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I've really been digging into those players who aren't afraid of a little treble and aren't all about that bass, you know? I thought we could compile a list of our favorites and then detail why we like the sound. Here's my take.
1. Johnny Smith -- what more can be said? I think the key is that he had that southern twang hidden away in his bell like tone. You can definitely hear the country in his playing, it's hidden within all that bebop. The combination is heavenly, pure and simple. I'd compare his tone to going to a nice steak house and getting dressed for the occasion... don't forget the cowboy boots (not making fun, it's just how I "picture" it)
2. George Barnes -- Twang, twang, twang, and just load on the BBQ sauce for some extra twang. I haven't heard a guitarist who was just as country and could still pull off Louie Armstrong on his guitar. Ruby Braff was a great counter point to George's forrays into all things country, jazz, and rock and roll (dig his renditions of Beatles tunes)
3. Hank Garland -- a middle ground between Barnes and Smith. His stuff with the Sugarfooters sounds just as hip as his stuff with his jazz outfit.
Okay... that's just a start. I maybe a city slicker, but that twang of country jazzers gets my foot stomping. Who can we add to this list? (there are many more)
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09-25-2015 09:37 PM
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Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis, Cal Collins, Clint Strong, Bill Frisell.
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tone and twang are separate items.. i always thought johnny smith had a pretty dark tone…i dont hear alot of country twang in him..but a guy that obviously studied him and truly was cowboy was roy lanham..he was cowboy johnny
garland had twang but garland also benefited by a non jazz nashville production…his "jazz" lps have a very processed/produced (for the time) guitar sound..reverb/echo etc…they produced him scotty moore toned..(scotty was great)
barnes was all over the place..his country jazz lp is one wild weirdy
jimmy bryant was one wild country picker that could play it all…he was django inspired no doubt
django had a brighter tone by virtue of his gear..and also did more slides n bends cause of the limitations of his left hand ie. basically 2 fingered..so anybody comin from that, could have a bit of that treblier/twang sound
les paul had some as well
good post i87
cheers
ps- phil baugh and cliff gallup were great country pickers that played some jazz later on..ala garland
here's phil b..(takin it slow..he was a speed demon!)
Last edited by neatomic; 09-25-2015 at 11:05 PM. Reason: ps
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Grant Green, maybe? My understanding is that he rolled of the treble and bass controls and kept the mid control up. Is that right?
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Neatomic, I challenge you to listen to JS again, that twang is there... it's just more hidden. For instance, listen to this:
JS does that trademark country "gallop" with his time feel here. Also, there is a little bit of the jangle sound in his tone. There are other places where you can hear where he comes from. I love it, I think that subtle influence makes JS standout. I listened to a bunch of country and western swing and then I listened back to JS and voila, there it was in plain sight. Those chords almost sound like pedal steel chords, without the bent tones. I think that's part of what set him apart from his counterparts out East. That, and his precision and acute sense of melody and harmony in his improvisations.
Leon kinda had a similar vibe in his playing, though not as matured as JS (but Leon could slay with the best of em, listen to him blow):
Last edited by Irez87; 09-25-2015 at 11:19 PM.
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Country twang is more than just guitar tone. I totally agree on Johnny.
Jim Hall says he came up playing "hillbilly music," but that's harder to hear.
Pat Metheny's playing is wonderfully "midwestern."
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yeah, i getcha…good example...i like that js lp and that leon clip is an old fave…tho there is a distiction between the oklahoma (charlie christian), texas, colorado (johnny smith) sound and the nashville sound…lotsa guys have that western swing, but nashville is distinct…i like'm all! hah
and i really like the post war bakersfield country guitar pickers scene…(a whole nother thread)
endless!
cheers
ps- here's a good example of herb ellis country swing.. from great lp with (texan) jimmy giuffre-
Last edited by neatomic; 09-25-2015 at 11:43 PM. Reason: ps-
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This guy is the first jazz guitarist I think of when I think of twang.
Tal Farlow and Jimmy Raney grew up in the South, but looked down on Hillbilly music.
Cal Collins was known by musicians from Ohio that I've worked with as a 'string player'- he could play anything with strings on it; banjo, mandolin etc...
Jimmy Wyble had a long career in Western Swing bands before he started working as a jazz musician.
