Two things: Bloomfield plays his '59 burst straight into a Fender amp on Super Sessions, and the photo of Beck playing his LP is on the backside of the Blow by Blow album cover and the painting is on the front. Peace!
Ok, I'll be the one to say it here since there was a whole bunch of rule reading & a bunch of hoops to jump thru to try to leave a normal comment.It's no surprise to not see Phil Keaggy mentioned here. He was heavily influenced by Bloomfield & is an amazing player! I'm sure he flies under the radar because of his beliefs (Christian) but does much instrumental music from classical & new age to fusion, prog & beyond. Highly recommend!
Honorable mention: Neil Young’s Old Black, a 1953 Les Paul Gold Top that was painted black, was an important influence in Young’s electric sound. Neil Young traded a Gretsch 6120 for Jim Messina’s Les Paul (Old Black) in the late 60s.
Nobody mentioned Waddy Wachtel, one of my favorite players. His Les Pauls (he has an assortment of them) can be heard in classic records from Warren Zevon, Linda Ronstadt, Andrew Gold, Keith Richards, Steve Perry, Stevie Nicks, Rolling Stones to name a few.
I saw Return to Forever in the late 70's and it was amazing with Stanley Clark, Al DiMeola, Chic Corea and Lenny White. During a jam section they were all yelling at each other through their instruments, never seen anything like that ever!!!
I mentioned Al. He got skipped somehow. First knew of him from Land Of The Midnight Sun. Loved it so bought RTF's Romantic Warrior. Great. Elegant Gypsy drops and he's playing at Winterland supporting Weather Report for Heavy Weather. Al's encore and brings out an influential player to him, Carlos Santana. Vibes were great but i think Carlos really wanted to run away. Al was on fire his whole set. Yep, LPC for almost everything.
How did I forget Al? His live "Tour de Force" is brutal! There is also some bootleg stuff of Al jumping up on stage with Frank Zappa and Steve Vai live that is incredible. Imagine having balls that big?
Paul Kossoff and Blind Owl Al Wilson come to mind. Also Magic Sam's Boogie on Earl Hooker's LP would be enough to influence anyone to pick one up and learn to play
@@jonathanmills5747 Fascinating. He's a Guitar Legend to so many, so it's hard to imagine the sort of tough times he fell on after quitting The Stones. I may be wrong, but I believe I read that he was on Public Assistance at one point, and I know for a fact he was playing dive bars & clubs with no-name bands. Drugs and alcohol must've taken their toll on the man, but he deserved better. Keep that in mind the next time Mick & Keith are playing Honky Tonk Woman, Sway, Moonlight Mile, or the plethora of other songs Mick Taylor inspired or basically wrote. I bleed Rolling Stones, and hope Mick & Keith live another 80 years, but they're not nice guys.
I started playing in 1976, My biggest influence to select the Les Paul Standard as my #1 guitar was my Uncle Bil, after him, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Gary Richrath, Peter Frampton and Tom Scholz were my biggest influences as a guitarist. By the way, I opened a show for Gary Richrath in the mid 1990's, he told me his main Les Paul Standards were 3 1958's, not 1959's as most people assumed, as he was a very big man, about 6' 6", and the 1959 necks were a little skinny for his hands.
Gentlemen! Though he’s not a technical lead player, how on earth did we not mention Rick Nielsen???? He literally wrote the book on guitar collecting, he used his original 50’s Gold Top on their first album, he has several 57’s, 58’s and 59’s, and he even sold a burst to Jeff Beck in the late ‘60’s…. He tours with many vintage Gibsons and plays their hit I Want You To Want Me every night on the same ‘58 burst….
Definitely worth a mention Mick Ralph’s from Bad Company, Mick’s 58 Burst was an integral part of the 70s, think of Shooting Star and Feel Like Makin Love, Mick Ralph’s is my Rock Hero ……
I am watching this from Hatfield Hertfordshire a couple of miles north of London. Before I get into watching this for the next hour, I will get this out of the way and say I hope to see recognition for two of our small town's favourite sons, living in my home street was Mick Taylor, who made the Rolling Stones sound at their best era and Paul Kossoff from Free. Now I shall watch and see if they made the grade.
Great stream and great and civilised discussion, thanks Jeff & Keith! My 2 cents? Jan Ackerman of Focus fame, and Gary Green, guitarist with THE Prog Rock group from the '70s: Gentle Giant! These two fantastic but severely underrated players had an enormous effect on me as a young musician. They made me want to own a Les Paul, which I did several years later. It's really worth checking them out. Btw: the Melody Maker Magazine (GB) declared Akkerman the 'Best Guitarist' in 1973!
@@agriff4795 He did play a Gibson Les Paul. The one I remember most had what looked like a filtertron PU in the neck (on BBC sessions and Live at the Rainbow). From what I remember it was a 50s Custom (Black) EDIT: He did have a signature Framus guitar - mentioned on Hamburger Concerto sleeve notes - which was a single cut.
@@agriff4795 Akkerman certainly played Les Pauls. His main guitar for years was his Les Paul Personal which was modified by Paul Hamer and his Black Les Paul '54 custom was a genuine guitar - He just swapped out the pickups for those out of his Gretsch White falcon.
I asked an older guy i knew (i'm 15 in '72) what the heck is Martin holding on The Benefit album. "That's a Les Paul". Saw one for years with SS . Loved it but didn't know what it really was.
My friend Giles needs to be on the list… because… thanks to him, I was opened to the idea of playing and owning a Les Paul…and today, I do own a Les Paul and I love it.
Mick Ralphs played his Junior mostly while he was with Mott The Hoople but was a Les Paul guy in Bad Company. He really had his own unique tone with his Les Paul
Clapton defined the LP/Marshall sound for the blues, but Jeff Beck did it in May '66 with 'Beck's Bolero'. Unfortunately that tune didn't get released until 1967, as the B-side of Jeff's debut single, 'Hi Ho Silver Lining' (a pop tune Jeff fans avoided) and then two years later on 'Truth', Jeff's debut album, which introduced the heavy blues that the likes of Zeppelin would soon emulate. By his second album, 'Beck-Ola', he was on a Strat. And with the Jeff Beck Group MK II (w/Cozy Powell drumming) he played a Strat. With BB&A he used both LP and Strat. With 'Blow by Blow' he was on an LP, a Strat and the Seymour Duncan modded Tele w/humbuckers (from a Flying V once owned by Lonnie Mac. From 'Wired' onward he was pretty much on a Strat. When talking about the British LP scene, there was Clapton, absolutely. And Green (who also used a Strat). But let's not forget Mick Taylor (who also used a Strat on occasion). Those three were the triumverate that put - and kept - the LP on the rock map and inspired the likes of Brad Whitford and Joe Perry, Joe Walsh and all the rest, as well as Billy Gibbons. Other great LP players include Bruce Conte (Tower of Power), Ian Bairnson (Pilot, Kate Bush, Alan Parsons Project) and Andrew Latimer (Camel). All three exemplified (as Latimer still does) the power of a Les Paul as a melodic instrument. Oh, and Fleetwood Mac's Danny Kirwan, another marvellous and melodic player.
