Great to see Elliot Easton getting the respect he deserves. Nuno talks a lot about him in his Rick Beato interview. He's always been underrated. His solos are stellar, so melodic and inventive.
I think when people say “underrated” they mean “less frequently mentioned”… which would be true, we hear a lot of the same names, Van Halen, Clapton, Hendrix, over and over again, and some players who are super less often but “underrated” is a quick word to say… let’s face it, some cats just don’t get mentioned as much … but people who know Guitar know how great they are … Gary Moore is a prime example
I absolutely LOVE Elliot Easton's playing...so quirky, fun, and accessible. He's one of those guys who sound so simple until you start prying into it. He's also a wonderful guy, and when I met him at a guitar show he was so cool and gracious. Sat and talked guitars with me for a while, such a cool cat.
When natural talent, experience and great taste musicians tend to do that: Make it sound and seem easy. It is so cool to watch. Also inspires other musicians to grab the nearest guitar and noodle a bit more. Win-win.
In the late 80's I was just hanging out in a guitar store (actually music store lol) in Orlando and I was shooting the breeze with the salesman. I happened to mention I was a blues fan but that I had great respect for Eliott Easton. The guy then says he had talked with Elliott at an event and he was planning to do a blues album, and that he had his phone number... do you want to call him. Uhhhhh... YEAH! Much to my surprise, Elliott answered the phone and chatted with the guy, with me listening, for about 5 minutes. He told us sadly the blues album was never made, but I was absolutely awestruck that he even took the time to chat with a salesman that he only met once, and was just a regular guy who loved guitar like us. My fan boy appreciation went up about 50 levels that day😁
As a keyboard player first/guitarist second, Bye Bye Love epitomizes everything I love about a great song by a band who had their sh*t together. A track for the ages.
Elliot Easton is such a badass! Very "economical" solos. Gets in, gets down, and gets out right on time! The solo in Candy-O is a perfect example as well.
By the time new wave came along, the idea of the guitar virtuoso had to be re-thought out. Up until then, it was mostly fast playing, fill up the arena fretboard frenetics that was considered the rage. But then players like Edge, Andy Summers showed that it was okay to slow it down and not play as busily. For the record, my favorite guitarist is Jimmy Page but my vote for the greatest rock guitar solo is David Gilmour's "Comfortably Numb".
Elliot Easton is one of my favorite guitarists of all time. His solos fit the songs incredibly well, they're little songs within a song. To me, the solo in Touch and Go is a yardstick by which I measure other guitar solos, it's just so fitting, so... right. The Just What I Needed solo is also fantastic, and the comparison to other guitarists signatures is awesome. The history of the album was also super cool, thanks Tim!
I'm gonna third that (heheh)... "Touch and Go" is probably my all-time favorite solo (and I'm sure you've heard Elliott tell the story of how it almost got vetoed. Crazy!)
Right? When the Cars first broke in Upstate NY (late 78/early 79 maybe) their music was for geeks who wasted the rest of their time f’n with these ridiculous things called PCs. The cool kids and manly men clung to Skynyrd like a security blanket. 😂
Greg Hawkes, is one of the finest American keyboardist of his time. Just ask Paul McCartney, who asked him to play on his late 80’s album: or the late John Lennon, who in 1980, his last interview, before he died, said that the song, ‘TOUCH AND GO’ was his favorite song of the year. Many of the samples, I hear in Logic and Pro Tools, we’re already created by Greg. And if that weren’t enough, he is also very good at 10 different instruments. 😊
The Cars have been one of my favorite bands since the late ‘70s. I’ve always loved the layering and composition of their songs. But when I REALLY started isolating the guitar work, I was blown away. Elliot Easton immediately became one of my favorite guitarists, long after I started loving the band. The country/rockabilly guitar infused with synthesizers and quirky lyrics makes The Cars a unique and forever interesting rock band.
elliot is a joy to cover. not only does he have a country flavor in his playing, his leads are very much like the tele pickers in nashville: short bursts of thunder and lightening.
Yeah I always dug playing his solos, at the time I was learning them I was a bit inexperienced and got quite the education picking up his leads. Easton's approach was so unique back then. Very inventive and of course those tele picker licks were the bomb. Fantastic guitarist!
Elliot Easton is so sadly underrated. His solo on Shake it Up - eggz-quisite!. He played clean and tight, for the song, and used a lot of different influences.
@@NoelHarris-y4h Damn you! 😂 I obsessed over the solo from Peg all throughout my senior year in HS. Now we have J Grayson on YT talking about this little thing he threw together at the behest of Becker and Fagen. Bastard … how dare he insult my youth like that! 😂😂😂
No doubt. And he actually CHANGES IT UP in "Benny's" live Reunion video (which I like even more), with what sounds to me like a 'Hollies' tribute for a few chords.. (Check it out..)
So true 5:49 his solos turned out to be far more intricate when I tried to play them than it sounded. They are so perfectly matching each song that they don't feel like solos; more like melodic extensions of the songs.
