Okay, I'm impressed.

makes me want a taco.

Roy Clark is one of the most underrated players of the past fifty years. Part of this was his own fault, though -- his Hee Haw antics prejudiced a lot of people against him, the same was as it did Buck Owens (who was also a damned fine guitar player). I think that as the Hee Haw stigma fades, both Clark and Owens are experiencing a resurgence of popularity as people discover that these guys were exceptionally talented musicians. They weren't just dumb hicks cracking stupid jokes on a TV show.

BTW: this piece sounds like a malaguena, a kind of Spanish Flamenco. It sounds a bit different because Clark is using a steel-string guitar rather than a Spanish-style nylon-string. The television show, for those who don't know, is The Odd Couple with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman.

To quote someone I went to school with, who was fond of interrupting school assemblies:

"What time is HEE HAW on?"

Link (new window)

"Roy Clark I summon you from HELL!!"
"Dear Jesus I beseech thee, please give me the magic power to shred faces and explode the brains out the neck with a pantie tearing solo power."

I have never seen this guy before and that just blew me away. There are some points in the song where he sounds like he is playing three different parts at once.

/Astonished

Nice stuff.

Also nice stuff:

Scotty Anderson.

Behold, the power of the sideburns. Maybe I'll grow mine out to see if it improves my playing.

/thought the guy was only good for providing ambiance music for fart-fence jokes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozWypBp2li4


Jerry Reed...the master

Of all the people my Dad's seen live, he was most impressed by Clark. They had a segment in his live show where they shuffle stringed instruments to him, and he plays them all with about the same level of talent. Balalaikas, banjos, etc. etc.

Dad's seen Glen Campbell, Jerry Reed, Chet, etc. (Junior Brown a coupla years ago with me.) I figure Roy must be doing something right.

I quit...I'm going to go turn my guitar into a coffee table now.

Meh.. didn't do much for me. I'll have to assume it's better with sound.

"Dear Jesus I beseech thee, please give me the magic power to shred faces and explode the brains out the neck with a pantie tearing solo power."
"No."


Okay, that was some funny shiat right there.

I'd always thought he was a decent guitarist, but damn that was impressive - he's got way more talent than I had imagined. The
comment about Hee Haw overshadowing him is absolutely true, never
knew he played anything else - sorry to have missed that about him until now. That was quite a performance there.

Danny Gatton - thread over.

I am duly impressed. Never heard of him before.

Not quite the same class, but I also enjoy Edgar Cruz, who's gained some prominence particularly for his single-guitar arrangements of Queen songs.

Sal-UTE!

As the AZ's worst guitar player I bow to all you pickers and grinners out there. Having been around the music business for around 25 years and having a lot of friends who actually make a living doin it, my question to you is... If you could only pick one, would you rather be remembered as a the greatest songwriter or musician?

The strange thing is that Clark himself never considered himself a guitar player, or even a musician per se. He thrived during that period (late '60's, early 70's) when country stars had to be "entertainers" first and foremost. On his albums, he's all over the map: old-time Hank Williams country, gospel, Nashville swank, Bakersfield countrypolitan, pop, even weird Branson-style chorale-country stuff. He was trying to be Glenn Campbell, but just didn't have the pop sensibility to pull it off, I think.

I've often wished that Clark would have focused his energies on the guitar as Chet Atkins did, because I think he was fully the equal of Atkins and was quite an innovator in his own right. Bear in mind that the malaguena he played in the video was done with a flatpick, not finger-style: the speed and dexterity required for that is nearly mind-boggling.

Cool stuff

This makes me want to run out and order the "Quick Pickin' Fun Strummin' Home Guitar Course".

Here's another one overshadowed by their public persona. Charo (new window)

If you could only pick one, would you rather be remembered as a the greatest songwriter or musician?

Me? Both, I guess, although I would amend that to being an arranger and composer as well as a song-writer.

