Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton, also known as the Beano album, was released on the Decca label 60 years ago, on July 22, 1966. There are many groundbreaking aspects to the record, not the least of which is Clapton’s marriage of a Les Paul through a cranked Marshall amplifier, the electric guitar equivalent of the Wright Brothers’ first flight at Kitty Hawk.

This magic coupling was defined by the hands of a spry 21-year-old. His youthful mastery is jaw dropping, and his iconic sound is now a guitar industry standard that at that time reinvigorated interest in the almost forgotten Gibson Les Paul model.

Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck weren’t yet fully developed, Pete Townshend was more of a rhythm guy, Ritchie Blackmore wasn’t really a blues guy, Jimi Hendrix wouldn’t release Are You Experienced until a year later, and groups like Love, Jefferson Airplane, Them, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Creedence Clearwater Revival and other young acts of the day couldn’t stay in the same ring as Clapton.

Most guys were struggling to intonate bends and trying not to fall off the log. Meanwhile, E.C. was like Larry Bird.

Clapton wasn’t just all sound. He could swing. Pre-Blues Breakers guitarists like Bill Jennings, Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian and dozens, if not hundreds, of others might swing harder, but they didn’t have his Les Paul-with-Marshall-on-10 sound and an innate sense of beyond-their-years phrasing.

There are many timeless moments on the Beano LP. The major 7th feedback note that ends “Steppin’ Out” is unexpected and sonically imaginative. I almost feel the floor of the recording studio vibrating on the “Key to Love” solo. It’s like a jacked stallion busting out of the gate.

“Have You Heard” has a great violent blues solo that sounds like Clapton is pissed he had to wait so long to play it. The Clapton vocal track, “Ramblin’ on my Mind,” introduced a generation of young kids to Robert Johnson, priming listeners to search for the source.

It’s not a perfect album. John Mayall ain’t no Steve Winwood, the multiple guitar tracks sometimes sound cluttered, and while “What I’d Say” might have been a showstopper in a London nightclub, it could have been left off the record. That said, the high points are stellar, and it’s all there on Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton.

In the years since its release, Clapton has sometimes put his foot deep into his mouth, but his doing so makes sense to me.

He famously refused to turn down at the Beano sessions. Engineers in lab coats were shocked at his ear-shattering volume. His “you’re with me or you’re against me” musical focus screams out from the grooves, along with an innate English aesthetic that was structured, organized and almost militaristic.

Clapton went on to grow a Bob Ross-style Afro that might have been a tribute to Hendrix, but he’d never play as loose, sexy and beautifully Black as Jimi did. All that said, when I listen to Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton, I don’t care about the ups and downs of decades with Eric Clapton; I just hear a young man reinventing electric blues.

When young students ask me what inspired me when I was learning, I might play them the swinging genius Clapton exhibits on “Hideaway,” where he whips the Freddie King gem into his vision. Yet, more times than not, it underwhelms the uninitiated listener.

I think I get it. The world is filled with blues lawyers playing ’59 Les Pauls and clowns like Steven Seagal playing beefed-up pentatonics. Listeners shouldn’t be confused by this, because not hearing the importance and impact of Eric Clapton on Blues Breakers is like watching Citizen Kane and observing, “Oh, it’s only a black-and-white movie.”

Clapton could reach the pre-internet youth with a guitar that sounded like a flamethrower, wrapped in a tidy white package with an acute fashion sense. He repackaged and reinterpreted the blues for a generation, and spliced blues into rock.

“Clapton is God” is too much for anyone to live up to, but Eric Clapton is undeniably one of the most influential and inspiring guitarists of his generation. Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton proves that with each listen.

WHEN GUITARIST ERIC JOHANSON was coming up, it wasn’t the slippery slide work of Elmore James and the tones of the blues greats that excited him. Once he began playing at age five, what kept him interested in guitar was the manic rhythm playing of Metallica’s James Hetfield. 

“The rock albums with the big, thundering bass, the drums punching you in the chest and the guitars that sounded huge — that’s what drew me in,” Johanson explains. “Some of my earliest experiences trying to figure out what I was hearing came down to the tones and textures and the sound itself, rather than the notes and chords.” 

Johanson’s obsession with building walls of sound with his guitar never stopped, even as his interests expanded to include blues. For evidence, listen to the tall tones on The Deep and the Dirty (Ruf Records), his fourth and latest album of original music, which are as ferocious and fuzzy as anything in Jack White’s catalog. 

Those tones have been part of his sound all along — like his speaker-shredding blast on “Till We Bleed,” from his 2017 debut, Burn It Down, and the adrenalized tones on “Buried Above Ground,” from 2020’s Below Sea Level — but they’re larger than ever now.

 “I’m working on my sound constantly,” Johanson says. “When I get in the studio, it’s more or less just a snapshot of what I’ve got going on with the rig at that moment. I’m a big fan of that symmetry between the studio setup and the live setup.” 

After starting out in 2010 as a guitarist for acts like Cyril Neville, Johanson signed with Tab Benoit’s Whiskey Bayou Records in 2016 and has worked solo since. 

On 2021’s Covered Tracks volumes one and two, he dug mostly into acoustic instruments as he re-imagined songs by Nine Inch Nails, Chicago, Fiona Apple and the Beatles. But on The Deep and the Dirty, Johanson roars back on electric from the first notes of the opening track, “Don’t Hold Back.” 

“I’m really into the raw experience of the moment,” he says. “I want this explosive kind of energy. There’s something about a really gritty Velcro fuzz that, to me, expresses the emotion I was trying to get across, especially opening up the record like that.”

Given what you’ve said about how rock music affected you as a child, I have to imagine tone remains your primary focus?

I’m really particular about tones, and I always try to get the sounds right with just the guitar and the amp first when recording. You really can’t fix that if it’s not right to begin with. I like a lot of bottom end, so I’m usually running a 4x10 cabinet or a 4x10, plus a 1x12 or 2x12, because I like a full-range sound. 

Once I’ve got a full-range sound going, then I’m usually trying to dial in enough grit to have some sustain and a little bit of natural compression going on without losing the definition or getting too much high end. 

Is having a full-range setup a necessity for you in a trio? 

I think it definitely is. If you’re doing the trio thing, it wouldn’t make sense to have an exclusively top-end sound, because you are covering so much ground. But that also is just what appeals to me. I really don’t like piercing guitar tones that lack bottom end. There are guitar players I like a whole lot, like Freddie King — I love him and can listen to him all the time — but I would never try to seek out his guitar tone. 

My tone knobs are generally set up the middle, with a little tweak one way or another, depending on what it’s sounding like to me in the room. I want to have this natural, warm, full sound, where it can be loud without hurting your ears. 

Is the core of your sound still your Category 5 amplifier? 

That’s the main amp. It’s just one channel, with volume, tone and reverb controls, but I also have a ’66 Fender Deluxe Reverb as the second amp, and they’re pretty much equal in the mix at all times.

On The Deep and the Dirty, we also had an Orange amp for a clean track, just in case, and it did come in handy on some of the fuzzy songs and places where we wanted to bring out more definition. Other than that, it was pretty much just the rig. 

I really like a round sound, so I’ve taken to stacking a couple of overdrives. While I like the sound of the amp just cranked, it doesn’t always respond exactly how you want it to, because it can start to collapse on itself with a non– master volume amp. 

So I’ve gotten into trying out different overdrive pedals and figuring out which ones stay true to the sound of the amp. Fuzz is really a new thing for me. I stayed away from it for a while, just because it’s such a different level of intensity sometimes.

How deep is your overdrive bullpen now? 

The sound of the Category 5 when cranked is great, but I have taken to not running it in a super-overdriven state, partially because I like the punch of the note attack. On a non–master volume amp, when you start to get it to sing, you also lose the percussive attack. You can’t really have both. And the way I’ve been able to dial that in, especially at different volumes and different venues, is to use overdrives. 

The Origin RevivalDRIVE is one pedal I’ve found that’s really good for that. It has a mix control, so depending on the level I’ve got the Cat Five turned to, I can use the mix knob to let through more of the direct guitar or the pedal. 

In front of that, I’ve gone back and forth between a Klon KTR and a Wampler Tumnus Deluxe, which I like because it has a full EQ on it, so you can get those mids under control a little bit. But the KTR is the one I used on this record. I had a gold Klon back in the early 2000s, but I lost it in Hurricane Katrina.

How closely did the themes on The Deep and the Dirty influence your tones? 

The style of music I play is very much about creating in the moment, so every time you play it you’re reinterpreting it live, and it’s different every time. 

I’m getting into those ideas in various places on the record, and certainly the first song, “Don’t Hold Back,” is exactly what I’m talking about. This moment, right now, is all we get. There’s something about the tone that grabs me; the texture of it excites me. 

I’ve learned that I am just about as into sound as I am into music. In other words, the textures and the tones of things. I want the sound of the record to be the sound of the actual guitar rig, versus just recording some old little vintage amp that you only had in the studio that week. I want to feel like I’m hearing the speakers right in front of me.

The Deep and the Dirty by Eric Johanson is out now and available to buy or stream

Filmed in the summer of 1988, during what would be Stevie Ray Vaughan's final run of UK dates, the Texas blues icon took some time out to explain to UK TV show Wired  the subtle differences between how fellow guitar greats Freddie King and Eric Clapton would approach the track Hideaway.

SRV explains, "As I was hearing the original blues masters from the States, I was also hearing the English blues boom at the same time. So not only was I getting the original — but I was getting this updated, energized version of the same thing. So, I had less reservations and less reasons to be a so-called purist, and therefore, I wasn't as restricted about what I could learn.

"For instance," he demonstrates, "Freddie King does Hideaway like this. Eric Clapton does it like this! There's a small difference there." 

Thankfully, the interviewer asks Stevie to show us how he combines the two, which you can see in the video clip below. Note how the somewhat small changes in the vibrato choice, pick attack and placement on the fingerboard create substantial tonal variations throughout.