One of the most down to earth musicians I've ever communicated with. He helped me get a left-handed Gibson Tikibird, a rare signature guitar, that was only around for a short period of time. His music is a joy to listen to, back then till today.
I always loved Elliot's rapid fire approach to his solos. Totally in the pocket, short and sweet, and perfect. One of my biggest influences. Another solo that just floors me is from the song Candy-O.
That guy was such an underrated monster guitar player, everything he did was so tasteful, and slick and clean, incredible phrasing and note selection. Love E.E.!
My favorite thing about Tim.....is he just exudes joy when he plays. That makes me as the viewer/listener enjoy it so much more. I once walked out of an Almond Bros show because while their playing was impeccable, they seemed totally bored. To me it killed the whole vibe. @@jamespolito3269
What an unsung guitar hero he is. Elliot's playing seemed so unassuming at the time, but TOTALLY stands out all these years later. Love his playing more now, than then (and I loved it then).
I’m not hearing Bakersfield … although you may be spot on. I’m familiar with both, give me an example of where you’re hearing Buck, Don and the boys in a Cars song (leave out Girl Made in Japan … love that song but it sounded like Buck hired studio musicians to play background). Again, 0 shade being cast here, love these types of analogies and just curious.
I just love Elliot's work. He is so under-rated. His licks are so tasty. His pinch harmonics and pre bends are so unique. He doesn't sound like anybody else. His bends are amazing, and his tremelo work is second to none.
Always loved Elliot Easton, very melodic, tight, "get it done" guitar work. And, I believe he learned right hand, but then re-taught himself how to play left hand, because he thought that made him play better. How hard is that!!! Tim, love your work, and your willingness to share with others, thats a great trait. I would love to hear your thoughts on Chicago's Terry Kath. His solos, runs, and licks have some very tasty stuff in there, and would love to see you disect that. Questions 67 and 68, 26/6/4, Poem 58, taking it up town, the solo in make me smile....there is a lot of good stuff there. I am subscribed, so if you do that one, I'll be sure to catch it and tell others. Thanks man!
Besides being a great player Tim’s enthusiasm for guitar is infectious and has a positive effect on us all. I feel blessed to hear what he has to share with us.
That solo is why I started listening to "new music". Way back when, for a while, I was a Classic Rock Only snob and this music was considered "new", (or new wave) not classic rock, but I could tell these guys knew what they were doing...Now, their music is considered classic rock.
I'm a metal fan at heart, and the solo for Shake It Up makes me very happy. For that solo to be in a pop-rock song, it's almost unreal. That muted staccato lick towards the beginning... very catchy, very memorable, and it sets the rest of the solo up for success, especially when he goes into the legato lick. And he's doing it in the middle of a poppy rock song. Just surreal. I first heard them in the late 70s, and just so many good songs. When they come on the radio, my natural reaction is to turn up the volume a bit.
Awesome! Working in my shop I started off playing Bostons' albums then ran across this song and all those memories come back with this Cars tune!!! Great time to be 16!!!
Thank you thank you thank you for this. As a Boston native, aged 58, the Cars were very important to all of us young musicians in the late 70s/early 80s. And EE did indeed craft perfect solos... song after song after song. You can sing them and you can't imagine them being any different. I also have an EE signature Kramer guitar for a while. It was very cool. He did sneaky innovative stuff with his signature instruments.
So happy you're covering Elliot Easton. Great guitar player. He reminds me of George Harrison and Mike Campbell. Broad influences, range, always playing great fills serving the song. And, of course his own great chops and choices. Love The Cars. (written before Tim makes the George Harrison comment).
Thanks for the Cars perfect guitar solo! I to believe that solo piece fits so well to that song. I saw the Cars in Cambridge way back in the day not knowing who they were. A very good influence on my guitar playing.
Hi Tim! I loved this segment! We jumped on The Cars when they first appeared at my FM station on California’s Central Coast. We were the big station, and our Music Director subscribed to The Gavin Report (may it rest in peace). What a delightful surprise (as usual, really) to find this! Beautiful solos, my friend! Ed Ryba
My favorite Elliot solo is on Tonight She Comes. It has everything. Pinch harmonics, tone, hammer ons, tremolo and bar work, blues and oh the most important thing - one of the most beautiful melodic shape you could get.
The first song I thought of when I saw the title of the video was this one! Absolutely brilliant. Another one might be Brian Robertson's wah-wah solo in Thin Lizzy's Warriors. Fantastic playing, but also fantastic use of the wah as an expression pedal lifting each phrase, rather than just rocking the foot back and forwards in time with the rhythm.
Elliott is one of my favorite rock guitarists all-time. He simply never missed a note. I met him back stage in the early 2000's when he was with Creedence Clearwater Revisited and I tried to get him to talk about the Cars but he really wasn't interested at the time. Glad to know he now seems to be more willing to look back on those times and talk about them.
Thanks, Tim. Great dive into a superb solo. Elliot's solos always had shape to them. Peaks and valleys, in a linear and logical way that had tons of tension and release.
