2023 - Ten Years After...

[Smackie Chan]

...Alvin Lee died. One of the best.

[LTS TRN 2]

Way overrated as a player, but resident gay-smack aficionados will appreciate his very un-PC lyrics in his best tune, I'd love To Change The World

Everywhere is freaks and hairies, Dykes and fairies, tell me where is sanity ?


Where indeed.

[Derron]

Way overrated as a player,

Now there is something you would know for damn sure about. Eat a trigger bitch.
Waiting to get your ass handed to you?? When multiple people on here, all musically smart, and a couple of musicians say he was one of the greatest guitar players to have lived, and you think he is over rated. Carry on.

[Mikey]

Alvin & TYA pwnd Woodstock. Period.

As did several others, like Michael Shrieve, Carlos Santana, Sylvester Stewart, The Who, Hendrix, etc., for example.

[Felix]

Way overrated as a player

really? who overrated him?
the dude didn't make any top guitarist lists, although Jack White did......that tells you all you need to know.....

he was one of the most underrated guitar players around......

[The Seer]

A Hell of a lot faster & cleaner than Page & many others....then again, who wasn't cleaner than Page?

[Smackie Chan]

There'll be a tribute to AL tonight in the 'Town.

[smackaholic]

i'm sure even page would agree with you. his gift certainly was not as a guitar player. his gift was as a writer and producer of amazing rock guitar material. in this area, everyone else is playing for second place.

[Van]

A Hell of a lot faster & cleaner than Page & many others....then again, who wasn't cleaner than Page?

[Van]

i'm sure even page would agree with you. his gift certainly was not as a guitar player. his gift was as a writer and producer of amazing rock guitar material. in this area, everyone else is playing for second place.

On his better days he was also a very good guitar player.

[smackaholic]

i'm sure even page would agree with you. his gift certainly was not as a guitar player. his gift was as a writer and producer of amazing rock guitar material. in this area, everyone else is playing for second place.

On his better days he was also a very good guitar player.

No doubt. My point is, he wasn't other worldly on a strictly technical level. He was a very good technical player when not completely stoned who was a genius without equal on a creative level.

[Van]

Give a fully sober Page a typical Berklee shredder's work ethic and the results would have been utterly mental.

[Van]

There'll be a tribute to AL tonight in the 'Town.

Tonight? As in Thursday night?

[smackaholic]

Give a fully sober Page a typical Berklee shredder's work ethic and the results would have been utterly mental.

Perhaps you are right. I am glad he spent his energies on the creative side over the technical side.

[Felix]

speaking of great fucking guitar, if you aren't watching SRV and Albert King on PBS right now, you're cheating yourself out of some great stuff.....

[Van]

Give a fully sober Page a typical Berklee shredder's work ethic and the results would have been utterly mental.

Perhaps you are right. I am glad he spent his energies on the creative side over the technical side.

The two things are not mutually exclusive. I would have much rather he spent his time playing guitar instead of getting obliterated. As creative as he was, a sober, chops-up-to-snuff Jimmy Page would have been ungodly.

[Mikey]

Alvin & TYA pwnd Woodstock. Period.

As did several others, like Michael Shrieve, Carlos Santana, Sylvester Stewart, The Who, Hendrix, etc., for example.

^^^Woodstock getting the fuck pwned.

OK yeah I'll have to admit, that shit rocked like nothing I had seen up to that point. When I was 15-16 I could play air guitar and sing along with that note for note.

I'll have to say, though, that my local boys kicked some major ass. Especially the 20 yo drummer.

[LTS TRN 2]

C'mon, guys. Alvin Lee was so limited even by the paltry standards of blues-worspipping Brits in the '60's that he's barely in the discussion of Notable Guitarists. The Woodstock fluke hit, "Goin' Home" is nothing but a simple 12-bar with no breaks or ornamentation--and in fact he just sort of vamps on the mic for most of the long jam. Step up if you think you can challenge my perspective on fabulous fretting. Name me a TYA tune that displays any sort of real virtuosity. Or one album that actually sold. He was a nice guy, don't get me wrong, but don't bullshit me either.

[LTS TRN 2]

What, that's the tune you offer to substantiate Lee's place as a notable figure? "She Lies In The Morning"? It seems like it should be dedicated to Jodi Arias at least. Seriously, it's a joke, a piece of soulless bubblegum that a garage band might trickle out. And if you consider the other players coming out of Britain at that time, it's easy to understand how Lee was left waaaaaay in the dust, a one-hit handsome lug who never connected with anything--blues, rock, jazz--nothing. But I like the guy. I like most people.

