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Daily Journal, Oct. 1, guitar magazine writer makes surprise pick on ‘greatest’ guitarist

Willie G. Moseley, senior writer at Vintage Guitar Magazine, contacted me to weigh in on the ‘Best Guitarist’ debate that I instigated last week with posts on this blog and AL.com

The debate was great. Many put forth that it isn’t a contest and that it is a matter of personal taste.

But we got names, lots of names. From Hendrix to Robert Johnson. From Clapton to Steve Howe. Ana Popovic to Jeff Beck.

Wait a minute, did we forget Beck? I’ll have to go check because before I got into the Yardbirds I loved to listen to ‘Blow by Blow,’ a jazz rock guitar album of the highest order. Steve Howe’s comes closes.

But Moseley came at me with a name I never considered.

Mike Oldfield of Tubular Bells fame. Yep, that Tubular Bells which accompanied the movie where the devil possessed a little girl. So I checked it out on YouTube a live Tubular Bells concert and, yes, indeed; it didn’t make me vomit and it nearly had my head spin around.

Mr. Oldfield puts forth some scintillating guitar runs, some supersonic laser beam tones. And Moseley said that album is his least favorite of about five Oldfield albums.

“I think any discussion of this subject should also address how much innovation a “nominated” guitarist exhibited/exhibits, Moseley wrote in an email, “be it style and/or tone and/or composition skills…as well as other possible factors.”

He continued: “With that in mind, I’d probably champion Mike Oldfield of Tubular Bells fame. Not only did he have a unique and lightning fast style, his album was, IMO, the first New Age album; i.e., it was so fascinating and hypnotic you couldn’t boogie to it; you were compelled to sit still and listen. 

“In some of my lectures, I cite the original Tubular Bells as a “bookend” on the most productive half-dozen years in popular music history.

In the video above, the guitar is unleashed about the 5:20 mark.

“That said, the original is among my least favorite Oldfield albums. … There’s an orchestral-sounding passage on the sophomore album, Hergest Ridge, that reportedly has 72 guitars.

“Unfortunately, in more recent times Oldfield seemed to be mired in a “techno” mode for his newer albums. I used to call that sound “disco.””

Mosley also said he would place Randy California of Spirit not far behind Oldfield.

And so there you have it:

Oldfield officially becomes the most intriguing nomination for this honor of best guitarist of all time, a title which will likely never be bestowed.

A commenter mentioned Ana Popovich. And given that I have been for some time making a list of top guitarists who happen to be women, I looked her up on YouTube. And, indeed, she proceeded to make my face melt.

NOTE: I spelled Moseley’s last name wrong after I had spelled it right. Now it is correct: Moseley.

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Runner struck by lightning and dies at finish line brings up a debate I’m having with myself (blog version)

For AL.com version, go here

The young man who was struck by lightning and died just short of the finish line of a 50K trail race in Kansas rekindles a longstanding debate I have had with myself.

How do I want to go out? Instantly doing something I love, like playing basketball — the way Pete Maravich went out; The way this 33-year-old Kansas runner, Thomas Stanley went out.

I have Lewy body dementia and my lifespan — based on averages — is 4 to 8 years after diagnosis or symptoms begin. I’m in my third year. So unless I get hit by a bus or struck by lightning, I have received plenty of advance warning about what will happen to me as these excess proteins continue to clog up and kill brain cells. Slowly, it seems, and that’s a good thing. I think.

I’ve written about lightning a lot. As I’ve explained here before. As you can see I’m almost metaphysical in my feelings surrounding lightning. What random bad luck messed up universe would strike down a person. Very rarely, the average is 27 a year and there have only been 19 this year.

Part of my interest in lightning was living in central Florida, lightning capital of the U.S., where there are daily thunder-boomers, as my kids used to call them.

Stanley was 33 years old and from Andover, Kansas. He was the Director of Business Initiatives at the Kansas Leadership Center where he has worked since 2008, according to the center’s website.

He was the third person this year who has been killed by lightning while running.

I am 59 years-old and have lived a lot more life than Stanley. I wonder if I would have taken Stanley’s place if I had been offered.

I think I might have. It would be slam dunk ‘yes’ if it was a friend or relative. But I’m not sure, (uh oh, here I go debating my brain again.) I know this disease will take hold but I am also working on living every moment. I do enjoy life.

Stanley probably didn’t know what hit him. I know what is hitting me. I think I’ll stick around — and hit back.

Oh, and though Stanley didn’t make the finish line, the race officials gave him a finish because he had run the distance.

For now, I’m still running.