Elliot did a great interview with Dweezil Zappa, where he went into detail how he crafts solos. So well thought out, but natural sounding at the same time.
Big Elliott Easton fan. Thanks Tim and well done. I bought a spark amp recently primarily because it has mic jack and allows me to play late at night in my apartment without waking up the neighbors. All of modeling capabilities is a big bonus too.
I am glad that you pointed out the Country Music vibe in Elliot Easton's short-but-sweet brilliant solos, he's always sounded like a great Country Rock melodic lead guitarist playing in a Pop Rock band. I can hear him as the lead guitarist for Dwight Yoakam or Clint Black just as much as The Cars.
I’ve always considered Elliot’s solo from My Best Friend’s Girl to be his best. It’s got that rockabilly feel you mentioned, and it’s somewhat challenging to master.
OMG I love Elliot and the Cars. I was 14 or so living in the Bostom area of southern New England. I heard them on WBCN and went to see them a couple of times as they blew up through the club scene to the areana. I saw them both at the Hartford Civic Center around Candy-O, and Boston Garden a few years later. Indeed they played it fairly precisely, but with enough live tone and accoutrements to make it an extraordinary experience to see them live. Elliot was clearly a genius in my eyes, Ric had the perfect complementary odd-ball, quicky rhythm style, Benjamin's stage presence, ability to make girls scream, with Greg's atmospheric perfectly played keys/synths, and David's powerful drumming, made this band impossible to deny. Elliot always play short but perfect solos (amount the infinite number of perfect guitar solos).
As a lefty guitar player myself, I remember how thrilled I was to find out that EE was left handed. I was a teen in the 80s and I remember how hard it was to get a lefty guitar then- probably even harder in the 60s and 70s. I still can’t just walk into a store and buy off the rack, but online shopping has made getting a lefty so much easier and cheaper than it used to be.
Eliot Easton's lefty guitars made it into the many noted music shops in Boston in the years The Cars were big. My high school bandmate at the time was a lefty and ended up with one. Leftys were hard to get.
My all time favorite Easton solo is the outro to Since I Held You. It fits the theme of the lyrics of the song so perfectly. Elliott is making that guitar cry. Great video.
Elliot has been underrated for so long. I’ve had a positive grid spark for a few years now and I really like it. So much so I will be receiving the 4x10 cab any day now. Hurry Santa!
Every time anyone brings up "most underrated guitarists", EE is always the first one I mention. His solos were all perfectly fit to what the songs needed - nothing more, nothing less. Exceptionally perfect playing skills too, with what I like to call "harder than it sounds" solos. Thanks for all the additional information.
I clearly remember hearing The Cars debut album for the first time as well. I was a teenager. I remember where I was and how I reacted to it. I'd never heard anything like it and it blew me away. I've loved Elliot Easton playing ever since. Brilliantly crafted and unique solos that stick in your brain.
Bravo for showing the love to Elliott. The Cars and Elliott have long been one of my lifelong favorites. I think Elliott’s solo in Toch and Go and Shake it up are also among my favorite solos of all time!
So happy to see some recognition to a massively underrated player. Not only were the Cars first cassette purchase as a teen, I grew up just north of Boston. Eliot's solos are pop perfection and he has a knack for phrasing and changing style for the song, not his ego. He stands among the greats like Gilmour in my opinion because the solos are an integral part of the song and should be played note for note, they are not just riffing and chops.
I played in a lot of different cover bands, every time we would want to do a cars song, would always have to take into account the guitar solo and if our lead player at the time could pull it off. He had a very unique style, very tasteful, not easy to copy
One of my "perfect" solos: Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World. Perfectly compliments the song, always building, and advancing the song to the next section. That's what makes a great solo, not just a display of technical ability. Brilliant rhythmic feel and development in addition to the melodic component.
Love this one Tim, Elliot Easton is one of the most intentional and economical players particularly on solos, that I ever heard. Just a neat solo ,used to beat on it a bit myself back in my gigging years 40 years ago! ;-) . Thanks for what you do!
I always liked Elliot Easton's guitar work, and his Rock-a-billy tinges, which became a common Post-Punk theme, but Elliot's use of Country/Rock-a-billy seemed more organic, like he just grew up with it and used it
Elliot is one of the most overlooked guitarists. His solos are always so tight and well phrased, he really serves the song. He and Andy Summers are like two of the best guitarists from that late 70's early 80's era that really fly under the radar but are so so good.
So, what's really great about this track is, er.., absolutely everything. Yeah, not least the brilliant solos, but like many Cars hits, a beautifully constructed, perfect pop-rock composition, performed with technical excellence. Natural genius.
YES, yes, a million times, yes! So excited to see his picture on your videos thumbnail. One of my favorite players and hands-down my favorite solo. Thanks for sharing and Happy New Year brother!
Yes! Absolutely, one of my guitar heroes of my misspent youth. Under praised I think due to the heavy mix of synths in their records. Kind of hid Elliot's genius under all those "pop synth" mixes.
