Day 56

More guitarists on what is likely an abbreviated post and the last of the weekend/week.

Corrosion of Conformity - "Stare Too Long"

#23 Warren Haynes. Guest slide guitar on this track.

Paul Butterfield Blues Band - "East West"

#22 Mike Bloomfield. Guy probably died to soon to ever be considered a geezer.

Beatles - "Revolution"

#21 George Harrison. One of my all-time favorite riffs. Today would have been his 68th birthday.

Dale Hawkins - "Susie Q"

#20 James Burton. Another early rock guy. Largely unsung.

Richard Thompson - "I Feel So Good"

#19 Richard Thompson. Generally a critics fave, I always dug his work with the Golden Palominos.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - "By the Way"

#18 John Frusciante. Probably one of my favorite mainstream songs of the aughts.

Running Count: 376 songs for 2011.

Day 55 Part 2

More Rolling Stone Greatest Guitarists, or whatever the list is called.

First for some psychedelia...
Quicksilver Messenger Service - "The Fools"

#32 John Cipollina. Barring some other blues/fogy guy I'll assume this is the last little-known on the list.

Dick Dale & His Del-Tones - "Misirlou"

#31 Dick Dale. Maybe a tad bit higher.

Buddy Guy - "First Time I Met the Blues"

#30 Buddy Guy. OK, I have heard of this old guy/blueser.

Stooges - "1969"

#29 Ron Asheton. Probably the first "punk" guitarist I'd actually rate a bit lower.

Crosby, Stills and Nash - "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"

#28 Stephen Stills. Only acceptable if NY were one ahead.

Dire Straits - "Sultans of Swing"

#27 Mark Knopfler. Generally underrated, he probably came into prominence at the right time for inclusion for a list generated by Rolling Stone, but probably not the right time for huge popularity beyond cult-status/MTVfewhitwonder.

Rage Against the Machine - "Bombtrack"

#26 Tom Morello. At least he's ahead of the guitarists of other 1990s "luminaries" like Tool and Phish. Still find this all a little bit manufactured.

Freddie King - "Have You Ever Loved a Woman"

#25 Freddie King. More geezer stuff.

U2 - "I Will Follow"

#24 The Edge. I've always heard about a lack of proficiency but RS will take any change they can to kiss U2's butt.

Running count: 370 songs for 2011.

Day 55

Queen - "Killer Queen"

#39 Brian May. I think there's probably better examples of his prowess.

Fleetwood Mac - "Albatross"

#38 Peter Green. Was kind of hoping he had played on "The Chain."

Bo Diddley - "Bo Diddley"

#37 Bo Diddley. Lots of bands had songs that were the name of the band, this might be the only person.

Booker T and the MG's - "Green Onions"

#36 Steve Cropper. Sorry for the song twice in a week but I couldn't resist.

John Fahey - "Poor Boy Blues"

#35 John Fahey. This might be a bit bluesy than the rest of his discography.

Sonic Youth - "Teenage Riot"

#34 Thurston Moore. A personal top-10 for sure.

Sonic Youth - "Silver Rocket"

#33 Lee Ranaldo. Hard to say who should come out ahead. Methinks the writer of this is taking the easy way out a bit too much.

Running count: 361 songs for 2011.

Day 54

Never actually got back on here yesterday, but let's get back to our guitarists:

Frank Zappa - "Chunga's Revenge"

#45 Frank Zappa. Probably his best guitar jam.

Elvis Presley - "Good Rockin' Tonight"

#44 Scotty Moore. So I'm noticing these old guys I barely heard of fall in categories of either never quite had their due or "legendary sidemen."

Funkadelic - "Maggot Brain"

#43 Eddie Hazel. I know Bootsy Collins and probably Bernie Worrell would place up there on bass or keyboard lists.

King Crimson - "21st Century Schizoid Man"

#42 Robert Fripp. Kind of a relief to get on to more prog.

The Byrds - "Time Between"

#41 Clarence White. Prob. not the last we see of this seminal band.

Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Susie Q"

#40 John Fogerty.