Vaughan was never shy about tipping his hat to his musical influences — regularly sharing the stage with many of them across his career. Even on his 1983 debut, Texas Flood, the past masters flowed through his work.

As he told Wired, his song Rude Mood is actually based on a Lightning Hopkins track. Vaughan says: "It's like a thing called Lightning Sky Hop, which is a take-off of it... And I guess it's, y'know, it's just mean. It sounds like a rude mood."

The fast-paced blues shuffle instrumental earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1984 but lost to Sting's Brimstone And Treacle. 

SRV also briefly speaks about overcoming his longstanding drug and alcohol addiction that caused him to ultimately collapse in Ludwigshafen, Germany in 1986. At the time, it forced him to cancel the last 13 dates on his tour while he received treatment for substance abuse.

"I woke up one morning on a tour bus in Germany. I couldn't hardly get up. I was scared of everything. My friends. Just being awake. I was scared. I tried to say hi to my bass player and I started crying. I was a wreck. And I realized right then that the only way to win this thing was to give up. And I did. I had a breakdown," says Stevie. "Thank God that happened — because then I was able to ask for help as opposed to 'I'll make it through this.'

"I'll make it through it if I ask for help is the reality of it. It's a myth that people are superhuman – that when you see someone on stage, the obvious first thought is that these people are bigger than life and stronger than life," he continues. "I mean, look what it did with Eric Clapton. People were calling him God, and he went, wait a minute, I'm human!"

Stevie would go on to win that elusive Grammy award for his 1989 release In Step. The group had planned to embark on a European leg in September 1990; however, it was canceled after Vaughan died in a helicopter crash following the East Troy concert on August 27, 1990.

Renowned by fans and fellow musicians as the greatest electric guitar player of all time, the six-string world is still reeling from the shock of Jeff Beck’s passing on January 10 at the age of 78.

Next week, the late guitarist’s widow, Sandra, along with Eric Clapton will honor Beck’s legacy with two star-studded concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Taking place on May 22 and 23, the epic A Tribute to Jeff Beck lineup so far includes Doyle Bramhall, Gary Clark Jr, Johnny Depp, Billy Gibbons, Imelda May, John McLaughlin, Robert Randolph, Olivia Safe, Rod Stewart, Joss Stone, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks and Ronnie Wood.

Members of the Jeff Beck Band, including bass player Rhonda Smith, drummer Anika Nilles and keyboardist Robert Stevenson, are also due to take part.

Proceeds from the event will go to one of the Becks’ favorite charities, the Southern Wildlife Care and Advisory Service.

Also helping to raise funds for the charity in honor of the legendary guitarist is the Rhino label who, today, released the Jeff Beck Tribute EP.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s new three-track EP is a must for fans and is comprised of previously unreleased material.

The collection opens with a track titled “Midnight Walker Lament” that combines the “Midnight Walker” instrumental (from the 2022 Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp 18 album) with a poem by Imelda May.

“Imelda’s poem on ‘Midnight Walker Lament’ on top of Jeff’s beautiful guitar work brings tears to my eyes,” said Sandra.

Track two is a live version of the song “Elegy for Dunkirk” that featured on Beck’s Grammy-winning 2010 album Emotion & Commotion. As per the studio version, it features opera singer Olivia Safe.

The third and final track on Jeff Beck Tribute is a live rendition of the Freddie King classic “Going Down” featuring vocalist Jimmy Hall and guitarist Carmen Vandenberg.

“‘Going down,’ an up-tempo tune, was played live at Jeff’s funeral with a powerful vocal from Jimmy Hall,” recalled Sandra.

***The following originally appeared in the June 2011 issue of Guitar Player***

Certain guitar solos are infused with magic. They may or may or may not be technically challenging, flashy, or otherwise virtuoso, but they have that special something that sets them apart from what came before, and they typically alert guitarists everywhere that their world has forever changed. 

What’s more, those magic solos tend to inspire legions of guitarists to attempt to unlock their technical and tonal mysteries, and permeate the six-string community’s collective unconscious, re-emerging later as direct and indirect influences on individual players’ styles. Somewhat paradoxically, however, there is no consensus on which solos have achieved this iconic status.

When we began working on this story, we came up with a lengthy list of solos to include. Our first task was to set up some guidelines. We decided to limit the list to electric rock solos, along with blues and jazz-rock fusion solos that influenced rock. We also set a limit of one solo per artist.

At that point, there were still many more than 40 solos on the list, so we had to make some hard choices. To start, guitarists who were hugely influential overall, but couldn’t be tied to an ultra-influential solo – such as Tony Iommi and George Harrison – were cut. 

We then had to narrow down our selections to just one for each artist, which was difficult for someone like Eric Clapton, whose entries at that point included “Crossroads,” his cover of Freddie King’s “Hideaway” on the Blues Breakers album, and his historic wah workout on “White Room.” Once the smoke cleared, however, we had reached consensus. 

The solos are organized chronologically – including those that fall within the same year – because we thought it would be instructive to see how they relate to each other historically. 

We hope that you like we came up with and perhaps even discover an overlooked gem or two for yourself...

1. Elmore James “Dust My Broom” (1951)

Jimi Hendrix originally called himself Jimmy James and Maurice James in homage to Elmore, and every bluesman since the ‘50s – particularly slide players – owes something to the King of the Slide Guitar. 

Played in an open-D tuning (D, A, D, F#, A, D, low to high), probably on a Kay flattop or Harmony Sovereign with a D’Armond pickup, the slide hook on this tune, and the solo based on it, reappear countless times throughout blues and rock music.

2. Les Paul “How High the Moon” (1951)

The super-syncopated, slap-back soaked runs, chukka-chukka doublestops with bluesy bends, plucky cascading figures, and idiosyncratic ornamentations in Paul’s two solos helped propel this standard up the charts, and further established Paul as the most creative electric guitar player of his generation. 

It was recorded with his “old Epiphone” – a.k.a. “the Clunker” and “the Breadwinner” – with custom-wound hot pickups and other major modifications.

3. Scotty Moore “That’s Alright, Mama” (1954)

Armed with his Gibson ES-295 through a ‘52 Fender Deluxe, Scotty Moore, bassist Bill Black, and their bud Elvis, had no idea what a firestorm they were about to create with this early single. 

Moore’s simple, to the- point style covered the drummer-less bases quite easily with a fat tone and swinging musicality, giving this rather hillbilly ensemble some dangerous sonic heft.

His break on “That’s Alright, Mama” inspired everyone from George Harrison to Keith Richards to Jimmy Page, as well as Danny Gatton, who never missed an opportunity to throw a Moore homage in the middle of one of his famed rockabilly rave ups. 

Moore’s barking double-stops and approximation of a tic-tac bass line on “Mama” are as hooky as it gets, making this solo one of the most important ever.

4. Eddie Cochran “Sittin’ in the Balcony” (1957)

Slinging a 1955 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins Hollow Body 'G'-branded guitar with a Gibson P-90 in the neck slot, Cochran, with his iconic presence and echo-drenched tones, hugely impacted early rockers – such as Lennon and McCartney, who bonded over Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock” upon meeting in 1957 – and innumerable players thereafter, particularly Brian Setzer. 

The twangy solo on Cochran’s first hit, “Sittin’ In the Balcony,” crackles with the influence of his heroes Chet Atkins, Joe Maphis, and Johnny Smith.

5. Chuck Berry “Johnny B. Goode” (1958)

While some people might not consider this song’s intro a “solo,” it might be the most important rock guitar part ever recorded. 

The doublestops essentially usher in the post-Elvis rock era, and the tone and balls of this iconic part would echo in the playing of George Harrison, Keith Richards, Eddie Van Halen, and Angus Young... and that's just one tenth of one percent of the players who have copped these licks. 

Listen to it again. You’ll see.

6. Hank Marvin “Apache” (1960)

A primary influence on nearly every British guitarist of a certain age, Marvin created a dreamy, echo-y sound on this #1 U.K. hit that was achieved by playing his Stratocaster – the first in England – through a Meazzi Echomatic tape delay and a Vox AC30 tube amp. 

Marvin mostly used the bridge pickup, but picked near the neck, and palmed the vibrato arm to impart his trademark twang.

7. Freddie King “Hideaway” (1960)

Freddie (a.k.a. Freddy) King cobbled “Hideaway” out of parts lifted from tunes by Hound Dog Taylor, Jimmy McCracklin, Robert Lockwood Jr., and even Henry Mancini. 

Between the breaks where he recycled bits of “The Walk” and “Peter Gunn,” King played stinging solos that he plucked on a P-90 equipped Les Paul using a plastic thumbpick and metal fingerpick. 

Eric Clapton did his own version of the tune on John Mayall’s 1966 album, Blues Breakers, and the success of “Hideaway” made it a launch pad for a number of other King instrumentals that would further his notoriety as one of the top blues guitarists of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

8. James Burton “Hello Mary Lou” (1961)

Having turned pro as a teenager on the Louisiana Hayride, Burton was a seasoned vet by the time he became the lead player in Ricky Nelson’s band, which was featured regularly on the TV show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. 

Burton was a great rock and roll player, as evidenced by his Chuck Berry-style solo on “Believe What I Say,” but he also inspired legions of pickers with his explosively twangy lead break on “Hello Mary Lou.” 

Burton’s playing on Merle Haggard’s early ‘60s hits like “Mama Tried” and “Swingin’ Doors,” inspired the late, great Roy Nichols, who said, “I learned a lot from Burton, and I copied some of his licks, but I couldn’t copy him to a ‘T’.”

9. Jeff Beck “Over Under Sideways Down” (1966)

Along with the Rolling Stones, no band inspired more hard-edged guitar-wielding maniacs than the Yardbirds. Beck’s playing on their classic garage rock anthem is, like much of his playing at this time, inspired by the groovy sounds of the sitar. 

