Limewire: Greats Who Don't Use Picks

[michelej1]

[This is from March, but I searched and did not see a previous post here]

Lime Wire Music Blog
March 30th, 2009 at 1:01 PM
Picked Off: 10 Guitar Greats Who Don’t Use Picks
http://blog.limewire.com/posts/12988...omment-page-1/
Electric guitars and guitar picks go together like bass drums and kick pedals. Yet, some of the greatest players have made their name and music without a pick at all, eschewing the plectrum for the touch and feel of skin on string. Here’s a list of 10 guitar greats who put the pick down and let their fingers do the talking.

1. Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) Knopfler made a huge splash upon the release of Dire Straits’ self-titled debut in 1978. His soloing on “Sultans Of Swing” was something of a revelation, with its horn-like phrasing and melody. Knopfler picks, pinches and pulls the strings for an immediately identifiable sound.

2. Toy Caldwell (Marshall Tucker Band) Not only did the Marshall Tucker Band’s Toy Caldwell not use a pick, he played with his thumb only, using it to strum chords and play lead! Listen again to Tucker’s classic “Can’t You See,” with this in mind and you’ll see Caldwell in an even brighter light.

3. Robby Krieger (The Doors) Robby Krieger’s contributions to The Doors’ sound cannot be overstated. Check out his angular riff on “People Are Strange” and the effects he pulls from the strings during the solo.

4. Albert King Although he made guitar playing look easy, Albert King’s method was anything but. This southpaw blues master used a right-handed guitar, turned 180 degrees, so the low E-string occupied the space normally filled by the high E-string. From there, he could make the instrument sing, bending strings seemingly to the moon.

5. Jeff Beck “Wait a minute,” you’re saying, “Jeff Beck plays with a pick.” Well, for a good part of his career Beck did use a plectrum; but, for several years now he’s gone solely to playing with fingers. Hearing him revisit such mind-blowing works as “Scatterbrain” and “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” with this new approach is like hearing the tunes for the first time.

6. Stephen Stills Watching Stephen Stills play lead, it may look he’s holding a pick, but he actually forms a “pick” by bringing his thumb and index finger together, using the ends of each as a plectrum. This unusual technique never hindered Stills’ ability to play lightening-quick solos or churn out chunky rhythm chords.

7. Derek Trucks (Allman Brothers Band) When Derek Trucks isn’t playing a blistering slide lick for the Allman Brothers Band or his own Derek Trucks Band, he’s comping chords and flying across the fretboard of his red Gibson SG. Duane Allman would be proud.

8. Wes Montgomery This jazz guitar legend had more music in his thumb than many guitarists have in their whole hand. Montgomery was a master improviser, an innovator with his use of doubled octaves and a fearsome rhythm player.

9. Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac) By the time Lindsey Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac, the band’s sound was far removed from its guitar-heavy, blues roots. But it was Buckingham’s writing and guitar riffs that helped the Mac sell millions and millions of records. His unorthodox pick-less technique looks something like a crab’s claw strumming and picking the strings.

10. Albert Collins Collins was called “The Iceman,” for the stinging trebly sound he pulled from his Fender Telecaster. Collins frequently tuned to a minor key, capoed his axe high on the fretboard and attacked the strings with his thumb and index finger.