I don't watch enough of your channel. I gotta change that. You have great knowledge and takes on everything but it's your easy going personality that really keeps me coming back. Thanks, Tim!
Elliot is one of my favorites. The cars are such a great melodic band. I love their stuff. My band covers 6 or 7 of their songs and they are all crowd favorites. Our guitarist really nails Elliot’s stuff.
Eeaston has always been my gold standard for inspiration when I hear the phrase “give the song what it needs”. I regularly find myself asking “What would Elliot do?” If ever there was a rock star that should’ve been a studio musician, its him. 👍
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
Great to see Elliot Easton getting the respect he deserves. Nuno talks a lot about him in his Rick Beato interview. He's always been underrated. His solos are stellar, so melodic and inventive.
Underrated is over used. Gawd. They were huge when they came out!!!
It definitely IS over-used - but it DOES apply to Easton...@@captainsouth4460
I think when people say “underrated” they mean “less frequently mentioned”… which would be true, we hear a lot of the same names, Van Halen, Clapton, Hendrix, over and over again, and some players who are super less often but “underrated” is a quick word to say… let’s face it, some cats just don’t get mentioned as much … but people who know Guitar know how great they are … Gary Moore is a prime example
Talk about underrated. I didn't even know his name till now!
@@nmonsterHe is one of my favorites. Always doing just what the song needs. ❤
The Cars recordings are perfectly constructed. Nothing wasted, nothing filler. The interaction between all the instruments was masterful.
Great for record listening. Live it was a negative
For certain. I’m more moved a well-crafted but “easy” solo that takes you on a journey than I am by a blizzard of notes.
Elliot is a great story teller. Been listening to interviews lately in
I absolutely LOVE Elliot Easton's playing...so quirky, fun, and accessible. He's one of those guys who sound so simple until you start prying into it. He's also a wonderful guy, and when I met him at a guitar show he was so cool and gracious. Sat and talked guitars with me for a while, such a cool cat.
Just What I Needed was the first solo I ever learned in 1981. Elliot was a major inspiration for me and still is.
When natural talent, experience and great taste musicians tend to do that: Make it sound and seem easy. It is so cool to watch. Also inspires other musicians to grab the nearest guitar and noodle a bit more. Win-win.
Great to hear he was so willing to shoot the breeze with a fan. Easton is one of those exceptions to the rule about celebrities.
In the late 80's I was just hanging out in a guitar store (actually music store lol) in Orlando and I was shooting the breeze with the salesman. I happened to mention I was a blues fan but that I had great respect for Eliott Easton. The guy then says he had talked with Elliott at an event and he was planning to do a blues album, and that he had his phone number... do you want to call him. Uhhhhh... YEAH! Much to my surprise, Elliott answered the phone and chatted with the guy, with me listening, for about 5 minutes. He told us sadly the blues album was never made, but I was absolutely awestruck that he even took the time to chat with a salesman that he only met once, and was just a regular guy who loved guitar like us. My fan boy appreciation went up about 50 levels that day😁
That would be an excellent memory. I met Loren Greene from Gunsmoke 50 years ago. Not quite as cool as meeting Elliot
Elliot's solo on Bye Bye Love, particularly the little chromatic ascending run, always brings such a big smile to my face
As a keyboard player first/guitarist second, Bye Bye Love epitomizes everything I love about a great song by a band who had their sh*t together. A track for the ages.
One of my faves too. Love the interplay between guitar n electric piano.
Always love your takes on solos. Elliot is such a fine player. Very smart and inventive. Thanks Tim for bringing attention to him.
Elliot’s work with the Cars was always exquisite.
Yeah, he was an amazing guitarist but he played for the song. He never had the visibility but he made amazing music.
EE always played the perfect solos. it was never about showing off. it was always about what the song called for. LEGEND!!!
True-but he also had insane chops.
Elliot Easton is such a badass! Very "economical" solos. Gets in, gets down, and gets out right on time! The solo in Candy-O is a perfect example as well.
Exactly! He knows that less is more.
By the time new wave came along, the idea of the guitar virtuoso had to be re-thought out. Up until then, it was mostly fast playing, fill up the arena fretboard frenetics that was considered the rage. But then players like Edge, Andy Summers showed that it was okay to slow it down and not play as busily. For the record, my favorite guitarist is Jimmy Page but my vote for the greatest rock guitar solo is David Gilmour's "Comfortably Numb".
I couldn't have said it any better.
@@cc352Gilmour’s playing is all feel, no fluff or wasted effort. His leads fit perfectly into the ambiance of PF’s music, so hauntingly beautiful.
Elliot Easton is one of my favorite guitarists of all time. His solos fit the songs incredibly well, they're little songs within a song. To me, the solo in Touch and Go is a yardstick by which I measure other guitar solos, it's just so fitting, so... right. The Just What I Needed solo is also fantastic, and the comparison to other guitarists signatures is awesome. The history of the album was also super cool, thanks Tim!
Agreed. Amazing work.