I may have missed it, but did you mention the late, great, Ronnie Montrose? He was a monster LP player in the 70’s with the Edgar Winter Group and with his own band Montrose. The feud between Ronnie and Gary More over Ronnie’s stolen LP is almost worth its own episode.
Steve Howe. Though his go to love was his ES-175D, he frequented the Les Paul along with a boat load of others. And the fact that Les Paul himself was an one of Steve’s influences. If he didn’t change the world with a Les Paul, he changed how I viewed the world.
Jeff Beck should be on the list, however he did not play his Les Paul on the Blow by Blow album. He actually told me this himself backstage at the Greek Theatre in the 1980’s. He told me the main guitar he used on that album was his double humbucking Telecaster, except for the obvious Strat tracks. I saw the Blow by Blow tour and live he did indeed play his Les Paul.
Bloomfield didn't cut up his Telecaster. He traded to a left-handed guitar player named John Nuese who played with Gram Parsons for a '54 Goldtop. It was Nuese that made the crude cutaway in the upper bout with a jigsaw. A real shame Martin Barre didn't make the list.
Wow, yeah, kudos for mentioning Keaggy. Awesome musician! Fast, smooth and melodic all over the neck. Wish I had a video of him doing Time live. Beautiful accoustic work too.
Glad to hear people bring up Steve Jones. If the criteria is "players who changed the world," he has to be near the top. You are talking about the band who inspired a whole movement, which then kept inspiring other movements, and his massive and raw guitar sound was a huge part of that. I was far too young to know about the Pistols when they were active (born in 75), but I worked my way back to them because of all the bands I was into, and even though I didn't listen to Nevermind the Bollocks until 1990 or so, I could hear that in that record, from the first power chord strum over the sample of marching feet on "Holiday in the Sun", I instantly understand why that band inspired so many people to rip up the rule book for music and just get out there and play, even if most of them weren't playing les pauls (or at least, aside from the hardcore bands, not until the punk revival of the late 80s and 90s, which went back to his raw sound instead of the further reaches of postpunk). Sure, he is a technically limited player, did not really do too much else, but just one of his gigs - Manchester Free Trade Hall - is noted for being a gig where every member of the audience was later involved with ground-breaking bands, and that level of inspiration occurred at many of their gigs as well as with their singles and their album. Also want to mention Matt Pike of Sleep and High On Fire. Maybe not top 10 and maybe not hugely well-known, but he carved out such a sound that I think had more influence than might be realized, and it is a sound that comes from a les paul through a cranked Orange, Matamp or Green Amp, a sound that's all about the resonance of that particular guitar through certain amps. Adam Jones made honorable mention at least, right? Good, bc again such an awesome resonant sound, but now with odd meters. Highly influential to a lot of good music since. Neil Young too, yeah killer raw guitar tones, and different than many because les paul through small amp (though I guess Jimmy Page was using small amps too). But yeah, Jimmy Page has got to be #1. Hard to top such a sonic mastermind and experimenter. His music has been everywhere since so that it sadly gets taken for granted or considered cliched or old hat by some people, but it was ground-breaking and still you hear that if you really listen. Also Bob Marley gets no love? Not one of the sounds you usually think of when you think LP, but it was his guitar, and he was hugely influential.
I first saw Mike Bloomfield with the original line up of the Butterfield band.. He was playing an LP gold top with P90s. He was awesome. I was at Monterey in 67 when The Electric Flag more or less launched. Mike was playing his 59 LP then. I followed the Flag for the next year. Saw them open for Jimmy Hendrix at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. They played at the Cheata Club on Santa Monica Pier quite often and I saw them there 3 or 4 times. Mike Bloomfield had passion and magic and deep emotion in his playing. For me he is the one, and probably will always be. There are many players that surpassed him in a purely technical sense but nobody played like hIm, though many wanted to.
My favorite current Les Paul player is Isaac Delahaye, lead guitarist with Dutch symphonic metal band EPICA, he plays 7 string Gibson Les Paul and 7 string Ibanez Darkstone guitars, great player 🙃
To me Les Paul himself was the most influential Les Paul Player. Without him there wouldn't have been a Les Paul Guitar to begin with, and that elevates him above everyone else. End of story, Mic Drop.
From ChatGPT (thought this would be interesting… Determining the top 10 most influential guitarists who have played Gibson Les Paul guitars is subjective and can vary depending on personal preferences. However, here's a list of 10 guitarists who have had a significant impact on the popularity and influence of the Gibson Les Paul: 1. **Les Paul** - The inventor of the Gibson Les Paul and a legendary guitarist in his own right. 2. **Jimmy Page** - Known for his work with Led Zeppelin, Page is synonymous with the Les Paul sound. 3. **Slash** - His iconic top hat and Les Paul are emblematic of his role in Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver. 4. **Eric Clapton** - Has played Les Pauls in various phases of his career and is a guitar legend. 5. **Duane Allman** - Renowned for his slide guitar work with The Allman Brothers Band, often with a Les Paul. 6. **Joe Perry** - Co-founder of Aerosmith, he's a Les Paul enthusiast and influential rock guitarist. 7. **Peter Green** - Founding member of Fleetwood Mac and known for his "Greeny" Les Paul. 8. **Gary Moore** - His fiery blues-rock playing on a Les Paul left a lasting impact. 9. **Billy Gibbons** - ZZ Top's frontman is famous for his fuzzy Les Paul tone. 10. **Ace Frehley** - Known as the "Spaceman" in KISS, he's associated with Les Paul guitars. Remember, there are many other great guitarists who have played Les Pauls and left their mark on music history, so this list is by no means exhaustive.
I mentioned Bloomfield in my one of about three comments mainly because everytime i'd go to a record or dept store at 11 years old in '68, i'd see SS. It took another year or three to finally learn that great looking guitar on the cover was in fact a Les Paul. Never bought the album then but did about 10 years ago. It's good but Mike to me used too many passing notes. . Who am i kidding? For the time, he was great!! Also a huge Peter Green fan, starting with Then Play On in '72. Could have been there with Blue Horizon titles in '69 or so since the older brother of a friend had them. I wasn't ready. Had to 'go back' later. Glad to see this here. Play ON!!
Great reply! Bay Area native here. @NolanVoid-dr1ch. Don Whers, '76, HT SB MN Strat. Year old and like new. $300 otd, new HSC. People frown on these now. Mine was pretty good. A friend didn't like Strats (Gibson SG Spl) but dug mine. Long gone. Rock on. btw, not much of a pawn shop guy but one was near by (SSF). Went there once in '70 or so and they had a LP Jr for $100. All in with Leslie West. Every city LW said he'd stop by pawn shops and buy every one he saw, often giving them away as gifts. I belive JW for LITFL was one of these.
Eire / Ireland , Ever hear of Jimmy Slevin Band from Dublin , Ireland , played a Gold Top par excellence. But only made 2 albums this side of the pond. Some record companies didnt distribute on that side of the wter.