Equal parts spacey modal madness and meth-infused pentatonic fury, it still ranks as some of Beck’s most inspired playing, and that says a lot. 

And not only was Beck’s otherworldly playing inspirational to a generation of guitarists, but his punky stage demeanor and nasty sonic streak (a ‘54 Fender Esquire into a Tone Bender fuzz and AC30), served notice to everyone that a new sheriff was in town, and he was kicking ass.

10. Albert King “Born Under a Bad Sign” (1967)

If Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix lift your licks lock, stock, and barrel, your influence has been spread very far and very wide. In fact, one can make the case that Albert King was the most influential King, just by virtue of the not-so-subtle tributes by his admirers. 

King Albert’s authoritative bends and economical phrasing are required study for anyone who wants to play blues-rock guitar. On this cut, the Velvet Bulldozer lives up to his nickname, making his Gibson Flying V moan, scream, and move mountains with sweeping bends and a stinging tone that delivers all of the nuances in his playing. 

It also proves that, even though SRV and Clapton could “do” Albert, they were never really even close. 

11. Eric Clapton “Crossroads” (1968)

This one is a giant among giants. Little did Slowhand know, after he walked off the Winterland stage in San Francisco, he had created a template setting the standard for expressive, lyrical, howling blues-rock guitar. 

Armed with a ‘64 Gibson ES-335 and a couple of non-master volume 100-watt Marshall stacks, Clapton’s first break is a textbook example of how to build a solo’s intensity, while the second manages to kick it up one more notch for maximum climax. 

Not a duff note in the bunch, impeccably phrased, and with a vibrato that’s as classy as they come, Clapton could have never played another note and he’d still be one of the most influential players ever. 

12. Jimi Hendrix “All Along the Watchtower” (1968)

One can only guess what sort of “light bulb” moment Jimi experienced when he first heard this tune from Bob Dylan’s 1967 album John Wesley Harding. Maybe it was the biblical references in the lyrics, or the great melody – or perhaps just the wide-open space for improvising afforded by the four-chord progression. 

Whatever it was, the version that appeared on Hendrix’ Electric Ladyland album gave rise to one of Jimi’s most memorable solo outings. Playing soulfully and inventively using a wah and fuzz, Hendrix reinvented “All Along the Watchtower” to such a degree that it’s sometimes easy to forget who actually wrote the tune!

13. Peter Green “Black Magic Woman” (1968)

B.B. King once said of Green, “He has the sweetest tone I ever heard; he was the only one who gave me the cold sweats.” After establishing himself as a masterful blues stylist in John Mayall’s band, Green quickly evolved both as a player and a songwriter with Fleetwood Mac. 

On his D minor tour-de-force “Black Magic Woman,” Green pulls off an incredibly captivating melody, and his beautiful phrasing and soulful bending on a Les Paul with “magnetically out of phase” pickups was pure gold. 

Carlos Santana made the song a huge hit on Abraxas, and Green was also influential on Irish blues rocker Gary Moore, who would own – and eventually sell – Green’s famous Gibson. 

14. Robert Fripp “21st Century Schizoid Man” (1969)

Fripp’s serpentine solo on this alarmingly virtuosic track combines a supersaturated sustained tone with atypical intervallic movement, non-bluesy bends and trills, and note choices and phrasing that had more in common with Coltrane than Clapton. 

Playing a three-pickup ‘59 Les Paul Custom through a Marshall stack and probably either a Burns Buzzaround or a Colorsound Tone Bender, he recorded the seminal progressive rock solo.

15. Jimmy Page “Heartbreaker” (1969)

Selecting the most influential Page solo led to a heated debate. 

But the squawking tone of a ‘58 Les Paul into a Marshall SLP 1969 Super Lead, maniacal cluster picking, wicked hammer-ons and pull-offs, and behind-the-nut G-string bending in the first solo on “Heartbreaker” – not to mention the smoking second solo – explain why everyone from Brian May to Steve Vai to Steve Morse have hailed it as a definitive guitar solo.

16. B.B. King “The Thrill is Gone” (1969)

With a tone sweeter and thicker than molasses, B.B. King graced this song with one of his most emotive blues solos of all time. King knew what the tune called for in context of the highly produced album Completely Well (his first with strings), and it wasn’t about showboating. 

Far from it, judging by the way he grooves so succulently behind the beat. Besides being a big hit for B.B., “The Thrill is Gone” showed guitarists the power of playing slow and cool. 

In an era when Johnny Winter was introducing blues-rock shredding, B.B. King’s huge vibrato and deep soul defined what “playing from the heart” was all about. 

17. Leslie West “Mississippi Queen” (1970)

Leslie West’s massive and massively influential tone on Climbing! – which included “Mississippi Queen” – was created by playing through a Sunn Coliseum P.A. head and four 4x12 speaker cabinets. 

“The head had four microphone inputs and a master volume control, huge transformers and gigantic KT88 tubes, and the cabinets were loaded with Eminence speakers, which never hurt your ears, even with the treble all the way up,” West told GP in 2010. 

He was playing Gibson Les Paul Juniors at the time, and used a single-cutaway 1956 Jr. with a single P-90, strung with La Bella Electric Guitar strings (with a .010 banjo string for the high E and the other strings moved down one to create a light-gauge set) on the track. 

The song reached #21 on the Billboard charts, assuring that West’s signature sound was heard across the country and around the world.

18. Duane Allman “Statesboro Blues” (1971)

By 1970 Duane Allman and Dickey Betts had forged one of the most iconic guitar sounds of all time with their harmonized melodies on songs like “Revival” and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.” 

But as far as slide players went, few at the time got more acclaim than Duane himself, after the 1971 release of The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East. Duane’s slick phrasing and fat, singing tone on the opening track of the double live album was inspired by hearing Taj Mahal’s rendition of the song with Jesse Ed Davis on slide. 

Sonny Landreth, who remembers seeing the Allman Brothers at the time, recalls: “That huge tone that Duane got when he played slide on a Les Paul through a Marshall was a real game changer. I don’t remember anyone else who had a sound like that back then.”

19. John McLaughlin “Meeting of the Spirits” (1971)

Although he had already done revolutionary work with Tony Williams’ Lifetime, Miles Davis, and as a solo artist, McLaughlin’s combination of molten Gibson-through-cranked-Marshall distortion, impossibly fast and complex yet ultra-precise picking, and unique phrasing on The Inner Mounting Flame shattered all existing concepts of “electric guitarist” and lit the fuse of fusion.

20. Ritchie Blackmore “Highway Star” (1972)

Actually a harmonized pair of solos, the tasty bends, rapid-fire triplets, and whammy manipulations on this Strat-into-a-Marshall-amp (via a reel-to-reel tape recorder preamp) solo make it one of Blackmore’s most memorable.

The Deep Purple guitarist’s influence on legions of rock and metal shedders from Morse to Malmsteen to Mustaine is undisputable.

21. Billy Gibbons “La Grange” (1973) 

Gibbons made his mark on this classic shuffle with two solos. 

The first, done on a ‘55 Strat, enters screaming with that classic rear pickup Fender bite, before Gibbons flips to the front pickup for a swinging double-stop workout and some liquid pentatonic runs delivered with his impeccable sense of time and swing. 

But it’s the track’s second solo that the guitarist is most famous for, and the one that every hard rock player would study, due to Gibbons’ insane pinch harmonics. With his “Pearly Gates” ‘59 Les Paul, the Reverend squawks, grunts, and chokes out so many pinch harmonics that it would be laughable if it wasn’t so damm bad ass. 

22. Brian May “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975) 

Brian May’s touch, tone, and orchestral instincts have proven impossible to imitate, but that hasn’t stopped people from trying. 

His majestic lines on this classic are quintessential May, with precise picking, impeccable phrasing, and a bold, loud sound. 

The solo’s placement in the mix was influential, informing how bands such as Boston and Styx featured their solos. You’ve got to assume Dr. May’s harmonized lines at the end of the song got Tom Scholz’s attention as well.

23. Larry Carlton “Kid Charlemagne” (1976)

Carlton was already a session legend known for his smooth-as-silk lines that were reminiscent of Wes, Pass, and Trane when he cut this Steely track. 

But when Mr. 335 combined a rock dude’s tone with a jazzer’s harmonic sensibilities, he created the standard by which every jazz rocker would be judged. 

Ask Steve Lukather, Robben Ford, or Mike Stern what impact this solo had on them. 

Alright then.

24. Carlos Santana “Europa (Earth’s Cry, Heaven’s Smile)” (1976)

Santana masterfully caresses the tune’s main melody with his trademark singing sustain and thick tone, never quite giving up the goods until the outro solo where he lets it all hang out in an outpouring of soulful yet wicked playing. 

He displays a fluid, tactile control at all times, and his tone is more open-sounding and less compressed than in recent years. 

And when he kicks the wah on, look out – he ratchets up the intensity tenfold, just when you think it can’t go any higher. Simply put, “Europa” is a study in pace, melodicism, and space – as well as good, old fashion burning!

25. Al Di Meola “Race with Devil on Spanish Highway” (1977)

Sure, there were people who could play fast before Di Meola, but nobody had made it such a central part of their deal before Big Al came along. 

Di Meola’s picking ability coupled with his sick, self-described “mutola” technique raised the bar for audacious shred and players interested in pushing the limits of picking. 

Far from being a pattern-minded monotone shredder, Di Meola’s Latin influences and his compositional sense have always made his displays of virtuosity supremely musical. 

And for all of the shred haters, Di Meola proved that the emotional impact of many notes is just as valid as a few well-placed ones. 

26. Eddie Van Halen “Eruption” (1978)

What can you say about this cadenza from hell? Cut in 1978, this has to be one of the most influential pieces of guitar playing ever. 

EVH took a Strat with a humbucker, an MXR Phase 90, and a plexi Marshall, and then played some supercharged Clapton licks that boggled just about every 6-stringer’s mind in the world. 

