The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
Reply to Thread Bookmark Thread
Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Posts 1 to 25 of 69
  1. #1

    User Info Menu

    For your consideration: The Talking Heads.

    I was listening to the live album The Name of This Band and was struck at how intricate and innovative their guitar work was. Jerry Harrison was an experienced musician, but David Byrne was hardly a player at all. And yet their playing just gelled in a couple of years.

    Their first records actually came out around the same time as Television's, and of course they were part of the same CBGB scene. I have to think they influenced a lot of guitarists looking for something beyond chunka-chunka rhythm and showoff guitar solos...The Cure, The Smiths, U2, etc.

    Byrne and his collaborator Eno also were highly motivated amateurs who defied common convention on the role of instrumentalists and even singers, like David Bowie, as well.

    Anyway, check out the guitars. Great sound, pretty unique for rock music in the late 70's. And their artistic vision was boundless.


  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

    User Info Menu

    Alex Weir apparently came up with several riffs for the talking heads and had an instructional video below.


  4. #3

    User Info Menu

    When I was living in NY, I had a place on Bleeker, at the seedy end. I'll admit that David Byrne and Tina were never that appealing to me. Tom Verlaine was doing things that really spoke to me. He embraced a real love for a spirit in things Coltrane. Like jazz, there are things that only people who saw it live will ever get, or believe.
    Over the years, a lot of people have tried to turn me on to Talking Heads. Maybe I'll have another go. I just remember the real seedy old space and the sound there always belonged to Television. What an exciting time that was.
    I was working in Soho. The galleries on West Broadway threw their doors open at night and you could hear people like Julius Hemphill and Leo Smith playing on the sidewalks. Klaus Nomi would be on the bill at Max's.

    David

  5. #4

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by TruthHertz
    When I was living in NY, I had a place on Bleeker, at the seedy end. I'll admit that David Byrne and Tina were never that appealing to me. Tom Verlaine was doing things that really spoke to me. He embraced a real love for a spirit in things Coltrane. Like jazz, there are things that only people who saw it live will ever get, or believe.
    Over the years, a lot of people have tried to turn me on to Talking Heads. Maybe I'll have another go. I just remember the real seedy old space and the sound there always belonged to Television. What an exciting time that was.
    I was working in Soho. The galleries on West Broadway threw their doors open at night and you could hear people like Julius Hemphill and Leo Smith playing on the sidewalks. Klaus Nomi would be on the bill at Max's.

    David
    That sounds great, except for the seedy part...

    Seriously, that period of NYC was great for art of all kinds. I knew a doc who went to Rhode Island College of Design with Byrne. Byrne was an artist, first and foremost, and a musician second. That's the key to getting his work.

    Tom Verlaine started out earlier in the 70's but came to attention about the same time as Talking Heads.

    I remember watching their TV debut on the Dick Clark show in the late 70's, and what a weird performance it was. 180 degrees away from the Eagles and LA rock that dominated at the time.

    I like them both--appreciate the guitar proficiency of Verlaine and Lloyd of course, but don't discount the influence of Talking Heads just because they were technically crappy guitarists. Their sound was mesmerizing and influenced a lot of folks. And when they went "polyrhythmic" with Fear of Music--well every up and coming band went polyrhythmic and world beat.

    I saw them in 1981 when they toured for the Remain in Light album--their last full tour if I am correct. I met my future girlfriend at the show, so it has some special relevance for me.

    It is one of the 3 times I have seen Adrian Belew as a supporting guitarist--with the Heads, Zappa and King Crimson.

  6. #5

    User Info Menu

    The film "Stop Making Sense" captures a lot of the post Remain in Light vibe, but without Belew. Alex Weir is funkier and fun in his own right... And Bernie Worrell is quite special too.

  7. #6

    User Info Menu

    Pete Ham from Badfinger. So unappreciated (for songwriting as well) that he checked out early.

  8. #7

    User Info Menu

    Maybe it'd be worth another post for musicians who were extremely successful and influential despite being rank amateurs at their instruments.

    Luther Perkins could barely play guitar when he started with Johnny Cash--had to be coached to play "the right note" during recordings sessions. Yet he got an entire generation of country fans to start playing guitar.

    One could make the case that Dylan couldn't sing or play and yet still became an idol. As I recall Dave van Ronk mentions that Dylan was a terrible guitarist when he first met him, then a few months later he was competent and could imitate everyone else's folk playing convincingly.

    Brian Eno couldn't sing or play when he was hired by Roxy Music as what amounted to a sound engineer. Yet he went on to a very successful (understatement!) career, singing and playing many instruments on his own and others' records.

    And Phil Collins--his first singing contributions to Genesis were not promising. Great drummer, but Grammy-winning vocalist?? Who would've guessed.

  9. #8

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
    That sounds great, except for the seedy part...
    I grew up right around there (a few blocks west of CB's down Bleecker Street). Seedy doesn't even begin to describe what the Bowery was like in 1975. Zombie apocolypse is understatement.

