why not?

[DavidMn]

Ok, somebody PLEASE tell me why Lindsey Buckingham never seems to get mentioned with the better guitar players of all time. I'm no technical expert on guitar playing, but it seems to me that he should be right up there. Am I off base here?

[SteveMacD]

Lindsey isn't that great in terms of guitar soloing, which tends to be the gold standard for the guitar magazines. There are scores of guitarists who can out play him. I can think of at least three who've been in Fleetwood Mac. His finger style is great, but there are classical, jazz, and country/bluegrass guitarists who can run circles over Lindsey with their fingers. Lindsey is a unique ROCK guitarist, but if you take other forms of music into consideration, Lindsey comes out as average.

[DavidMn]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Lindsey isn't that great in terms of guitar soloing, which tends to be the gold standard for the guitar magazines. There are scores of guitarists who can out play him. I can think of at least three who've been in Fleetwood Mac. His finger style is great, but there are classical, jazz, and country/bluegrass guitarists who can run circles over Lindsey with their fingers. Lindsey is a unique ROCK guitarist, but if you take other forms of music into consideration, Lindsey comes out as average.

Well, I will defer to you on that. I realize that I dont have a great knowledge of this subject, but I will say he's probably my favorite or very close to it.

[wondergirl9847]

Lindsey is my favorite guitarist because of the way his playing makes ME feel. I don't give two craps what anyone else thinks of his playing. He has been on a few lists here and there.

[lagringader&r]

Originally Posted by ReFleetwoodMac

You're (general you) favorite guitarists don't have to be, and in my opinion shouldn't be, the greatest soloists to ever walk the earth. It's too easy to name Man Clapton Man or Sir Hendrix. My favorite guitarist doesn't even play solos. Mr. Buckingham isn't as good as many players but he's actually interesting. Whereas Man Clapton Man, Sir Hendrix, B.B. Dude King are boring. So boring I have to spruce up there names to make them suitable for public viewing.

Clapton, Hendrix and B.B. King are boring? Are you high? I disagree that Lindsey isn't a good soloist. I think he is. He may not be my favorite member of FM, but I have to say he is masterful with the guitar solos. Clapton, Hendrix and B.B. are anything but boring.

[lagringader&r]

Originally Posted by ReFleetwoodMac

Ok, granted I know next to nothing about them, but from what little I've seen, they don't have nearly the personality of Mr. Buckingham. Maybe Sir Hendrix, but I've disliked him for many a year.

Personality, as in? Stage personality? Hendrix had personality to spare. Clapton, not so much. B.B., not sure about. I've seen some old boots with Hendrix and he was hot with the guitar and with the audience. I think Clapton used to be, but he mellowed too much and got old. I judge B.B. by The Thrill Is Gone, which is a smokin hot song.

[lagringader&r]

Originally Posted by ReFleetwoodMac

I suppose stage personality, given that I haven't seen them offstage. I think B.B. Dude King was in a commercial once though. I'll agree that Sir Hendrix has some personality to him, but I've always thought he was a sloppy player with a pretty bad singing voice. As for Man Clapton Man getting old, Lindsey has gotten pretty old and he's got just as much personality in him as he ever did. Maybe Man Clapton Man should start working out.

Any dude that can play the guitar with his feet ain't sloppy. Yep, Clapton should work out or something. Maybe he should do drugs again. He just got boring. As a guitarist, though, he's still greatness.

[littlecricket2]

I have to admit that many guitar solos I've heard which are long, meandering, and technically amazing leave me feeling less-than-impressed. It's the overall song and melody, and how the guitar-playing contributes to that, that impresses me. A lot of the soloists seem to be playing just to show off their playing, and it's easy to lose where exactly you are in the song. When that happens, I tend to tune out rather than become impressed.

[AliP]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

His finger style is great, but there are classical, jazz, and country/bluegrass guitarists who can run circles over Lindsey with their fingers. Lindsey is a unique ROCK guitarist, but if you take other forms of music into consideration, Lindsey comes out as average.

That's interesting. I always thought that Lindsey's finger style was what made him great. But then, like Davidmn, I don't know much about guitar playing styles etc.

So I'm assuming you are referring to Peter Green as being better than Lindsey, but who is the other person you were referring to? Yes, I really am that clueless!!!

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by Lux

I'd say Clapton is 'boring'. He doesn't actually bore me but he's not really taking the style to new places. I don't listen to enough B.B. King so I can't comment but from the one album I have it's a similar story. I don't find Hendrix boring though. You have to consider the time period and what he introduced listeners to.

I tend to agree about Clapton - but his boring is most people's contemplated but never achieved zenith.

[glitter_fades]

Originally Posted by DavidMn

Ok, somebody PLEASE tell me why Lindsey Buckingham never seems to get mentioned with the better guitar players of all time.

I'm no technical expert on guitar playing, but it seems to me that he should be right up there. Am I off base here?

Lindsey's no technical expert either. Not in guitar playing. He's a little above average. It's not the technical expertise that makes him special. It's the way he can make a guitar sing. You can feel what he is playing as much as hear it. He has a very different style among rock guitarits, most of whom leave me cold. Technical prowess isn't everything.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by AliP

That's interesting. I always thought that Lindsey's finger style was what made him great. But then, like Davidmn, I don't know much about guitar playing styles etc.