It was Van Halen’s two-handed tapping that truly grabbed everyone’s attention, however, and made this the most recognizable solo of the next two decades. “Eruption” made an impact on millions of rock dudes and seemingly every kid who set foot inside a Guitar Center.

27. Allan Holdsworth “In the Dead of Night” (1978)

As Bill Bruford put it, this solo was, “94 seconds of liquid passion married to a blinding technical facility that was to go down in the annals of rock guitar history. 

"All the hallmarks of his brilliant playing were there in this solo: poise, pace, melody, the Slonimsky interval jumps, the whammy bar, and all over a killer groove.”

28. Mark Knopfler “Sultans of Swing” (1978) 

When Mark Knopfler released this fingerpicked two-pickup masterpiece, he showed guitarists that you don’t need distortion or a plectrum to rock. 

With a Strat on the bridge and middle pickups, a Fender Twin Reverb and a Roland JC-120, Knopfler played two deft, bouncy solos that referenced Chet Atkins with snappy popped notes, crying bends, and clever arpeggios. 

Along the way he influenced just about every clean tone for the next 20 years. When people talk about an “out of phase” Strat tone, they’re talking about this tune.

29. Michael Schenker “Rock Bottom” (1979)

The 1970s was a great time for live records, with classics from Frampton, Lizzy, and Ted Nugent, but one of the sweetest solos to grace a double LP came from UFO’s Michael Schenker. 

The extended break on this tune has everything great about Schenker: melody, dynamics, tone for days, and burning. 

This lead would fascinate rockers all over the world, including George Lynch, Vinnie Moore, Akira Takahashi, and Kirk Hammett.

30. David Gilmour “Comfortably Numb” (1979)

Few solos can match the vibe of Gilmour’s work on this iconic piece. 

Playing a ‘79 black Stratocaster with a ‘62 neck and DiMarzios through Hiwatts and Yamaha RA-200 rotating speaker cabinets, Gilmour transformed what are essentially blues licks into a signature statement that affected the molecules in myriad musical minds. 

This is arguably his crowning achievement as a soloist.

31. Angus Young “You Shook Me All Night Long” (1980)

It serves to reason that a song that is all about getting it on should have a solo that is sexy, right? 

Damn straight. 

Young’s turn on this global hit finds him harnessing his kinetic blues tendencies into a steamy, attitude-laden solo that is actually kind of funky. 

His tasteful major pentatonic flavorings as well as his gorgeous tone – thanks to a wound up old Marshall and a Gibson SG – are the icing on the cake of his impeccable groove, intonation, and phrasing.

32. Randy Rhoads “Crazy Train” (1980)

After Van Halen, it wasn’t easy for an L.A. rocker to make a mark, but Randall Rhoads did so in a big way on his debut with Ozzy. 

Rhoads took what he had gleaned from Mick Ronson, Gary Moore, and Bach, and synthesized it into this metal tour de force. 

He wasn’t the first guy to blend classical music and rock, but he was absolutely the gateway drug for players like Zakk Wylde and Tom Morello.

33. Stevie Ray Vaughan “Pride and Joy” (1983)

The second cut on SRV’s debut album, Texas Flood, “Pride and Joy” blasted onto the airwaves courtesy of a great melody, catchy lyrics, and a gamechanging solo in which Vaughan threw down a barrage of killer licks with a gargantuan tone from his Fender/Dumble rig. 

SRV’s deft songwriting and his Albert King/Hendrix-influenced style succeeded in making what was fundamentally a classic “tay-hass” shuffle into a huge AOR hit that every classic rocker is expected to cover in perpetuity. 

Bottom line is, after SRV came along, anyone who thought they could play blues with fire and passion got a schoolin’ the size of Texas.

34. Yngwie Malmsteen “Black Star” (1984)

Mike Varney’s rep as a finder of great guitarists was already solid when he wrote about a kid from Sweden with a funny name in 1983. 

Many players’ first exposure to Malmsteen was on this shred fest. With his blinding speed, dazzling classical arpeggios, gorgeous Strat-into-Marshall tone, and larger than life vibrato, he didn’t raise the bar for rock technique – he obliterated it. 

Yngwie changed the game forever with this one, just ask any rocker who has swept an arpeggio since then.

35. George Lynch “The Hunter” (1985)

Dokken's George Lynch has inspired countless rock and metal players for nearly 30 years with his perfect blend of structured melodicism and off-the-rails fury – all in the space of a 16-bar solo. 

This solo is a perfect example, as he eases into it with memorable, understated melodic motifs that are helped along with some thick-ass tone and sick vibrato. 

Halfway through, however, Lynch begins to turn up the jets. Alternate picking, sweep picking, and legato playing become one within a single winding phrase, giving him a sound and style that are difficult to ape. 

However, Lynch did show the way for shred-obsessed guitarists on how to structure a meaningful statement in the middle of a tune and leave an everlasting mark. In fact, his solos are the only thing that don’t sound dated about Dokken.

36. Kirk Hammett “Master of Puppets” (1986)

Kirk Hammett’s influences include his teacher Joe Satriani, Michael Schenker, and Thin Lizzy. And nowhere are those influences more prominent than on this tune. 

Hammett’s whammy bar work and speed picking would inspire countless kids to notch their mids, cram their theory, and play blazing solos over chugging grooves.

37. Joe Satriani “Always with Me, Always with You” (1987)

Satriani is obviously known as a master technician, but it’s his melodic side that has left the biggest imprint on guitardom. 

This sweet ballad showcases Satch’s singing tone, skillful ornamentation, and ability to blend the tasty with the jaw dropping. 

The reach of this solo is apparent in hundreds of instrumental guitar records, country ballads, movie soundtracks, and car commercials.

38. Kurt Cobain “Come As You Are” (1991)

Although he took about as many solos and Johnny Ramone, the late Nirvana guitar anti-hero played a memorable one in this song from 1991. 

Presumably using a Boss DS-1 for dirt and an Electro-Harmonix Small Clone chorus for the warbly modulation, Cobain simply quoted the vocal melody in a snotty, vibey way, and the kids went crazy. 

Suddenly, young players – many with a sanctimonious disdain for ‘80s-style wanking – were taking a break from strumming through songs and trying their hands at playing single-note lines.

39. Zakk Wylde “No More Tears” (1991)

Logic dictates that Zakk Wylde was doomed to failure when he got the gig with Ozzy. 

A blond kid with a Les Paul? Really? 

But then people got a taste of his huge tone, squealing harmonics, and rapid-fire pentatonics and a new star was born. 

On this tune Zakk channeled Rhoads, Billy Gibbons, and Frank Marino into a solo that was emblematic of the new generation of metalheads.

40. Dimebag Darrell “The Great Southern Trendkill” (1996)

The post-Van Halen, post-Randy Rhoads world was in dire need of a champion when Darrell Abbott came on the scene. 

He took the styles of those guys, mixed in some Ace Frehley, some Lynyrd Skynyrd, and a heapin’ helpin’ of moonshine and created the ass-kicking solo here. 

Dime made it cool to love Holdsworth, EVH, and Billy Gibbons all in the same song.

On his 2021 release, See That Light, L.A. blues legend and Mavis Staples guitarist Rick Holmstrom began to address the insanity of the current climate.

“Everybody’s staring at a screen, but we can’t see what’s in front of us,” he writes in one lyric. But on January 6 of that year, while waiting for See That Light to come out, the world became exponentially crazier.

“The news was driving me batty, so I started getting together with the guys, just playing and recording,” Holmstrom says.

“We were looking ahead to when we could get back together, have barbecues and listen to music. We were not thinking about anything other than entertaining ourselves and then being thrilled when we heard the playback. With the other record not yet released, it was nuts to be doing this, but it felt so good.”

Holmstrom, along with Staples’ bandmates Steve Mugalian on drums and Gregory Boaz on bass, found themselves quickly churning out Get It! (LuEllie Records), a record of short guitar instrumentals that hark back to the heyday of the Meters and Freddie King.

For this rapid release, the guitarist favored a small tube amp. “I used my Valco-made Bronson with one 10-inch field-coil speaker, two 6V6 power tubes and octal preamp tubes,” the guitarist says.

“It is the Valco equivalent of a tweed Fender Harvard. I used it with a reverb tank and an SIB Electronics Echodrive delay pedal set for just a hint of slapback. It was recorded with a Shure SM57 up close and a condenser mic a few feet away from the amp. When you hear tremolo, it is a tweed Fender Tremolux.

“I like amps that have the bias tremolo. You can set the depth to a sweet spot, where you can hear it but it’s not such a choppy, on/off sound. It’s a little greasier and more organic.”

Most of the tracks were recorded in Mugalian’s garage on a Zoom multitrack recorder.

“I mixed the record at Pacifica, a low-budget studio where I did many of my earlier blues albums,” he recalls.

“We did a lot of re-amping. We would put the whole drum kit through a guitar amp, and do the same thing to the guitar. We took the recorded Shure SM57 mic track from the Valco and ran it back through a Fender Tremolux or Vibrolux, just barely on, with two stereo condenser mics placed six or seven feet away from the amp.

"We would just put a taste of that track into the mix to add a bit more air, because the garage sounded kind of claustrophobic.”

Air is a crucial part of Holmstrom’s sound.

Though initially not a fan of the trio format, he eventually became fond of the intimate thing that happens when three people perform together.

“You throw a fourth person in and it changes everything,” he says.

Many guitarists, recording or playing in a trio scenario, would attempt to fill the space with distortion, flurries of notes or overdubs.

But while he’s adept at a style that lets him often play rhythm and lead simultaneously, Holmstrom is also unafraid of space.

“My friend and mentor Junior Watson came to see one of my first trio gigs in Long Beach,” he relates. “He said, ‘Man, the way you used space was great. You just hit a chord and let it ring out.’ I think it sounded good to do that because the room was so lively. I started doing it more often.”