The image of Eric Clapton playing his Les Paul burts with Mayal on the beano album and the limitedtime it was on the road carried a "wow" factor. Where Bloomfield, Allman, Townsend , all wanted a les Paul but specifically a burst with humbuckeing PAF. And of course Marshall amp. Fripp always lean on black custom.
All great players mentioned here, but for me my most influential LP players are Jerry Cantrell, Matt Pike, Wata (Boris), Stephen Brodsky (Cave In, Mutoid Man), and Hitori Gotoh (Kessoku Band).
Bloomfield played a ‘59 Les Paul Burst on “Super Session.” Probably his first breakout Les Paul work was in ‘67 on the incredible “Long Time Coming,” album by The Electric Flag. He was playing a Les Paul by the time of “East West,” Paul Butterfield Band’s second album. PS ~ I agree with George Gruhn about Mike Bloomfield’s influence on the American guitar market for Les Paul Bursts, and American blues rock players.
Mick ronson (LP custom), Mick Taylor (59 burst), Frank zappa (LP custom + the SGs), Steve Jones (LP custom), Mick jones (LP junior). Buckethead? Lifeson? Lindsey Buckingham? Rumors was primarily that white les paul custom
Thanks for the follow up. I suppose you could make videos on this subject alone endlessly. Given that this is probably the last on the LP I thought I would posthumously mention a player that got a very brief mention but should have least got an honourable one - Joe Walsh. Walsh played a 59 during his time with the James Gang. In Rocky Mountain Way he played one of the greatest guitar intros to a rock song ever. I know it was on a Les Paul deluxe so may not count though Gibson afew years ago issued a Rocky Mountain Way burst in a standard model. Looking forward to the Strat video and probably the 50 other follow up videos on that one😂
Great that Duane Allman very deservedly made your original list. But equally deserving -- and a glaring omission -- is his partner in crime, Dickey Betts. All of his amazing instrumentals throughout the years, from In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, through Les Bres in A Minor, Jessica, High Falls and beyond, were all conceived of and performed on a Les Paul. And other staple songs in the Allmans catalog as well such as Ramblin' Man, Blues Sky, Nobody Knows, Whippin' Post et al just wouldn't sound the same without it. Dickey and the Les Paul have been inextricably linked for well over half a century of stellar playing
ok, i gots another,,,,Dickey Betts. As much as i loved Duane, i never wanted to play slide. Loved his playing but as a kid in '73, I gravitated to Dickey's style,,,,well both (Sab, Mountain and ABB at FE got me started). y'all ever get bored, look up 'Southbound Live 1/16/82' close enough.... It's great to me now. I'd given up on the band by then (into them again later).
thanx,,,,,the Bite of a 50 watt Marshall was Duane,,,,the howl of of a 100 watt was Dickey. Copped and played out with The ABB tunes for over 50 years.
All very subjective. My early concert goings included the Dutch group Focus whose guitarist at the time was Jan Akkerman. Now, I realise that he has not left that much of a legacy - in terms of a long lasting popularity. I was lucky enough to attend a seminar which featured him about 25years ago. Akkerman was thought of as a virtuoso at the time. It is not a term which I feel comfortable with. “X is the best guitarist in the world?” “Says who?” I feel like asking. Akkerman had a Classical Music education, and put out at least one Classical album ‘Tabernakel’. His playing covered many genres so I feel that the dreaded term virtuoso is warranted. Like most people we tend to idealise people and by extension their axe of choice, but reality if we are lucky enough to own the instrument of our dreams falls short. It has taken a long time, and many mods to get my LP to play and sound as I hoped it would.
and I agree with everyone that touts Ronnie Montrose...I saw him for 3 consucutive years, '78...'79...and '80...and then saw him in 2003 or 2004 playing "as Montrose", (with all the 4 original members)...doing a 5 song set at the end of a 2 1/2 hour long Sammy Hagar show....and then I saw him in late 2011, four months before his death. Anybody can drop a humbucker into a Strat or other guitar....but Ronnie's tone on the original studio version of Rock Candy...has a "bark" that epitomizes the pinnacle of "the Les Paul tone". Ted Templeman was the Producer/Engineer of the ealrly Montrose albums...and just a few short years later...became the Producer/Engineer of the new kids on the block, Van Halen. Their request to Ted was..."make our record sound like the first Montrose album"...(and he did).
Fun factoid: Johnny Depp originally went to L.A. because he wanted to make it as a rock star guitar player. And Bernie Marsden wasn’t a big name until people found out about his incredible guitar collection. “The Beast,” his ‘59 Burst, is famous because … well, who knows really. Bernie seemed like a real Brit character and certainly a fine guitar player.
Guys I just sat through this podcast and thoroughly enjoyed it. I know there are honourable mentions and disclaimers regarding not knowing all the guitar heros in the history of Les Paul players, I agree with many of the players you chose but to leave out Mick Taylor who made the Rolling Stones better played a 58 SG Les Paul and never got a mention. That Guy should be in the top 3 of any list. Also my personal, honourable mention is Eddie Hazel who has one of the greatest solos ever with Parliament Funkadelic (George Clinton) For the song, Maggot Brain. Frampton, Boston, REO speedwagon, Ace Freehley Journey don't touch my honourable mentions. And Paul Kossoff gets a couple of sentences. I did appreciate the Stratocaster podcast because you mentioned Rory Gallagher, which shows you do know your stuff, so if I sound a little bit critical, I don't mean to be rude, but no Mick Taylor, is sacrilege. Keep up the good work though, I can listen to you all day long
Here is your next list “the top 5 players known for a Les Paul and ran to a Strat” you could start that list With Clapton he got his strat and never looked back
So long as the remit is "players who changed the world" -- not "the best players", not "my favorite players" -- I don't see how Ace Frehley gets left out of the top 3, much less the top 10. I'm no particular fan of him myself, but based on anecdotal evidence the number of guitarists who picked up the instrument because of Kiss is incalculable.
Re: Steve Jones and NMTB... He didn't use Marshalls back then. Les Paul - 74 Custom & 54 Custom, MXR pedal, Fender Twin, and lots of tracking. Re: Knopfler and the Les Paul... I agree with Jeff. I've seen him do Brothers In Arms on a Pensa Suhr with EMGs and he sounded the same.
Great as always Keith. Jeff, I tip my cap. Long time subscriber. First comment. Some glaring omissions in the occurred to me. I moved to South Florida from Syracuse a few years ago and I now have a somewhat different perspective. Especially on this. You have Duane Allman on the list, I would add Dickey Betts and Gary Rossington. Plus, Toy Caldwell and Charlie Daniels. They were ALL HUGE in the south and ALL played Les Pauls. And Charlie was a way better guitar player than he was a fiddler.
Yeah, Frank, I'm with you. Raised in Fla. Love Southern rock. Not a huge country fan but, oddly enough, my biggest influence for learning guitar was Roy Clark...though I can't remember him with an LP. He played everything else with strings on it though!
