Most distinctive? Undoubtedly Chuck Berry! No-one can play quite like him (sorry Keith), bad notes & all!

Everybody knows that the stones I love are those of the wood era (and of the early brian era).

And to a certain extent I agree with Spud and Majesty.

But I also believe that MT, musically speaking, always needed a strong kick in his ass to work well, and that it is not by chance that the best music I've heard him play was when he was with the stones and dylan.

For me, during those relatively short parenthesis of his career he played like a god. What came out of his gibson was absolutely incredible. The way he developed his solos, his tone, the choice of notes, everything was absolutely superb. From this point of view, I believe MT in those years had no rivals. People like Beck, Page, McLaughlin, even Alvin Lee were all, for me, more complete musicians and overall better guitarists, but none of them has ever played the way Taylor did in those years.

C

Musicianship is some much more, deeper, bigger and more synergical
than speaking of "good" and "nest"; Taylors greatness came out of
the creative context. But it also nearly killed him.
Human-wise, he couldnt have continued; he was (is?) too much of a lone ranger.

Distinctiveness to me means readily identifiable. Distinctive guitarists will have at least one thing that when somebody hears it they will recognise the player.
Some particularly distinctive players:

Chuck Berry - double stops
B.B.King - wicked vibrato
Albert King - the way he bends notes (his guitar is strung upside down so when he bends a note he doesn't push the string up but rather pulls it down)
Albert Collins - the way he plucks the strings

When I hear slide played by MT, I know it is him even if I haven't heard the song before. Nobody quite plays slide like Mick. Also, the way he blends major and minor scale sets him apart from most guitarists.

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with sssoul
>> MT is a great player and very recognisable to those in the know <<

like a lot of people i recognize Keith's playing from miles away - all those guest spots on other people's albums,
and it don't take but one listen and your whole nervous system goes "hark!" the moment he comes in.
is that because he's so distinctive or because i know his playing so well that it's tattooed on my psyche for permanent?
probably both.

Ditto that, It's not just the signature licks and tone, it's the unique timing and "swing" that Keith can impart to even the straightest of time signatures.

I don't think he's an especially distinctive player, honestly. To me his most obvious quality is his "lyrical" style with hammer-ons and pull-offs, connecting notes, sliding up and down the fretboard, etc. But this doesn't really set him apart as a distinctive player because many other players utilized the very same techniques (Jimi Hendrix for example). My guess is, that his personal style seemed much more distinctive when he was with the Stones. Because then his playing was very different from the rest of the band (Keith in particular) and their musical approach.

If you listen to his solos on live versions of songs like Tumbling Dice (1972/73) or Live With Me / Stray Cat Blues (1970) there's a distinctive difference between the hard rocking band and his lyrical fretwork.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2008-08-08 17:52 by Greenblues.

Quote
terraplane
Distinctiveness to me means readily identifiable. Distinctive guitarists will have at least one thing that when somebody hears it they will recognise the player.
Some particularly distinctive players:

Chuck Berry - double stops
B.B.King - wicked vibrato
Albert King - the way he bends notes (his guitar is strung upside down so when he bends a note he doesn't push the string up but rather pulls it down)
Albert Collins - the way he plucks the strings

When I hear slide played by MT, I know it is him even if I haven't heard the song before. Nobody quite plays slide like Mick. Also, the way he blends major and minor scale sets him apart from most guitarists.

Another blues player who was (is?) particularly distinctive is Hubert Sumlin, Howlin' Wolf's guitarist.

Always loved Mick T, alway will.

Yes, he is. But its very subjective, as you recognize who you listen to. I can always tell Keith, Hendrix, Green, Harrison, Taylor, Kaukonen, BB King, Albert King, Jimmy Vaughn, Stevie Vaughn, etc.

If you know their work, you can pick them out. Damn, I going to listen to some Steve Marriott this afters! Four Day Creep!

