Quote:
Originally Posted by snoot
Dickey Betts was quite good right from the start. He fueled Duane with his great compositions every bit as much as Duane fueled him with his masterful licks. Also ABB would never reach the heights they did without Betts key contributions. Most of their hits came from his hand, with Gregg being a pretty close second. As for his instrumental abilities, the fact that he could carry on as the band's solo guitarist after Duane's death, even taking the band to further heights of popularity, should be proof of his guitar mastery. I'll never take anything away from Duane though; even Eric Clapton was blown away by his playing in Miami. And I'll give you your key point, that he certainly pushed DB to his guitar picking limits.
You also make the mistake many others do in equating Jeremy's prowess on the instrument with Kirwan's. Spencer was no match in that regard, so much so that Green's last masterpiece with the band, the Then Play On project, didn't even require Spencer. That was all Green + Kirwan on those layered riffs. Jeremy was a master of the stage, a competent slide guitarist into the bargain, a great rock n roller and parody "character", but an axemeister of Green or Kirwan's caliber, NO (even Spencer has conceded as much).
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I made no mistake, you misinterpreted my comment. I know very well who's on
Then Play On. I never inferred, implied that Jeremy was anywhere near the guitarist of Green or Kirwan. BUT, Peter pushed Jeremy as well...not as much as a guitarist (but, Jeremy went from "competent" slide player, to a master slide player during that stretch as well), but as a performer. Sure, Jeremy admits he was "lazy", but that he became who he became during his Fleetwood Mac tenure was more from prodding from Peter (who was pretty much a perfectionist).