Al Di Meola ...changed the way he played his black beauty with chick corea. He also changed it with di marzio pick ups he ad fitted on that guitar...Go listen to Elegant Gypsy LP...then ask Steve Via what he says about Al...:-) Be well always..:-)
Tom Scholz played a couple of1968 Les Paul P90 Goldtops, that he modded by taking out the bridge P90, and installing a humbucker, and eventually stripped the gold off to show the natural maple.. From 2007-2011 Gibson released the Les Paul BFG....with an unbound rough textured top, but with the Scholz pickup layout of a Bridge Humbucker and a neck P90. Later, around 2013 or 2014, Gibson released a Tom Scholz "Collectors Edition Les Paul, with a natural maple finish, with a bridge humbucker and neck P90. Tom Scholz should probably be on the larger 20-30 player list. In 1976, using that Les Paul, into Marshalls, with added effects loops, Tom created the tone profile of distortion, compression, delay, and chorus....that became his groundbreaking Rockman....which would eventually become the template for all the Digital Guitar Processors that would surge into the marketplace in the 80's. (this topic might make a great 5 Watt World mini-series topic...the evolution of guitar amp tone....from Class A, to class A/B, Master Volumes, Effects Loops, Analog Effects, Digital Effects, on to Modeling)
Bloomfield DID NOT cut up his tele! Someone else who bought it after him was a lefty and cut it up. The Super Session guitar was the ‘59 Sunburst Les Paul, that Mike bought(and traded) from Dan Erliwine!!
Björn Gelotte of In flames is an amazing les Paul player also his a super nice guy.. He’s so underrated in the mainstream he is the guitar player that got me loving les Paul customs 🙂
I believe i mentioned Al DiMeola as a HM since i saw him twice, '77 solo then '85, trio.. Guy is recovering from a heart attack on stage. i dunno, man....back in the day he'd scare everyone away. I hope Al makes a full recovery.
You obviously have very little background on Jeff Beck’s Les Pauls. I’ll fill you in a bit. I think almost everybody knows he played a Tele, Strat and Les Paul on Blow by Blow. George Martin encouraged him to use as many different guitars as possible to get as many colours that he could find, I think the most iconic sound on the album is the Tele with humbuckers which Seymor Duncan swapped for Jeff’s Esquire. He definitely used that on ‘cause We Ended as Lovers. The Les Paul on the front cover however is the iconic image. And by the way it is very easy to find out which photo the painting is taken from - It is on the back cover. That is his ’54 stop tail with humbuckers - known as the Ox Blood. If you want to see him playing that to his best - he does that with a few youngsters in a band called UPP around the same time. In those sessions you see how easy he is with a Les Paul - and to my mind the purity of his playing without tricks on a Les Paul is preferable to his Strat playing. My personal feeling is that Jeff got bored fast and he liked to invent sounds and do tricks. He got into playing the ‘bag’ with the Les Paul after working with Stevie Wonder - then he just got fed up with that trick (and the Les Paul). I am guessing the Beatles song (another George Martin influence) She’s a Woman is the last time he used that guitar. Useful to mention he used a burst earlier in his late Yardbird era and early Jeff Beck group recordings. I’m not sure where that burst went - others on the web will know.
I had an '97 Les Paul Custom. Killer guitar, I loved it. But my poor back couldn't handle the weight. It was was well over 10 pounds. I sold it because I knew I wasn't going to play it enough. LP customs, even in the 1990's, can be very heavy.
For about 15 yrs (until I got another guitar) I was the most influential guitarist on a 1978 Ibanez post lawsuit LP copy non-artist - no exaggeration required..
Just for your Strat video Hank Marvin was not just just a UK thing. He was also very influential on the HiLife sound from Ghana and West Africa in general,
After the first video I was thinking was possibly Michael Rother was influential because of the Harmonia sessions with Brian Eno which heavily influenced David Bowie's Heroes album. Harmonia was basically a collaboration between Rother's band Neu! and the duo Cluster. This is the difference between someone being the best or the best known and also how influence can be a trickle down thing where someone else has been influential but may never have done what they did without that less famous person.
Two things: Bloomfield plays his '59 burst straight into a Fender amp on Super Sessions, and the photo of Beck playing his LP is on the backside of the Blow by Blow album cover and the painting is on the front. Peace!
Ok, I'll be the one to say it here since there was a whole bunch of rule reading & a bunch of hoops to jump thru to try to leave a normal comment.It's no surprise to not see Phil Keaggy mentioned here. He was heavily influenced by Bloomfield & is an amazing player! I'm sure he flies under the radar because of his beliefs (Christian) but does much instrumental music from classical & new age to fusion, prog & beyond. Highly recommend!
Honorable mention: Neil Young’s Old Black, a 1953 Les Paul Gold Top that was painted black, was an important influence in Young’s electric sound. Neil Young traded a Gretsch 6120 for Jim Messina’s Les Paul (Old Black) in the late 60s.
Nobody mentioned Waddy Wachtel, one of my favorite players. His Les Pauls (he has an assortment of them) can be heard in classic records from Warren Zevon, Linda Ronstadt, Andrew Gold, Keith Richards, Steve Perry, Stevie Nicks, Rolling Stones to name a few.
Very true
Marc Bolan and Mick Ronson DEFINITELY deserve to be on the list.
Mick Ronson for sure. If it hadn't have been for him David Bowie might have faded away early as a folk singer. Rono put the rock into Bowie's music.
I saw Return to Forever in the late 70's and it was amazing with Stanley Clark, Al DiMeola, Chic Corea and Lenny White. During a jam section they were all yelling at each other through their instruments, never seen anything like that ever!!!
from what i know Al was good at pissin everybody off heh
I mentioned Al. He got skipped somehow.
First knew of him from Land Of The Midnight Sun. Loved it so bought RTF's Romantic Warrior. Great. Elegant Gypsy drops and he's playing at Winterland supporting Weather Report for Heavy Weather. Al's encore and brings out an influential player to him, Carlos Santana. Vibes were great but i think Carlos really wanted to run away.
Al was on fire his whole set. Yep, LPC for almost everything.
To me, Carlos put the dorian scale on the map.
We're lucky for Whatever else,,,,No wonder DiMeola dug him.@@jonp3890
Oh, man! How did Gary Moore not make this list?
Not sure if was mentioned, but Warren Haynes is on my top 10 LP Players.
Dickey Betts? Huge props for mentioning Gary Richrath. Love the solo in “Take it on the run”
Great discussion, so many great Les Paul players. Ronnie Montrose, Al Di Meola, Gary Richrath were a few of my favorites!
How did I forget Al? His live "Tour de Force" is brutal! There is also some bootleg stuff of Al jumping up on stage with Frank Zappa and Steve Vai live that is incredible. Imagine having balls that big?
Loved Gary Richrath .
You know its him right away.
Yeah, I always tend to think of Di Meola with a nylon string. Love his work on that! But you are so right!
Paul Kossoff and Blind Owl Al Wilson come to mind. Also Magic Sam's Boogie on Earl Hooker's LP would be enough to influence anyone to pick one up and learn to play
Peter Green needs to be up there.
Yeah easily replaced Clapton in Mayall’s Bluesbreakers then Fleetwood Mac, his out-of-phase tone, in my opinion had to be in top ten.