Sorry about the brevity today. More tomorrow.
Running count: 365 songs for 2011.

Day 53

Allman Brothers Band - "Ramblin' Man"

#58 Dickey Betts. About where I'd place him, see if we get another back to back.

Roy Buchanan - "Green Onions"

#57 Roy Buchanan. Another heretofore unknown. Nice workout on the Booker T classic though.

Television - "Marquee Moon"

#56 Tom Verlaine. One of my favorites of all time, though I was quite late to pick up on this.

Deep Purple - "Smoke on the Water"

#55 Richie Blackmore. An obvious choice, but...

Jefferson Airplane - "Spare Chaynge"

#54 Jorma Kaukonen. Was also in Hot Tuna.

Mickey and Sylvia - "Love is Strange"

#53 Mickey Baker. Another guy I know little about.

Velvet Underground - "Sweet Jane"

#52 Lou Reed. Probably not the last time we hear from these guys.

Free - "All Right Now"

#51 Paul Kossoff. Probably about right. Not terribly original looking back.

The Who - "I Can't Explain"

#50 Pete Townshend. Should be much higher. Article even mentions that he pioneered the frickin' powerchord.

Mahavishnu Orchestra - "Birds of Fire"

#49 John McLaughlin. About 10-15 too low. I love this.

The Joe Perry Project - "Let the Music Do the Talking"

#48 Joe Perry. I know this song later appeared on Done with Mirrors, but it must be some sort of anti-American Idol thing to include this version.

T-Bone Walker - "They Call it Stormy Monday"

#47 T-Bone Walker. Old guy time again.

Les Paul - "How High the Moon"

#46 Les Paul. Obviously influential. He kept on going into his 90s.

Running count: 359 songs for 2011. More later. I had another ready to go and ran into an issue with the labels not allowing more than 200 characters.

Day 52 Part 2

Lifesblood - "Never Make a Change"

Common soundtrack for freshman/sophomore years of college.

Motorhead - "R.A.M.O.N.E.S."

Back to the greatest guitarists, hopefully something good comin' up...

Danny Gatton - "Harlem Nocturne"

#63 Danny Gatton. Was kinda' mixing him up with Crazy Horse's Danny Whitten.

Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - "Ant Man Bee"

#62 Zoot Horn Rollo. I own 3 or 4 Beefheart albums and this name meant nothing to me.

Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats - "Rocket 88"

#61 Ike Turner. Also a common candidate for first rock and roll song ever.

Radiohead - "Paranoid Android"

#60 Johnny Greenwood. Another after-my-timer.

Radiohead - "Lucky"

#59 Ed O'Brien. Kinda' thought this would happen again.

Running count: 346 songs for 2011.

Day 52

Break from the guitarists. Let's catch up on some housekeeping...

Fluid - "Black Glove"

Guitarist Rick Kulwicki passed away last week.

Frantix - "My Dad's a Fuckin' Alcoholic"

Rick was in this 80s band pre-Fluid.

Prong - "Freezer Burn"

From 1989, song may date back a bit before, band that never had its due. Unable to find a full version of the original of their best non-cover song.

The Police - "Voices Inside My Head"

From Vinny...let's head back to the guitarists...

Van Halen - "Mean Street"

#70 Eddie Van Halen. Another one who's far down the list from where I expected.

Yes - "Starship Trooper"

#69 Steve Howe. Always had a soft spot for this band's poppier stuff.

Moby Grape - "Omaha"

#68 Jerry Miller. Always thought Skip Spence was the main guy in th'Grape...

Link Wray & His Ray Men - "Rumble"

#67 Link Wray. Would have put him further up on the list, ahead of Duane Eddy for sure. I could probably fill a week with this stuff.

Living Color - "Cult of Personality"

#66 Vernon Reid. Sorry for going with the obvious choice.

Howlin' Wolf - "Smokestack Lightning"

#65 Hubert Sumlin. Complete blank here...I thought Mr. Wolf was a guitar player himself.

David Bowie - "Moonage Daydream"

#64 Mick Ronson.

Running Count: 339 songs for 2011. More later likely.