I think most musicians tend to hit a wall if they don't compose or do any songwriting -- you tend to fall into a playing rut because you don't have the background to experiment and break new ground. Guitar players tend to fall into patterns of playing: the same old A-minor pentatonic box patterns, the same old runs and licks, the same old changes, the same voicings...you just get to be on auto-pilot after awhile. You start to get bored, and your boredom hurts the music you're playing. That's why I think it is both necessary and healthy for musicians to cross genres and styles: bluegrassers ought to experiment with Jazz (not as big a stretch as you might think), metalheads with rockabilly and country swing, etc. Get completely out of your comfort-zone and force yourself to play in a whole new way.

One of the reasons Chet Atkins was such a fabulous player is that he refused to be pigeonholed as a country artist. He played everything: country, old-time, jazz, blues, gospel, Spanish, everything. And he mastered it. When he did that, he was able to make any kind of music he wanted to make almost by instinct. Merle Travis had that same amazing gift, albeit not quite so broadly as Chet did.

My own "guitar hero" is Doc Watson. He is a deceptively straighforward guitarist -- he's not a show-off. But if you listen to his playing, it gets more incredible the more you listen. It's not speed, though he could play very fast if the piece called for it; it was his timing and rhythm. That dude was like a metronome, but not in a mechanical or boring way. He was just on, all the time. He could play two bars, and you know immediately that it's Watson playing that lick and not Norman Blake or Tony Rice or whoever. That is musicianship of a very high order, and it takes many years to achieve that level.

It's blocked here at work. Bummer.

bluesbox

Chet Atkins was indeed great. His album with Mark Knopfler is silly but great. I love me some Knopfler. Joe Bonamassa is also quite good. There is no shortage of great guitar players.

My dad never missed an episode of Hee Haw in the late 70s, and naturally I watched with him, and it was solely because of Roy Clark. Loved watching him play any stringed instrument, and was always disappointed when he didn't get what I considered his fair share of time on the show. Wasn't much of a Buck Owens fan, though, unless he was playing an instrumental with Roy. My dad was more of a Buck Owens fan.

/Oh, I also watched for the country girls with big boobs.

captmingus: If you could only pick one, would you rather be remembered as a the greatest songwriter or musician?

Maybe you should ask Jim Steinman that question.

I am really liking the blonde guitarist who was in Michael Jackson's erstwhile band. I forget her name, but she is also a singer/songwriter. Very talented young lady.

unfarkingbelievable: I am really liking the blonde guitarist who was in Michael Jackson's erstwhile band. I forget her name, but she is also a singer/songwriter. Very talented young lady.

Jennifer Batten?

One of the downsides of the electric-guitar era is that it tends to obscure the really great acoustic players. Everybody knows players like Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Duane Allman, even Chet Atkins and Merle Travis. Far fewer know about people like Doc Watson, Norman Blake, Tony Rice, and Leo Kottke. It's a shame because it's a lot harder to master an acoustic guitar than an electric, and harder still to forge a distinctive playing style.

I'd love to see a plugin for "Guitar Hero" that has Kottke's Vaseline Machine Gun or The Driving of the Year Nail. You'd need six hands and fourteen buttons, and nanosecond reflexes.

bluesbox: If you could only pick one, would you rather be remembered as a the greatest songwriter or musician?

Me? Both, I guess, although I would amend that to being an arranger and composer as well as a song-writer.

I think most musicians tend to hit a wall if they don't compose or do any songwriting -- you tend to fall into a playing rut because you don't have the background to experiment and break new ground. Guitar players tend to fall into patterns of playing: the same old A-minor pentatonic box patterns, the same old runs and licks, the same old changes, the same voicings...you just get to be on auto-pilot after awhile. You start to get bored, and your boredom hurts the music you're playing. That's why I think it is both necessary and healthy for musicians to cross genres and styles: bluegrassers ought to experiment with Jazz (not as big a stretch as you might think), metalheads with rockabilly and country swing, etc. Get completely out of your comfort-zone and force yourself to play in a whole new way.

One of the reasons Chet Atkins was such a fabulous player is that he refused to be pigeonholed as a country artist. He played everything: country, old-time, jazz, blues, gospel, Spanish, everything. And he mastered it. When he did that, he was able to make any kind of music he wanted to make almost by instinct. Merle Travis had that same amazing gift, albeit not quite so broadly as Chet did.