@@chopper4484and need your love so bad is a strat not a les paul
Green is tops
@@fchampd4512 and the best version of need your love so bad was done on his Les Paul Shrine 69
Jeff Beck played a Les paul with the jeff Beck group with rod stewart. I saw him live a few times back then and he was playing a Les Paul
Mick Taylor played a '58 Les Paul Classic in the Let It Bleed/Get Yer Ya-Yas Out era, not sure if that got a mention ✌️
The second solo on Sympathy (Mick, after Keith's first solo. I know you knew that already. Sorry) is killer!
@@JohnWhite-xc3md Indeed.
And Mick's sunburst Les Paul originally belonged to Keith Richards!
When I was a newborn kid, I lived in the same street as Mick Taylor just before his career took off. My mum still lives there.
@@jonathanmills5747 Fascinating. He's a Guitar Legend to so many, so it's hard to imagine the sort of tough times he fell on after quitting The Stones.
I may be wrong, but I believe I read that he was on Public Assistance at one point, and I know for a fact he was playing dive bars & clubs with no-name bands.
Drugs and alcohol must've taken their toll on the man, but he deserved better.
Keep that in mind the next time Mick & Keith are playing Honky Tonk Woman, Sway, Moonlight Mile, or the plethora of other songs Mick Taylor inspired or basically wrote.
I bleed Rolling Stones, and hope Mick & Keith live another 80 years, but they're not nice guys.
Paul Kossoff.
Thanks for the shout out my friend!
The Strat player who changed my world (though not THE world, sadly): TY TABOR
Fairport Convention first era featuring Richard Thompson with a P-90 L.P. Also…..Peter Green/Danny Kirwan.
Great thumb nail! Bloomfield's tone on Super Session is my favorite, particularly on "Albert's Shuffle": Les Paul and cranked Blackface Twin.
I started playing in 1976, My biggest influence to select the Les Paul Standard as my #1 guitar was my Uncle Bil, after him, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Gary Richrath, Peter Frampton and Tom Scholz were my biggest influences as a guitarist. By the way, I opened a show for Gary Richrath in the mid 1990's, he told me his main Les Paul Standards were 3 1958's, not 1959's as most people assumed, as he was a very big man, about 6' 6", and the 1959 necks were a little skinny for his hands.
Gentlemen! Though he’s not a technical lead player, how on earth did we not mention Rick Nielsen???? He literally wrote the book on guitar collecting, he used his original 50’s Gold Top on their first album, he has several 57’s, 58’s and 59’s, and he even sold a burst to Jeff Beck in the late ‘60’s…. He tours with many vintage Gibsons and plays their hit I Want You To Want Me every night on the same ‘58 burst….
Definitely worth a mention Mick Ralph’s from Bad Company, Mick’s 58 Burst was an integral part of the 70s, think of Shooting Star and Feel Like Makin Love, Mick Ralph’s is my Rock Hero ……
I've forgotten that band SHOOTING STAR thanks I'm going to put that on now 👍
I am watching this from Hatfield Hertfordshire a couple of miles north of London.
Before I get into watching this for the next hour, I will get this out of the way and say I hope to see recognition for two of our small town's favourite sons, living in my home street was Mick Taylor, who made the Rolling Stones sound at their best era and Paul Kossoff from Free.
Now I shall watch and see if they made the grade.
where's the Warren Haynes love?!?!
Wonderful companion piece for the list, embellished with distinction by the calibre of your guest of course.
Thank you Jeff and Keith.
Great stream and great and civilised discussion, thanks Jeff & Keith!
My 2 cents? Jan Ackerman of Focus fame, and Gary Green, guitarist with THE Prog Rock group from the '70s: Gentle Giant! These two fantastic but severely underrated players had an enormous effect on me as a young musician. They made me want to own a Les Paul, which I did several years later. It's really worth checking them out.
Btw: the Melody Maker Magazine (GB) declared Akkerman the 'Best Guitarist' in 1973!
But Jan Ackerman didn't play a Les Paul, it was a copy.
@@agriff4795 He did play a Gibson Les Paul. The one I remember most had what looked like a filtertron PU in the neck (on BBC sessions and Live at the Rainbow). From what I remember it was a 50s Custom (Black)
EDIT: He did have a signature Framus guitar - mentioned on Hamburger Concerto sleeve notes - which was a single cut.
Yes! That's when I got into music. Two of my first LPs were Focus Live at the Rainbow and the Who Live at Leeds. Akkerman's playing was a revelation.
@@agriff4795 Akkerman certainly played Les Pauls. His main guitar for years was his Les Paul Personal which was modified by Paul Hamer and his Black Les Paul '54 custom was a genuine guitar - He just swapped out the pickups for those out of his Gretsch White falcon.
@hulldanfan yeah, the humbuckers on the personal body made it look like a copy, I remember a copy that looked like Jan's Personal back in the 1970's.
18:31 Blow by blow was the 1st Jeff Beck album I had access to and years later till I searched deeper. This is a very generation topic. ❤🎸
Martin Barre had a great Les Paul sound.
He sure did!
I asked an older guy i knew (i'm 15 in '72) what the heck is Martin holding on The Benefit album. "That's a Les Paul".
Saw one for years with SS . Loved it but didn't know what it really was.
My friend Giles needs to be on the list… because… thanks to him, I was opened to the idea of playing and owning a Les Paul…and today, I do own a Les Paul and I love it.
becks first two US tours with Ron Wood and Rod Stewart 1968 he played a sunburst LP loud and proud.
Mick Ralphs played his Junior mostly while he was with Mott The Hoople but was a Les Paul guy in Bad Company. He really had his own unique tone with his Les Paul
I saw Mott the Hoople when I was a kid. The whole band played Thunderbirds and explores Fillmore 1969
Tom Scholtz of Boston certainly deserves consideration for this list.
I don’t know Fripp’s music, but Keith’s description of Fripp utilizing tape machines brought to mind Les Paul’s own techno wizardry
Clapton defined the LP/Marshall sound for the blues, but Jeff Beck did it in May '66 with 'Beck's Bolero'. Unfortunately that tune didn't get released until 1967, as the B-side of Jeff's debut single, 'Hi Ho Silver Lining' (a pop tune Jeff fans avoided) and then two years later on 'Truth', Jeff's debut album, which introduced the heavy blues that the likes of Zeppelin would soon emulate.
By his second album, 'Beck-Ola', he was on a Strat. And with the Jeff Beck Group MK II (w/Cozy Powell drumming) he played a Strat. With BB&A he used both LP and Strat. With 'Blow by Blow' he was on an LP, a Strat and the Seymour Duncan modded Tele w/humbuckers (from a Flying V once owned by Lonnie Mac. From 'Wired' onward he was pretty much on a Strat.
When talking about the British LP scene, there was Clapton, absolutely. And Green (who also used a Strat). But let's not forget Mick Taylor (who also used a Strat on occasion). Those three were the triumverate that put - and kept - the LP on the rock map and inspired the likes of Brad Whitford and Joe Perry, Joe Walsh and all the rest, as well as Billy Gibbons.
