Ken,

What yer saying is bang on the money.
I hope it kinda clarrified things for the Doc. smile

It's all about pigeon holing a group into a certain genre innit?  Personally I don't like to do that but find myself falling foul just the same.

It's like the argument I have with my mate ( who insists in putting everything in a genre) about AC/DC. He's adamant that they are a Heavy Metal band or a Hard Rock band at the least, whereas me, being the pedantic swine that I am, insist they are a Heavy Blues band just to annoy him!! lol

A wee side note on The Who, When I seen them at the SECC they came on stage and were met with a chorus of 'we are the Mods' from a section of the crowd, too which Roger replied 'We aint fackhin Mods!'  Cue an abrupt cesation of the 'chorus'. lol

The beauty of being born way after the event means I can flit quite happily from 'Mod' music into 'Rocker' music without having to change my parka or bike!! smile

Craig.

Ken,

I would say that The Who and The Kinks certainly turned out to be Rock bands, but they were most definetely Mods when they started out (check out their clobber at the time). Although in the case of The Who I think it's fair too say that they were more Mod when they performed as The Detours and The High Numbers, their manager at the time Kit Lambert (a prominenet Face at the time) probably exerting an influence over them to adopt Mod fashions etc.  As they matured musically they certainly left there Mod roots for Rock, no question there.

Other acts around at the time that Mods were into would include groups like The Small Faces and The Animals. In the case of The Small Faces, they took their name for Mod parlance at the time; 'Faces' being the trend setters with 'Tickets' being merely followers of the fashion.

Mods were definetley the classier dressers of the two factions.

At the time (in the early to mid 60's) Mods were into various styles of music, most notably Soul and Blues ( or was that just the pills?? lol). Rockers, although certainly being fans of Zep, Sabbath etc were, in the beggining anyway, into acts like Gene Vincent, Elvis and the like.

Like you say, Quadrophenia (a terrific film) gives a pretty good account of the rivalvry between the two factions.

A better way of clarifiying the two would be to say (imo at least) that Rockers were greasy, dirty and smelled. Whereas Mods were super cool, clean and didn't smell!!!! lol wink

Mod; clean living under difficult circumstances.


Craig.

Trying too stick with modern and relatively new guitarists I would say the following 3 are amongst the best around today;

John Frusciante.

Jack White.

Matt Bellamy.

As for all time greats? Quite a few of the aforementioned obviously. And, I'd include guys like;

Peter Green.

Ritchie Blackmore.

Mick Ronson.

Pete Townshend. (naturally). smile

The geezer from The Stooges who's name escapes me at the moment.

Tony Iommi.

John Squire.

Ronnie Wood.

Paul Simon.

Robbie Krieger.

These might not be the most technically proficient guitarists around, they might not even make most folks top 100. But, for me, what makes a great guitarist is whether or not the sound reaching my eardrums can shift my mood around, make me play an 'Air guitar solo' out of the blue or indeed, most importantly, make me lift PJ out of her stand and strangle a few chords out of her.
Every last one I've mentioned can do that. smile

Craig.

79

(37 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Amy MacDonald.

Her album, This Is The Life, is a damned good one. Although it's more or less a strum along, not too many distinguished guitar parts, it's certainly worth a listen.

Craig.

80

(2 replies, posted in Bands and artists)

Ooooooh, great link. Thanx for that one James.

Some cracking bands on it by the looks of it. Not the usual, Clash, Pistols a few American garage bands and a brief mention of the Damned here. It looks a good un. smile:)

I hope it hits the cinema over here, if not the DVD will be straight to the top of my 'must buy' list. smile

Craig.

81

(41 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Spotted this letter in Guitarist magazine....

Dear Abby, I think my wife is cheating on me. I'm a working musician and travel a lot, and recently strange things have been happening when I get home. Her mobile rings and she steps outside too answer it or she says ' I'll call you back later'.

Sometimes she goes out with friends and comes home late, getting dropped off around the corner! I once picked up the extension while she was on the phone and she got very angry.

A mate of mine plays guitar in a band. he told me that my wife and some guy have been to his gigs. He wanted to borrow my amp. Thats when I got the idea to find out what was really going on.  I said that he could use the amp but I wanted to hide behind it at the gig and see who she comes in with. He agreed.
Saturday night came and I slipped behind the half stack to get a good view of the crowd. I could feel the heat from the back of the amp. Crouching down behind my Marshall, I noticed one of the power stage valves wasn't glowing as brightly as the others.

Is this something I can fix myself, or do I need to take it to a technician?

Very concerned, Norwich.

lol

Craig.

82

(29 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Everyone knows it's about a 24 hour check in Hotel named California with a dodgy door and windows that don't open!  'enter any time ye like, but ye can never leave!' wink

Craig.

83

(3 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

My 20 year old Nephew called the other night saying he's wanting to learn guitar. The problem is there doesn't seem to be any tutors in his area although I'm still looking for one for him.

In the meantime I've told him that I'm more than happy to show him some basics to get him up and running. The only problem is, I haven't got a clue where to start!
Should I give him some easy scales and some open chords? How many to start of with? Should I give him some easy melodys to play?

Any advice on how to get him up and running and what I should be showing him will be greatly appreciated.

If it's any help he's into some of the music I'm into, Kasabian, Kings Of Leon, Libertines etc.

Thanks,


Craig.

84

(6 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Not really a fan of SRV so I'm gonna come down on the side of Jimmi here.
I agree with the comment that if you pour enough of yourself into a song you make it your own. 