The guitar on most of the record is Holmstrom’s 1953 Fender Telecaster that he has dubbed the Mariachi, but some of the dirtier tunes, like “Pour One Out” and “King Freddie,” feature his 1955 Gibson Les Paul Special.

It sports a push/pull pot on the bridge pickup tone knob that throws the two pickups out of phase for that vintage blues guitar honk.

“It’s a TV model that has been refinished,” he explains. “It’s got all kinds of stuff wrong with it, which scared away the collectors. That’s the only reason I could afford to buy it.”

The track “G for Junior” references Watson, a master of the West Coast swing shuffle. Holmstrom demonstrates that the pupil has learned well, while making the style his own. Here, he exhibits a grittier Telecaster tone, turning the amp up and driving it with the tube preamp of the SIB.

Though it may appear that he is playing exclusively with his fingers, the guitarist actually has a pick clutched between his first and second digits at all times.

“It started when I was playing with William Clark,” he explains. “Guys like Smokey Wilson, Philip Walker and others would come down after work, wearing their mechanics uniforms. Sometimes they would get up and play with us. I saw that none of them had picks.

“Maybe someone like Jimmy Rogers would have a thumb pick and some other pick on his finger, but most of what I was hearing from these old guys was the flesh of their fingers. I started trying to do that more, but I wouldn’t put the pick down.

“It somehow just migrated into my fingers; I didn’t even think about it. I sometimes use it when I’m playing rhythm or when I need to be cleaner, louder or faster.”

Another Holmstrom trademark is how his body motion seems so integrated into his playing. According to him, it’s connected to his listening process, and his first concern: rhythm. “That’s something I’ve been doing ever since I started playing,” he says.

“It’s like I’m off somewhere else listening to the groove of the whole group, and I’m definitely very rhythm conscious.

“I’ve been working with a metronome for many years, because a drummer I was playing with when I was younger told me, ‘You need to get a metronome, set it on two and four and make the music swing like crazy, or you’re wasting your time.’ I’m trying to do that.”

For Holmstrom, one advantage of lockdown was the opportunity to dive deep into the details and nuances of his guitar playing. A record he has been studying is Little Milton’s Chess album Sings Big Blues, which features chestnuts like “Sweet Sixteen” and the Milton classic “Feel so Bad.”

“Junior Watson told me in the late ’80s to get that record and practice along with it,” Holmstrom says. “I put it on a year or two ago, when all this started. I’d forgotten how much stuff I’d picked up from Milton. But there are some things I had learned wrong. Like, sometimes it’s not the flat seven but the sixth, bent up.”

He also began to examine the pick-up notes leading to the downbeat.

“I started to hear that on the Little Milton record,” he explains. “Then I went back to Freddie King and all these other people I was into in my early 20s and realized it’s the feel of the pick-up notes that makes it.”

For years, Holmstrom has been known as a blues master, and rightly so, but he is much more. Even at his “bluesiest,” he separates himself from many of the genre’s current generation by eschewing any hint of a Stevie Ray Vaughan influence, or cranking up the distortion to blues-rock levels.

Instead he exhibits excellence in lesser-exposed styles, like West Coast swing, Slim Harpo funk and Lightnin’ Hopkins’ down-and-dirty one-man band approach.

On the other end of the spectrum, he has pushed the tradition’s envelope by adding hip-hop production techniques to his 2007 release, Hydraulic Groove.

All of the above has been absorbed into a personal approach and sound that is instantly recognizable.

In more recent times, Holmstrom has added a deep knowledge and feel for gospel to his arsenal, with more songs reflecting the gentle, almost country lope of some of the early church styles.

“For many years, Mavis and her sister Yvonne would sit behind us while our band did a little instrumental section,” Holmstrom says. “I used to play the gospel tune ‘Oh, Mary Don’t, You Weep.’ I was knocked out by the Swan Silvertones’ version.

“Sometimes, I might not know what I felt like doing and would look over at Mavis for inspiration. She’d go, ‘You know what I want.’ ‘Oh Mary’ is a gospel feel with brushes or light sticks and a lot of air.”

The final song on Get It! – “Walking With Diane” – reflects this aspect of the guitarist’s playing.

“That song is about my mom, and I was trying to write something that would convey the feeling of thinking about her,” he says.

“I don’t know what you call the style. I just try to think of melodies and ways to play simple groove stuff without words. Most of this record is about fun. I’m sick of all of the existential, post-apocalyptic doom. I just want to have a funky good time. That’s all this record is.”

Order Get It! by Rick Holmstrom here.

Eric Gales exploded onto the music scene at the age of 16 with his 1991 debut album, The Eric Gales Band.

A clip on YouTube shows him winning a local battle of the bands contest in 1989, at the age of 14, with an incendiary rendition of “Spanish Castle Magic.”

Inevitably, as with any Black blues guitarist adding a little rock to the mix, the “next Hendrix” tag was duly applied. Indeed, it did seem Gales was channeling a strong Hendrix vibe, not only by the way he played but also in how he looked.

Featuring his brother Eugene on bass and vocals, the performance showcases a staggeringly gifted guitarist, able to peel off face-melting Hendrix licks with ease.

Likewise, Gales’ first appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show, in 1991, plugging “Sign of the Storm,” from his debut album, had all the swagger of classic SRV at his best.

Gales started to learn guitar at the age of four, and, by his own admission, it came fairly easily for him. “It felt very natural,” he tells Guitar Player. 

“Actually, every musical instrument I’ve played has always felt right. I believe this was something that was cast in my life before I ever started to play.”

Although right-handed, he plays left-handed on a right-handed guitar, with the bass strings at the bottom. Taught by his older brother Manuel – a lefty playing an “upside-down” axe, who achieved success under the name Little Jimmy King – Gales never questioned how he was taught.

Manuel introduced him to a whole world of great music, not only the obvious blues guitar legends but also classic rock, from the likes of Led Zeppelin and Frank Marino to mavericks like Eric Johnson, as well as the jazz guitar styles of Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery.

While absorbing this rich guitar gumbo, Gales was infusing the mix with the urban sounds of rap and hip-hop he heard on the radio. The result was an artist who transcended his own influences to become a significant inspiration to those who followed in his wake.

Like many musical artists, Gales has had struggles with addiction issues, and he spent 21 months in prison from 2009 for breaking probation rules after a drug conviction. 

He wasn’t even allowed to play guitar until a warden realized who he was and managed to provide him with an instrument. The guard also persuaded Gales to form a band while inside, to help with the rehabilitation process.

“Toward the end of my sentence, we got to play quite a few shows, festivals and things like that, which made things a lot easier to bear,” Gales explains.

The guitarist is upbeat about the outcome from his experience, and feels that his personal development during that time – specifically his ability to reflect and resolve to change – was essential to breaking the chains of addiction.

“God gave me a gift, and I think I lost my way for a time,” he says. “But I’m back on track and grateful for all the opportunities that a life in music has given me.”

Having recorded 21 albums and appeared as a guest on considerably more, Gales – whose main guitar is his custom Magneto Sonnet RawDawg II – has a broad catalog to draw upon when selecting five key songs from his career.

Perhaps surprisingly, four of the tracks chosen are drawn from his last two albums, 2017’s Middle of the Road and 2019’s Bookends, both of which were recorded since he resolved his substance abuse problems. They are, in Gales’ opinion, the best music he has made in his career, topped only by his most recent release, 2021’s Crown.

Gales is understandably enthusiastic about the new album, given that it encompasses everything we’ve come to expect from him, while it shows him taking his music to a new level.

A key highlight for many will be his guitar duel with Joe Bonamassa on “I Want My Crown.”

Bonamassa produced the record with Josh Smith and was determined to help Gales realize the vision that he had for the project. Consequently, there are strong statement pieces, humorous nods to the trials of Gales’ own life and three short instrumental vignettes that call to mind elements of Hendrix.

Gales is fired up and ready to make sure there are no further setbacks on his path to musical redemption.

“I’m hungrier than I’ve ever been, man,” he tells Guitar Player. “I love the process of touring and recording, and I can’t wait for people to hear what I’m going to be coming up with in the future.”

As for his selections for this list, he says, “A couple of these songs are pretty long, but I like to be able to stretch out and make a strong statement. Probably out of 10 songs on an album, I’ll usually have a couple that are on the longer side.

“Sometimes the spirit wants to go long, so you have to allow that to happen.”

1) “Freedom from My Demons” from ‘Crystal Vision’ (2006)

“This is the oldest song I picked for the five, and also the most traditional in style. It’s a really strong pointer to my sobriety.

“For a few years I wasn’t really listening to my own lyrics, but then I went back to it after a long time and I thought it was great to see the way that the ideas applied to me now, being nearly six years clean.

“I think this is a deep song with beautiful lyrics. And come on, who doesn’t like the blues? I believe this track needed to be pulled out for this list.

“The real Superstrat tone was actually a Magneto going through a Fender Tweed Bassman and a Tube Screamer. I think I achieved a magnificent tone with that setup. I guess there is a hint of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s version of ‘Texas Flood’ about the song. I was aiming for that sort of vibe and aura.”

2) “Boogie Man” from ‘Middle of the Road’ (2017)

“This is one of three songs I chose from Middle of the Road, which I feel is really one of my strongest albums. I have had a long history of being known as the ‘bad guy,’ you know? What with being arrested, going to prison, drug addiction and everything, I thought ‘Boogie Man’ was a great representation of this statement that I had been labeled with.

“‘Boogie Man’ was originally a Freddie King song, and I love that lyrical idea that goes right back to Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Bo Diddley – that real braggadocio approach. It takes me back to those blues roots. I think it tells a story that I can relate to with my rep.

“There’s a lot of humor in songs like this, which people don’t often realize. These guys mean it, but they’re not taking themselves too seriously.

“Gary Clark Jr. contributes some great guitar and vocals as well on this one. I like working with guests. When the chemistry is right, you can make magic happen, you know?

“You can inspire and fire each other up. Guitar-wise, it is definitely the Magneto on this song. They’re a great company, their guitars play great, and it’s become my go-to guitar for whatever I want.”