I'm gonna third that (heheh)... "Touch and Go" is probably my all-time favorite solo (and I'm sure you've heard Elliott tell the story of how it almost got vetoed. Crazy!)
Easton is a MARVELOUS and EPIC guitarist. Undoubtedly amongst the greatest of all time.
Agreed 100%!
Touch and go solo I have to replay 6 or 7 times every time I hear it! I am the same way about the solo from Tonight She Comes! ❤
I have always loved Elliott's solos. So perfect and precise. The one for "Got a lot on my head" is one of my favorites.
9ne?
Oh yeah, he was on a mad one with that song!
EE is one of the greatest ever IMO. His licks and tone have been stuck in my head for 45 years.
Every one of Elliot Easton's solos was a little gem of perfection. He doesn't get enough attention - thanks!
His image/character wasn't really cool.
@@bonsummers2657 Like the Cars were ever about "cool"? Besides, top talent will aways be cool, and that's what Easton brought to the table.
On the matter image, Elliott didn't have the 'cool'. I'm callin it straight. I understand. You call out your narrative.@@patrickmcevoy5080
If you understand image, you'll see who's got it, and who doesn't,…. aside from musical chops.@@patrickmcevoy5080
Right? When the Cars first broke in Upstate NY (late 78/early 79 maybe) their music was for geeks who wasted the rest of their time f’n with these ridiculous things called PCs. The cool kids and manly men clung to Skynyrd like a security blanket. 😂
Greg Hawkes should also be a spokesman for The Cars. His keyboard playing is iconic and legendary.
💯 💯
Greg Hawkes, is one of the finest American keyboardist of his time. Just ask Paul McCartney, who asked him to play on his late 80’s album: or the late John Lennon, who in 1980, his last interview, before he died, said that the song, ‘TOUCH AND GO’ was his favorite song of the year. Many of the samples, I hear in Logic and Pro Tools, we’re already created by Greg. And if that weren’t enough, he is also very good at 10 different instruments. 😊
And Greg made the music so much fun.
The Cars have been one of my favorite bands since the late ‘70s. I’ve always loved the layering and composition of their songs. But when I REALLY started isolating the guitar work, I was blown away. Elliot Easton immediately became one of my favorite guitarists, long after I started loving the band. The country/rockabilly guitar infused with synthesizers and quirky lyrics makes The Cars a unique and forever interesting rock band.
Love this. Elliot Easton's playing has always caught my attention. His soloing was very smart, melodic, and tasteful!
Love Elliot Easton. “My Best Friend’s Girl” and “Touch and Go” are two of my favourite solos of all time.
YES! Touch and Go and I’m Not the One (more for its vocals).
elliot is a joy to cover. not only does he have a country flavor in his playing, his leads are very much like the tele pickers in nashville: short bursts of thunder and lightening.
Yeah I always dug playing his solos, at the time I was learning them I was a bit inexperienced and got quite the education picking up his leads. Easton's approach was so unique back then. Very inventive and of course those tele picker licks were the bomb. Fantastic guitarist!
Such an underrated guitar player. Love his playing. So SMOOTHE so put together structure is perfection. Love how he throws that country into the rock.
Elliot’s solos are as memorable as the songs themselves. What a great musician
you don't even think of them as solos just the foundation of the songs
Such a recognizable sound!! I don't play music, but love it. Lol. And nothing sounded like the Cars solos and guitar 🎸
Elliot Easton is so sadly underrated. His solo on Shake it Up - eggz-quisite!. He played clean and tight, for the song, and used a lot of different influences.
Another Great rundown, It’s All I Can Do is my favorite song and solo by the Cars, Ben Orr was an outstanding vocalist.
One of my favorite EE solos too!
My pick for the best solo of all time is his solo for “tonight she comes” a song within a song! Guy is a genius in my book
Me, too. Nice melody, good sound, and a few ripper pick harmonics
Yeah, definitely another one of his finest moments.
Kid Charlemagne
@@NoelHarris-y4h Damn you! 😂 I obsessed over the solo from Peg all throughout my senior year in HS. Now we have J Grayson on YT talking about this little thing he threw together at the behest of Becker and Fagen. Bastard … how dare he insult my youth like that! 😂😂😂
No doubt. And he actually CHANGES IT UP in "Benny's" live Reunion video (which I like even more), with what sounds to me like a 'Hollies' tribute for a few chords.. (Check it out..)
So true 5:49 his solos turned out to be far more intricate when I tried to play them than it sounded. They are so perfectly matching each song that they don't feel like solos; more like melodic extensions of the songs.
One of the most down to earth musicians I've ever communicated with. He helped me get a left-handed Gibson Tikibird, a rare signature guitar, that was only around for a short period of time. His music is a joy to listen to, back then till today.
I always loved Elliot's rapid fire approach to his solos. Totally in the pocket, short and sweet, and perfect. One of my biggest influences.
Another solo that just floors me is from the song Candy-O.
That guy was such an underrated monster guitar player, everything he did was so tasteful, and slick and clean, incredible phrasing and note selection. Love E.E.!
