"BLUE" JIMMY: GUITARIST
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| "BLUE" JIMMY'S SWEET, TRANS-BLACK LES PAUL |
BLIND DOG OZZY: NEUROTIC CHIHUAHUA
"BLUE" JIMMY: The history of Rock and Blues is full of classic guitar tones and today we're going to explore the sound of three Les Paul destroying legends named Eric Clapton, Paul Kossoff and Leslie West.
BLIND DOG OZZY: OH, S**T!!! I'm not worthy!!!
"BLUE" JIMMY: Eric Clapton of course, is in the pantheon of Guitar Gods, along with Hendrix, Page, Richards, Beck, Santana, SRV and a few select others who made millions of young boys leave home and forsake a normal life in search of guitar nirvana. He played with The Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, Derek and the Dominos and has had an extremely successful solo career.
BLIND DOG OZZY: Paul Kossoff is more of a cult hero for guys like us who would scour the cutout bins for obscure records that other people were too stupid to notice!
"BLUE" JIMMY: Dude!!! Paul Kossoff was a British guitarist who played on countless studio recordings by totally forgotten artists, but was best known for his playing in the Blues infected Hard Rock band known as Free. Their hits such as, "All Right Now," "Wishing Well" and "Fire and Water" are still covered by Hard Rock bands to this day and their long, bass-heavy jam, "Mr. Big" knocked many stoned, festival-going hippies to the mud. After Free, he formed his own band called Back Street Crawler ...
BLIND DOG OZZY: Nice! ...
"BLUE" JIMMY: ... And played some scorching guitar but sadly, produced no real hits and he died from heroin-related medical problems in 1976. That brings us to Leslie West ...
BLIND DOG OZZY: Make some room!!! ...
"BLUE" JIMMY: Leslie West says he was inspired after doing Acid and watching Eric Clapton and Cream play at the Filmore East in 1968. In 1969, he did Woodstock with his band Mountain playing a legendary performance that saw him making a Les Paul Jr. look like a toy in front of his massive frame, playing riff after riff of primal, loud-as-hell, Hard Rock. Legend has it that at some point, West was asked to join the Rolling Stones but bowed out of the offer. After Mountain, West formed West, Bruce and Laing which featured Cream bassist and singer, Jack Bruce. Afterwards, West started a long solo career that continues to the present. His precise, gut-wrenching string bends and vibrato have been imitated by many but never equaled.
BLIND DOG OZZY: Paul Kossoff is more of a cult hero for guys like us who would scour the cutout bins for obscure records that other people were too stupid to notice!
"BLUE" JIMMY: Dude!!! Paul Kossoff was a British guitarist who played on countless studio recordings by totally forgotten artists, but was best known for his playing in the Blues infected Hard Rock band known as Free. Their hits such as, "All Right Now," "Wishing Well" and "Fire and Water" are still covered by Hard Rock bands to this day and their long, bass-heavy jam, "Mr. Big" knocked many stoned, festival-going hippies to the mud. After Free, he formed his own band called Back Street Crawler ...
BLIND DOG OZZY: Nice! ...
"BLUE" JIMMY: ... And played some scorching guitar but sadly, produced no real hits and he died from heroin-related medical problems in 1976. That brings us to Leslie West ...
BLIND DOG OZZY: Make some room!!! ...
"BLUE" JIMMY: Leslie West says he was inspired after doing Acid and watching Eric Clapton and Cream play at the Filmore East in 1968. In 1969, he did Woodstock with his band Mountain playing a legendary performance that saw him making a Les Paul Jr. look like a toy in front of his massive frame, playing riff after riff of primal, loud-as-hell, Hard Rock. Legend has it that at some point, West was asked to join the Rolling Stones but bowed out of the offer. After Mountain, West formed West, Bruce and Laing which featured Cream bassist and singer, Jack Bruce. Afterwards, West started a long solo career that continues to the present. His precise, gut-wrenching string bends and vibrato have been imitated by many but never equaled.
BLIND DOG OZZY: What was behind the killer sound of these three gentlemen?
"BLUE" JIMMY: All used firebreathing, powerful amps like Marshalls, Sunns or Oranges cranked up to pain-inducing levels through Gibson Les Pauls or any guitars with high-output humbucking pickups. Any stompboxes or effects they may have used (such as Clapton's use of a Dallas Rangemaster treble booster) is inconsequential -- all three guitarists could have gotten their signature sound on a cheap, pawnshop acoustic if they wanted.
BLIND DOG OZZY: It was all in the fingers!!!
"BLUE" JIMMY: If you wanna know the real secret -- all three were influenced by pure Blues guitarists like Albert, B.B. and Freddie King, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy and Albert Collins and musta spent hundreds of hours putting the phonograph needle down in the grooves trying to cop those incredible bends and soul-stealing vibrato.
BLIND DOG OZZY: Hey, hey! ... The Blues is alright!!!
"BLUE" JIMMY: Sorry, young boys! There ain't no shortcuts to getting this kinda sound! You gotta feel it in your soul and there ain't no way to fake it. There's no software you can download or app on your phone that can give you this sound ...
BLIND DOG OZZY: You can't buy The Blues on Amazon!!!
"BLUE" JIMMY: Sake's Alive!
BLIND DOG OZZY: Wow! Wow!
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