3) “Help Me Let Go” from ‘Middle of the Road’ (2017)

“I play acoustic guitar on this one; I think it was a Paul Reed Smith acoustic. And I guess what I like about this song is that it goes against the grain of what people know me for or expect to hear from me.

“I think that difference helps it to really catch the listener’s ear by making a very different stylistic statement. It encapsulates the beautiful relationship that I feel that I have with the acoustic guitar. I do really love to play acoustic things. I think you can get a very warm, expressive tone that enables you to make a statement with your music.

“This song was written while I was in rehab in 2016, and I think the message in the lyrics is just as applicable today, for me or anybody. There are some times and some things that you just have to let go of. It meant so much to me to be able to put a song on the record that described my journey, the route that I had to take through life at that time.

“I suppose it is also a little different because there is so little guitar on the track. I really just tried to say what needed to be said without overplaying. I think it’s important to have the self-knowledge to know when to play, and when to sit back and let the song speak. 

"Just a little touch here and there, then get out of the way. [laughs] Sometimes less is more, and sometimes you want to really let loose. It’s all about how to serve the song in the end.”

4) “I’ve Been Deceived” from ‘Middle of the Road’ (2017)

“There’s a very powerful drive to this track. The lyrics are about me having a conversation about being deceived by drugs. The drugs were friends with me at the beginning, but the whole time it was a big deception.

“Musically, I would say that this is a great example of where I’ve tried to take the blues to a different place. There’s some classic-rock stylings, obviously some blues, and elements of urban music and R&B.

“I think that combination of influences is what maybe makes my music stand out, and what gives me my own signature.

“I have influences from so many different areas and I try to incorporate all of them into my music. What made an impact on me as a listener is what has inspired me to try to re-create in my own music.

“I think it’s important to let your influences filter into your music, but also, maybe even more importantly, to use them to make something new that is your own. I always want to acknowledge those who went before me though, in so many fields, not just blues.

“Who knows? Maybe what I do will influence someone else and so on, as music gets passed on.”

5) “Southpaw Serenade” from ‘The Bookends’ (2019)

“This song is a testament to the way I play, and it’s a reflection on a lot of things that happened to me in my personal life. I guess I thought, Why not do a song about playing left-handed? [laughs]

“Doyle Bramhall II appears on this track. He’s someone I’ve been friends with for nearly 30 years, and he’s a southpaw too, so it seemed like a natural fit.

“I really like the tone of my guitar on this song. It’s very warm and creamy. I used my Magneto with a wah pedal, a delay and a distortion unit. I forget what brands they were, but there was nothing fancy – just standard kinds of things.

“I think the sound that I get is really about who I am, and the way that I play. I suppose what I’m saying is that I sound pretty much like me whatever I play through, which is what we’re all trying to achieve in the end.

“We all have different guys that influence us, but how we turn those influences into our own style, our own statement or whatever, is what we bring to the table as musicians.”

Browse the Eric Gales catalog here.

Although Sue Foley is originally from Canada, on two major occasions her life has directed her to Texas. At the end of the ’80s, the guitarist and singer-songwriter moved to Austin when the city’s late blues impresario Clifford Antone signed her to his record label and became her mentor. The timing and location couldn’t have been more perfect for a 21-year-old blues guitarist building a career.

Right when Stevie Ray Vaughan was blowing the music world away and putting Austin on the map, Antone made sure Foley shared the stage with every national and local blues master who came through his eponymous club.

Playing three sets per night, six nights a week, Foley honed her chops and found her musical home and kindred spirits within the Texas blues community (one memorable off-stage moment involved shooting dice with Albert Collins). 

Seeing her potential and dedication, Antone also ensured Foley went on the road to open for Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor and Johnny Winter.

Following her pregnancy and marriage, Foley returned to Canada to raise her son but continued touring and releasing a number of albums, always staying faithful to her love for traditional blues, even as she began studying flamenco guitar and incorporating some of those influences into her blues.

Then she was suddenly contacted by Mike Flanigin, a Hammond B3 player with Jimmie Vaughan and Billy Gibbons, and an old friend from her Austin days. The Antone’s club had re-opened, and Flanigin wanted her to come down and play. This led to them working together on Foley’s critically acclaimed 2018 album, The Ice Queen.

Anchored in Texas electric blues, yet musically varied with horns and acoustic solo numbers, the album featured duets with Gibbons, Vaughan and Charlie Sexton, and showcased Foley’s talent for writing blues songs and lyrics that avoid genre clichés. 

It also showed that it’s fully possible to make a blues album with a modern approach and still win the Blues Foundation’s Koko Taylor Award for Best Female Traditional Blues Artist, which Foley did in 2020.

Riding a wave of success – including appearances with Vaughan at the Beacon Theater and Royal Albert Hall, and a packed calendar of festivals and international tours – Foley saw her performance schedule grind to a grim halt with the pandemic.

As a response to current circumstances and restrictions, she presents Pinky’s Blues with no overdubs and few guest musicians, capturing a heavyweight blues power trio with bassist John Penner, and drummer Chris Layton in electrifying interactions.

The result is a raw and unfiltered tribute to Texas blues and R&B. We spoke with Foley about the album after seeing her perform in Chicago with her trio, featuring Penner on bass and Corey Keller on drums.

You’ve followed up The Ice Queen with a straight-ahead Texas blues album. What made you go in this direction?

It was actually our producer, Mike Flanigin, who came up with the idea to make a blues guitar album. He produced The Ice Queen as well, and that was an artistic project that was really varied, where we were looking at each song individually and having different lineups of musicians. Then we did Mike’s album, West Texas Blues, which used the same group of players in the studio. So we decided to take the more stripped-down approach.

Since we were in the framework of not gathering in big groups, we knew it was going to be a small, close session, with just a few people spaced out in a big room, and that we had to do everything live with all of us playing together and in the moment.

The album sounds bold and ballsy, and your playing has the swagger to match.

Thank you. I listened to it recently to refresh my memory before touring, and I thought, Yeah, this sounds pretty greasy!

But we were also just having fun. Whatever vibe you’re picking up from the studio, we were letting out a lot of energy, since we hadn’t been able to play live for a while. So there’s some lighthearted fun there too. We were just happy to hang out together.

There is some tender and lyrical R&B playing on it too, but the overall vibe is intense.

Well, we took a deep-dive into some really great songs, mostly the Texas blues catalog, with Clarence Gatemouth Brown [“Okie Dokie Stomp”], Frankie Lee Sims [“Boogie Real Low”] and Lavelle White [“Stop These Teardrops”], but also Chicago stuff like Robert Nighthawk [“Someday”] and Junior Wells [“When the Cat’s Gone the Mice Play”], and then my own songs [“Hurricane Girl,” “Dallas Man,” “Pinky’s Blues”]. When you play that kind of stuff, you’ve got to be really committed to it.

The title track is a slow instrumental blues. Two minutes into it, you do a very cool thing that almost sounds like sparks are coming out of your Tele. Is that just a backward rake?

It is, and it’s something Freddie King did a lot on songs like “San Ho Zay,” but he was using metal fingerpicks. I use a thumbpick and my fingers, but I have acrylic nails on my right-hand fingers, and those kind of act as fingerpicks.

Those have got to be hard to maintain?

They are. I try to keep them up, because I do a lot of Spanish nylon-string guitar playing at home, and sometimes on the road, too. I find that you can apply some of the Spanish fingerstyle techniques to a Fender Telecaster, they’re very compatible.

Why the Telecaster in particular? Is it because of its tonal clarity?

Yeah. Teles are very simple and pure. There’s just a tone and a volume knob, and all the nuances that you do in that framework are yours.

Teles can be tough taskmasters, too, since they don’t sustain as easily as a guitar with humbuckers.

Exactly. You’ve got to get used to playing pretty clean. I think if you can play a Tele well, it shows that you have good technique, because you have to play kind of precise and clean. There’s nowhere to hide.

How did Chris Layton’s presence behind the drum kit influence your playing?

A lot. When I talked about the album sounding greasy, that’s Chris. He’s just got that really deep pocket. When you’re playing with somebody that strong, you feel really supported, and they also help direct where a song’s gonna go. And you trust them, because you know that they know where it should go.

It’s not that Chris is telling me how to play; he’s directing things to where the groove is so deep that you’re comfortable, and it’s just going where it needs to go. He knows what’s happening, and he’s in the driver’s seat in a lot of ways.

But you like where he’s driving, so you don’t mind.

I love where he’s driving, and I think the drums on this album sound amazing, partially because of that big open room we were in.

How did you record the album?

We were set up just like we’d be onstage at a live gig, but with a few baffles between us, and a lot of room mics. The drums were in the middle, with the guitars and bass on each side, and the vocals were up in the middle.

[Engineer] Chris Bell was capturing all of it, so you’ll hear mic bleed, like guitar in the drum mics. And the bass was going through a mic’d amp, as opposed to going direct.

Where did you record?

Fire Station Studios in San Marcos, Texas. It’s the same place where I recorded The Ice Queen. It was all done in about two and a half to three days. What you’re hearing is all live, and mostly first or second takes. Vocals and guitars recorded at the same time. We couldn’t even overdub if we wanted to.

On the slow blues, “Say It’s Not So,” your vocals are very emotive. You’re completely connected to the lyrics, and you go into a wailing solo on the next beat. It takes a lot of live performing to reach that comfort level with music and lyrics, and on both instruments.

Singing was never what drove me. I wanted to play guitar, but I had to sing, and over time I learned to enjoy it. It is about doing a lot of gigs and pushing yourself, but I always stress that it’s also important who you listen to. It used to be pretty common for a guitar player to also be a great singer. Think of T-Bone Walker, or Freddie, B.B. and Albert King.

You also do a blazing version of Gatemouth’s “Okie Dokie Stomp.”

