Guthrie Govan Discussion

[alexkhan]

I continue to get a lot of emails about Guthrie as new fans continually come aboard checking out the video clips on the TM site and ordering the DVDs at a rate of 3 per day. Pretty cool!

Once these noobies get the DVDs, some of them send me emails telling me how blown away they're are and that they haven't been so impressed since...

EVH
SRV
Yngwie
Satch
Vai
EJ
Shawn Lane

Pretty good company there!

For me, there have been many impressive moments of discovering new artists, hearing new albums, and seeing someone live for the first time. For me, here are some examples:

Friday Night in San Francisco - McLaughlin, DiMeola, DeLucia
Alcatrazz Live in Japan 1984 Laser Video Disc featuring Yngwie
Rising Force album by Yngwie in 1984
Edge of Insanity by Tony MacAlpine in 1985 or 1986
Hearing Allan Holdsworth's Metal Fatigue for the first time in 1986
Seeing Pat Metheny live for the first time in 1986
Surfing with the Alien by Satch in 1987
Passion and Warfare by Vai in 1991
Praxis: Transmutation featuring Buckethead in 1992
Centrifugal Funk featuring Shawn Lane and Brett Garsed in 1992

So for me, Guthrie would be the most impressive new artist I discovered since Lane and Garsed. But as far as impact, I'd say it'd have to be since seeing and hearing Yngwie for the first time in '84.
_________________
Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.

[M@]

Wow... 3 DVD's per day... that's quite a ground swell!

I would have to agree with most of your list too, Ed. That Rising Force album was just mind blowing for me, as well as DiMeola et al.

I think we must be of a similar age. I do remember being blown away by SRV playing live at the Sydney Opera House. Talk about guitar heaven. There was one point during the gig when he was playing Jimi's "Third Stone From The Sun" and he was literally straddling the guitar like it was a live snake on the ground... venom flying everywhere!!!
_________________
"My day job feeds my family, my night gig feeds my ego!"

[alexkhan]

[M@]

OK, I'm nearly 38...

Blackmore was definitely my first influence, with heavy doses of Hendrix, Page, Clapton and Beck. I think I own nearly every edition of Guitar Player magazine through the 80's (Hmmm... maybe they are worth something?). I remember one of my buddies giving me a second hand copy of a Guitar Player magazine that he picked up at a local fete for about 10 cents and it had Blackmore on the cover. I used to read those mags from cover to cover!

Actually, the first time I heard Vai was on the first release of the "mini LP's" they used to include in Guitar Player. The first track was Vai's Attitude Song... nice!

Yeah, that first Van Halen ablum was also cracker!
_________________
"My day job feeds my family, my night gig feeds my ego!"

[alexkhan]

[shredrulez]

for me, guthrie is the most impressive since yngwie burst onto the scene in '84. there have surely been other very impressive guys since yngwie, but no one's had the impact on me since like guthrie has. guthrie is simply the most complete player i have ever seen.

[ohjimmy]

He's the first guitarist since Jason Becker got ill that made me want to get interested, start playing and practicing seriously again. I just really got stale doing my same old crap, and became very bored with most of the guitarists out there, they are either too jazzy and "heady" and no fun, too much wank and not enough substance and musicality, or just too predictable. GG is none of those. Very exciting indeed!
I find a lot of similar things between Becker and GG, mostly, that they have fun, they play in-and-out of scales and maintain the coolness factor which can get tricky with too much of that stuff. GG is no doubt beyond where Becker stopped, at least chops-wise, but I can't help but think Becker would have been a very similar sounding player today if not even scarier had he not got sick. What a duo would that be Thanks to those of you who spoke of GG on HC forums I'm finally excited about playing again!

[RD]

What happened exactly to Becker? And is he still alive or did he passed away??

[ohjimmy]

Becker is still with us as far as I know.

[PreciousPeaches]

He is still with us and he still composes music.

And I just ordered both my DVDs! YAY! I am excited.

[alexkhan]

[thinline72]

Having just heard Guthrie (finally). I have to say that he's definitely one of those players that hearing for the first time is a landmark event in my life. Someone was talking about the old GP magazine "sound sheets". I still have a bunch of them-- a few of which were my first exposure to players like Vai, Satch, Kotzen, MacAlpine, Firkins & Vinnie Moore. My first conscious exposure to Holdsworth was the solo on UK's In the Dead of Night, although I have to admit to attending a Ponty concert in '76 which included both Daryl Stuermer and Holdsworth on guitar. Stuermer's playing was mixed way up front and his attack very staccato, so Holdsworth kind of faded back and blended with the synths. Later, when I listened to Ponty's Enigmatic Ocean, Holdsworth's solos were awesome. But In the Dead of Night is when I woke up (good pun huh).

Last night, I saw & heard Govan for the first time, on the Cornford demo clips. Still have goose bumps.

That's what keeps this Guitar Trek life boldly going where no guitarist has gone before. Guthrie Govan is recharging my dilithium crystals.

[thinline72]

Oh yeah, I saw Mike Stern in a little club in Seattle in the early 90's.
Dennis Chambers on drums.

That was an impressive experience.

[treeduck]

Guthrie is the first guitarist to blow me totally away since Shawn and Brett. Before that back in the 80s it was Satriani, Holdsworth, EJ, Vai, Malmsteen and before that EVH, in other words pretty much the same as all you guys... But this is the first time I've been there literally before the "explosion" exciting stuff!!

[alexkhan]