(If you like this sorta thing…)
On the night, this wasn’t intended to be any kind of guitar duel or face-off, it would have run counter to the sort of evening they wanted.
However – Robbo gets the middle solo, Gazza gets the closing solo…but which one is better?
There’s only one way to find out…
So – what do you think? I know which one I prefer…extra points if you show your working!
Gary Moore shades it for me – such a great player (added the fact he was recognised by none other than the master, Peter Green).
How about this for round two….. Bonamassa or Trucks ?
Gary Moore. Purely for sentimental reasons – he was the giutarist in the first band i ever sew – the mighty Skid Row as detailed in this post i upped about a year back
That one’s not a fair fight. Trucks is probably the greatest slide player of all time and is a far more interesting and emotive player than Corporate Joe could ever dream of being. He shares with Jeff Beck the ability to pull notes out of his guitar that no-one knew existed. He has a huge range stylistically. Joe is no slouch, but his playing is blues-lawyer anodyne.
Yeah, don’t disagree with that. It’s probably not even fair due to their very different styles. Still an excuse to post the clip (and how about having ZZ Top as your rhythm section…..)
Talking of Jeff Beck….. Round 3 : Clapton vs Beck…… (which is probably a no brainer)
I have a theory that Clapton, whilst obviously a brilliant guitarist, is lazy and really needs a “foil” to bring out his best – I think the concerts he did with Steve Winwood were the best he has done in a long time.
At least Eric has the grace to acknowledge he’s been had. Beck obviously went out to one up him. One of my favourite clips on YouTube.
I think the winners were the audience members who managed to stay awake till the end! Here’s how I score it:
Robbo: Better tone, some nice tasteful note choices, but dropped a couple of absolute clams and his solo meandered. Also obvious that he has lost a lot of speed, as the couple of times he tried to pick up the pace it just wasn’t happening.
Gazza: Docked a point for using chorus. Docked another point for using the cliched flutey Les Paul through Marshall sound. The endless sustain thing is a bit of an overused gimmick for him. Came rebounding back through peerless execution and phrasing: he’s simply a much better player.
Verdict? Gazza
Nice working out!
Mmm, good challenge. Scores on the doors are a Gary win from me, but it’s not as clear cut as it could be.
Brian has an advantage as he is playing over the verse chords and so has more options harmonically, which he exploits by playing over the changes in pleasing stylee. So it’s interesting to hear (though any jazzer does this daily) and makes a change from most rock players stuck in their pentatonic box. He has some nice phrasing. But…he’s clearly out of form. He drops a couple of horrible clunkers and clearly runs out of ideas towards the end. Not match fit.
Gary rarely runs out of ideas and is always on top form so no clunkers here, but for me I’d have liked more of his superb legato playing up and down the neck rather than the repeated looping licks which I find dull. You can’t fault it but I don’t love it either. He can do better. To be fair he’s playing over a 2 chord vamp which is harder work but he’s Gary Moore FFS.
So a win for the Galster but it’s a a 2-1 rather than a more convincing margin.
Oho! More nice working out…
Pod set a high bar.
I did one of these a while ago.
Walshy. Every time. Another one off, he’s never dull.
Gary nails this one, even over the vamp. He’s just got more tricks in his book and lyrically he’s braver.
I admire them both equally. Gary has the most flair on this occasion but I want give the nod to Brian. He’s rarely seen in the wild these days.
And, even though it means nothing, he’s got the better looking gear. The used Les Paul. Magnificent. Plus he’s got a Rolex Submariner on while he’s at work. Clonking around on his wrist where it should be and not all polished up in a safe.
Fair call. Lets remember when he was really on form. From 3 minutes
Enjoyed that, Twang.
My vote would have gone to Brian, anyway…he seemed more genuinely bluesy and spontaneous, where Gary pulls out a more metal-voiced bag o’ tricks and the old Parisian Walkways sustain bit. I can live with a few clangers, I can’t deny there might be a bit of sentiment involved (Brian in Lizzy was – still is – one of my favourite guitarists). I wish I could play like that when clearly off my game!
Have to say I prefer Scott’s solo playing there.
That’s fair enough – they always complemented each other when playing live.
Great song, and now almost forgotten. I think Sade did a version a few years ago.
Gary has the upper hand on this one however for me the definitive version will always be Robbo on Live and Dangerous – unbeatable! The recent L&D box set has numerous versions recorded on different nights, every one a gem and all different solos.