FlaSoxxJim

Heck yeah, U of C is Nobel Central. Not like Berkley-calibre egg-headded, but their brain pans stack up to anybodys. And wtf, I fail half a class in a term and I'm an A-hole, but this Landau Bozo fails most of his class and he is a genius?!?

Yeah, those guys played some mean chess... er, um, wait...

McCartney and Brian Wilson would make my top 20 if I bothered to put it down. Ditto Elton John, Aaron Neville, Old-world Peter Cetera (back when the guys in Chicago still had penises), Simon and Garfunkle, David Crosby and Graham Nash... Tony Bennet is a crooner but I enjoy him. I saw this guy named Jason Mraz on Austin City Limits this weekend who I thought had a very mature vocal delivery for a young guy (gotta find some of his stuff). In a different style, I think teh same thing about Rufus Wainright.

With the two heads I assumed that was Zaphod. It's funny, because before I had even noticed your new avatar I just yesterday in the Knopfler thread referenced Hitchhiker and had to describe it to the unwashed masses (i.e., Brando ).

Here's some timely advice from our good friends at the Onion... Drinking Responsibly Over the Holidays The holiday season is a time to enjoy family dinners, office parties, and get-togethers with friends. Festive drinks and tasty punches often contribute to the holiday revelry, so here are some tips to help you celebrate sensibly: * If you are a woman, remember: Women are more sensitive to the effects of alcohol. If you are a man, remember: Women are more sensitive to the effects of alcohol. * Always drink from the bottle labeled "XXX." The bottle with the skull-and-crossbones on the front is poison. * Drinking alone is a telltale sign that you know better than to put up with anybody's bulls***. * Drinking more than seven nights a week is not just irresponsible, it's impossible. * If someone you know is too drunk to drive, demand that he let you have his car keys. If he refuses, pull out a gun and demand the car keys again. This also works with people who are not drunk, and whom you do not know. * Never drink with Tyler Schneeklov. * While standing in the middle of the road at 3 a.m. yelling expletives at your ex-girlfriend, wear light-colored clothing so motorists can see you. * Once you get married and have kids, stop drinking tons of whiskey and switch to drinking tons of wine. * Always re-cap your flask between swigs. This lengthens the amount of time between drinks. * Don't mix alcohol with stereotypes. If you are Irish, drink rum. If you are a pirate, drink whiskey. * Don't drink and drive. Disregard this if you happen to be one of those people who drive better drunk. * If you suddenly find yourself impaired by alcohol, prevent any social awkwardness by informing all those present that you profoundly love them, and that you never get this drunk. * Never use alcohol to escape feelings of failure and loneliness. Use Vicodin. * Before heading out to the office holiday party, tape a handcuff key to the inside of your watchband. Just trust us on this one.

Plant is in my personal favs list, but I left him off of technical merit. I put Steven Tyler in based on his vocal range which strangely enough seems to be improving as he ages. Anyone who doubts Elvis Costello has real vocal talent should check out the stuff he teamed up with Burt Bacharach on. Yeah, I think Aimie Mann is a great songwriter, quite Bacharach-influenced too, btw. Stevie's a great vocalist, you're right. Tom Jones, Neal Sedaka..... you know, all the fresh sounds the kids these days are digging

I’ll pass on giving you 20, but I’ll respond quickly any way. There would be a big difference in a list of my personal favorite vocalists and those who I objectively consider to have great pipes. I can appreciate Paul Rodgers, Steve Perry or Kevin Cronin as outstanding vocalists, but at the same time I was never a huge Bad Co., Journey, or REO fan. Similarly Roy Orbison, Brad Delp, Steven Tyler, Robert Palmer, Roger McGuinn, etc., need to be included in a technical-merit vocal category. Joni Mitchell and Janis Joplin would make the female cut. My current favorite femail vocalist/performer is Aimee Mann who I fell in love with listening to the stuff on "Bachelor No. 2" over and over. The male vocalist who I think has the most spectacular, make-you-cry voice is a traditional Irish vocalist named Andy Irvine. I swear I’ll never sing again every time I hear him. As a big fan of solo composer/artists I think the vocal idiosyncrasies of those people lends a lot to the performance of their own music. Andy Partridge, Todd Rundgren, Elvis Costello are favorites of mine, and I think their vocal abilities are top notch. But I also have a bias in that I think their compositions are great and they would suffer if sung by someone else.

With the location setting turned off it's hard to tell... Are you from PA, SuperSteve?

I remember getting my first guitar in second grade. The action was so bad on it and the strings so high on the bridge that strumming it without a pick was like rubbing your fingers across a cheese grater. Ouch.