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FUNK: Muscle Shoals Horns, Kool &the Gang; Earth Wind and Fire; Graham Central Station, 308, 307, 306, 305,

307, 306, 305, 304


ALBUMS: That’s the Way of the World, Earth Wind and Fire (1975); Ain’t No Doubt About it: Graham Central Station (1975). Light of the World, Kool and the Gang (1974); Born to Get Down (1976), Muscle Shoals Horns.

MVC Rating: EWF: 4/$$$; GCS: 4/$$; KG: 4/$$$; MSH: 4.5/$$$

I started out to just do one review here on the Muscle Shoals Horns, an album I’ve had a long time and I was in the “M’s’ of my alphabetical countdown.

From Left: Graham Central Station; Earth Wind and Fire: Kool and the Gang; Muscle Shoals Horns.

Then I started finding albums I had forgotten even though some were recently purchased. Funk is a dance band music, often with horns and heavy bottom, drums and bass. When it works, it puts you up on the dance floor.

I’m going to give you a short assessment as I rank this small batch put together from my collection. I do have more. The Average White Band–which I have already done way back when I was in the ‘A’s’. I’m in the ‘M’s now. One notable funky music artist coming up is Sly and the Family Stone which I will hold on until I get to the S’s.

OK this is going to be thumbnail observations in alphabetical order and then I’ll declare a favorite:

Earth WInd and FIre: This album was a huge hit. Shining Star was a 1970’s staple. as was the title song ‘That’s the Way of the World.’ Definitely the most commercial/radio friendly of the group.

Graham Central Station: Certainly the hardest rocking of the group. You can hear the influence of his former band mate Sly Stone in creating a freewheeling musical extravaganza with distortion-enhanced electric guitars.

Kool and the Gang: Probably the old school funkiest, if that makes sense. They had ace musicians who snapped to sudden stops and turned to funk it up in another direction.

Muscle Shoals Horns: I came in without any expectations. Depending on your tastes this album may be the best of the group. They got my attention and not just because they are local here to the state of Alabama. But they can play. And the sound of the vinyl on my stereo system was the best of the others. As with all these groups, the musicianship was top-notch. I will definitely be keeping this one out in case I need more emergency dance music.

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Who really is the best rock guitarist?



We love lists in the media business. Readers sometimes complain about list stories but then read them voraciously.

But if you came for a list story here, you aren’t going to get one. This is more a Behind-the-List Story story.

They are very subjective, you know. Lists, rankings. Take best guitarists.

Is Eric Clapton really better than Carlos Santana? Was Jimi Hendrix really better than Stevie Ray Vaughn?

How about Nick Drake and Leo Kottke with their innovative acoustic folk, blues, rock? Is Pete Townshend on rhythm better than Keith Richards or their teacher, Chuck Berry?

I’d be hard pressed to find a better rock guitarist than Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin but there’s some old(er)-timers our there that say Alvin Lee of 10 Years After was the man. Listen to this live version of Woodchopper’s Ball.

Slow down, I’m getting to the point here. These lists usually encapsulate three things going on:

(1) Popularity of the artist and his or her songs, Clapton and Page are famous for working with some of the biggest selling bands of all time. Are they truly better guitarists than Steve Morse. Who? Steve Morse who played with the Dixie Dregs and is now with Deep Purple. He can play. Glenn Phillips, of the Atlanta area, is pretty much the best guitarist you’ve never heard of. In the same neighborhood, his student Bob Elsey of the Swimming Pool Q’s plays tasty licks without walking over anyone. How many of these guitarists can play Nancy Wilson’s intro to ‘Crazy on You.? Probably most of those in this company, with time and study, but I would venture to say Nancy’s would be the best version..

(2) Speed and long solo skills A lot of guitarists get noticed because they can shred. That is, hit X number of notes in x number of seconds, usually going up and down scales. That’s a useful skill set especially in metal, hard rock, punk and even guitar-based jazz. But it’s one tool. The best shredder may be mediocre playing folk blues, for example.

(3) Flamboyant style. Jimi Hendrix was truly innovative but it wasn’t all flamboyance in the cause of the music, it was aimed at the ‘show.’ I’m pretty sure Hendrix can play better with his fingers than his tongue. But tonguing a guitar solo will leave people with their jaws hanging.

These three factors I’m saying play a role in these ranking and probably should. But before you start talking about who is better, Eddie Van Halen or Yngwie Malmsteen, Prince or Queen’s Brian May, the Schenker brothers of Scorpions and UFO fame, let me proffer that perhaps the best guitar players are those that do what’s best for the song. Delivering a fine song with a guitar solo that lasted 5-minutes too long is not necessarily being a great guitarist.

So it comes to this: Duane Allman.

