Is Steve Hackett's guitar work... Weird?

In reply to Ivan's rather lengthy reply:

You seem to have taken my post the wrong way.  I mean to attack on you person; my intent was merely to keep the focus of this thread on Steve Hackett and his style, which I believe it was intentionally supposed to be, and not a forum for argument over whether or not he invented any given technique.  Though, since you are standing by your position that Hackett was the first rock musician to use tapping, I must disagree with verifiable proof.  Guitar Player Magazine (in an article written in 1970) that Randy Resnick of Pure Food and Drug Act (with John Mayall) used tapping techniques in concert and recordings as early as 1969, though he may not have originated the use in rock.  Check it out if you doubt me,

But it doesn't really matter if Hackett innovated the technique for rock or not, he was very influential in its use as it is today (for better or worse), as he served to popularize a more aggressive implementation of such techniques in a rock atmosphere.

And finally, bringing the topic back to the initial question of the thread, yes, Hackett's style is weird, in that it is non-traditional, but prog and rock in general has room for all kinds of guitarists; in fact, one of my favorite is the very eccentric and lately departed  "Snakefinger" Lithman who guested often with The Residents.

But, as our Existentialist and Deconstructionist friends say, its all a matter of subjective opinion, and doesn't matter at all in the course of events.

Atomic Rooster, I have no problem with your opinion or taste, as long as you keep the forms, you may say whatever you want.

Edited by Ivan_Melgar_M - April 22 2007 at 23:44

MadcapLaughs84 wrote: He's a great guitar player, one of the factors that make me enjoy Genesis. But I don't think he's weird, maybe he has a funny face, like a comedy movie guy, but he's an awesome musician.

Edited by Chus - April 22 2007 at 23:22

Indeed, the hammer/pull technique, both one and two-hand, has been around almost as long as stringed intstruments (especially in the Flamenco traditions). Hackett was the first electric rock guitarist on an album to distinctly utilize a linear, two-handed extension of it as a method of effect. What Eddie then did with it was much like what Hendrix did with other techniques (with the help of powerful amplification); he highlighted it, brought it to the foreground and used it as a source of phrasing (sometimes spontaneous), taking up where Hackett and others (Jeff Beck) seemed to stop. EVH also developed a 'slapping' maneuver heard on the opening moments of the 'Fair Warning' album. Eddie called these things 'neat noises' and though he rarely credited Beck or Hendrix, it is in this family of sound pyrotechnics that EVH was able to capitalize on Hackett's 'little trick'. Hackett was far more of a traditional guitarist and therefore smoothly incorporated the technique into the music, and became more of a harmonizer in Genesis than a lead guitarist -- much like Jimmy Page's role evolved in Zeppelin.




    


Edited by Atavachron - April 23 2007 at 07:44

Progger wrote:   Ivan, You have really gone to great lenghs to try and discredit me and get me banned. Those quotes you have dug up are months old   Well Progger, here you have one dated April 14 2007 (10 days ago) where you call me and other members liars trying to make gulñlible people believe false things:   Progger wrote:   It amazes me that when people say something often enough that isn't true, gullible people will believe it      I was told at the time by the administrators to tone it down or be banned. You should have noticed that I have mellowed since!   I don't want you to get banned Progger, honestly I don't care so much about your accusations without  fundament, but adter the last post quoted, I had to seach for 8 quotes to prove all my claims were accurate and heavilly supported.   You can love or hate whoever you want, as long as you stop calling people liars or corrupts.   Personally, I don't think that interview article gives much credence to your statement that Van Halen was influenced by Hackett. As I have said on many occasions, if someone says something often and loudly enough, people will start to believe it.   OK, Van Halen MAYBE never heard about Steve Hackett, MAYBE he developed the tapping technique alone with help of nobody, but he did it seven years after Hackett, MAYBE the Magazine is lying, MAYBE the owners of the magazine are dirty Genesis fanboys.....that's not trascendental (And very unlikely).   The point of the thread is that many of us mentioned Hackett is the first Rock musician to use that technique in 1971, all the quotes and the availlable references reinforce this  and you specifically said we were lying and making people believe things.   Today I bought three of the new SACD releases, W & W, TOTT and Duke. I opted not to buy the box set as I never liked ATWT & Ababcab & I know that  even better sound quality wouldn't change my oppinions on those two albums.  Listening to W & W in particular on SACD & DVD-A  shows Hackett in a new light & his guitar parts are more distinguishable from the keyboards. I'm surprised he decided to quit after that album as he seems to be more prominent on that release than anything previous. I was also drawn to the songwriting credits and was again surprised that he wrote quite a 'chunk' of that album.   Hackett left Genesis because he felt the songs he proposed were not going to be accepted and he wanted more freedom to write and perform whatever he wanted.   I guess he didn't liked the path Genesis was taking, but that's a guess.   There was a large interview to Steve that has been deleted God knows why, where he talked about the multiple reasons that lead him to leave Genesis, but in this short passages of different interviews he explains the reason of his departure:     1.- It came to a point where I simply couldn’t handle playing “I know what I like in Your Wardrobe” any longer.  I also didn’t feel enough of my writing and playing was being included into the music.  I wanted to work with other people such as Randy Crawford, Kansas, etc.  I also wanted to see how good I was on my own.  Being on my own has been far more rewarding as I found myself able to get things done much more efficiently.  Being in a band like Genesis involves too much corporate thinking, taking too long to get things done. http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/musicians-corner/interview-with-former-genesis-guitarist-steve-hackett-1 2.- "I think early Genesis tried to sketch in a number of styles," said Hackett. "I think later Genesis tended to become more of a corporation where the rough edges were all ironed out. But I personally think the rough edges are what it's all about." http://www.stevehackett.com/reviews/dream.html    Seems he was a bit tired of Genesis at that moment.   Wind And Wuthering has always been my favourite Genesis album and know doubt Hackett must take some credit for that. He still dosn't make my top 5 though but he is A VERY GOOD GUITARIST!   That's an opinion and that's valid, if you stick to give opinions and avoid calling people names, even if you rate every Genesis album with one star and believe Hackett is less talented than any Prog musician, it's OK with me.   Iván

Edited by Ivan_Melgar_M - April 24 2007 at 02:31

 

Progger wrote: Certified, I recently read an article about Eric Clapton using the 'Tapping'  technique in Cream but cannot remember exactly where. I'm one of those people that  visits a magazine store once a week and will 'flip' thru the various muso mags without actually buying them! I wonder how many of us actually do that? I mean, those magazine prices are ridiculous. I wish I had bought the article though as I know I don't have anything to back up my claim without it.

King Mango wrote: Any guitarists out there want to toss a suggestion for me to pay attention to?

Ron Jarzombek for tech, Kaki King for innovation.

i think that if you want to go with the best musicianship (i said musicianship, not composition) you need to go with the fusion masters- morse, di meola, coryell, abercrombie, holdsworth, gambale, etc.

Good post Cert. Good use of video's.

King Mango wrote: Interesting sidebar about tapping but... For all your video posting, left (assuming left=frettinghand) handed tapping has been around as long as there's been fretted instruments. It's called legato.