[Felix]

And if you consider the other players coming out of Britain at that time, it's easy to understand how Lee was left waaaaaay in the dust, a one-hit handsome lug who never connected with anything--blues, rock, jazz--nothing. But I like the guy. I like most people.

seriously, just shut the fuck up you moronic braindead fucking tard.....AL was an innovator, something the speed merchant guitar players of today can't claim.....so he wasn't the most proficient at his instrument, he was good enough that he was heralded by his contemporaries and innovated stuff that people now a days still hold in high respect.....you wouldn't know innovation if it came up and kicked you square in the nuts.....

[Derron]

C'mon, guys. Alvin Lee was so limited even by the paltry standards of blues-worspipping Brits in the '60's that he's barely in the discussion of Notable Guitarists. The Woodstock fluke hit, "Goin' Home" is nothing but a simple 12-bar with no breaks or ornamentation--and in fact he just sort of vamps on the mic for most of the long jam. Step up if you think you can challenge my perspective on fabulous fretting. Name me a TYA tune that displays any sort of real virtuosity. Or one album that actually sold. He was a nice guy, don't get me wrong, but don't bullshit me either.

Bwwahhhaaa......Alvin Lee held his own quite well until the day he fucking died you moron. Ever notice how these older guys just keep getting better as they get older ? As far as being in our discussion of guitarists, someone made note that they are so many good guitarist's today that putting together a group, you are not going to go wrong with any of the choices anybody put up. Put 15 guitarist's on stage and Alvin Lee is going to be one of them.

As for fabulous fretting, who pray tell might you put forth ? You know you can evaluate talent outside of a particular group...and guess what...pretty much everybody at Woodstock was the best there was in the day..and that one event probably impacted musical history more than any other in any time frame.

Rebait your hook, throw out your sea anchor and your trolling will be more successful. Do you have your trolling plate all the way down, or just part way today?

[Van]

I like most people.

[R-Jack]Yes, that just happened.[/R-Jack]

Fucking awesome.

Anyway, damn, I must admit that for the most part I pretty much have to agree with Nick here. Alvin Lee was never really anything like a 'virtuoso,' which is the tag I often see people try to apply to the guy. The more I hear of him, the less impressed I become. Sure, he was mildly fast, but it was only gimmicky fast and repetitive as hell. I do enjoy his playing, especially his tone and his overall balls-out attitude, but I don't think he really belongs in any discussion of the true greats of the instrument.

[Felix]

Alvin Lee was never really anything like a 'virtuoso,' which is the tag I often see people try to apply to the guy. The more I hear of him, the less impressed I become. Sure, he was mildly fast, but it was only gimmicky fast and repetitive as hell.

so being "fast" is your standard of what makes a great guitar player and what doesn't? and who ever said the guy was a "virtuoso"? Sorry, you just grew up in the wrong era.....everybody I know had mad respect for the innovations he brought to the table.....comparing him to today's guitar players is patently unfair.....it's like comparing Babe Ruth to Albert Pujols.....Babe Ruth couldn't hit the shit the pitchers of today throw, but it doesn't take away from the fact that in his time, he was a baseball god.....

Johnny Winter must have really impressed you!!!! He was fast as hell, never mind the fact that every third note was a fucking clunker, the dude was fast as shit.....

but I don't think he really belongs in any discussion of the true greats of the instrument.

Clapton wasn't incredibly fast, so what makes him a guitar virtuoso? there are guys today that can play rings around what Clapton did, so does that make him any less prestigious as a guitar player?

sorry, for me this is a stupid argument....appreciate AL for what he was...sorry, I was just a big Alvin Lee fan

[Van]

Alvin Lee was never really anything like a 'virtuoso,' which is the tag I often see people try to apply to the guy. The more I hear of him, the less impressed I become. Sure, he was mildly fast, but it was only gimmicky fast and repetitive as hell.

so being "fast" is your standard of what makes a great guitar player and what doesn't?

Nope. Where on earth did I ever say that? All I said was that he was mildly fast, and let's face it, his speed was his primary calling card.

and who ever said the guy was a "virtuoso"?

I believe Smackie Chan did, right here on this board. I'm not positive, but I think Derron may have done so, as well.

Sorry, you just grew up in the wrong era.....everybody I know had mad respect for the innovations he brought to the table.....comparing him to today's guitar players is patently unfair.....it's like comparing Babe Ruth to Albert Pujols.....Babe Ruth couldn't hit the shit the pitchers of today throw, but it doesn't take away from the fact that in his time, he was a baseball god.....

