Beatles Remastered. This remastered collection is AMAZING. Buy it if you like music.
No group was ever half as good as the Beatles. The best proof is to take an early song from their Please, Please Me album, e.g. Long Tall Sally and ask any other group of four individuals to play it. Give them two guitars (say a Gretsch Country Gentleman and a Rickenbacker 325) an electric Hofner bass, and a Ludwig drum set. Allow them one year to practice. Offer them $10 million if they can match or beat the sound. No one can do it. Impossible. The Beatles were not only the best songwriters, they were the best performing band ever seen on this planet. The only artist who ever lived who could outperform the Beatles in straight rock and roll was the founder of Rock and Roll himself, Richard Wayne Penniman, Little Richard. (Well perhaps the founder of Rock and Roll was really Ike Turner. I see it as a tie. Ike Turner is one of the best and Rocket 88 is probably the first Rock and Roll record ever.) Here is his Long Tall Sally Here are a few more. Taxman (a cool fact about Taxman isthat it has perhaps the best guitar solo of the 1960s - better than Hendrix, Clapton, etc. Listen to it. But the player was not George but Paul! Paul is perhaps the most stylish guitar player of 60s rock.
Elvis should never be forgotten. For the sake of comparison, here is his Long Tall Sally. Hound Dog (I watched this on tv when I was 5 years old. Still remember my grandmother jumping to the music.) Well, we all know about Elvis.
The US is in my opinion (of course) responsible for three basic music forms - gospel, blues, and bluegrass (every country has its own folk music). Country & Western, Jazz, and Rock n' Roll are derivatives, though important ones! Here are a couple of my favorite artists in each major category (I will change these from time to time - this is by no means exhaustive).
Mahalia Jackson; Blind Boys of Alabama
McKinley Morganfield (Muddy Waters)
Chester Arthur Burnett (Howlin' Wolf)
Sam (Lightnin') Hopkins (I played on the same stage with Lightnin' at the Bifrost Bridge in San Diego in 1968. We met at the urinal in the men's room. I was 17. I said 'You play real good, man.' He replied 'Thanks, kid.' Words burned in my brain.
Jerry Douglas (is there is a more beautiful instrument than the dobro (resophonic guitar)?)
Mark O'Connor. Mark is also one of the best guitar players around, one of the best mandolin players, and a great skateboarder. Perhaps the greatest to ever put bow to strings in the US.
Del McCoury: I met Del in Pittsburgh and we talked for a while. He is one of the nicest and most talented people you'll ever find.
Check out these Yardbirds songs. I saw the Yardbirds (with Beck) in El Centro, California in 1965 at a dance for FIFTY people at the Barbara Worth Country Club. They played all these songs and many more. Train kept a rollin; I'm not talkin; Heart Full of Soul. The Yardbirds eventually became Led Zepplin.
You should know The Zombies? Listen to 1, 2, and 3.
My current favorite guitar player is Tommy Emmanuel. Here is a sample of Tommy picking.
Check out Zeca Pagodinho. Or Luis Gonzaga! Or Milionario and Jose Rico. Or Joao Bosco. Or my favorite - Toquinho.
See something of the musical career of one of my former band-members (and best friend in the 60s), a Gold and Platinum record seller, Jim Patton .