LOL A double-slam at both PA the man and PA the state! Zing! Call him butter, baby, 'cuz he's on a roll.

The 'Marvel Cavalcade of Heroes' shows were great. The animation was sooo bad – basically pictures cut out of the comic books and zoomed across a background sometimes. I (sadly) can still recite the words to the theme songs for Cap, Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor, but the SubmarEEEEner theme escapes me. The animation was much better on the ralph Bakshi-produced Spider-Man series from just after that period, but they also tried to get away on the cheap whenever they could.

Fund thyself, mofo. I go into hock to fly in for a series or two each year (with my wife and kids in warm weather, the wimps!). If you weren't buying rings and crud for that girlfriend you'd have money to spend on the really important stuff too!

Originally Dastardly Dan and Muttly were chasing the pigeon and Penelope in "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop," and the running gag continued in the "Wacky Races," "Laff-A-Lympics," and similar Hanna-Barbarra 70s retreads. my favorite H-B show from that time was Hong Kong Fuey. Scatman Crothers was great as the voice of Hong Kong.

'Jimi' Hendrix, not 'Jimmy' Page. I like Page plenty though, as I said on the Zeppelin thread from a while back. I think he's about as important a figure in the British Blues-Rock revival as there is, and I think he was a great producer. I like Keith Richards a lot, great rythm guitarist and nice straightforward and lean lead lines when he takes them. But the great lead guitar from the Stones ca. 1969-1974 is mostly courtesy of ex-Mayall Bluesbreaker Mick Taylor, who replaced co-fonder Brian Jones when he died. Keith had a huge resect for Taylor, saying in the 90's, "..his touch, his tone, and his melodic ideas wowed me. I never understood why he left..." The album Black and Blue (1975) was really 2-dimensional compared to the previous several albims, and it's mostly due to Taylor's absence. Ron Wood was on half of that album, but I don't think he clicked with them until after that. Steve Vai... My favorite solo stuff of his is the first stuff, way before Passion and Warfare. Flex-Able, pretty much done at home with whoever dropped by while still doing Zappa's stunt guitar work is brilliant at times, rough around the edges, and doesn't take itself seriously. Rock drummers... Row do you know the guy knocking at your door is a drummer? Answer: the knocking speeds up. Answer 2: He never knows when to come in. My exceptions to the rule are the standard ones... Keith Moon, Neil Peirt (sp?), Charlie Watts as the king of steady, John Bonham and his qualude thunder . Some of the best rock drummers had jazz backgrounds... Mitch Mitchell (Hendrix Experience), Billy Cobham, Chester Thompson, Bill Bruford, etc.

Ok, you asked for it. Here’s my unqualified, wholly-debatable top 10 heavy hitters of the electric guitar. I’m taking a liberty in not limiting myself to hard rock/metal guitarists – more from my lack of interest in most of them than a sweeping dismissal of their talents. Indulge me and let me go back to the beginning of the electric guitar for this list. The commonality in all these guys is that they were innovators, though some were more influential than others. Charlie Christian. The beginning of electric guitar right here. Plus, the first true great jazz guitarist. Hats off to Les Paul, but Charlie did it first, did it leaner and did it meaner. Buddy Holly. The invention of the rock guitar-chord-solo is a wholly underappreciated thing. For shame. Dave Davies. OK, you could put Rick Derringer (McCoys-era) pr Jimmy Page (Yardbirds-era) in here just as easily. The rock guitar-chord-solo had to evolve some time, and these were just the guys to do it. Jimi. ‘nuff said. Only because it would take a whole thread just to scratch the surface of what he brought to the table. EC. May not be God, but comes close. Frank Zappa. Love or hate his politics, his abraisiveness, general Dadaist approach to music (I happen to love them), Frank was maybe the only rock guitarist who realized it’s all just one Big Note. Brain-straining polyrythms, complete disregard for keys and scales, leaving behind the pigeon-holing of musical styles, etc., ... and all very intentional. He knew the rules and broke them with abandon when he was at his best. Roy Buchanan/Danny Gatton. Placed together as guitar virtuosi too good for their own good, under-appreciated in their lifetimes, and sadly pushed to the point that they both thought taking their own lives was a viable alternative to languishing in obscurity. Check out the stuff they left behind. Steve Morse. If he ever cared to, I think he could be way more than the Dixie Dregs frontman. If for no reason other than to not lose a great axeman ala’ Buchanan/Gatton, everyone should hurry up and make Morse famous like he deserves to be. Eddie VH. I am not and never was a big Van Halen junkie, but credit where it’s due. Like a lot of people in this list, he did revolutionize the way a new generation approached the electric guitar. I never forgave him for stealing Val away from my teenage dreams, but seeing as he couldn’t make it work either I guess it’s time to make amends. I prefer early Steve Vai stuff for its ballsiness, and probably Satriani or Eric Johnson for melodic sensibility, but he was the Godfather of all the later-day guitar gymnasts. Adrian Belew. Get your hands on some. The common thread uniting Zappa, Talking Heads, Bowie, Laurie Anderson, King Crimson... All just a warmup for his solo stuff, which is so good it can make you cry. Lots of personal favorites I left out because I was trying to hit the most innovative of my preferred guitarists. Page, Beck, Townsend, George Harrison… etc. lots of sweet players.

