i'm that guy! 19 pages 19 pages of underrated guitarists and people wonder why i hate these kinds of threads...they always always always get to a point where people just try to someone who hasn't been named yet.... i have one - steve hoffman!
I too saw Badlands in a small clubb ( VooDoo Highway tour as Jeff Martin was drumming) Question. Did Jake have the double Marshall full stacks in orange? never seen that before with Marshall amps & cabinets! Encore song ..... War Pigs! They killllledIt!!!
Saw Adrian do a 30min Promo appearance at the Ovation Guitars booth at the NAMM Convention in L. A. in the early '90s. There was about about ten people there waiting for Adrian to tune up and play. Four of those people waiting were Alex Skolnick(Testament)Reb Beach (Winger?)Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big) & Andy Timmons ( Danger Danger) who were talking away with each other like old friends ok?As soon as Adrian started to play, they shut up and became students analyzing everything Adrian was doing in total respectful silence. Occasionally elbowing one another and nodding when Adrian did something they felt was rad never taking their eyes off of him or whispering comments.Quiet. And I was distracted by them, fascinated they held Adrian in such high regard and not poo-pooing his playing with a "Oh,I can do that "or eye rolling . That's how good Adrian Legg is! And it showed the guitar nerdyness of the other four mentioned that despite being " Rock Star-ish" more or less in their own popularity at the time with their respective bands & playing ability ,they were all still music lovers and appreciators of great guitar playing.
Rhino : his work on Captain Beyond's debut album is sublime. Adrian Belew: With credits like Bowie, Zappa and Crimson his name Should be synonymous with the word Guitar. Yet I've only heard a couple of people ever mention him. Peace
I would add to that Glenn Campbell, his session work while part of the Wrecking Crew was phenomenal. Great list!
For me, listening to a recording isn't enough for me, I like to visually see a great guitarist play to fully appreciate what they do. I love to watch Jimi Hendrix videos, even though I rarely listen to live Hendrix. I can't believe I never saw Phil Keaggy live until 1997. It was a Glass Harp reunion at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame and my jaw literally dropped. I had the 3 Glass Harp studio albums for over 20 years but I just didn't realize what Phil was about until I saw him play live.
Robby Krieger is the first to come to mind. Interesting melding of Jazz and Rock. Never gets enough credit for his contributions to the Doors' other-worldly sound. Rory Gallagher -- yes, he's very respected and fairly well-known, but he is underrated for sure! Shuggie Otis -- apparently a self-destructive pain-in-the-ass, but he put on the best two-or-so hours of guitar virtuosity and taste that I've ever seen... and I've seen Hendrix, Clapton, Garcia, Rory Gallagher, Richard Thompson, etc. .
