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22

Frank Zappa

David Redfern/Redferns"When I was learning how to play guitar, I was obsessed with that album," Phish's Trey Anastasio said in

2005 of  Frank Zappa's 1981 collection of intricate and blistering solos, Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar .

"Every boundary that was possible on the guitar," Anastasio said, "was examined by him in ways that

other people didn't." As the absolute boss of his bands, including the legendary lineups of the Mothers of

Invention, Zappa fused doo-wop, urban blues, big-band jazz and orchestral modernism with an iron hand.

As a guitarist, he drew from all of those sources, then improvised with a furious and genuine delight. His

soloing on "Willie the Pimp," on 1969's Hot Rats, is an extended studio party of greasy distortion,

chomping wah-wah and agitatedblues slaloms. In concert, Zappa would "walk around, doing his thing,

conducting," Anastasio recalled. But when he picked up his guitar for a solo, "he was completely in

communion with his instrument... It just became soul music."

Key Tracks: "Willie the Pimp," "In-a-Gadda-Stravinsky"

23

Buddy Guy

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David Redfern/RedfernsBuddy Guy got used to people calling his guitar style a bunch of noise – from his

family back in rural Louisiana, who chased him out of the house for making a

racket, to Chess Records heads Phil and Leonard Chess, who, he says, "wouldn't

let me get loose like I wanted" on sessions with Muddy Waters, Howlin'Wolf  and Little Walter. But as a new generation of rockers discovered the blues,

Guy's fretwork became a major influence on titans from Jimi Hendrix to Jimmy

Page. Guy's flamboyant playing – huge bends, prominent distortion, frenetic

licks – on such classics as "Stone Crazy" and "First Time I Met the Blues," and

his collaborations with the late harp master Junior Wells, raised the standard for

six-string fury. His showmanship, complete with midsolo strolls through the

audience, remains electrifying at age 75. "He was for me what Elvis was

probably like for other people," saidEric Clapton at Guy's Rock and Roll Hall of

Fame induction in 2005. "My course was set, and he was my pilot."

Key Tracks: "Stone Crazy," "First Time I Met the Blues"

Related

• Damn Right, He's Buddy Guy

• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2005: Buddy Guy

•

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•

•

•

•

22

Frank Zappa

David Redfern/Redferns"When I was learning how to play guitar, I was obsessed with that

album," Phish's Trey Anastasio said in 2005 of Frank Zappa's 1981 collection of

intricate and blistering solos, Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar . "Every boundary that

was possible on the guitar," Anastasio said, "was examined by him in ways that

other people didn't." As the absolute boss of his bands, including the legendary

lineups of the Mothers of Invention, Zappa fused doo-wop, urban blues, big-band

 jazz and orchestral modernism with an iron hand. As a guitarist, he drew from all

of those sources, then improvised with a furious and genuine delight. His soloing

on "Willie the Pimp," on 1969's Hot Rats, is an extended studio party of greasy

distortion, chomping wah-wah and agitatedblues slaloms. In concert, Zappa

would "walk around, doing his thing, conducting," Anastasio recalled. But when

7/18/2019 Los Mejores Guitarristas 8

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he picked up his guitar for a solo, "he was completely in communion with his

instrument... It just became soul music."

23Buddy Guy

David Redfern/Redferns

Buddy Guy got used to people calling his guitar style a bunch of noise – from his family back in rural

Louisiana, who chased him out of the house for making a racket, to Chess Records heads Phil and

Leonard Chess, who, he says, "wouldn't let me get loose like I wanted" on sessions with MuddyWaters, Howlin' Wolf  and Little Walter. But as a new generation of rockers discovered the blues, Guy's

fretwork became a major influence on titans from Jimi Hendrix to Jimmy Page. Guy's flamboyant playing

– huge bends, prominent distortion, frenetic licks – on such classics as "Stone Crazy" and "First Time I

Met the Blues," and his collaborations with the late harp master Junior Wells, raised the standard for six-

string fury. His showmanship, complete with midsolo strolls through the audience, remains electrifying at

age 75. "He was for me what Elvis was probably like for other people," saidEric Clapton at Guy's Rock

and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2005. "My course was set, and he was my pilot."

Key Tracks: "Stone Crazy," "First Time I Met the Blues"

24Angus Young

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Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Iages

"I don't regard myself as a soloist," AC/DC's lead guitarist has said of his manic style. "It's a color; I put it

in for excitement." Alice in Chains' Jerry Cantrell called him "the absolute god of blues-rock guitar." The

approach that Angus Young and his rhythm-guitar-playing brother, Malcolm, developed in AC/DC's early

years – high-speed pentatonic runs over thunderous power-chord licks – became a hard-rock tradition,and millions of guitarists the world over have his "Back in Black" and "Highway to Hell" licks imprinted

on their brains. "Malcolm and Angus have done more with three chords than any other human being,"

said Slash. Angus Young's onstage persona –l schoolboy outfits, duckwalking like a pint-size Chuck

Berry – is as colorful as his playing. "He's like Clark fucking Kent!" AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson

told Rolling Stone in 2008. "He goes into a phone booth and comes out as the 14-year-old imp, ready to

rock!"

Key Tracks: "Highway to Hell," "Bad Boy Boogie"

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