Umm, exactly what era do you think I grew up in?

[Felix]

All I said was that he was mildly fast, and let's face it, his speed was his primary calling card.

no it wasn't....AL had a very distinctive sound and by distinctive, I mean that when he started playing, I generally knew exactly who it was.....I can't say that about more than about a handful of the current crop of players out there who's sole calling card is that they can play really fast....now, take somebody like buckethead as good a shred player as there is and every time I hear that guy play I know exactly who it is.....he's fast, but he's also as innovative as they come.....98 out of 100 shredders I hear today I couldn't tell you who the fuck they are and there's no reason for me to care because they haven't taken the time nor put in the effort to separate themselves from every other shred player, so why should I give a fuck

Umm, exactly what era do you think I grew up in?

I don't know, which era did you grow up in?
I grew up in an era when great guitar players cultivated a unique sound that set them apart from everyone else out there playing.....that's what AL did and that's why I think he's under appreciated as a player.....

[LTS TRN 2]

Lee does have a very nice tone, by virtue of his 335 hollowbody. The same tasty cutting tone can be heard on the guitar solo in the irritating hit "Play That Funky Music White boy" where the singer/guitarist plays a rare Les Paul Florentine (hollowbody). That said, there's still not a great lead performance by Lee that I've heard. No real blues piece that can stand up. His true counterpart was in fact Mark Farner of Grand Funk. Isn't he on some bucket list? Why not?

[War Wagon]

Consider me one of those underwhelmed by Alvin Lee as well. Sure, he was good and I don't have anything bad to say about the guy, but he really doesn't rank up there in the pantheon of Rock Guitar
Legends.

Umm, exactly what era do you think I grew up in?

Speaking of Legends...

[Van]

Spending time in jail for being black and fucking white women in the South?

[Derron]

Bad week for rock guitarist's...

http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=795628

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUGdvkpHKxY

[LTS TRN 2]

Bad week for rock guitarist's...

http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=795628

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUGdvkpHKxY

Well, we can see why they shitcanned him for Steve Howe. Jeez, he starts out like Roger McGuinn, then a brief Herb Ellis walkabout (the band seems lost in this style), and then...some "space noodling"? Now ...it's almost like a Zappa tune without the jokes. I like the little Beatles snatch on the way out. '"Everything She Does"?

So what killed him? Bennies? Speed? Grass? Acid?


Or was it just the bangers and mash, along with some eel pie for desert?

[Mikey]

Bad week for rock guitarist's...

http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=795628

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUGdvkpHKxY

A bad week for apostrophes's too.

[Van]

Yep, I'm definitely enjoying Nick's contributions in this thread.

[Terry in Crapchester]

resident gay-smack aficionados will appreciate his very un-PC lyrics in his best tune, I'd love To Change The World

Everywhere is freaks and hairies, Dykes and fairies, tell me where is sanity ?


Where indeed.

With this crowd, I think these lyrics from the same song will cloud their judgment irrevocably:

Tax the rich, feed the poor.

his best tune, I'd love To Change The World

You don't know shit about Alvin Lee, obviously.

Ever listened to Watt or Cricklewood Green or On the Road to Freedom?

I'll defer to your knowledge of Alvin Lee. I was, after all, a little kid during TYA's heyday. You were what, in your mid-30's?

And I would stay away from a pronunciation like "best song" in any event -- far too fraught with subjectivity.

With that said, I think it could be said, without fear of contradiction, that "I'd Love to Change the World" is TYA's best-known song, by far, and #2 isn't even close. You can still hear "I'd Love to Change the World" on most commercial classic rock radio stations. I'm pretty sure that's the only TYA song in that sort of rotation.

[LTS TRN 2]

Yep, I'm definitely enjoying Nick's contributions in this thread.

Great, just remember, 9/11 was an inside job by Israeli Zionazis and we're all getting screwed and robbed by these vile criminals every day. And Vietnam was a catastrophe of murder and moral abdication in which we had absolutely no chance whatsoever of prevailing. And moreover, the plutocrat corporatists are moving hard to undermine any semblance of a middle class and freedom of information. If you had a connected set of synapses in your frontal lobe you'd be supporting Bradley Manning and Julian Assange with everything you can muster.

[Van]

Well, I was enjoying Nick's contributions in this thread, but then he had to go and Nick it all up.