Folks I've Taken Lessons With: Adam Levy

Another one-time lesson with a guy who has since gone on to pretty wide success (touring around with Norah Jones and such) and did pretty well before that too (Sexmob and Tracy Chapman and too many other things to mention). This was the first time I remember someone really pushing the importance of the melodic minor scale that I now use pretty often. More imporant, I remember a blunt exchange when he asked why he sounded better than I did if we both were using 335s through the same amp. Ouch - but effective, and I've concentrated more on playing cleanly ever since. Success couldn't have happened to a nicer fellow. Here he is playing locally at Banjo Jim's, getting his vocals on ...

Folks I've Taken Lessons With: Jim Campilongo

I took a single lesson from Jim Campilongo back when I lived in San Francisco - it seemed like everybody was stopping by for a few lessons with JC back then. Somehow we ended up focusing on jazz/blues type changes rather than the country inflected playing he is best known for (and that I wanted to learn) - but it was a cool lesson because I could see that he approaches what he does from the same perspective as he (or anybody else for that matter) would a jazz tune. He was a pretty big influence in my decision to eventually pick up a Telecaster and I think of him often when I'm bending the guitar neck around for effect.

Here he is a few years before I met him playing Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood" - which became my big featured song with the New York Mandolin Orchestra many years later.

Guys w/ "Guitar" in their name: Jesse "Guitar" Taylor

OK, for real - probably the last one of these for now.

Again, through the folks at the Gear Page I've been made aware of the late Jesse "Guitar" Taylor, formerly lead guitarist for the Joe Ely Band. Here he is covering Johnny "Guitar" Watson's Gangster of Love ... as good an ending as I can come up with for this theme.

Guys w/ "Guitar" in their name: Johnny "Guitar" Hughes

Another discovery through The Gear Page: Johnny Guitar Hughes. He was based out of Houston and built quite a career, mostly under the radar, and backed artists such as Little Richard, Grady Gaines, Fats Domino, Sam and Dave, Jerry Butler and Bobby Bland. He made a name for himself as a solo artist, and added "Guitar" to his name, later on.

Guys w/ "Guitar" in their name: Carlos Guitarlos

How can I forget Carlos Guitarlos?

During my time on the west coast he was a legendary SF street performer who used to always ask us to stop by his corner with a tape recorder "with working batteries" so he could get his next break. He also gave one of my bands pretty good feedback after a gig at (the now defunct?) Doc Bombays - claiming that besides the blues "he could play that modal stuff too."

He'd had a few good gigs in the 80s, most notably with Tom Waits, and it seems his career is on the up and up again. Here's a TV performance from 1985



Thanks to ddodgeh at TGP for the suggestion.

Guys w/ "Guitar" in their name: Guitar Junior

Bonus GWGITN: Guitar Junior! I'd never heard of him before but found him on my Youtube search looking for Luther (actually I had heard of him - he changed his name to Lonnie Brooks after learning about Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson)

Fun tune!

Guys w/ "Guitar" in their name: Luther "Guitar Jr" Johnson

OK. The first steps are sometimes the hardest. Marco on the Bass was among those giving me a hard time about not keeping this updated, so in Marc's honor, and in the interest of wrapping up this theme: Luther Guitar Johnson. Marc and his band (which, 15 or so years later, is also my band) Bigger Thomas opened for LGJ and Phish a long time ago.

Not an abundance of videos out there of Luther on his own, but plenty with his most notable sideman gig - along with Muddy Waters.

Guys w/ "Guitar" in their name: Guitar Slim

I don't know a thing about Guitar Slim - but this song pretty much rules

Guys w/ "Guitar" in their name: Johnny "Guitar" Watson

OK - no posts for a short stretch. I was busy playing guitar.

But I'll make up for it with a link to the ultimate guitar named dude: Johnny Guitar Watson. I've got a link here to a video of the maestro playing "Gangster of Love" that has to be seen to be believed.



My main memory of JGW is that we had a giant poster of him at my old college radio station, always smiling funkily upon us

Guys w/ "Guitar" in their name: Guitar Shorty

But of course ...