I’ve been playing it since I was in my early 20s. That song is a rite of passage in the blues guitar playing world, especially in Texas blues, but Hollywood Fats in California also did a famous version of it in Eb, where he adapted those horn lines to guitar.

Ronnie Earl’s version is insanely great too, and it’s in C, which is the same key I do it in, so I kind of reference Ronnie’s version, to be fair. It’s a fun song to get under your belt, like the Freddie King instrumentals. Back in the day, we had to know these songs.

Your rig is minimal, but the tone you get onstage and in the studio is full and rich. Let’s talk about that, starting with your signature guitar of many years.

Well, Pinky is a stock Fender Telecaster with the pink paisley design that was reissued in the mid-to-late ’80s, and I got it in 1987. They’re made in Japan, and for whatever reason, the Teles from that era are really good. I haven’t changed anything on it. I use the stock pickups. I’m afraid to change them, since I like the sound so much and I might not get it back.

I’ve had it refretted a few times. [Foley has three “Pinky” Telecasters, and her first is now off the road.] As for strings, I’ve used D’Addario [EXL 110] .010–.046 strings for probably 30 years. I change them every few gigs if we’re playing steady, since I like them kinda fresh.

On Pinky’s Blues, you use your original Fender Bassman that you’ve had for the past 30 years. Have you modded it in any way?

I don’t really mess with the speakers. It’s very rare that I change them. The only thing I change a lot is the [6L6] tubes. But, man, you can’t kill those Bassmans! They stand up on the road, night after night. It’s a simple workhorse of an amp, but if you get one in good shape, you can get a killer sound.

If the amp sound has a lot of body, like the Bassman, which has 40 loud watts, the 4x10s get the sound across with the right amount of power. You can drive the amp and speakers without getting as loud as the 2x12s on a Twin. It’s really versatile and will handle a small, medium or big stage. I find that you can get a full sound and get it to move around.

How do you position the amp live?

It depends on the stage and the room. Sometimes when I play a smaller room, I’ll put the amp on its back, aiming it straight up. I learned that from Jimmie Vaughan. If you’re in a theater and you need the sound to be in the system too, you can baffle the amp to deflect the sound a bit, and if you’re on a big stage, like at a festival, you can have the two of them together and wide open.

You also don’t use pedals very much.

I do love reverb, so I use the Boss RV-5, and I also use some tremolo, like a Boss TR-2 or Strymon Flint, on a couple of tunes. Since the sound of a Telecaster is very clean and straight ahead, I sometimes use an Xotic RC clean boost, just to get sustain and widen the tone ever so much if I’m playing at a lower volume but still want to hear the pure tone. Cindy Cashdollar taught me that. But I literally keep the boost at the lowest possible setting. If I can drive the amp hard enough, I won’t use it. I like the sound out of the amp mostly.

Anybody can hide behind pedals. I don’t. You don’t want to lean on them too much or they’ll start to shape your tone when it really should come from the guitar, amp and your hands. You’ve got to create yourself and your tone, and then use the pedal, but a lot of times people go the opposite way. They use the pedal to create themselves. It’s backwards, and it’s so pedal-heavy that you can’t tell who that player is. So many players all sound the same – like the pedal.

Do you have any tips for improving tone?

I stress being picky about who you listen to, or at least spending a lot of time listening to the tone masters and soaking it in. Your creativity, phrasing, technique and inventiveness are so important, but your tone is your DNA and your musical stamp. You can have all the flash in the world, but if your tone sucks, you’re nowhere. I’d rather have a great tone and less chops than all chops and no tone.

It means so much that people have been saying that they like the tone on this album. But it isn’t just about me. There’s Chris with his mic placements, and Mike who was stubborn about all of us being in one room. So you’re hearing the guitar through all of these other instruments, too.

When we enjoy hearing master singers like Aretha Franklin or Ray Charles, the reason their voices sound so compelling isn’t just because of their phrasing or vocal technique. It’s also their timbre and sound that we love.

Yeah. It’s the same thing with guitar. Your tone is your voice.

Buy a copy of Pinky’s Blues by Sue Foley here.

*** The following article originally appeared in the January 2005 issue of GP ***

“My mind works in many, many different ways,” says 80-year-old icon Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown [1924-2005.] “That’s why I get so mad when everybody refers to me as just a bluesman. They’re 100 percent wrong. I don’t do any of that hardcore blues stuff where they got a one-track mind talking about how a woman ain’t nothing.”

Brown does have a point, as he has been criss-crossing the lines of blues, jazz, country, and Creole since the 1940s. But ask anyone who has heard Brown’s wicked electric guitar stylings – particularly his early Peacock sides such as “Okie Dokie Stomp” or “Dirty Work at the Crossroads” – and they’ll tell you the man is the most unheralded figure in a long line of Texas blues-guitar legends that includes T-Bone Walker and Freddie King.

But if he is an under-appreciated icon of Texas blues, Brown simply doesn’t care. To him, the blues is just another style he incorporates into a sound he calls, “American music/Texas life.” His new record, Timeless [Hightone], is probably his most genre-bending yet, with his fiddle and guitar taking center stage on a collection of tunes ranging from honky-tonk to jazz standards.

Sadly, Brown is battling lung cancer (at the time of this interview, his doctors gave him only a few months to live), and he has opted to forego any treatment. “To hell with that shit,” he exclaims. “I’m not going to let anybody cut me open! A man can cure himself if he tries hard enough, you hear that? You’ve just got to be positive.”

To that end, Brown is still gigging (he just finished taping an Austin City Limits appearance), and still fighting easy categorization. “Pretty soon, I’m going back in the studio to record a bluegrass album,” he exclaims. “Because if you’re truly creative, you never stop.”

Even though you’re adamant about not being labeled as a blues guy, your early work is decidedly blues based.

Sure, but I had to sound like that because I was just starting out. That’s the kind of stuff I was being asked to do, and seeing as how I was a newcomer, I obliged. But, after a while I thought, “Why do I have to be one of these old cryin’ and moanin’ guitar players always talking bad about women?”

So I just stopped. That’s when I started having horns and pianos in my band, and started playing arrangements more like Count Basie and Duke Ellington, rather than some old hardcore Mississippi Delta stuff.

Who was the first guitarist that really knocked you out?

Well, he didn’t knock me out, but he was the only guitarist I listened to a little bit, and that was T-Bone Walker. But you know what? He had a one-track mind, too! He always did the same ol’ blues thing.

Did you ever play with T-Bone?

Yeah, we did a couple of shows together. And once in a while my manager at the time would stage these gigs called the “Battle of the Guitars.” And you know what? I’d always come out on top. In fact, I remember one time in Atlanta, T-Bone’s people pulled my amp’s power cord out of the wall!

The same thing happened with Charlie Daniels a few years back. He got real smart, and said a word I didn’t like. So I didn’t get mad, I got even. All he wanted to play was the “Devil Went Down to Georgia.” So I sent Charlie and the devil back there.

What do you feel is the essence of Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown’s music?

It’s thinking positive and not getting stuck with someone else’s sound. I ain’t out there trying to sound like this guy and that guy – I don’t believe in that stuff. As an artist, you have to have your own identity. If anything, have people try to sound like you.

Stop thinking about the guys you idolize. Think for yourself. You have a mind, so use it.

Browse Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's catalog here.

When Gibson launched the Varitone-equipped ES-345 semi-hollowbody electric guitar in 1959 (priced $345) they promised “18 separate sounds" along with "hundreds of voices.” And in this incredible clip from the 1966 TV show The !!!! Beat Freddie King provides a masterclass on harnessing the full potential of the Gibson ES-345 as we hear it echoing through the studio on full tilt.

Following a genuine golden era introduction from legendary Nashville R&B DJ Bill "Hoss" Allen, the band kicks off on a groovy stage flanked by go-go dancers and decked out in quintessential '60s style.

Look out for Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown – guitarist and Musical Director of the show’s house band – who can also be spotted rocking a 345 (albeit a cool early ‘60s Rickenbacker Capri 345 in natural/Mapleglo!)

Guitar strap slung casually over his right shoulder, Freddie King pulls out the funkiest of riffs from his ES-345 as he effortlessly explores the myriad tones of this classic Gibson semi-hollowbody, from sizzling treble licks to full throated grind.

Known to favor Gibson electrics throughout his career, in the mid-‘60s King moved from using a ’54 Les Paul Goldtop to a variety of 3-series semis, including 345s with and without stop tailpieces .

Check out Gibson’s Freddie King ES-345 recreation – the Freddie King 1960 ES-345 Sixties Cherry VOS – here.

Former Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden has announced a new solo album, Kings.

His first solo effort since 2014, Kings is Marsden's tribute to BB, Albert, and Freddie King, and features 10 covers and two King-inspired instrumentals as bonus tracks. It's set for a July 23 release via Conquest Music/Little House Music.

The LP is also the first of a series of planned Inspirations albums from Marsden, inspired by when ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons asked him, “Bernie, wouldn't it be great if we could all record the songs we grew up with as we learned to play the guitar?”

A second Inspirations album, Chess (which aims to pay tribute to the legendary Chicago blues label of the same name) is due out later this year.

Marsden is also set to embark on a tour to promote Kings, Chess, and his 2019 memoir, Where's My Guitar? The shows will feature both storytelling and music, and will take place from early September through late October 2021 throughout England.

You can check out a full list of the dates at conquestmusic.co.uk.

Yes, many blues and rock licks are cliches, but there’s a good reason for that – they sound so cool that listeners and guitarists want to hear and play them again and again.

For those willing to pay their dues and play the blues, these licks are a rite of passage and a continuous source of inspiration. They are the foundation on which a solid house of blues is built.

Presented here for your edification are 12 classic blues guitar phrases, each with a certified pedigree. You can drop any of these into a blues-based progression and come out smiling. Or you can play them in sequence over a standard 12-bar blues to create one very hip solo, as we’ll do for the very last step of this lesson.