RPS, thanks to you, Guido, and all guilty parties for broadcasting as you could the last two years. It seems Guido's taste in beer improved over time, and I hold out all faith that all your tastes in music will similarly improve given time. Just joking, you know. You all did a hell of a job and I think you had more of a following than you realized. You got me through many a weekend at the office with your uncensored takes on our favorite ballclub. Cheers!

In no particular order... No, you're right about Dizzy as the Bird-era Dizzy. Both he and Miles cut their be-bop teeth with Parker. I just used him as an example of someone who technically played his instrument 'wrong' as a :fyou to those who put technical matters above all else. His embouchure (mouth position) was laughable, with those bullfrog cheeks and all, but he was a great player in spite of that. My school-daze band directors would have kicked my arse if I played like that, but then again they're probably still teaching school band so whatever... Angus: Not a fan, except of his Eddie Munster wardrobe. I like very little of the repetitive drek AC/DC has churned out, and most of what I like is from the Bon Scott era. I'd probably keep "Whole Lotta Rosie" and chuck the rest. I was actually a replacement guitarist in a high school cover band that did a ton of AC/DC stuff, and it was a painful experiance to have to listen to/learn/play the stuff. Not hard, mind you, just a waste of time. Knopfler, up there ('really good-great' on your scale). Chet, WAY up there (off your scale). And I agree his contribution goes beyond his guitar playing. He's one of those musicians that seems to transcend generations and is probably one of the all-time "musicians' musicians."

Is your last name Wooten by any chance?

Man, I had you pegged for a closet sci-fi geek The late Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is a series of quirky (Pythonesque), very funny sci-fi books based on a BBC radio show of the same name from many years back. The first three books were riotously funny and near-perfect. The last two books (I actually think there's a 6th posthumous release I've not bothered with) are strained and much less inspired but they have their moments. As far as Chet's chops... someone earlier in the thread said he was arguably the best country guitarist out there. I only think that statement is wrong in that there is no argument – Chet is hardcore for sure. I 'discovered' Chet in high school accidentally when the movie Crossroads came out and I began searching out Ry Cooder's stuff. Some of the guitar cats at the music store I wasted much of my time at said I should check out Chet Atkins as well, and so I did. I have given up on 'rating' guitarists, but technically I think Chet is pretty impeccable. Mark's rock fingerpicking style is unique, but technical purists from both the classical and and rock world might fault him for the technical problems with (planting the thumb of his picking hand on the guitar, etc.). If that's the case, then screw technnical correctness (I mean, Dizzy Gilespie's embouchure was for s***, but the guy could wail). I'd sell a kidney (whos kidney I haven't decided yet...) to be half the player he is.

OK, here's my picks as of today (may change without notice): Romeo and Juliet Expresso Love Sultans of Swing Industrial Disease Love Over Gold Honorable mention to: Lady Writer and Once Upon a Time in the West. I enjoyed most of Brothers in Arms but MTV and pop radio did do their best to play most of it into the ground. The Atkins/Knopfler “Neck and Neck” album is outstanding. As far as Mark’s solo film stuff, I gotta go with the Princess Bride soundtrack stuff as my favorite. Either the 4th or 5th Hitchhiker's Guide book has a great rumination of Authur Dent's on Knopfler's guitar work, did a great job describing the fluidity of his playing.

Yes, dropping Sho was a no-brainer since we are now knee-deep in all the starting pitching we got from LA... Wait, you mean that didn't happen and we still have two slots to fill...? ...Nevermind.

You you won't find a Jose-hating post in here from me, though I know I'm in the minority. I wish we were paying him a million or so less this year, but that certainly is not the biggest waste on money on the team right now.

OK at best?!? "Two men say they're Jesus, one of them must be wrong." Great lyric. Here's to all the victims of Industrial Disease.

:fthecubs