It's what makes him unique in a rock band like Fleetwood Mac. I'm just saying that put up against Segovia, Joe Pass, or Chet Atkins, Lindsey is average and frankly unremarkable. In fact, Lindsey, for me, is Chet Atkins light. In addition to being dubbed "Mr. Guitar," Chet produced scores of country artists, and had his hand in many of the greatest country songs of all time. He was even a CEO of RCA Nashville and has had TWO guitar lines named after him (first with Gretsch, later with Gibson).

Originally Posted by AliP

So I'm assuming you are referring to Peter Green as being better than Lindsey, but who is the other person you were referring to? Yes, I really am that clueless!!!

In terms of Fleetwood Mac guitarists, I'd say Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, and Rick Vito. Vito, technically speaking, is the best guitarist the Mac ever had. He was a studio guitarist, and studio guitarists are the best in the biz. However, the downside is that his playing lacked a certain character. Whereas Lindsey would play what he felt the song needed, Rick would play what he felt the writer wanted. I'm not sure Stevie, Christine, or Billy really knew enough about what they wanted, though. Hence Rick was never sure if he was doing the right thing with the band. That speaks to Lindsey's abilities as a producer, not Rick's abilities as a guitarist. Still, he was the best.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by ReFleetwoodMac

I suppose stage personality, given that I haven't seen them offstage. I think B.B. Dude King was in a commercial once though. I'll agree that Sir Hendrix has some personality to him, but I've always thought he was a sloppy player with a pretty bad singing voice. As for Man Clapton Man getting old, Lindsey has gotten pretty old and he's got just as much personality in him as he ever did. Maybe Man Clapton Man should start working out.

I can't comment on Hendrix, because he was dead before I was alive. From what I've seen, I am blown away. I agree that he was sloppy and didn't have the greatest voice, though it DID have a lot of honesty on his slower songs. However, he does have a lot of saving graces. Hendrix was constantly trying to come up with ways to make the guitar sound different. Because of this, engineer Eddie Kramer came up with many innovative techniques in the studio which became standards for rock. Even Lindsey has used many of these techniques. But Hendrix was really the first to production as a means to manipulating how something sounds. Not just affect the sound, but change it altogether.

On Clapton, I agree that he's on the downsing these days. But, from the "Bluesbreaker" album through "Layla," a better guitarist you simply would not find. Especially on the "Layla" album. His playing on that had more passion than any album I've ever heard. He doesn't have a lot of stage presence, but when you're as good as he is, you don't need it.

Finally, B.B. King. Of the three, I've seen him the most. What I love about B.B. is that he can make a huge venue still feel intimate. He make the audience feel as if they're the only thing in the world that matters. He doesn't sing a song, he lives it. I'd say he has much more stage presence than any member of Fleetwood Mac.

[Lindsey Jr.]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Lindsey isn't that great in terms of guitar soloing, which tends to be the gold standard for the guitar magazines. There are scores of guitarists who can out play him. I can think of at least three who've been in Fleetwood Mac. His finger style is great, but there are classical, jazz, and country/bluegrass guitarists who can run circles over Lindsey with their fingers. Lindsey is a unique ROCK guitarist, but if you take other forms of music into consideration, Lindsey comes out as average.

But you don't have to be fast or whatever to be good, he plays with emotion, and that counts for me. And thanks to him I'm gonna buy a model 1, just like he has (of course not only for FM/LB & not in the near future, but soon...)

[David]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

In fact, Lindsey, for me, is Chet Atkins light.

I'd agree. It's Lindsey's overall vision that makes him such an interesting rocker, not his technical ability on the guitar. Lindsey has always recognized this: he says his main contribution to the band is not as a singer or a songwriter or a guitarist but as an arranger & producer.

When you combine his interesting guitar-playing with his arranging, engineering & production savvy into a complete package, you begin to gauge his special singularity.

In terms of Fleetwood Mac guitarists, I'd say Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, and Rick Vito. Vito, technically speaking, is the best guitarist the Mac ever had.

Fleetwood Mac's history is partly so interesting because they've combined -- often at different times -- talents with extraordinary technique & other talents who don't have the technique but have that ineffable "something else." And then there was Peter Green . . . . who had both in abundance.

In terms of technique, of just about all the people who ever played keyboards for FM albums or concerts, Christine McVie was the also-ran. Whether it was Doug Graves or Brett Tuggle or Steve Thoma or Jeff Sova or Dan Garfield, Christine was the least of the technicians. But of course it didn't seem to matter: she played so unusually & that combined with her other talents made her a superb part of the band for almost thirty years -- in a way that would have dwarfed any of those other guys, had they been full-fledged members.

He was a studio guitarist, and studio guitarists are the best in the biz. However, the downside is that his playing lacked a certain character.

Precisely. It's a question of musical personality in the discussion of the technical mastery of session players. But of course that discussion covers much of music in general: people with good ears & good taste always preferred hearing the somewhat flawed, unconventional performer with musical personality (Rudolf Serkin) to the empty, facile technician (Jose Iturbi).