tolo wrote:Without being too sure of what defines 'cool' - I think we all have our (widely differing) opinions there...enough to render the concept immaterial / undefinable for me... I would rather focus on 'relevance' and 'impact'.
My own contribution in this weighty debate comes from an experience I had only a year and a half ago in a G3 workshop with Steve Vai. Words like ' genius' 'master' 'demi-god' and yes.....even.....'cool' are regularly thrown around when talking about Vai. So - in this room full of open mouthed guitarists wondering if he has sold his soul to the devil (he is quite a brilliant technician by the way) - there comes a time for Q&A. All of these stuttering questions about harmonics, scales, amps, melody......he regularly mentions other American peers like Satriani, Petrucci, Johnson...... and I then pipe up with 'who is your favourite British guitarist Steve'? He answers - 'great question......he thinks for a second. David Gilmour of course!' (which is a great answer). He talks about a generation of great British guitarists for a moment or two - mentions Beck, Clapton, Green. So I ask him if he was aware of Hank Marvin and The Shadows contribution to the legacy of British music over 50 years...
To say that whole crowd burst into laughter would be an understatement.....they all turned in their chairs and looked at me - some guffawing, some shaking their heads, nudge nudge to their mates, looks of complete bewilderment... I almost got up and left in complete shame - looking for the nearest bridge...
One man spoke - Steve Vai. He turned to his Carvin - twiddled a bit - turned back to the audience and played the first few bars of Wonderful Land. Beautifully... violining some notes, mingling chords with melody. . . Haunting.
The audience fell silent. The room hushed.
He said ' of course.....!!! It is where it all started here - where the guitar became beautiful and majestic - he even said that he had occasion to meet Hank once in London. And of course - we all know where Gilmour got his push from...
Now - I am just sayin' ...
No doubt about it, Steve Vai is one cool dude and an awesome guitarist. I bought his 'Passion and Warfare' album back in 1989 and at about the same time his albums with Dave Lee Roth. I gather he speaks very highly of his time with PIL. Also have to admit to having his Whitesnake album, 'Slip of the Tongue' and the recently released live at Donington CD/DVD.
Never in a million years would I have expected him to cite Hank and the Shads, or to be able to play Wonderful Land! Sorry Steve. Another guy to be interviewed for any prospective Shadows documentary...