    Here's my under-appreciated guitarist heroes list:

    Richie Valens
    Glenn Tillbrook
    David Hidalgo
    Cesar Rojas
    Steve Winwood
    Oscar Moore
    Slim Gaillard
    Leo Nocentelli
    Vince Gill
    George Benson

    John

  10. #9

    User Info Menu

    Chuck Mangione recorded "Feels So Good" with Grant Geismann on guitar. To this day that record remains one of the all time perfect I-VI-ii-V guitar solos. Grant has also done some terrific solo recordings.
    Louie Shelton, Jay Gradon, Denny Dias, Jeff Baxter......

  11. #10

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by TruthHertz
    When I was living in NY, I had a place on Bleeker, at the seedy end. I'll admit that David Byrne and Tina were never that appealing to me. Tom Verlaine was doing things that really spoke to me. He embraced a real love for a spirit in things Coltrane. Like jazz, there are things that only people
    I was a big fan of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd in Television. Even bought their cassette-only "Blow Up" live set. (On Roir, IIRC. Included "Little Johnny Jewel.")

    That said, both my brothers were big Talking Heads fans. (They liked Television too.) I enjoyed the early Talking Heads albums (yeah, albums) well enough. "Speaking in Tongues" had some nice funky grooves on it and I like that sorta thing, so I was good with it. But I still have Television records....

  12. #11

    User Info Menu

    I was a big Heads fan from way back, as mentioned. But I had never heard of Television until Bowie release his Ashes to Ashes album with Kingdom Come on it. Then I had to have the original Tom Verlaine version, and worked backward to Television.

    Too bad they weren't more prolific...

  13. #12

    User Info Menu

    I never was a big Talking Heads fan, for my taste their songs and image are too goofy. But that OP video is pretty cool, I like the groove and the sound.

    From that NYC era, my indisputable favs are the Ramones, that the band that really hit the spot. I guess I can put Johnny Ramone in the category of underappreciated guitar heroes. What he did is kinda art in itself. In one word- a stamina, that is a rare find, most guitar players spend time on developing lead pyrotechnics or being clever with chords.

    The other one, recently passed away Malcolm Young. Another genius of power groove, who made AC/DC instantly identifiable by just strumming a chord.

    In jazz, I gotta think, but one name is always Jimmy Shirley. I only heard one song on a compilation, but it was a perfect solo.

  14. #13

    User Info Menu

    Love the Heads, Television, Let's active, the Mats...I was lucky, my pops was young when this shot was cool, got me into it.

    I think he'd say of all those cool cbgb groups, Byrne''s shot was lasting. It had a good beat, you could dance to it.

    Fear of Music is one of my favorite records ever, if just for "Cities."

  15. #14

    User Info Menu

    Oingo Boingo the whole band but especially Steve Bartek on guitar.

    I first saw then called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo and they had a woman singer doing the whole Billie Holiday thing and Stan Ayeroff was the guitarist. Stan is another excellent Gypsy and Charlie Christian style guitarist. They did a lot of 30's music with this setup and their horn section. Then a few years went by and they were in the background of the L.A. scene. Then the 80's hit they were now just the Oingo Boingo and they were playing all the New Wave clubs, but now they had Danny Elfman as their frontman and Steve Bartek on guitar. Also the horn section all doubled on strange handmade percussion and Johnny Vatos on drums. I saw them a lot back then. They were a very tight band and Danny Elfman was incredible frontman using his theatrical background with Steve Bartek arrangements. After that they had their hits and started play concerts instead of clubs and to me their show didn't transfer well to a big stage, they really needed the audience interaction they had in clubs.

    Then Danny Elfman a self-taught composer and arranger became on the the top film scorers in Hollywood with Steve Bartek as his orchestrator and right hand man. The Chinese restaurant I used to go to where I used to live in L.A. I'd see Danny and Steve in there all the time with score sheets and notepads going over music from sessions. Johnny Vatos Oingo's drummer has Oingo tribute band that still gigs, but he more known for the big bands he plays in, he's a hell of a drummer.

    So Oingo had a couple great guitarist in Stan and Steve, then Danny as frontman and writer, then Johnny on drums. So an underappreciated band.

  16. #15

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
    Love the Heads, Television, Let's active, the Mats...I was lucky, my pops was young when this shot was cool, got me into it.

    I think he'd say of all those cool cbgb groups, Byrne''s shot was lasting. It had a good beat, you could dance to it.

    Fear of Music is one of my favorite records ever, if just for "Cities."
    I liked all the Talking Heads stuff, but the one that really got me was remain in light. Belew is amazing on that. As far as danceability goes among the CB's bands, I think you gotta give it to Blondie. For guitarists, the kings of that scene were Verlaine and Lloyd of Television, and Robert Quine. Also a bunch of good players passed through James White /Chance and the Blacks/Contortions. And of course, Lenny Kaye with Patti Smith. But the greatest guitarist of the early punk era was without question Danny Gatton. What? Danny Gatton was a punk? Not exactly, but he played with Robert Gordon, who people thought of as part of the punk scene, though he was really his own thing.