My own "guitar hero" is Doc Watson. He is a deceptively straighforward guitarist -- he's not a show-off. But if you listen to his playing, it gets more incredible the more you listen. It's not speed, though he could play very fast if the piece called for it; it was his timing and rhythm. That dude was like a metronome, but not in a mechanical or boring way. He was just on, all the time. He could play two bars, and you know immediately that it's Watson playing that lick and not Norman Blake or Tony Rice or whoever. That is musicianship of a very high order, and it takes many years to achieve that level.

This comment, and your other comments, are some of the best music comments I've ever read, on fark, or anywhere else. You obviously have spent a lot of hours working hard on a craft that is decidedly painful and hard. Like you, I like Watson about as good as anyone, mostly for his clarity. I've never seen Clark play the guitar like this, it was just amazing - I always considered him a banjo player of the highest skill level. To play that flaminco stuff with a flat pick (although he is using his fingers in there a bit, and is some interesting ways) is simply amazing. He only makes a few mistakes, which for a guitar play playing that fast and complicated a piece is very hard. As I've said before (and been ridiculed), good guitar players are a dime a dozen. Clark is not a good guitar player, he is genuinely great. Frankly, he's putting Leo to shame here with a frigging flat pick.

If you're ever in the Fredericksburg, VA area give me a call.

jbtilley: Behold, the power of the sideburns. Maybe I'll grow mine out to see if it improves my playing.

/thought the guy was only good for providing ambiance music for fart-fence jokes

jedzxor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozWypBp2li4


Jerry Reed...the master

I think to draw the full power of the sideburns you need the polyester bell bottoms too.

bv2112: It's blocked here at work. Bummer.

bluesbox

Chet Atkins was indeed great. His album with Mark Knopfler is silly but great. I love me some Knopfler. Joe Bonamassa is also quite good. There is no shortage of great guitar players.

This one focuses mostly on Emmylou but it's got Chet and MArk Knopfler accompanying her

Link (new window)

beerun Exactly, however I've talked with some "sucessful" (not legendary) songwriters who wished they were better players..Of course Roy Clark is an great entertainer. I think we all agree there are 21st Century "entertainers" who are neither.

Always liked him.

bluesbox: I'd love to see a plugin for "Guitar Hero" that has Kottke's Vaseline Machine Gun

You'd have to invent a guitar hero controller that you can use a slide on.

Always like Roy. These farking hacks that play "country" today should take notes. Awesome, pure win. Thank you, subby. That made my morning a little better. :)

Not quite the same style as shown in the video, but i've always wanted to learn picking like Jerry Reed.

wolfzr2: Always like Roy. These farking hacks that play "country" today should take notes. Awesome, pure win. Thank you, subby. That made my morning a little better. :)

I always thought Marty Stuart one of those hacks (the hair and rhinestones turned me off quick) until I saw him play on a tribute to Johnny Cash

Link (with Bill Monroe)

The slap bit was awesome. He's like the father of Mayer and Bellamy's separate styles, except not at all.

Roy Clark shreds?

That was a pretty ham-fisted attempt at flamenco guitar. His picking was poor, lot's of dropped notes. The part at 2:20 odd where the audience started applauding was pretty cool, but the rest of it was gash.

Here's some Paco de Lucia to point you in the right direction.

La Barrosa (new window)

Oscar Lopez, motherfarkers. Saw him in Ottawa and blew us all away.

Another one of the world's great unheralded guitarists: Reverend Gary Davis. He's another player whose style seems rough and unfinished until you listen to it for awhile, and realize that he's actually a very sophisticated player. (Just listen to the chord changes in this song: it's not a standard I-IV-V progression -- watch his fretting hand.)

If you like guitar music and don't have Harlem Street Singer in your collection, you should feel bad.

"Are you happy, he played Bach for you". Great line :)

Bob Silver: Paco de Lucia

Yep, that's another great one. Paco is FANTASTIC.

Bob Silver: lot's of dropped notes

lots of dropped notes

Don't know how that got they're.

Shuggie Otis!

/Fade out!