Listing the greatest guitarists or greatest singers or such seems just too broad to get the best results. For something more narrowly focused, let's look at individual songs with the greatest rhythm guitar parts.
Looking to tease out the best rhythm guitar performances leads to some consideration of what even constitutes "rhythm guitar." Some of the stuff is not strictly chords, but riffs or some of both. You'll see.
Some of the best guitar work, especially rhythm guitar parts, don't obviously dominate the song. A good example of this is "Sign O the Times." The guitar part is so sparse and understated, but so precise that the whole song doesn't quite make sense without it.
Another problem: I have trouble picking out a good rhythm guitar performance to represent some of the biggest guitar hotshots. What Jimi Hendrix song would you pick out to represent him playing "rhythm guitar"? Likewise for Jimmy Page.
Ah, well, we do the best we can. To that end, then, here are the official, 100% objective Al-picked greatest rhythm guitar performances of the rock era:
1) "Love and Happiness" John Mellencamp - Strictly on the basis of the rhythm guitar, no song in the rock tradition lays out a more perfectly dramatic presence than this lesser known Mellencamp classic.
2) "Maybellene" Chuck Berry - If you had to pick out one musician as the main architect of rock and roll, it would have to be Uncle Chuck. In this first single, he defined the basic jumped up blues guitar rhythms that were the original DOS programming of generations of musicians.
3) "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" - James Brown This record pretty much invented funk as we know it today, including a new conception of guitar rhythms.
4) "Black Betty" Ram Jam - This studio concoction managed to take a Leadbelly song, and turn it into ultra heavy metal and sheer joyous bubblegum all at the same time. The jumping chord figures turn this into a lead rhythm guitar. This is definitely one of the more awesome rock records ever.
5) "Mystery Train" Elvis Presley - This early Sun record defined the jumpin' country side of the early rock equation.
6) "You Really Got Me" The Kinks - Along with the even slightly better "All Day and All of the Night," these two chords were not just career makers for the band, but one of the main beginning points of power pop and even heavy metal.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - TDavid
Al, no Sabbath Paranoid?
2 - Eric Lindholm
Damn - "Detox Mansion"? That takes me back. Good list.
3 - Eric Olsen
Excellent list Al, kind of overwhelming. About my only issues would be the rhythm guitar on "Easy to Slip" by far blows away "Apolitical" as far as Little Feat songs go, as does "Fat Man In the Bathtub" or even "Willin'" for that matter.
And how could you leave off your man Elvis on "What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding?" - a classic hard-strumming slice of heaven, not terribly unlike your mention of Bram.
Two arpeggio-based guitar parts I love are "Couldn't I Just Tell You" by Todd Rundgren from Something/Anything, and "Can't Stop Pretending" by Artful Dodger from around the same time.
Oh, and I really hate "Black Betty," but dude, you came up with some great ones, all over the map stylistically too.
Killer
4 - Greg
not Jack Black... Jack White! :)
5 - Suzanne
Nice list. I would have included the Beatles - I'm Looking Through You.
6 - Mark Saleski
for Elvis Costello fun-tunes-to-play-on-guitar i'd have to add "Mystery Dance".
three chords....loads 'o fun.
7 - Johno
Al.... wonderful. And unassailable.
But... can't... resist:
"Crosstown Traffic": Jimi Hendrix (doubling the piano! Sweet!)
"Cold Shot": Stevie Ray Vaughan (tight!)
"Ain't Talking 'bout Love": Van Halen (that touch!)
"Walk This Way": Aerosmith
"Garbage Man": The Cramps (Poison Ivy Rorschach: trashier than Traci Lords' and Heidi Fleiss' drug dealers, yet somehow majestic.)
"Folsom Prison Blues": Johnny Cash, guitar by Luther Perkins(Live at San Quentin version)
"Pour Some Sugar On Me": Def Leppard (studio trickery never sounded so damn good)
"Under The Bridge": Red Hot Chili Peppers (in the period between maturity and balladeering, John Frusciante has rewritten the textbook on rhythm guitar. Why is this man not venerated by millions every week?)
And, Al, THANK YOU for acknowledging the glory that is the guitar of Prince.
8 - Eric Olsen
Al, I imagine I published it inadvertently - every day there are posts left accidentally in draft and I jsut publish them without thinking much about it. Sorry about that.
9 - ClubhouseCancer
Johno:
Luther's performance on San Quentin is particularly miraculous, considering he died 6 months before the album was recorded.
The stellar work is by Al Casey.
10 - Johno
CC-
Ouch! You are correct, sir! My mistake is particularly egregious considering that Johnny gives a little memorial to the dear departed Luther during the show.
Well, Al Casey sure is good too.