    Even though I lived right down the street from CB's I never saw any of that cohort, I was a year or two too young and took it in vicariously from kids I knew who were a couple of years older. By the time I was old enough to go clubbing, those bands all were signed and on the road or the radio, but they were all kind of the home town heroes. In retrospect it's amazing how brief that epoch was, really just 2 years.

    John

  17. #16

    User Info Menu

    Johnny gives a nice outlook on all those CBGB bands around 5:45

  18. #17

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by John A.
    I liked all the Talking Heads stuff, but the one that really got me was remain in light. Belew is amazing on that. As far as danceability goes among the CB's bands, I think you gotta give it to Blondie. For guitarists, the kings of that scene were Verlaine and Lloyd of Television, and Robert Quine. Also a bunch of good players passed through James White /Chance and the Blacks/Contortions. And of course, Lenny Kaye with Patti Smith. But the greatest guitarist of the early punk era was without question Danny Gatton. What? Danny Gatton was a punk? Not exactly, but he played with Robert Gordon, who people thought of as part of the punk scene, though he was really his own thing.

    Even though I lived right down the street from CB's I never saw any of that cohort, I was a year or two too young and took it in vicariously from kids I knew who were a couple of years older. By the time I was old enough to go clubbing, those bands all were signed and on the road or the radio, but they were all kind of the home town heroes. In retrospect it's amazing how brief that epoch was, really just 2 years.

    John
    Danny Gatton was playing rockabilly with Gordon actually. That's what Robert Gordon was famous for, neo-rockabilly I think is the word

  19. #18

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
    Danny Gatton was playing rockabilly with Gordon actually. That's what Robert Gordon was famous for, neo-rockabilly I think is the word
    People called it various things, but he played the places the punks played in NY rather than, say the Lone Star or the old Tramps, so he got sort of lumped in with the punk scene, at least briefly.

    Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk

  20. #19

    User Info Menu

    Big, big fan of Marc Ribot's work with Tom Waits.

    Robert Quine's work with Richard Hell was, to me, pretty special.

  21. #20

    User Info Menu

    Yep love Mark Ribot. Richard Quine also played with Lou Reed on many albums, and they were quite a good pair. Lou is another example of a rudimentary guitarist and technically poor singer who was quite effective at what he did and very influential. I would imagine his work with John Cale and Sterling Morrison was a big influence on the Heads and Television, among others.

  22. #21

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by darkwaters
    Big, big fan of Marc Ribot's work with Tom Waits.

    Robert Quine's work with Richard Hell was, to me, pretty special.
    I first heard of Ribot (pre Waits and Lounge Lizards) via this record. The guy (Emil Yoan) was my upstairs neighbor. He heard me practicing one day and asked me to play with him. A bit after, Ribot turned out to be a friend of a friend and I met him a couple of times before his career kind of took off. He's a really good classical and straight ahead jazz player. I remember sitting in my friend's (also a monster classical, jazz and Bossa Nova guy) living room, with my jaw dropping at Ribot's solo playing. I'll never be able to touch him technically or creatively, but I can say I replaced him in a band.



    John

    Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk

  23. #22

    User Info Menu

    Dave Stewart. Always crafting parts for the song. For example, "Would I Lie To You" has a furious energy that is nonetheless succinct. We played a lot of '80s Pop back in the day, and Eurythmics was always a high point.

  24. #23

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by citizenk74
    Dave Stewart. Always crafting parts for the song. For example, "Would I Lie To You" has a furious energy that is nonetheless succinct. We played a lot of '80s Pop back in the day, and Eurythmics was always a high point.
    There are a few guitarists that come up with solos that fit a song like a glove, but don't get much recognition because they aren't flashy solos. George Harrison, Skunk Baxter, Elliot Randall, JAy Graydon, Tony Peluso one take solo on Carpenters Goodbye to Love. Jesse Ed Davis one take solo on Jackson Browne's Doctor My Eyes. Then a number of players who created signature rhythm parts. A lot of underappreciated guitarists whose work made songs the hits they became.

  25. #24

    User Info Menu

    I appreciate all the responses. If you can gather from the first post, I was really thinking of people who were not very technically proficient, yet were very influential in shaping the course of guitar in music through their creativity.

    But, there are a lot of guitarists who are underrecognized.

    Link Wray just came to mind...how many people did he influence with Rumble? Just a few notes, and suddenly everyone wanted to get a distorted guitar sound.

    Marc Bolan--hardly a virtuoso, but the perfect tone and the perfect looks for the time.

  26. #25

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by John A.
    I first heard of Ribot (pre Waits and Lounge Lizards) via this record. The guy (Emil Yoan) was my upstairs neighbor. He heard me practicing one day and asked me to play with him. A bit after, Ribot turned out to be a friend of a friend and I met him a couple of times before his career kind of took off. He's a really good classical and straight ahead jazz player. I remember sitting in my friend's (also a monster classical, jazz and Bossa Nova guy) living room, with my jaw dropping at Ribot's solo playing. I'll never be able to touch him technically or creatively, but I can say I replaced him in a band.



    John

    Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk
    Now that is mighty cool !