Other great LP players include Bruce Conte (Tower of Power), Ian Bairnson (Pilot, Kate Bush, Alan Parsons Project) and Andrew Latimer (Camel). All three exemplified (as Latimer still does) the power of a Les Paul as a melodic instrument. Oh, and Fleetwood Mac's Danny Kirwan, another marvellous and melodic player.
I may have missed it, but did you mention the late, great, Ronnie Montrose? He was a monster LP player in the 70’s with the Edgar Winter Group and with his own band Montrose. The feud between Ronnie and Gary More over Ronnie’s stolen LP is almost worth its own episode.
Steve Howe. Though his go to love was his ES-175D, he frequented the Les Paul along with a boat load of others. And the fact that Les Paul himself was an one of Steve’s influences. If he didn’t change the world with a Les Paul, he changed how I viewed the world.
Jeff Beck should be on the list, however he did not play his Les Paul on the Blow by Blow album. He actually told me this himself backstage at the Greek Theatre in the 1980’s. He told me the main guitar he used on that album was his double humbucking Telecaster, except for the obvious Strat tracks. I saw the Blow by Blow tour and live he did indeed play his Les Paul.
Tele-Gib
Bloomfield didn't cut up his Telecaster. He traded to a left-handed guitar player named John Nuese who played with Gram Parsons for a '54 Goldtop. It was Nuese that made the crude cutaway in the upper bout with a jigsaw.
A real shame Martin Barre didn't make the list.
Saw REO at Winterland as a support act twice then as a headliner, Cow Palace.
Nice mention of Gary Richrath.
+1 for Phil Keaggy as was mentioned in the chat by several people.
And yes, you guys are hilarious.
Wow, yeah, kudos for mentioning Keaggy. Awesome musician! Fast, smooth and melodic all over the neck. Wish I had a video of him doing Time live. Beautiful accoustic work too.
Yes, Jeff is my favorite Les Paul player who is a strat guy. La Grainge was awesome..
Mary Ford often played the guitar with Les Paul in their personal apprearances; and of course, she played a Les Paul.
Good point she was great
Glad to hear people bring up Steve Jones. If the criteria is "players who changed the world," he has to be near the top. You are talking about the band who inspired a whole movement, which then kept inspiring other movements, and his massive and raw guitar sound was a huge part of that. I was far too young to know about the Pistols when they were active (born in 75), but I worked my way back to them because of all the bands I was into, and even though I didn't listen to Nevermind the Bollocks until 1990 or so, I could hear that in that record, from the first power chord strum over the sample of marching feet on "Holiday in the Sun", I instantly understand why that band inspired so many people to rip up the rule book for music and just get out there and play, even if most of them weren't playing les pauls (or at least, aside from the hardcore bands, not until the punk revival of the late 80s and 90s, which went back to his raw sound instead of the further reaches of postpunk). Sure, he is a technically limited player, did not really do too much else, but just one of his gigs - Manchester Free Trade Hall - is noted for being a gig where every member of the audience was later involved with ground-breaking bands, and that level of inspiration occurred at many of their gigs as well as with their singles and their album.
Also want to mention Matt Pike of Sleep and High On Fire. Maybe not top 10 and maybe not hugely well-known, but he carved out such a sound that I think had more influence than might be realized, and it is a sound that comes from a les paul through a cranked Orange, Matamp or Green Amp, a sound that's all about the resonance of that particular guitar through certain amps.
Adam Jones made honorable mention at least, right? Good, bc again such an awesome resonant sound, but now with odd meters. Highly influential to a lot of good music since. Neil Young too, yeah killer raw guitar tones, and different than many because les paul through small amp (though I guess Jimmy Page was using small amps too).
But yeah, Jimmy Page has got to be #1. Hard to top such a sonic mastermind and experimenter. His music has been everywhere since so that it sadly gets taken for granted or considered cliched or old hat by some people, but it was ground-breaking and still you hear that if you really listen.
Also Bob Marley gets no love? Not one of the sounds you usually think of when you think LP, but it was his guitar, and he was hugely influential.
I first saw Mike Bloomfield with the original line up of the Butterfield band.. He was playing an LP gold top with P90s. He was awesome. I was at Monterey in 67 when The Electric Flag more or less launched. Mike was playing his 59 LP then. I followed the Flag for the next year. Saw them open for Jimmy Hendrix at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. They played at the Cheata Club on Santa Monica Pier quite often and I saw them there 3 or 4 times. Mike Bloomfield had passion and magic and deep emotion in his playing. For me he is the one, and probably will always be. There are many players that surpassed him in a purely technical sense but nobody played like hIm, though many wanted to.
Tom Scholz. Honorable mention
My favorite current Les Paul player is Isaac Delahaye, lead guitarist with Dutch symphonic metal band EPICA, he plays 7 string Gibson Les Paul and 7 string Ibanez Darkstone guitars, great player 🙃
Paul Kossof!!!!!
I saw Boston during the third stage tour. Everything sounded just like the record to me. Only, louder.
Lesslie West played customs alot in 70’s
He liked the staple style pick ups tp
Gary Rossington and his beloved Bernice.
To me Les Paul himself was the most influential Les Paul Player. Without him there wouldn't have been a Les Paul Guitar to begin with, and that elevates him above everyone else. End of story, Mic Drop.
From ChatGPT (thought this would be interesting…
Determining the top 10 most influential guitarists who have played Gibson Les Paul guitars is subjective and can vary depending on personal preferences. However, here's a list of 10 guitarists who have had a significant impact on the popularity and influence of the Gibson Les Paul:
1. **Les Paul** - The inventor of the Gibson Les Paul and a legendary guitarist in his own right.
2. **Jimmy Page** - Known for his work with Led Zeppelin, Page is synonymous with the Les Paul sound.
3. **Slash** - His iconic top hat and Les Paul are emblematic of his role in Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver.
4. **Eric Clapton** - Has played Les Pauls in various phases of his career and is a guitar legend.
5. **Duane Allman** - Renowned for his slide guitar work with The Allman Brothers Band, often with a Les Paul.
6. **Joe Perry** - Co-founder of Aerosmith, he's a Les Paul enthusiast and influential rock guitarist.
7. **Peter Green** - Founding member of Fleetwood Mac and known for his "Greeny" Les Paul.
8. **Gary Moore** - His fiery blues-rock playing on a Les Paul left a lasting impact.
9. **Billy Gibbons** - ZZ Top's frontman is famous for his fuzzy Les Paul tone.
10. **Ace Frehley** - Known as the "Spaceman" in KISS, he's associated with Les Paul guitars.
Remember, there are many other great guitarists who have played Les Pauls and left their mark on music history, so this list is by no means exhaustive.
I mentioned Bloomfield in my one of about three comments mainly because everytime i'd go to a record or dept store at 11 years old in '68, i'd see SS. It took another year or three to finally learn that great looking guitar on the cover was in fact a Les Paul.
Never bought the album then but did about 10 years ago.
It's good but Mike to me used too many passing notes. .