Before we dive in, let’s take a look at three blues scale patterns that form the basis of our 12 licks. A quick run through these shapes will help wake up our hands and minds.

The first pattern, Figure 1, is a full-blown A blues scale in 5th position. Notice that it contains the root, b3rd, 4th, b5th, 5th, and b7th degrees of an A major scale. All of the licks that we’ll look at here will be presented in the context of an A major blues.

The second pattern, Figure 2, is a reduced version of this same scale, which includes only the root, b3rd, 4th, 5th, and b7th. This compact shape, known colloquially as the “Albert King Box” – because King virtually lived there after he signed with Stax/Volt Records in 1966 – is an especially finger-friendly position.

The third pattern, Figure 3, commonly called the “B.B. King Box” (because he spent so much time there from the Sixties onward), contains the same scale degrees as the previous box but covers more of the fingerboard.

Now, with fingers poised and minds focused, let’s begin our journey from Mississippi to Texas, with pertinent stops in Chicago, Memphis, and New Orleans.

Our first lick, Figure 4, is a striking opening phrase to be played over a I chord. T-Bone Walker showcased similar hot licks in his "Description Blues" and "Alimony Blues." 

The bends to the b5th (Eb) and the true blue note (between C and C#) establish a solid blues tonality. Resolving to the root (A) of the I chord allows us the opportunity to follow with a lick that can chart an entirely new course, which is exactly what we see next.

B.B. King employed a lick like the one shown in Figure 5 in his track "Sweet Little Angel" from Live at the Regal. The bends to the b5th (Eb) and the b7th (G) tantalize our auditory nerves before resolving smoothly to the 4th (D), which is the root of the IV chord.

Any listing of the great blues guitar licks would have to include its fair share of B.B. King-isms, and this one is no exception. Figure 6 is the classic I chord lick, popularized by B.B. on countless tunes, including "Please Love Me," and appropriated globally by blues merchants everywhere. 

The bend of the b7th (G) to the root (A) should be executed with the pinkie, backed up by the ring, middle, and index fingers. Accurate intonation and a steady wide vibrato are paramount to make this bad boy sing.

Figure 7 is the classic Albert King lick. Prominently displayed in "Crosscut Saw" and "Born Under a Bad Sign," it hovers and swoops like bird of prey. Start with your ring finger, using it for the full-step bend and the repeat of the root (A). Use your index finger for the b3rd (C) and the bend and vibrato'd major 3rd (C#).

Breaking free momentarily from the tyranny of the scale, Figure 8 purveys a sliding IV6-to-IV9 chord pattern beloved by the likes of Johnny Moore (who played with Charles Brown in the 1940s) and T-Bone Walker. This particular example, with a root-4th (A–D) dyad thrown in, was used by the underrated Lonnie Mack in "Down and Out." Perform the slide with your index finger, nicking the dyad with your pinkie.

Considered by many to be the first electric guitar hero, Mike Bloomfield favored tangy bends like the one shown in Figure 9 in "Don’t Throw Your Love on Me So Strong" and "I’ve Got a Mind to Give Up Living."

Bend the b7th (G) of the scale to the root (A) with your ring finger, and hold the bend while you add in the b3rd (C) with your pinkie. The resulting dyad (A–C) provides the 5th and b7th of the IV chord, reinforcing its bluesy, dominant 7th flavor.

B.B. King had been heard tweaking up the tension in his solos with this slippery triplet pattern, shown in Figure 10. The quarter-note bend that begins each beat imparts an elastic feel that is quite captivating. B.B. played this one on "Three O’Clock Blues," and it's entirely possible that Eric Clapton learned it from that breakthrough hit.

The mighty T-Bone cut heads in tunes like "Strolling with Bones" with this powerful diminished chord voicing, shown in Figure 11. Dig that the root (A), b5th (Eb), and b3rd (C) are right out of the A blues scale, while the 6th (F#) hints at the A Mixolydian mode. Low to high, use your index, ring, middle, and pinkie fingers on this chord, and don’t ignore that quarter-step bend.

B.B. flashed a similar climactic lick to this one (Figure 12) in King of Guitar. Start with your index finger, switching to your ring finger for the full-step bend of the 5th (E) to the 6th (F#). 

Walk down the chromatic run (E-Eb-D) with your ring, middle, and index fingers. Articulate the half-step bend with your ring finger. Note the use of Eb as a passing tone between E and D, and the half-step bend from the B to C – neither of these twists belongs to the A blues scale.

B.B. steps up to the plate once more with this lick (Figure 13) in a King’s Special vein. Bend up to the 3rd (C#) with your ring finger, holding it while you play the 5th (E) with your pinkie. Vibrato the root (A) with your index finger like a hummingbird.

Freddie King continues this run (Figure 14) much like the ones to be found in "Torn Down." The use of the b5th (Eb) – played straight on rather than bent up to – is more characteristic of jazz than blues, but the pattern makes for a dandy turnaround lick over the I chord when you want to maintain a scalar approach.

This last lick (Figure 15), probably has its roots in the work of B.B. King, but credit Jimi Hendrix and his version of "Red House" with securing it a spot in the Blues Hall of Fame. 

Make sure that you barre fret 5 with your index finger after the blue note bend at fret 8. Use one continuous upstroke to zip down the run to the 5th (E). Play the root (A) with your ring finger, crossing over it with your middle finger to access the 5th.

Figure 16 presents a very straightforward take on our 12 licks. We’re simply playing them in a row, as presented, with a few slight modifications in rhythm. Try doing the same yourself. 

Remember all of these licks can be moved up or down the fretboard, which means that you can fit them into just about any key. So find a lick or two that you like and practice it up and down the neck.

Back in February, it was announced that a new Gary Moore album – featuring previously unreleased original songs and never-before-heard alternate versions of Moore favorites – would be released in April.

Titled How Blue Can You Get, news of the album came with the release of its first single, the Moore-penned ballad, "In My Dreams." 

Now, a second single from the album – a previously unreleased cover of Freddie King's "I'm Tore Down" – has been unveiled. You can check it out below.

Compiled from recordings in the Moore family archives, How Blue Can You Get heavily showcases Moore's love for classic blues, with versions of Elmore James' "Done Somebody Wrong" and additional, previously unreleased takes on Memphis Slim's "Steppin' Out" and BB King's 1964 hit, "How Blue Can You Get."

It's set for an April 30 release via Provogue.

You can check out How Blue Can You Get's cover art and tracklist below. To preorder the album, step right this way.

For more on Moore and his music, stop by gary-moore.com.

Gary Moore – How Blue Can You Get

1. I'm Tore Down
2. Steppin' Out
3. In My Dreams
4. How Blue Can You Get
5. Looking At Your Picture
6. Love Can Make A Fool Of You
7. Done Somebody Wrong
8. Living With The Blues

• He could murder all comers in a cutting contest. Eric Clapton once said of performing with the “Texas Cannonball”: “Freddie could be pretty mean, but subtle with it. He’d make you feel at home, and then tear you to pieces.”
• His 1961 single, “Hide Away,” became a blues standard, and it also broke into the pop charts (reaching #29 on the Billboard Hot 100) - a near miracle at a time when mainstream white audiences had little knowledge of blues music.

• He broke the mold by being one of the first blues artists to employ a multiracial backup band.
• The linebacker-sized bluesman’s ferocious tone was produced by a two-digit fingerpicking technique - using a plastic thumbpick and a metal pick on his index finger - as well as a Fender Quad Reverb cranked to almost heavy-metal volume.
• He was progressive. His songwriting skills infused layered hooks, sonic textures, distinct melodies, bridges and crafty musical movements into the basic 12-bar blues format.   

In the blues - music that, according to Willie Dixon, “tells the truth” - it’s advisable to start with blue notes as opposed to blues notes. The order truly distinguishes the “real deal” of the blues from other forms of music.

As America’s most original art form, the blues results from the glorious commingling of African and Anglo influences. It’s an oversimplification to say that its basic harmony (I–IV–V) comes from Europe and its melody (the blues scale) from Africa, but that’s a start.

The blues scale - perhaps derived from Middle Eastern pentatonic scales, and shown in Figure 1 - appeared initially in the field hollers of slaves. Prominent in this scale are the “blues notes”: the b3rd (Bb), b7th (F) and b5th (Db) [Figure 1B]. These notes give the scale a distinctive dissonance, particularly when played against major chords.

When emancipated blacks switched from banjo to guitar after the Civil War, they eventually began to imitate bluesy vocal swoops by bending the strings. Pioneering blues guitar players became focused on the b3rd and b7th notes [Figure 1C], which they idiosyncratically bent the microtone of a quarter step. 

These “true blue notes” are located in between the b3rd and major 3rd, and between the b7th and major 7th, respectively, and help to produce the profound sound of the blues.

Here we have a few classic licks that feature blue notes. In Figure 2, the bent b3rd (Bb) resolves to the root (G) in measure 1, whereas the bent b7th (F) in measure 2 hangs suspended, creating vibrant musical tension and anticipation. Most blues cats pull down on the b3rd with their index finger and bend the b7th up with their ring finger or pinkie.

In the mid Sixties, master string-bender Albert King regularly squeezed out tart licks similar to the ones in Figure 3. 

Again, the bent b3rd resolves to the root, though placing the root up an octave, on beat 1 of measure 1, gives a feeling of uplift, not finality. The bending of the b3rd on the high E string, followed in measure 2 with resolution to the root on the B string, is an oft-imitated King trademark.

Chicago West Siders Magic Sam, Otis Rush and Buddy Guy favored blue note–laced descending runs, as shown in Figure 4. Dig the less-common b7th bend, with resolution to the root, in measure 2 (4th string), a Freddie King favorite.

Trains figure both lyrically and musically in the blues, and blues guitarists often emulate steam whistles. Dyads like those in Figure 5 - found in Robert Johnson’s “Sweet Home Chicago” - enable this effect. As usual, both the bent b7th and bent b3rd (last half of measure 1) resolve to the root (measure 2).