Day 47

More Rolling Stone Greatest Guitarists:

Canned Heat - "Going Up the Country"

#77 Henry Vestine. Definitely not a guitar-driven song, but I suppose there was an influence on country rock. Fun fact: I could have included this with the Oregon theme since he's buried in Eugene.

Ali Fourke Toure - "Amandrai"

#76 Ali Fourke Toure. From Mali. Not too far removed from American Blues.

Tool - "Sober"

#75 Adam Jones. I always kinda' figured that Maynard James Keenan was the only person of note in this band, but Jones' shrapnelish riffs seem worthy of this list even though I never quite got into the band.

Johnny Winter - "Be Careful With a Fool"

#74 Johnny Winter. About right. I may not be in the mood for so much blues though.

Phish - "First Tube"

#73 Trey Anastasio. I guess he has as much reason to be on here as say Frank Zappa. Not a hate.

Joni Mitchell - "Big Yellow Taxi"

#72 Joni Mitchell. To ensure there's less cross-over with the Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists?

Lightnin' Hopkins - "Lonesome Road"

#71 Lightnin' Hopkins. Listen to that finger pickin' goodness!

Running count: 328 songs for 2011.

Day 46

Break from RS 100 Greatest Guitarists for something new:

Foo Fighters - "White Limo"

Can't go wrong having Lemmy as your driver. Is this a leftover Probot song?

Back to the Guitarist thing:
Pink Floyd - "Echoes"

# 82 David Gilmour. Nothing comes to me immediately. I'll spare the gentle reader the story of my 10-year Pink Floyd boycott.

Allman Brothers Band - "Mountain Jam"

#81 Derek Trucks. Likely the youngest on this list.

Richard Hell and the Voidoids - "Black Generation"

# 80 Robert Quine. A whodathunk for sure. At least two (Young, Iommi) would have been ahead of him.

Gene Vincent & His Bluecaps - "Be Bop a Lula"

#79 Cliff Gallup. And I always thought Gene played the guitar on this. Shows you what I know.

The Band - "Long Black Veil"

#78 Robbie Robertson. Another influence thing, for Dylan's electric stuff.

Running count 321 songs for 2011.

Day 45: RS Greatest Guitarists continued

You're all spared any anti-Valentine's Day rants. Lucky you.


Alice Cooper - "I'm Eighteen"

#90 Glen Buxton. Never knew his name. I'm guessing guitar-nerd types know him.

Minutemen - "Corona"

#89 D Boon. First song to stick out that showcased D's prowess.

Kinks - "You Really Got Me"

#88 Dave Davies. Gonna' go with him being lower-rated due to the oft-disproved Jimmy Page rumour. This was 1964 facrysakes!


The Runaways - "Cherry Bomb"

#87 Joan Jett. Over/under for females on the list is 2 1/2.

Black Sabbath - "Black Sabbath"

#86 Tony Iommi. Way, way down from where I would put him.

Ozzy Osbourne - "I Don't Know"

#85 Randy Rhoads. Probably only ranked so low due to the modest output.

Eddie Cochran - "Summertime Blues"

#84 Eddie Cochran. Sorry if not season-appropriate. I'll play one of the many covers after June 21.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - "Cortez the Killer"

#83 Neil Young. Way, way, way, way down the list. Would have been top 10 for sure for me. Heck I would have put another Crazy Horse guitarist in my top 25.

Running Count: 315 songs for 2011.

Day 44: Rolling Stone Greatest Guitarists

Thought I'd go through their list. and offer up commentary as needed. Will keep up with this until it gets to the expected #1 (I peaked) or RS takes it down.

Soundgarden - "Full on Kevin's Mom"

100. Kim Thayil. I'd rate him higher. Def. higher than Cobain (he's up there) and anybody from Pearl Jam (assuming they're up there). Not as good as Tad or Jack Endino though.

Black Flag - "Modern Man"

#99 Greg Ginn. Of course he would be higher up in my own personal list. This version is from the the 1982 demos. I actually prefer the Who's Got the 10 1/2 Version over anything else.

