Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation

LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Gurley, the innovative guitarist who helped shape psychedelic rock's multilayered, sometimes thundering sounds as a member of http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Big+Brother+and+the+Holding+Company - Big Brother and the Holding Company , the band that propelled http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/People/Celebrities/Musicians,+Composers,+Singers,+Rappers,+Groups/Janis+Joplin - Janis Joplin to fame, has died of a heart attack. He was 69.

Gurley was pronounced dead Sunday at a Palm Springs hospital, two days before his 70th birthday, the band announced on its website.

One of many prominent guitarists to emerge from San Francisco's psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s — others included the http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/People/Celebrities/Musicians,+Composers,+Singers,+Rappers,+Groups/Grateful+Dead - Grateful Dead 's http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/People/Celebrities/Musicians,+Composers,+Singers,+Rappers,+Groups/Jerry+Garcia - Jerry Garcia , http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/People/Celebrities/Musicians,+Composers,+Singers,+Rappers,+Groups/Jefferson+Airplane - Jefferson Airplane 's http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Jorma+Kaukonen - Jorma Kaukonen and http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Barry+Melton - Barry Melton of http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Country+Joe+and+the+Fish - Country Joe and the Fish — Gurley was hailed by many as the original innovator of the sound.

While this may not be one of those top notch threads for this board, all it takes is one listen to "Ball and Chain" from the Cheap Thrills album, and one can hear right away the bombastic style that influenced and brought about many other guitarists that we mention in here ... it's hard not to hear Gurley at times when listening to Robert Fripp, or a Dave Gilmour, or a Jimmy Page, or a Pete Townsend, or these days Steven Wilson, and many other lead guitarists that were better known for their inventiveness and desire to add something to the music ... that really made it special.

Rock'n'roll, and the rock media in general, tends to over emphasize one thing for the other, and sometimes the people that were different and made a lasting impression are not easily remembered ... but there are a lot of us that saw them that can remember a guy with a regular guitar and a sound bigger than a lot of those bomb bands out there ... and on top of it, he knew how to color Janis Joplin's special moments and add to them, helping her get stronger and better.