Couldn’t agree more. He is second to none when it comes to phrasing. Probably the most underrated guitarist ever
Tim. When you talk of guitar greats, I put you in that category. You're tones and playing are unbelievable. 👍🎸🎸🎸🎸
My favorite thing about Tim.....is he just exudes joy when he plays. That makes me as the viewer/listener enjoy it so much more. I once walked out of an Almond Bros show because while their playing was impeccable, they seemed totally bored. To me it killed the whole vibe. @@jamespolito3269
Great teacher and a genuinely nice guy. A pleasure to watch.
Can't over-praise EE's work. His brilliant solos and drop-ins have always had playful references to other genres.
What an unsung guitar hero he is. Elliot's playing seemed so unassuming at the time, but TOTALLY stands out all these years later. Love his playing more now, than then (and I loved it then).
Yes, HUGE Bakersfield country influence in Elliot's playing and he's even said so. Best Friend's Girl solo for instance, wow!
I’m not hearing Bakersfield … although you may be spot on. I’m familiar with both, give me an example of where you’re hearing Buck, Don and the boys in a Cars song (leave out Girl Made in Japan … love that song but it sounded like Buck hired studio musicians to play background). Again, 0 shade being cast here, love these types of analogies and just curious.
Like Tim says, the country is in the thirds use. Bakersfield time.
I just love Elliot's work. He is so under-rated. His licks are so tasty. His pinch harmonics and pre bends are so unique. He doesn't sound like anybody else. His bends are amazing, and his tremelo work is second to none.
One of your best episodes, one of my favorite bands and guitar player 💯 Dropin some serious R & R history knowledge on this one 👏
Always loved Elliot Easton, very melodic, tight, "get it done" guitar work. And, I believe he learned right hand, but then re-taught himself how to play left hand, because he thought that made him play better. How hard is that!!! Tim, love your work, and your willingness to share with others, thats a great trait. I would love to hear your thoughts on Chicago's Terry Kath. His solos, runs, and licks have some very tasty stuff in there, and would love to see you disect that. Questions 67 and 68, 26/6/4, Poem 58, taking it up town, the solo in make me smile....there is a lot of good stuff there. I am subscribed, so if you do that one, I'll be sure to catch it and tell others. Thanks man!
Yea I saw a few of kath,s older stuff with Chicago and was blown away, what a terrible loss
Elliot has a Unique Style. Love His Playing. Never Gets Old.
Besides being a great player Tim’s enthusiasm for guitar is infectious and has a positive effect on us all. I feel blessed to hear what he has to share with us.
One of my favorite guitarists…SO creative and eclectic with such expressive bends/vibrato.
That solo is why I started listening to "new music". Way back when, for a while, I was a Classic Rock Only snob and this music was considered "new", (or new wave) not classic rock, but I could tell these guys knew what they were doing...Now, their music is considered classic rock.
I'm a metal fan at heart, and the solo for Shake It Up makes me very happy. For that solo to be in a pop-rock song, it's almost unreal. That muted staccato lick towards the beginning... very catchy, very memorable, and it sets the rest of the solo up for success, especially when he goes into the legato lick. And he's doing it in the middle of a poppy rock song. Just surreal.
I first heard them in the late 70s, and just so many good songs. When they come on the radio, my natural reaction is to turn up the volume a bit.
Awesome! Working in my shop I started off playing Bostons' albums then ran across this song and all those memories come back with this Cars tune!!! Great time to be 16!!!
Thank you thank you thank you for this. As a Boston native, aged 58, the Cars were very important to all of us young musicians in the late 70s/early 80s. And EE did indeed craft perfect solos... song after song after song. You can sing them and you can't imagine them being any different. I also have an EE signature Kramer guitar for a while. It was very cool. He did sneaky innovative stuff with his signature instruments.
So happy you're covering Elliot Easton. Great guitar player. He reminds me of George Harrison and Mike Campbell. Broad influences, range, always playing great fills serving the song. And, of course his own great chops and choices. Love The Cars. (written before Tim makes the George Harrison comment).
Elliot is the absolute best! His playing on CCR’s (Revisited) live album is a true master class. Thx Tim 🤘💯
Love anything Elliot Easton plays. The solo on "Shake It Up" always leaves a smile on my face--what a gem it is.
Thanks for the Cars perfect guitar solo! I to believe that solo piece fits so well to that song. I saw the Cars in Cambridge way back in the day not knowing who they were. A very good influence on my guitar playing.
Elliot is a great guy, great player and has played some of the most memorable solos of my childhood.
Thanks!
🇨🇦
Candy-O solo is one of my favs as well. Great to see Easton get some love👍
Hi Tim!
I loved this segment! We jumped on The Cars when they first appeared at my FM station on California’s Central Coast. We were the big station, and our Music Director subscribed to The Gavin Report (may it rest in peace). What a delightful surprise (as usual, really) to find this! Beautiful solos, my friend!
Ed Ryba
So underrated! I love the way he mixes styles effortlessly.