Blue Cheer - "Parchment Farm"

#98 Leigh Stephens.

Robert Randolph & the Family Band - "If I had My Way"

#97 is Robert Randolph (in case you wondering if he was one of the other guys in the band). Pedal Steel guy who does the jam band circuit according to Wikipedia.

AC/DC - "Live Wire"

#96 Angus Young. Maybe would have put him a little higher just for influence, but I don't think there's a whole lot of technical proficiency.

My Blood Valentine - "Only Shallow"

#95 Kevin Shields. Shoegazerific. Probably wouldn't have thought to put him on a list, but what do I know?!?

Pentangle - "Traveling Song"

#94 Bert Jansch. This actually isn't half-bad, though I can't help but think that a lot of people I know who are folkies likely don't own any Pentangle albums.

MC5 - "Kick Out the Jams"

#93 Fred "Sonic" Smith. Another one I would have rated higher for influence. Likely not the only representative of the Motor City on the list. Over under at 3 total (Ted Nugent most likely, followed by Jack White, Bob Seger, Ron Ashton and maybe some Motown session player).

MC5 - "Black to Comm"

#92 Wayne Kramer. ...Oh yeah, and this guy. My dumb.

The Doors - "Peace Frog"

#91 Robbie Krieger. History not being too kind to him, though if there was an article for best keyboardists of all-time, the band would score a lot higher.

Running Count: 307 songs for 2011

Day 42: Cowbell?

Idea taken from a badly mixed version of this:
Rolling Stones - "Honky Tonk Women"


Van Halen - "Dance the Night Aways"


Mountain - "Mississippi Queen"


Guns N Roses - "It's So Easy"


Rage Against the Machine - "Killing in the Name"


The Beatles - "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey"


Running count: 297 songs for 2011.

Day 41 - Themeless?

Eddie & the Hot Rods - "Do Anything You Wanna Do"

Heard via Pandora today.

Youth of Today - "Make a Change"


The Freeze - "This is Boston Not L.A."

Go Celtics!

Jimi Hendrix - "The Wind Cries Mary"

....completely different.

(Charged) GBH - "Drugs Party in 526"

Was looking for mystery song called "Drug Party". It wasn't this.

Running count: 291 songs for 2011.

Day 40 - Tobacco Road...

...Visiting the music of North Carolina in honor of the UNC - Duke tilt at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but let's get this out of the way first since the number matches up...
U2 - "40"


Nashville Teens - "Tobacco Road"

I know, a British group named after a city in Tennessee, but it's the earliest version.

Southern Culture on the Skids - "Tobacco Road"

An actual NC band doing the song. Band from Chapel Hills, recorded in Charlotte. This theme is rather contingent on the game not becoming a blowout and me switching to dvr'd sitcoms.

Corrosion of Conformity - "College Town"

From Raleigh. Early period, though I'm not sure if this is the original.

Corrosion of Conformity - "Technocracy"

Mid period.

Corrosion of Conformity - "Albatross"

Latter period.

Geezer Lake - "Freshly Spilt Innards Ripped from the Gut of a Critic"

Underrated band from Greensboro. Almost proto-math rock.

Whiskeytown - "Jacksonville Skyline"

Jacksonville and Raleigh. Game is at 14 points now, but not the way I expected. Go Tar Heels!

Archers of Loaf - "Web in Front"

Asheville and Chapel Hill. Just played a surprise reunion show last month.

Superchunk - "Skip Steps 1 & 3"

Chapel Hill.

Running count 286 songs for 2011. And Duke cut the lead to 6 already.

Day 39

Gary Moore - "Parisienne Walkways"

R.I.P.

Thin Lizzy - "The Rocker"

Featuring Gary Moore.

Wasted Youth - "Fuck Authority"

Was looking for "Young and Bored" but this'll do.

Blitz - "Someone's Gonna Die"

Oi! Oi! Oi!

Dr. Know - "Plug In Jesus"

Back to SoCal.

Running Count: 276 songs for 2011.

Day 38

DYS - "Brotherhood"

Title track off the classic. Coming to Philly in April.

