JENNIFER NORTH'S TOP 09 GUITARISTS
Dec 30 '00 (Updated Jan 04 '01)
as of 12/30/00 10pm. I'm sure this will change in 10 minutes.
1. Joan Jett - she's been a symbol of all that rock'n'roll should be since she was 15 years old in the teen-girl rock band, the Runaways (with Lita Ford, Cherie Currie, and Sandy West). Joan Jett is her own adjective, do I really need to explain this one?
2. Nancy Wilson - okay, anything anyone ever talks about relates back to who they dated (or the rumors the Wilson sisters were into each other?!), feh! They're both living it up in the Lovemongers now but those Heart songs were the best.
3. Billy Childish - simplicity is key to pop and no one currently producing music has the grasp on "the winning formula". In the liner notes of In Blood (Wabana Records) an album recorded with Holly Go Lightly in 1999 Childish compared three-chord rock to having a McDonalds on every corner, "These so-called professionals have bought into their own lie and believe that they really are dangerous and pushing new boundaries, when really they are just media whores who haven't yet realised that more or less.". And with that said, the duo recorded the entire 12 track LP with one chord. Extreme, yes. But even under such restrained circumstances Billy shines. Classic records like Beach Bums Must Die (Crypt Records) and Heavens to Murgatroid! It's the Headcoats! (Sub Pop Records) display how Childish remains fresh and innovative throughout having released over EIGHTY full length albums.
4. Leadbelly - this man died in 1949 the fact his songs have survived this long is testament: 1. there is hope for the music industry and 2. how amazing these songs are (pssst.... kids! NIRVANA covered one of his songs!).
5. Kat Bjelland - Babes in Toyland must be one of the most under-appreciated rock bands of the 80's/90's, together for ten years probably in part to them signing with and subsequently being forgotten by Reprise records. This band had thundering drums, manic guitarwork, and a singer you couldn't forget if you gave yourself a lobotomy. But we are here to talk about guitarists. Kat's guitar style is similar to brushing your teeth with steel wool and flossing with a telephone cord coated in ether. It grates, it's shrill, and it's a thrill. This is the band me and my girlfriends would lock ourselves in our bedrooms and scream along to in school. Much to our parents and older siblings' disdain! I still get chills seeing Kat play. She also played in Katastrophy's Wife and Crunt with her then husbands.
6. Chuck Berry - "If you were going to give rock & roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'" -John Lennon. The man went to a federal prison for two years for driving an underage prostitute across state lines, s*** is f*****!
7. Radio Tragedy - one half of the Need. Radio co-wrote the Transfused, a rock opera that blew Olympia away for one week last summer. The Need have two records (The Need and The Need is Dead both on Chainsaw Records) and how can I describe them? Did you see that scene in "The Nightmare Before Christmas" when the mad scientist flips off the top of his skull and scratches his brain? It's kind of like doing that if you were rocking out at the same time.
8. Carol Kaye - The First Lady of Bass! This woman has had a huge part in many of the most important records in American music yet no one knows about her! Kaye was a studio musician for the Beach Boys, Phil Spector projects, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Sam Cooke, Ann-Maragret, Dick Dale, the Chipmunks, Pat Boone, the O'Jays, Wayne Newton, and a million others.
9. PJ Harvey - not so much for mass skill at the instrument but her ability to construct songs that work perfectly in tandem with her intense vocals and lyrics without ever being buried or overpowering. Listening to "4 Track Demos", the album she recorded alone in her house on (duh) a four track recorder, is still one her most moving records. The guitar work is sparse, understated, and at times flat out sloppy but next to her voice which at this point is raw, scathing, vulnerable, contemptuous, stunning. And if any part of it were changed slightly it would not have been such a perfect gem.
Other people I think rock: Angus Young, Jon Bon Jovi, Brian Wilson, Tommy Iommi, Keith Richards, John Fogerty, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, East Bay Ray, Steve Turner, Johnny Cash, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Randy Rhoads, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Lee Ranaldo, John O'Neill, Johnny Thunders, Johnny Ramone, B.B. King, Jack White, Erin Smith, Christina Billote, Viv Albertine, Tommy Orr, Kim Shattuck, Wanda Jackson, Loretta Lynn, Frank Black, Kim Deal, Julie Cafritz, Eddie Clark, Jessica Espeleta, and Sarah Utter.
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