Who am i kidding? For the time, he was great!!
Also a huge Peter Green fan, starting with Then Play On in '72.
Could have been there with Blue Horizon titles in '69 or so since the older brother of a friend had them. I wasn't ready. Had to 'go back' later.
Glad to see this here.
Play ON!!
Great reply! Bay Area native here.
@NolanVoid-dr1ch. Don Whers, '76, HT SB MN Strat. Year old and like new.
$300 otd, new HSC.
People frown on these now. Mine was pretty good. A friend didn't like Strats (Gibson SG Spl)
but dug mine. Long gone.
Rock on.
btw, not much of a pawn shop guy but one was near by (SSF).
Went there once in '70 or so and they had a LP Jr for $100. All in with Leslie West.
Every city LW said he'd stop by pawn shops and buy every one he saw, often giving them away as gifts.
I belive JW for LITFL was one of these.
Well crap batman 😳 we like les paul I have a few but want a video about the telecaster players from the 50's to now ❤
Bob Marley certainly is synonymous with the Les Paul Special. Peter Tosh played a Standard in the early Wailers
Eire / Ireland , Ever hear of Jimmy Slevin Band from Dublin , Ireland , played a Gold Top par excellence. But only made 2 albums this side of the pond. Some record companies didnt distribute on that side of the wter.
The image of Eric Clapton playing his Les Paul burts with Mayal on the beano album and the limitedtime it was on the road carried a "wow" factor. Where Bloomfield, Allman, Townsend , all wanted a les
Paul but specifically a burst with humbuckeing PAF. And of course Marshall amp. Fripp always lean on black custom.
All great players mentioned here, but for me my most influential LP players are Jerry Cantrell, Matt Pike, Wata (Boris), Stephen Brodsky (Cave In, Mutoid Man), and Hitori Gotoh (Kessoku Band).
I'm so old I only recognize 1 name on your list, Jerry Cantrell.
For me, it was Gary Richrath from Reo Speedwagon.
Bloomfield played a ‘59 Les Paul Burst on “Super Session.” Probably his first breakout Les Paul work was in ‘67 on the incredible “Long Time Coming,” album by The Electric Flag. He was playing a Les Paul by the time of “East West,” Paul Butterfield Band’s second album. PS ~ I agree with George Gruhn about Mike Bloomfield’s influence on the American guitar market for Les Paul Bursts, and American blues rock players.
Your strat list should be total chaos
Cant wait
Thanks!
Robert Fripp.
How's about a "Who made the '59 so popular/expensive" discussion (?)
Clapton, Bloomfield...?
good shout there!
Mick ronson (LP custom), Mick Taylor (59 burst), Frank zappa (LP custom + the SGs), Steve Jones (LP custom), Mick jones (LP junior). Buckethead? Lifeson? Lindsey Buckingham? Rumors was primarily that white les paul custom
Thanks for the follow up. I suppose you could make videos on this subject alone endlessly. Given that this is probably the last on the LP I thought I would posthumously mention a player that got a very brief mention but should have least got an honourable one - Joe Walsh. Walsh played a 59 during his time with the James Gang. In Rocky Mountain Way he played one of the greatest guitar intros to a rock song ever. I know it was on a Les Paul deluxe so may not count though Gibson afew years ago issued a Rocky Mountain Way burst in a standard model. Looking forward to the Strat video and probably the 50 other follow up videos on that one😂
Great that Duane Allman very deservedly made your original list. But equally deserving -- and a glaring omission -- is his partner in crime, Dickey Betts. All of his amazing instrumentals throughout the years, from In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, through Les Bres in A Minor, Jessica, High Falls and beyond, were all conceived of and performed on a Les Paul. And other staple songs in the Allmans catalog as well such as Ramblin' Man, Blues Sky, Nobody Knows, Whippin' Post et al just wouldn't sound the same without it. Dickey and the Les Paul have been inextricably linked for well over half a century of stellar playing
ok, i gots another,,,,Dickey Betts.
As much as i loved Duane, i never wanted to play slide. Loved his playing but as a kid in '73, I gravitated to Dickey's style,,,,well both (Sab, Mountain and ABB at FE got me started). y'all ever get bored, look up 'Southbound Live 1/16/82' close enough....
It's great to me now. I'd given up on the band by then (into them again later).
Respectfully, Duane played a lot more than slide.
thanx,,,,,the Bite of a 50 watt Marshall was Duane,,,,the howl of of a 100 watt was Dickey. Copped and played out with The ABB tunes for over 50 years.
Glad Bloomers got his flowers.
Tom Scholz, the les Paul tone in Boston albums are epic
Santana's Abraxas, LP and cranked Twin.
Definitely age and locale biased. I'm 66 and spent my adolescent years in NC. In the south it was Duane and Dickey.
I’m from north of the border and I concur!
All very subjective. My early concert goings included the Dutch group Focus whose guitarist at the time was Jan Akkerman. Now, I realise that he has not left that much of a legacy - in terms of a long lasting popularity. I was lucky enough to attend a seminar which featured him about 25years ago. Akkerman was thought of as a virtuoso at the time. It is not a term which I feel comfortable with. “X is the best guitarist in the world?” “Says who?” I feel like asking. Akkerman had a Classical Music education, and put out at least one Classical album ‘Tabernakel’. His playing covered many genres so I feel that the dreaded term virtuoso is warranted.
Like most people we tend to idealise people and by extension their axe of choice, but reality if we are lucky enough to own the instrument of our dreams falls short. It has taken a long time, and many mods to get my LP to play and sound as I hoped it would.
and I agree with everyone that touts Ronnie Montrose...I saw him for 3 consucutive years, '78...'79...and '80...and then saw him in 2003 or 2004 playing "as Montrose", (with all the 4 original members)...doing a 5 song set at the end of a 2 1/2 hour long Sammy Hagar show....and then I saw him in late 2011, four months before his death. Anybody can drop a humbucker into a Strat or other guitar....but Ronnie's tone on the original studio version of Rock Candy...has a "bark" that epitomizes the pinnacle of "the Les Paul tone". Ted Templeman was the Producer/Engineer of the ealrly Montrose albums...and just a few short years later...became the Producer/Engineer of the new kids on the block, Van Halen. Their request to Ted was..."make our record sound like the first Montrose album"...(and he did).
Honorable mention
Mick Jones of Foreigner. Played a Black Beauty on most of those records.
And a LP Sunburst at concerts in the late 70's.
Yes, Mick's Black Beauty was one of the extremely rare 2 Humbucker 1957 Customs.
Fun factoid: Johnny Depp originally went to L.A. because he wanted to make it as a rock star guitar player. And Bernie Marsden wasn’t a big name until people found out about his incredible guitar collection. “The Beast,” his ‘59 Burst, is famous because … well, who knows really. Bernie seemed like a real Brit character and certainly a fine guitar player.
Guys I just sat through this podcast and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I know there are honourable mentions and disclaimers regarding not knowing all the guitar heros in the history of Les Paul players, I agree with many of the players you chose but to leave out Mick Taylor who made the Rolling Stones better played a 58 SG Les Paul and never got a mention.