Andidote - "Real Deal"

One of the openers.

YDI - "Out for Blood"

Also on the bill. Taking advantage of a rare opportunity to play a Philly band.

Untouchables - "Rat Patrol"

From Flex Your Head.

Big Black - "Passing Complexion"

For Big Monday. Haha.

Die Kreuzen - "This Hope"

Albini was wearing their shirt above.

Flipper - "Way of the World"

Some somethingcore.

Eric B. & Rakim - "Juice (Know the Ledge)"

Theme from the movie.

Running count: 271 songs for 2011.

Day 37

I should have had a (short) post yesterday...but power went out again and I was gone for the duration of the day.

D.R.I. - "Reaganomics"

100th.

Replacements - "Bastards of Young"

One of those pop-in-your-mind things.

Husker Du - "In a Free Land"

Staying in the Twin Cities.

Soul Asylum - "Somebody to Shove"

I would have tried to find something from an earlier album, but I definitely like this song for what it is/was.

Matthew Sweet - "Girlfriend"

From the same era iirc.

Born Against - "Mount the Pavement"

Much better.

Burn - "Shall be Judged"


Absolution - "Dead and Gone"

More NYHC. Same guitarist as Burn.

MIA - "Fucking Zones"

Classic LAHC suggested link.

Meatmen - "Meatmen Stomp"

Detroit HC.

At the Drive-In - "One Armed Scissor"

Late '90s hipster stuff.

Running count: 263 songs for 2011.

Day 35

Blondie - "Living in the Real World"

Another post from Al.

Halford - "Made of Metal"

I wanted to post something from the past year.

Smugglers - "Especially You"

Good garagey pop-punk...mid 90s.

Love and Rockets - "Kundalini Express"

More guitar-driven than I remember this being. I like that.

Bane - "Ali vs. Frazier I"


Don Felder - "Heavy Metal (Taking a Ride)"

Probably fits more in the genre of yacht rock. Very overproduced.

Trust - "Prefabricated"

Continuing with the Heavy Metal soundtrack is as good an excuse as any to play something from a French band.

Serge Gainsbourg - "Melody"

Something else from France.

Running count: 252 songs for 2011.

Day 34

Jami Sieber - "Hidden Sky"

Known to me from the game Braid.

Siege - "Drop Dead"

Always found this a bit overrated.

Drop Dead - "A Disease Called Man"


Negative FX - "Citizens Arrest"


Citizens Arrest - "Death Threat"


Jerry's Kids - "Tear It Up"


Tear It Up - "The Beginning/I Hate My Life"


The Marvelettes - "Please Mr. Postman"

Another missed death, Gladys Horton.

Running count: 244 songs for 2011.

Day 33

Sonny & Cher - "I Got You Babe"

Happy Groundhog Day!

Groundhogs - "Garden"

English proto-metal.

John Barry - "007 Theme"

Keep forgetting to add something by the newly late film composer.

The White Stripes - "Seven Nation Army"

Also in the news for an R.I.P.

The Stooges - "I Wanna Be Your Dog"

Staying in Detroit.

The Fix - "Cos the Elite"

Some Detroit Hardcore.

Martha & the Vandellas - "Dancing in the Streets"

And Motown soul.

Van Halen - "Dancing in the Street"

Always more familiar to me.

David Bowie & Mick Jagger - "Dancing in the Street"

Not half bad either.

Running count: 236 songs for 2011.

Day 32

Let's start with something noisy, copped from Al...

Unsane - "Vandal-X"


Cows - "Hitting the Wall"

Equally as noisy?

Tar - "Goethe"

Suggestion on the previous song.

Shellac - "Spoke"


Pavement - "Summer Babe (Winter Version)"

Good song for February rain.

Winter - "Power and Might"

Sludge metal courtesy of Jonah Jenkins.

Rocket from the Crypt - "Middle"

Another fave I've neglected until now.

Specials - "Ghost Town"

Hasn't been much (any) ska yet.

Black Flag - "Fix Me"


Running count: 227 songs for 2011.