However, I am bemused by the Pele, Beckham analogy........Beckham shouldn't even be mentioned on the same day as Pele....never mind in the same breath!! lol 


Craig. smile

An interesting subject this one. Personally I was kinda sceptical about the whole backmasking scenario until I stumbled upon this site,

http://jeffmilner.com/backmasking.htm

One or two of the tracks are pretty neat, you can listen too them forwards then backwards. Theres only around a dozen songs, but its worth a peek too see what you think about it. smile

Craig.

No particular order, also some songs might be classed as Oi and maybe strictly not Punk, but it's all good.

Dead Kennedys - Holiday In Cambodia.
Sex Pistols - Bodies.
SLF - Wasted Life.
The Clash - White Man (in Hammersmith Palais)
The Blood - Mesrine.
The Exploited - Jimmy Boyle.
Peter And The Test Tube Babies - Transvestite.
The Damned - Smash It Up.
SLF - Tinderbox.
UK Subs - Stranglehold.
Iggy & The Stooges - Search And Destroy.

Hmmm, thats eleven aint it......I could go on and on, but it's only a top ten. BAH!! sad 

smile
Craig.

87

(19 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

I was never much of a fan of Pink Floyd up untill about 5 years ago. Sure, I liked one or two of their songs but could never really get into them in a big way.
Now, I've got almost all of their albums!

My favourites do tend to change from time to time, I love the psychedelic sound on some of the 'Piper' tracks but at the moment it wouldn't make my top three. They would be;

1.The Wall.
2.Wish You Were Here
3. Dark Side Of The Moon.

Craig.

88

(8 replies, posted in About Chordie)

PMSL @ Cyberturd.   

James, I don't think they do introduce themselves at social functions........dont you need an invite to attend them??  wink

Craig.

P.S  Keep up the good work. smile

89

(3 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Just got back from T in the park and I'm now starting too detox! Saw some terrific bands; Kasabian and Kings of Leon undoubtedely being the highlight for me. Why they weren't both on the main stage too close the festival is beyond me, No doubt lots of peeps like the Scissor Sisters and Snooze (Snow) Patrol, but come off it they are hardly headline acts imo.

Are any fellow chordians planning too attend a festival or have you already been? What were the highlights for you? And did you think someone else should have been the headline act instead of the one that was chosen?

Craig.

90

(2 replies, posted in Electric)

Stuart Adamson of The Skids and Big Country used one a lot. Terrific sound from it.

I think its kinda like an electronic slide and you just run it up and down the board while your playing.

Craig.

91

(9 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Welcome to Chordie Zurf, all the way from sunny *cough* Scotland.

You'll find that most (if not all) of your questions, should you have any will be answered by fellow Chordians. And I'll stick my neck out and say you'll receive a wealth of helpfull info in all the replies.

Craig.

I like the Chilis a helluva lot, not my absolute favourite band all the same. That award goes to The Who...or The Clash...sometimes SLF, then again the Stone Roses are always there or there abouts. smile


Craig.

Tina Weymouth??

94

(6 replies, posted in Acoustic)

The way I commit the lyrics too memory it is by listening to the song over and over and learning one verse at a time.  I dont think there's any other way tbh.

As for the chords?  I have the same problem myself. Again, I'd just stick at memorising one small section at a time, building them up one section at a time untill you're not even thinking about what you're playing at all.


Craig.

95

(36 replies, posted in Bands and artists)

My fave has got to be ME playing the solo on Californication - RHCP. :L 

I'd agree with arkadys choice of Crossroads most days, other days I'd pick Badge or Strange Brew. smile


Craig.

Have too say I don't have a problem with this. Mind you, I don't watch much TV as a rule. It's kinda neat when you do hear something that you maybe haven't heard for a while though. So I guess if it happens to be on TV advert then I'm kinda cool with it. smile


Craig.

97

(30 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Never quite made it too band name status, but The Damned were very nearly called; Mike Hunts Honourable Discharge. It's a good job Chrissie Hynde never got away with giving them their name!

Run the words together and you get the idea. :L

Peter and The Test Tube Babies.

Joy Division. Named after the prostitution wing of a concentration camp. 


Craig.

I actually stood with Simons son watching The Who at T in the Park last year....well, he said he was his son and had all the passes etc so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Whether it was or not I'll never know, but he was a sound bloke anyways. smile
 
What you've just posted was more or less the conversation we had. I wanted to know how Pete could manage to hit all them chords and still windmill his arms about.  Simon does indeed keep the basic shape of the song while Pete entertains the crowd.  Mind you, Pete Townsend has nothing too prove as a guitarist imo, as you rightly say he was amazing.


As for Live at Leeds.  This IS the best Live album ever....no doubts in my mind at all. The remastered version is nowhere near as good as the original album though. They kept all the drop outs and feedback in the original recording, but dropped them from the remaster. I think I'm correct in saying that it's the only live album with absolutely no overdubs or tinkering with. What you hear is exactly what the crowd heard. 

In fact, you've just put me in the mood to go and give Young Mans Blues a blast. Cheers. wink

They were fantastic last night. I never tire of listening too/ watching The Who.

Craig.

99

(14 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

One of my favourite songwriters is Paul Weller. He has an uncanny knack of putting social commentary into words that speak volumes on whats going on around him(particularly ib his days with The Jam). 
Another one from the same mould is Jake Burns of SLF, listen too the lyrics on songs like Wasted Life or At The Edge. Pure genius imo. smile

Craig.

Invest whatever you can comfortably afford.

Remember that the 2 Grand guitar of your dreams wont make you sound any better than a beat up number at a fraction of the cost to begin with though.  So start with a cheapish one. Once you get that sounding sweet move onto something better.

I wouldn't know what to go for as a starter tbh, but I've heard Yamaha are pretty good value in the 'less than £200' bracket if it's an acoustic your after.  As for electric, I got a Mexican Strat thats proved to be good value for money. 

Craig.