JR

Quote
terraplane
Distinctiveness to me means readily identifiable. Distinctive guitarists will have at least one thing that when somebody hears it they will recognise the player.
Some particularly distinctive players:

Chuck Berry - double stops
B.B.King - wicked vibrato
Albert King - the way he bends notes (his guitar is strung upside down so when he bends a note he doesn't push the string up but rather pulls it down)
Albert Collins - the way he plucks the strings

When I hear slide played by MT, I know it is him even if I haven't heard the song before. Nobody quite plays slide like Mick. Also, the way he blends major and minor scale sets him apart from most guitarists.

......exactly, "distinctive" means recognizable, or "readily identifiable" as terraplane said. Given that, I have to agree with jamesfdouglas that to me Jerry Garcia is (was) the most distinctive guitarist. Of course this is all subjective.

There's so many.. Clapton you can hear from a mile.. Knopfler too.. how about Yngwie Malmsteen, BB King, Steve Vai, the list is endless. Every good guitar player is instantly recognizable as themselves: that's what makes 'em so cool.

Simon
myspace.com/koningsimon

yep.
__________________

been listening to 'happy birthday nicky' boot from sydney 73...1973, for completeists...i'm pumping on disc 2 of that set; cut 3 "rocks off"
it's just out of this world amazing what these guys are doing together on their guitars. it's brilliant and it's heartfelt and it's alive and coming alive right in front of you. keith's sound is HUGE...perfeck man...thank you nicky. r.i.p.
taylors counterpoints and accompaniement are mind blowing...it weaves mon, it full on weaves together, tho the parts are more distinct...irony.

man, i am digging this so much. Gawd, if they opened the vaults they'd remaster this and ruin it somehow...or remix it or screw it up somehow i'm sure (being of the sonic police) ...(tho i would of course be very interested in seeing some 'official' product, raw mixed and rolling, of the '72/73 stuff...wyman is losing his mind on this 'rocks off' version; somewhere about a third in he starts banging on his bass like he's a one man wrecking crew...this shit SO alive and in the minute, the second...
blow you totally away music.
alright Stones.

taylor was a killer right from the start, pre-Stones...just full of sweet deep soul...'plays like an angel' (or something similar was Keith's reaction)... He's the same as any of the founding fathers, or current actual Stones, to me in my heart...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-08-09 11:11 by Beelyboy.

.....From this point of view, I believe MT in those years had no rivals. People like Beck, Page, McLaughlin, even Alvin Lee were all, for me, more complete musicians and overall better guitarists, but none of them has ever played the way Taylor did in those years. [liddas]

Taylor was great and still is ,I agree, but reffering to Beck and mc Laughlin I would say Taylor doesn't play like them,as far as feeling and craftsmenship is involved.

I saw Jeff Beck, Taylor and mcLaughlin playing the blues..I don't believe they are rivals in any way.

IMO, Mick Taylor is much more distinct and recognisable than Clapton and lots of other guitarists.

His style is not standard british blues, because he has longer runs and bends than, for instance Green and Clapton, and Taylor often mixes different music styles in his blues.

Mick Taylor is great. But most distinctive? I vote for Carlos Santana.

yeh carlos too; the first few albums were just an amazing roar; his playing is so emotional.... and he does have his own distinct tone...
beck comes to mind immediately also...but thinking taylor tonite.

I know its not everyones cup of tea, but Brian May is totally recognisable.

He may qualify as a guitar player's guitar player, if you know what I mean. My guitar playing music buddies are always telling me this and that about Taylor's playing, why it is unique, how he goes there and everyone else would do this, how he sets up his hands...stuff like that. All of that does not necessarily translate for greater enjoyment by the mass audience, but I find it interesting nonetheless.

The last time I saw L&G in a movie theater was at the ol' Fox Venice in the late '70's. It was before I heard boots and my exposure to Taylor was from the releases and three impressive live performances. I remember saying at the time that he was probably too slick a player for that band. Not sure if in fact that is true, but we'll never know now.

Eddie Van Halen is very easy to recognize, but he is far from the best IMHO.

Not easy to answer....I actually think Keith's rhythm style is more distinctive a guitar sound than Mick Taylor's blues based leads. You can make an argument that Taylor may be one of the best of the British blues based players, but taken out of the context of the Stones I'm not sure I could tell the difference between a Taylor or Peter Green?

