too, particularly on things like "Little Red Rooster."

 

Canadian Colin James is a very good slide player as is the other Canadian Colin, Colin Linden. The two of them actually teamed up in 1997 for a delta blues album which won the Juno award in 1998 for best blues recording. The album is Colin James - National Steel
Juno (Canada) = Grammy (U.S.)

You can also check out Colin Linden and Howlin' Wolf on the "Tribute To Howlin' Wolf" CD on Telarc/Blues.

Local Calgary blues musician Tim Williams is also a very acomplished slide player. Texas blues drummer Don Johnson who has resided in Calgary for some years has an album called "Donald Ray" which features Williams on slide.

I saw Roy Rogers last summer at the Calgary Blues Festival. His slilde playin was amazing. There wasn't a big crowd near the stage, so a few of us walked up and got to stand within a few feet of Rogers as his performed his magic. And he told a couple of funny John Lee Hooker stories between songs too.

Claus, speaking of Golden Earring, there is a smoking version of Jangeline on an Earring unplugged CD from the mid 1990s. I guess that was George Kooymans on slide then.

 

The album in question is called "The Naked Truth". There also is a special edition version that contains a bonus CD with 7 unreleased tracks.

 

Oops... I forgot Ry Cooder! He did some great slides for the Randy Newman, and also another great slideplayer: Sonny Landreth.

But slide rockers are hard to find... the best slideguitarists played mostly Blues.

 

Lowell George. 'nuff said.

John K.

 

Well, two more that immediately came to mind after I posted.

If you mention Duane, you've also got to note Dicky Betts. And if you know Lowell, you've also got to mention Paul Barrere. His song Over the Edge is a powerhouse of overdubbed slide guitars.

John K.

 

Ron Wood with Stewart provided many magic moments on Slide - (Forgiving his ragged, ear damaging work on "That's All You Need"!!

 

"Slippin' and Slidin'"

While my personal fave is Johnny Winter (whom I've seen 8 or 9 times) for "authentic" and "raunchy" slidework in the "Chicago Blues Style" one mustn't forget Elmore James, Robert Nighthawk or "Hound Dog" Taylor. "Lil Ed" and the Blues Imperials are still currently touring and put on one heck of a show. But when Johnny used to "whip out" the old Steel National... MAN! To bad he is not in the best health anymore. I haven't seen him play that National in the last 5 concerts. He usually plays the Gibson Firebird for slide now.

 

Slide

Yeah, I have to second that one. Having seen Lowell go all the way off the neck and over the pickups during the solo in Tripe Face Boogie many times and having the hairs on the back of my neck stand up each time I can safely recommend his slide work.
Surprised nobody has mentioned Bonnie Raitt yet. I like the way Nils Lofgren plays slide with his foot propped up on a monitor and his hand over the neck. Very tasty player. Jimmy Thackery, formerly of The Nighthawks is a great slide player too.

Peace,
Norm

 

On the rock side, I love George. Man, I really wished he recorded more.

I've got NO Little Feat, but I've heard their stuff. I plan to get some of their albums.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Bonnie, too. Still waiting for that box set she's mentioned (shades of Neil Young!).

 

Check out Roy Rogers latest "Slideways"-slide all the way, all killer. no filler.

 

I was going to, and then had brain fade--especially since Lowell George was a huge influence in her playing. What's the quote from her after Lowell died? Something like, "I miss Little Feat more than I miss being 8 years old."

NONE?

I never did. I planned to go a few times, but it always fell through. One of the great regrets.

John K.

 

Lowell George

Saw him many times in and around DC. When Feat played DC they would do like eight shows sometimes. In fact I saw Lowell's final show.
Also saw the Waiting for Columbus anniversary show last October with tons of special guests.
As for albums a good place to start is Dixie Chicken
Peace
Norm

 

Leo Kottke! One of my favorite guitar players. Check out his "6 and 12 String Guitar." Also his live "My Feet Are Smiling" LP form the early 70's has some good 12 string slide guitar on it. His "Mudlark" is a strong effort also!

 

My favorite moment in slide is George Harrison's blistering solo in "Gimme Some Truth", hands down. Also, the album "I Do Not Play No Rock 'n' Roll" by Mississippi Fred McDowell, is fantastic. There is a narration at the beginning where he talks about the history of his slide playing and how he started out using a polished beef bone. Another high octane slide lp that pops into my head is the Gun Club "Fire Of Love".

 

I second, third and fourth the nomination of Lowell George. The Waiting For Columbus (original) tour came thru Cleveland and my wife and I were lucky to get third row seats right in front of Lowell, white painter 'alls and everything. He died less than 6 months later. His slide work was soooo good, and quite influential, and he can be heard on albums of Frank Zappa, Bonnie Raitt, Grateful Dead, Mick Taylor, Robert Palmer, John Sebastian, Bill Wyman, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Jackson Browne and others.

Good places to start your Little feat collection (in this order, maybe):
New Rhino remaster of Waiting For Columbus Live album;
The Last Record Album;
Dixie Chicken;
Feats Don't Fail Me Now;

 

Steve, a friend of mine in radio used to have that album on the green Capitol label. I haven't seen it in years. Is it on CD? I'd love to get a copy.

 

David Lindley. His solo work is a bit funky, but most of his work with the likes of Jackson Browne is pretty straight-ahead rock. The opening to Redneck Friend never fails to get me moving.

John K.

 

One of my favorites has always been Chris Rea. Not all that popluar in the US but he's huge in the UK and Europe. His latest 2 cd and dvd documentary Dancing Down The Stony Road is just awesome. Chris went back to his blues roots on this one, following a life threatening illness he suffered over two years ago. If you like the delta blues and slide guitar, give this one a shot.

 

One of my Johhny Winter favorites fram a ways back is "Johnny Winter And...Live". Some blistering slide work on Mean Town Blues, but also some good old rock 'n' roll. The versions of Jumpin' Jack Flash and Johnny B. Goode are two of my all-time faves.

Of course, Rick Derringer also plays on that album--he's known to do the occasional slide work.

Rusty Young of Poco. Although technically a pedal steel player, it's still slide! His work on Cantamos--a tragically underrated Poco album IMHO--is awesome.

 

It's been reissued on cd by Fuel 2000. I picked mine up at Tower Records, so it's probably not all that hard to find. I'm pretty sure Amazon.com has it.