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I like where this thread is going, guys. I think it's an interesting study, given that a lot of early bebop guitar came from down south and the mid west. If Charlie Christian is the father of modern jazz guitar, and he has that Oklahoma sound, than modern jazz guitar is tied to various incarnations of "country music" as much as it is tied to "uptown blues guitar" and the "jazz idiom". I think the ties to the blues are often discussed ad nauseam (though I love "uptown city" blues and "down home south" blues) but the ties to country are often swept under the floor. Keep on keeping on, folks (my friend knew one of the guys who directed that film... I coulda seen that movie in theaters for free... what a missed opportunity
)
In terms of Tal... I think he still has that southern sound in his playing. I will say this and then I will leave ear training out of this thread for the rest of the "goings" here. Once your ear develops to the point of "performance level" than all of those influences you heard growing up start creeping into your playing. That's why I was so excited about people tracing my own influences (though I feel I am almost by the "water" of the iceberg, to run with that metaphor, in terms of my own ear training). Heck, even children's songs and the such start creepin in if you are really playing what is in your head. That's why I am so adamant about ear training, I think it allows you to really be "you". Okay, no more ear training talk unless it's on that journal thread, promise
Last edited by Irez87; 09-26-2015 at 03:16 AM.
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Don't forget Les Paul.
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I can't believe I almost did! Les Paul, the grand daddio of wroooock and wrooollllllll... along with Leo Fender.
My first electric was an Epiphone Les Paul. I can still play jazz on it, but it is really dark...
WROOCK an WROOOLLLLL
Last edited by Irez87; 09-26-2015 at 07:29 AM.
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Excellent thread! I've been playing Jazzmaster type guitars since I was 20. Current hybrid has a Tele pickup at the bridge and a Firebird at the neck. Traditional jazz tone plus twang at the flick of a switch.
One guitarist with more of a modern tone/outlook (for the time) was Jerry Hahn. Solo starts a couple of minutes in. More bluesy than country, but there's some twang going on:
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i love jazzmasters! leo fender was very serious about that guitar being for jazz…redesigned the p90 pickup with his fender-esque tweaks…built in that great rhythm circuit so that you can actually have two different neck pup tones at the flick of a switch…
you see pics of jimmy bryant, roy lanham, billy strange, mickey baker etc etc with them as soon as they came out...
jerry hahn was ahead of his time player..no doubt
cheers
ps-i mentioned les paul up there ⬆
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I have a 60s jazzmaster and the separate circuit for the neck PU is really special. It has a Hendrix (clean) type tone, but Jazzy too. I had to retire it, but my hybrid gets a very similar sound with both PUs on together (fender twang + Gibson jazz).
Originally Posted by neatomic
Jerry Hahn was like the prototype for John Scofield. The Mk 1 if you will...:^)
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I picked up a Jazzmaster about a year ago, had warmoth nake me a custom neck...really cool guitar, and i totally agree on the "rhythm" circuit. Originally Posted by GuitarGerry
Which leads mean to mention the lightning fingers of Roy Clark and Roy Lanham.
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hah! i've mentioned great roy lanham, but was going to mention roy clark..his lightning fingers lp (also with the jazzmaster) is a gas..but here's roy with….joe pass!!
cheers
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check this later hahn…on cutaway flatop!!..sounds like abercrombie..amazing player..i used to read his guitar player columns back in the day
cheers
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Re: Johnny Smith, I read that he was born and raised in Alabama. He move to Colorado in his adult life. Can anyone clarify? Did anyone read his biography?
So, I recorded some messing around early in the morning on my classical, tried to approximate that country vibe. The tone ain't right, but maybe some of the melody material is? I had that guitar right up against the laptop mic, sorry for the reverb and lack of damping:
I will record a little more later in the day, so I don't have to worry about waking anyone.
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Smith was born in Birmingham, Alabama. His family moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee when he was a small child and shortly thereafter to Portland, Maine where he grew up. Some of Smith's earliest jobs were playing in what what he called "hillbilly bands". Smith only ever mentioned two influential guitarists in interviews: Django Reinhardt and Andres Segovia. Originally Posted by Irez87
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johnny & django
cheers
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I gotta get his biography. His influence of Segovia is really apparent in his shifting ideas. I am so glad I got JS's method book, as it gave me the extended apreggio fingerings that were missing from the Segovia Scales book. I use them both to practice my shifting...
But... he still has a little of that "hill billy" band sound in his playing... or he did (RIP). JS is like what Segovia would have sounded like if he played country or bluegrass. And that's a compliment. Jimmy Raney was born in Kentucky, but I hear more of that twang in JS.
What the heck they feeding ya all down south? All these great bebop and prebop guitarists come from down there. Is it the BBQ? The steak...mmmm? Let me know, cause I want some of that!
This T-bone is certified to make you bop until you drop
"Hey Pete, let's eat more meat"
Ba Ba Buh Ba Ba Biddidodop di Da Da
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Search "Danny Gatton jazz" on youtube. Great stuff.
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Jimmy Bryant... the father of the Telecaster...ahem... Broadcaster.
His tone is pretty tasty. Nice lines as well.
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and had some boss wheels
one of my faves..(i posted a clip above)
leo fender made sure he had one of the first jazzmasters as well
cheersLast edited by neatomic; 09-30-2015 at 07:28 PM.
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I love that album cover. I wonder if that roadster actually ran...?
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