That Guy should be in the top 3 of any list.
Also my personal, honourable mention is Eddie Hazel who has one of the greatest solos ever with Parliament Funkadelic (George Clinton) For the song, Maggot Brain.
Frampton, Boston, REO speedwagon, Ace Freehley Journey don't touch my honourable mentions.
And Paul Kossoff gets a couple of sentences. I did appreciate the Stratocaster podcast because you mentioned Rory Gallagher, which shows you do know your stuff, so if I sound a little bit critical, I don't mean to be rude, but no Mick Taylor, is sacrilege.
Keep up the good work though, I can listen to you all day long
Bloomfield played the Telecaster on the 1st Paul Butterfield LP; and played the Les Paul on the 2nd (East-West).
Alvin Lee of Ten Years After
Troy Caldwell of Marshall Tucker band
Daune Allman
Here is your next list “the top 5 players known for a Les Paul and ran to a Strat” you could start that list With Clapton he got his strat and never looked back
Duane was in the top 10, but don't forget Dickey Betts as well!
So long as the remit is "players who changed the world" -- not "the best players", not "my favorite players" -- I don't see how Ace Frehley gets left out of the top 3, much less the top 10. I'm no particular fan of him myself, but based on anecdotal evidence the number of guitarists who picked up the instrument because of Kiss is incalculable.
Peter Green and Danny Kirwin, what a pair!
Re: Steve Jones and NMTB... He didn't use Marshalls back then. Les Paul - 74 Custom & 54 Custom, MXR pedal, Fender Twin, and lots of tracking.
Re: Knopfler and the Les Paul... I agree with Jeff. I've seen him do Brothers In Arms on a Pensa Suhr with EMGs and he sounded the same.
Great as always Keith. Jeff, I tip my cap. Long time subscriber. First comment. Some glaring omissions in the occurred to me. I moved to South Florida from Syracuse a few years ago and I now have a somewhat different perspective. Especially on this. You have Duane Allman on the list, I would add Dickey Betts and Gary Rossington. Plus, Toy Caldwell and Charlie Daniels. They were ALL HUGE in the south and ALL played Les Pauls. And Charlie was a way better guitar player than he was a fiddler.
Yeah, Frank, I'm with you. Raised in Fla. Love Southern rock.
Not a huge country fan but, oddly enough, my biggest influence for learning guitar was Roy Clark...though I can't remember him with an LP. He played everything else with strings on it though!
LOVE the intro (!!!)
best line whole show....
"I think of him as an actor"
Al Di Meola ...changed the way he played his black beauty with chick corea. He also changed it with di marzio pick ups he ad fitted on that guitar...Go listen to Elegant Gypsy LP...then ask Steve Via what he says about Al...:-) Be well always..:-)
Yo don felder deserves a mention haven’t gotten through the video yet, but that hotel California lick is iconic.
Doc Watson played a '57 goldtoples top in his early gigs at barn dances.
Hi Keith, l'm all the way from Wiltshire, England and it's hot!!
Tom Scholz played a couple of1968 Les Paul P90 Goldtops, that he modded by taking out the bridge P90, and installing a humbucker, and eventually stripped the gold off to show the natural maple.. From 2007-2011 Gibson released the Les Paul BFG....with an unbound rough textured top, but with the Scholz pickup layout of a Bridge Humbucker and a neck P90. Later, around 2013 or 2014, Gibson released a Tom Scholz "Collectors Edition Les Paul, with a natural maple finish, with a bridge humbucker and neck P90. Tom Scholz should probably be on the larger 20-30 player list. In 1976, using that Les Paul, into Marshalls, with added effects loops, Tom created the tone profile of distortion, compression, delay, and chorus....that became his groundbreaking Rockman....which would eventually become the template for all the Digital Guitar Processors that would surge into the marketplace in the 80's. (this topic might make a great 5 Watt World mini-series topic...the evolution of guitar amp tone....from Class A, to class A/B, Master Volumes, Effects Loops, Analog Effects, Digital Effects, on to Modeling)
Bloomfield DID NOT cut up his tele! Someone else who bought it after him was a lefty and cut it up. The Super Session guitar was the ‘59 Sunburst Les Paul, that Mike bought(and traded) from Dan Erliwine!!
Steve Hackett wasn't even Genesis's first guitarist. That was Anthony Phillips
Björn Gelotte of In flames is an amazing les Paul player also his a super nice guy.. He’s so underrated in the mainstream he is the guitar player that got me loving les Paul customs 🙂
I believe i mentioned Al DiMeola as a HM since i saw him twice, '77 solo then '85, trio..
Guy is recovering from a heart attack on stage.
i dunno, man....back in the day he'd scare everyone away.
I hope Al makes a full recovery.
You obviously have very little background on Jeff Beck’s Les Pauls. I’ll fill you in a bit.
I think almost everybody knows he played a Tele, Strat and Les Paul on Blow by Blow. George Martin encouraged him to use as many different guitars as possible to get as many colours that he could find, I think the most iconic sound on the album is the Tele with humbuckers which Seymor Duncan swapped for Jeff’s Esquire. He definitely used that on ‘cause We Ended as Lovers.
The Les Paul on the front cover however is the iconic image. And by the way it is very easy to find out which photo the painting is taken from - It is on the back cover. That is his ’54 stop tail with humbuckers - known as the Ox Blood. If you want to see him playing that to his best - he does that with a few youngsters in a band called UPP around the same time. In those sessions you see how easy he is with a Les Paul - and to my mind the purity of his playing without tricks on a Les Paul is preferable to his Strat playing. My personal feeling is that Jeff got bored fast and he liked to invent sounds and do tricks. He got into playing the ‘bag’ with the Les Paul after working with Stevie Wonder - then he just got fed up with that trick (and the Les Paul). I am guessing the Beatles song (another George Martin influence) She’s a Woman is the last time he used that guitar.
Useful to mention he used a burst earlier in his late Yardbird era and early Jeff Beck group recordings. I’m not sure where that burst went - others on the web will know.
I had an '97 Les Paul Custom. Killer guitar, I loved it. But my poor back couldn't handle the weight. It was was well over 10 pounds. I sold it because I knew I wasn't going to play it enough. LP customs, even in the 1990's, can be very heavy.
For about 15 yrs (until I got another guitar) I was the most influential guitarist on a 1978 Ibanez post lawsuit LP copy non-artist - no exaggeration required..
I read somewhere that Joan Jett had a Les Paul blonde. People thought it was a gold top, she said it was a blonde. That’s all I remember.
Just for your Strat video Hank Marvin was not just just a UK thing. He was also very influential on the HiLife sound from Ghana and West Africa in general,
After the first video I was thinking was possibly Michael Rother was influential because of the Harmonia sessions with Brian Eno which heavily influenced David Bowie's Heroes album. Harmonia was basically a collaboration between Rother's band Neu! and the duo Cluster. This is the difference between someone being the best or the best known and also how influence can be a trickle down thing where someone else has been influential but may never have done what they did without that less famous person.