I think Mick Taylor lent an extremely distinctive sound to the Rolling Stones that even the current Stones understand cannot be achieved without his playing.

He Is A Beautiful Player.At Times His Playing Reminds Me Of The Early Morning.. Just When The Birds Are Starting To Sing And The Earth Prepares For Another Day



Charlie

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letitloose
I know its not everyones cup of tea, but Brian May is totally recognisable.

I fully agree. Another one is Marc Ribot.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-08-10 07:53 by Koen.

i would say no..and i love mick taylor.....

gabor szabo comes to mind

I'd have to say yes, if the word distinctive means what I think it does:

1. As a quality of being worthy--a man of some distinction--yes. MT fits it
2. At the level of attaining special honor or recognition--graduate with distinction--yes MT fits the definition
3. At the level of an accomplishment that set one apart--the distinction of playing and contributing to efforts of the greatest band at the height of their recording and live performance powers--yes MT fits the definition.

But at the level of does MT have a distinctive sound (which is a distinctly different question), my answer is not so much. Moreover, I've heard him imitate the distinctive sounds of others--Muddy Waters, Albert King, eg--in such a way that Taylor disappeared and only the imitation seemed to come through.

>> if the word distinctive means what I think it does <<

"distinctive" means easily recognized, for example due to individuality of style.
the features you listed are more like the meaning of "distinguished"

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with sssoul
"distinctive" means easily recognized, for example due to individuality of style.
the features you listed are more like the meaning of "distinguished"

Yes, it does mean that, but it doesn't just mean that. A man or woman of distinction is a person of quality or character (most often), but not necessarily of uniqueness or individuality. That is there distinct doesn't singularly mean characteristically unique or recognizably different as most posts here are suggesting; the term has other meanings as well.

but "of distinction" and "distinctive" are two different terms, with two different meanings.
"distinctive" really does mean readily recognizable. have some popcorn, though



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-08-10 18:30 by with sssoul.

I never realized that they were different terms, thanks Webster.

But now that you mention it, yeah. Cool! I find hat it's also worth noticing that one of the meanings of distinctive--which is one of those silly words that has more than one meaning--is "giving style or distinction," which in its own crazy way leads one from the one term (distinctive) right to the other term (distinction) . . . which leads to Mick Taylor, man of distinction.

But his sound is not distinct.

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camper88
I've heard him imitate the distinctive sounds of others--Muddy Waters, Albert King, eg--in such a way that Taylor disappeared and only the imitation seemed to come through.

One of the reasons I keep listening is because he has such a distinct style and sound despite covering ground that has been walked by others.

Consider two types of distinction. First, does his sound differ from those who influenced him? In going back to his beginnings, his guitar for Pretty Woman is clearly inspired by but sounds little like Albert King's version. His work on Driving Sideways (for me) obliterates Freddie King's version. (Compare Clapton's version of Hideaway, which does not--for me--add much to what King said a few years earlier.) A second type of distinction is whether one can pick him out in a "crowd". For example, his sound has often been compared to Santana's. On the Dylan tour, however, it is quite easy to pick out the soulful, improvisational, authorative sounds of Taylor, as compared to the (in my mind) oddly rhythmed note flurries of Santana. It's not just that his lines are more fluid or his rhythm more precise. There is a style to the phrasing that makes him readily discernible.

Is it completely distinctive so that it can be identified 100% of the time? No. For example, there apparently remains a dispute over who plays the lead in DF. Perhaps with sssoul's hark and tatoo can resolve the issue finally.

In the end though, why does it matter who is among the most distinctive? It is important for a guitarist trying to distinguish himself (or herself) from the thousands seeking an audience to be distinctive. And a guitarist's distinction is an obvious point of attraction and may allow you to articulate what you like or dislike about a guitarist. But ultimately isn't the issue whether you like or don't like what he plays? If Keith Levene is distinctive, but you don't care for his playing, then what is the value of his distinctiveness? If Johnny Thunders can be imitated by hundreds of others, do you like him less because of it?