11 - BB
Great list Al but I would have also included the Beatles 'Helter-Skelter'. In fact I can think of numerous John Lennon licks to add, so much so that he would have dominated this list. He was the finest rhythm guitarist - ever (in my opinion, may if be forever humble
12 - Al Barger
Yeah, "Helter Skelter" kicks ass. There are definitely a lot of possible Lennon/Beatles choices. You could come up with an all Beatles Top 50 Guitar Songs.
Don't tempt me...
13 - BB
Ok Al you've been officially tempted so go for it! And while you're at it how 'bout an all time greatest solos?
14 - JackSquiat
hey man what do you meen rhythm guitar songs? Half those bands don't have rhythms guitarist????
15 - Al Barger
Well SOMEBODY is playing guitar on all them tracks, though you might argue some over what constitutes "rhythm" versus "lead" guitar, particularly including basic riffs, such as "Satisfaction" or Roger McGuinn's classic 12-string figures.
Got any better ideas, hotshot?
16 - Douglas Mays
Gloria by Them (Van Morrison). That one counts, don't it?
17 - Al Barger
Hadn't thought of that one, Douglas. Good one.
I don't have enough Dylan, though. The list could use some "Tombstone Blues" for one.
18 - Douglas Mays
Thanx Al. So one that just popped into my head. On the debut Aerosmith record (Dream On) there is a track called "One Way Street". I dig it. The guitar rhythms have a nice swing. Oh gosh, I could turn into a mindbomb of candidates for this catagory. Great list you've come up with.
19 - HW Saxton Jr.
Greatest Rhythm Guitar Songs? hmmmm.....
Buddy Holly - "Peggy Sue"
Bobby Fuller - "I Fought The Law"
Velvet Underground- "Rock N Roll"(from: The Velvet Underground - "Live 1969")
Modern Lovers - "She Cracked"
Rolling Stones -"Brown Sugar"
The Who -"I Can See For Miles"
anything by Bo Diddley!!!
20 - duane
This is one of those categories that Bill Murray during SNL days would have dismissed with a "Who really cares, anyway?" It's a nice list, Al, but it's really impossible. It's like having a list of The Most Beautiful Women of the 20th Century. There are about 1,000 contenders, if you could only remember all of them. And then my friend Bob's Aunt Vicki was better looking than 500 of those, but she's not famous, so I can't put her on the list.
A hell of a job, though, Al.
I noticed that Smoke on the Water was on the list, which made me wonder what you meant by "greatest," since, although a big hit for Deep Purple, does little to evoke greatness. I dunno. And Nugent -- nah. Kid stuff.
I know Jeff Beck does the backing guitar on Rod Stewart's "Infatuation," which is one of the meatiest rhythm guitar parts I've heard. Clapton's work on "Crossroads, "Badge," and "Let it Rain" is vurrry nice. Page on "Royal Orleans" is very busy funky precision. And "Battle of Nevermore" --- mmmm. If you wanna know, Tom Fogerty's part on "Born on the Bayou" makes the song what it is. John's part is more obvious, but Tom gives it all its flavor.
I agree with Johnno's "Cold Shot." I just have to grit my teeth every time I hear that. Good call. "Cinnamon Girl." Yeah, that's good. I think "Bitch" by the Stones has the coolest guitar riff.
21 - Douglas Mays
Of course, this is an impossible catagory to even narrow down to the top 1000. We can only provide excellent examples. For instance, me being from Seattle (an old punk who is hip to the killer scene here before the grunge thing) I would suggest almost anything by a Seattle band called X-15. 'No Regard', 'Mad Again', 'Fog' are amazing. Portland, OR had a band called Napalm Beach. I remember the songs 'Angels Ride' and 'Pox On You'. Both bands highly skilled players and writers. The True Believers from Austin, TX had a song called 'Hard Road' that kicked.
Anyway, more fine examples.
22 - Douglas Mays
Oh gosh, you got me goin'. I place a vote for 'Waiting for Madge' off the Fleetwood Mac 'Then Play On' album (Peter Green days) and one for 'Two Headed Man' by Lonnie Brooks, the version off the 'Live In Chicago' album.
I just found this article this morning and I'll try to stop with suggestions.
23 - Al Barger
No Douglas, please do not stop with the suggestions. I'ma be burning up Kazaa hunting down some of these suggestions. Maybe you could expound on them, a paragraph on what's so hot about them.
24 - Shark
Big Al listens to PRINCE?!
Wow. Al's not only a neo-confederate racist slave owning woman beatin' baby eater...
But he's gay!
Who'd a thunk it.
Fun list, guys. Thanks for the memories! (Not often you'll see the words "Peter Green days" anywhere!)
I would add:
any song by The Old 97s
" " by Steve Earle
25 - Eric Olsen
Other than his peculiar deification of Elvis Costello, Al has extremely acute and varied musical taste.
Prince rules.