My bandmates and I met Elliot at the Chicago '79 NAMM Show. Super nice fellow, and very open in sharing about his gear and approach on guitar solos.
Elliot is so underrated! His solos are very memorable; you can hum them. Amazing!
Underrated by who? Most over used word on guitar sites.
@@captainsouth4460 maybe I should’ve said “not as well known as other guitarists.”
My favorite Elliot solo is on Tonight She Comes. It has everything. Pinch harmonics, tone, hammer ons, tremolo and bar work, blues and oh the most important thing - one of the most beautiful melodic shape you could get.
The first song I thought of when I saw the title of the video was this one! Absolutely brilliant. Another one might be Brian Robertson's wah-wah solo in Thin Lizzy's Warriors. Fantastic playing, but also fantastic use of the wah as an expression pedal lifting each phrase, rather than just rocking the foot back and forwards in time with the rhythm.
The lead from My Sharona by The Knack is a very underrated solo too. Please do that one Tim.
What a great solo
It is a wonderfully composed and performed solo. Builds perfectly.
Elliott is one of my favorite rock guitarists all-time. He simply never missed a note. I met him back stage in the early 2000's when he was with Creedence Clearwater Revisited and I tried to get him to talk about the Cars but he really wasn't interested at the time. Glad to know he now seems to be more willing to look back on those times and talk about them.
Thanks, Tim. Great dive into a superb solo. Elliot's solos always had shape to them. Peaks and valleys, in a linear and logical way that had tons of tension and release.
Elliot did a great interview with Dweezil Zappa, where he went into detail how he crafts solos. So well thought out, but natural sounding at the same time.
@@SurfGreenTelecaster Wow, I must look that up!
Big Elliott Easton fan. Thanks Tim and well done. I bought a spark amp recently primarily because it has mic jack and allows me to play late at night in my apartment without waking up the neighbors. All of modeling capabilities is a big bonus too.
Thanks for doing this, Tim! I loved Elliot's playing right from the start. He created many fantastic solos and The Cars had many great songs.
I am glad that you pointed out the Country Music vibe in Elliot Easton's short-but-sweet brilliant solos, he's always sounded like a great Country Rock melodic lead guitarist playing in a Pop Rock band. I can hear him as the lead guitarist for Dwight Yoakam or Clint Black just as much as The Cars.
I’ve always considered Elliot’s solo from My Best Friend’s Girl to be his best. It’s got that rockabilly feel you mentioned, and it’s somewhat challenging to master.
agree
agreed
It’s always a challenge.
Thanks for the Info, Really enjoyed it. Love your Studio setup!!! 😊
One of my favorite solos for sure! Thanks for the reminder!
OMG I love Elliot and the Cars. I was 14 or so living in the Bostom area of southern New England. I heard them on WBCN and went to see them a couple of times as they blew up through the club scene to the areana. I saw them both at the Hartford Civic Center around Candy-O, and Boston Garden a few years later. Indeed they played it fairly precisely, but with enough live tone and accoutrements to make it an extraordinary experience to see them live. Elliot was clearly a genius in my eyes, Ric had the perfect complementary odd-ball, quicky rhythm style, Benjamin's stage presence, ability to make girls scream, with Greg's atmospheric perfectly played keys/synths, and David's powerful drumming, made this band impossible to deny. Elliot always play short but perfect solos (amount the infinite number of perfect guitar solos).
As a lefty guitar player myself, I remember how thrilled I was to find out that EE was left handed. I was a teen in the 80s and I remember how hard it was to get a lefty guitar then- probably even harder in the 60s and 70s. I still can’t just walk into a store and buy off the rack, but online shopping has made getting a lefty so much easier and cheaper than it used to be.
I know your pain! It was SO frustrating!
Yes ,A lefty Also my Lefthanded Brother ❤ remember how hard it was to get a good Lefthanded guitar back
than 😮
Eliot Easton's lefty guitars made it into the many noted music shops in Boston in the years The Cars were big. My high school bandmate at the time was a lefty and ended up with one. Leftys were hard to get.
Spot on brother. With you 100%. 🎸🎸🎸
Lefties unite. Let’s start a lefty only guitar company!
Elliot's shake it up solo has always been a favorite of mine. So glad he's getting some more recognition for his work.
My all time favorite Easton solo is the outro to Since I Held You. It fits the theme of the lyrics of the song so perfectly. Elliott is making that guitar cry. Great video.
Yes! His overwhelmingly shining moment among so many other glittering solos!
Just the one I thought you'd pick. Short and sweet. Well constructed. Tells a story. EE did that a lot.
Merry Christmas Tim. Much respect...
Elliot has been underrated for so long. I’ve had a positive grid spark for a few years now and I really like it. So much so I will be receiving the 4x10 cab any day now. Hurry Santa!
The solo on “Nightspots” was always one of his best. Giving EVH a run for his money IMO.
Every time anyone brings up "most underrated guitarists", EE is always the first one I mention. His solos were all perfectly fit to what the songs needed - nothing more, nothing less. Exceptionally perfect playing skills too, with what I like to call "harder than it sounds" solos.
Thanks for all the additional information.
One of your greatest breakdowns Tim! Thank you!
I spent hours listening to Moving in Stereo - still love this album.
Elliot is an incredible player and human being!
Thanks for doing this, Tim !
Elliot is so good. I still play those old Cars records all the time.
It's absolutely an honor to watch these videos you make, Thank you !!!
I totally agree! Best solo! This album and Van Halen 1 both blew me away. I remember where I was when I first heard them
My friend put in this 8 track and tells me “this is the best cruise music “
I clearly remember hearing The Cars debut album for the first time as well. I was a teenager. I remember where I was and how I reacted to it. I'd never heard anything like it and it blew me away. I've loved Elliot Easton playing ever since. Brilliantly crafted and unique solos that stick in your brain.
Jealous
Merry Christmas Tim! Thanks for all you do.
I’m a lefty too and Elliot has always been an inspiration for me. Another great video Tim.
Hell yeah lefties unite!
Bravo for showing the love to Elliott. The Cars and Elliott have long been one of my lifelong favorites. I think Elliott’s solo in Toch and Go and Shake it up are also among my favorite solos of all time!
I absolutely love Elliot’s solos in Touch And Go. It’s kind of a call and response with Ric’s vocal, so cool.
Touch and Go.....a great, great, great solo
Touch and go, one of my top cars songs, for sure!
Touch and Go: yes, a splendid solo
So happy to see some recognition to a massively underrated player. Not only were the Cars first cassette purchase as a teen, I grew up just north of Boston. Eliot's solos are pop perfection and he has a knack for phrasing and changing style for the song, not his ego. He stands among the greats like Gilmour in my opinion because the solos are an integral part of the song and should be played note for note, they are not just riffing and chops.
I played in a lot of different cover bands, every time we would want to do a cars song, would always have to take into account the guitar solo and if our lead player at the time could pull it off. He had a very unique style, very tasteful, not easy to copy
For me it’s his solo on Touch and Go. Absolutely perfect!
One of my "perfect" solos: Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World. Perfectly compliments the song, always building, and advancing the song to the next section. That's what makes a great solo, not just a display of technical ability. Brilliant rhythmic feel and development in addition to the melodic component.
Great video. Always loved the Master, Eason. You're a Master too.
As a guitar player for many years, I can tell.
Love this one Tim, Elliot Easton is one of the most intentional and economical players particularly on solos, that I ever heard. Just a neat solo ,used to beat on it a bit myself back in my gigging years 40 years ago! ;-) . Thanks for what you do!
That is an awesome solo. Every time I hear it I go deep in thought about it. It’s so good.
I always liked Elliot Easton's guitar work, and his Rock-a-billy tinges, which became a common Post-Punk theme, but Elliot's use of Country/Rock-a-billy seemed more organic, like he just grew up with it and used it
Elliot is one of the most overlooked guitarists. His solos are always so tight and well phrased, he really serves the song. He and Andy Summers are like two of the best guitarists from that late 70's early 80's era that really fly under the radar but are so so good.
This first cars album was one of the greatest rock / new wave albums ever. It was so great I lost my mind partying to it as a teen
LOVE his rhythm lines in Since You're Gone.
So, what's really great about this track is, er.., absolutely everything. Yeah, not least the brilliant solos, but like many Cars hits, a beautifully constructed, perfect pop-rock composition, performed with technical excellence. Natural genius.
the song has the same chord sequence as I Wanna hold your hand by the beatles. check it out.
YES, yes, a million times, yes! So excited to see his picture on your videos thumbnail. One of my favorite players and hands-down my favorite solo. Thanks for sharing and Happy New Year brother!
That 1st cars album was Pure Gold 🎉
All of his solos were perfect to my ears! I think he is brilliant!
Yes! Absolutely, one of my guitar heroes of my misspent youth. Under praised I think due to the heavy mix of synths in their records. Kind of hid Elliot's genius under all those "pop synth" mixes.
I don't watch enough of your channel. I gotta change that. You have great knowledge and takes on everything but it's your easy going personality that really keeps me coming back. Thanks, Tim!
Eliot Easton is one of the most underrated guitarists in rock. Love his solo on "Touch and Go" also.
No, he was never underrated. Most over used word on the interweb!!
@@captainsouth4460 I recently heard Easton joke when someone said that, "Well, I guess I'm finally rated?"
Yeah! The main solo and the 3 mini-solos at the end.
Elliot is one of my favorites. The cars are such a great melodic band. I love their stuff. My band covers 6 or 7 of their songs and they are all crowd favorites. Our guitarist really nails Elliot’s stuff.
Eeaston has always been my gold standard for inspiration when I hear the phrase “give the song what it needs”. I regularly find myself asking “What would Elliot do?” If ever there was a rock star that should’ve been a studio musician, its him. 👍
That question and “What would Mike Campbell do?” are usually a safe bet.