I’m not saying he’s the top guitarist of all time or anything. But he had an unusual grasp of what sound to put forth while playing a song. How loud. How soft. When to fill and when to cut loose. The story goes that Duane was doing some session work at like age 22 or so, at Muscle Shoals studios, backing the great Wilson Pickett on a cover of the Beatles’ ‘Hey Jude.’

Listen for the guitar in this as it starts. You have to concentrate because it’s in the background.

But it’s perfect, the fills. And as Pickett winds up, Allman with electric guitar is right there supporting the singer, whip snapping Pickett into his famous ‘yow’ screams.

“He stood right in front of me, as though he was playing every note I was singing,” Pickett said months later. “And he was watching me as I sang, and as I screamed, he was screaming with his guitar.”

Duane’s legend was picking up steam.

[If you secretly do like list stories and want to take a peek at the most underrated artists, albums and songs in my collection. CLICK



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Van Morrison — 308, 307, 306, 305

ALBUMS: Astral Weeks (1968 ); Moondance (1970); Tupelo Honey (1971); ): St. Dominic’s Preview (1972 ); Hard Nose the Highway (1973); T.B. Sheets (1973 ); Common One (1980); No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (1986); World of Them (1973)

MVC Ratings: Astral and Moondance get top scores with 5. Both come with $$$$, but it might be hard to find in good condition under $20. Tupelo Honey, St. Dominic’s and No Guru comes in at 4.5 with $$$$ for Tupelo and St. Dominic’s; and TB Sheets at $$$; World of Them is 4.0 with a $$$.

Just after I learned of my illness, my wonderful friends and colleagues raised several thousand dollars to fund a trip to Europe. Ireland was one of four countries we visited on this ‘bucket list” trip. We went in this order: Spain, Scotland, Ireland, England and back to Spain where my daughter was living.

In Dublin, Ireland , I had to go see the Irish Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was a small-ish building, having moved into a place that used to be a pub. I loved it but I had one major criticism, and told the museum people — who were good folks — about it. There was not enough Van Morrison. One could argue that he should have dominated that museum, based on artistry, talent and influence on the music.

They had lots of Thin Lizzy and U2. Don’t get me wrong I love both of those Irish artists. Check one of the streaming services for the Phil Lynot/Thin Lizzy documentary. He had an interesting life growing up mixed race in a 90-plus percent white population. His mother, the museum folks told me, still comes by the museum and visits, occasionally bringing memorabilia to display. There could be couple of things going on here. First, Morrison is considered ‘Dad-music.’ Not many under 30 could name three songs by Van the Man, or any at all, for that matter. Also, Morrison grew up in Belfast not Dublin meaning Morrison’s family and possible sources of memorabilia are in another part of the country.

In the United States, Morrison had a home north of San Francisco in Marin County. He said it was the place in the US that reminded him most of the rolling green hills of Ireland. I lived in that county some called paradise for a decade in San Anselmo. Van even wrote a song called ‘Snow in San Anselmo’ on one of his lesser known albums called ‘Hard News the Highway.’ The song says it hadn’t snowed there i n 30 years. It did not snow the 10 years I was there as the ocean moderated what was essentially a Mediterranean climate.

One morning in 2006, I came to play my usual pick-up basketball on Saturday morning at the Lagunitas elementary school. It was a game that had been ongoing for long time before I wandered up one day. On this day, a couple of players said they had seen Morrison the night before in a secret word-of-mouth event at this place in the San Geromino Valley called Rancho Nicasio — not far down the road where I played hoops every week. Damn, I said, why didn’t y’all call me! (I still broke out the y’all in California.) The Marin Independent Journal — a newspaper I had written for — said Morrison concert was the worst kept secret in Marin. Well, I didn’t know about it. Of course I’ve always had this feeling I was the last to know.

I don’t know what else to say about Van Morrison. He’s a rocker, a great writer. His songs are equally imbued with the blues and jazz. He always has great musicians around him. He sings a little like Mick Jagger if Jagger ventured deeper into jazz.

I’m not going to give a history here, that would be long. But he was in a band called Them in the beginning. He wrote a song called ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ whose opening riff is one of the most recognizable in rock. He journeyed through mystical observations. In the mid-to-later part of his career, he became a little more overt with use of Christian language wrapped around his deep spiritual explorations in words and music. Albums representing this would be ‘Common One‘ and “No Guru no Method no Teacher.’ And actually, thinking back, he’s always had that philosopher/poet quest that shape songs like “Into the Mystic,” or the whole album Astral Weeks, for that matter.

He’s still putting out music. I saw that an album is about to be released in November. Lastly, I’d like to make bring out some teaching points for lyricists and poets. I’m not saying I am that good at it, but I know good when I see it and hear it. Morrison’s style was to weave in and out of mystical explorations with repetitive chants and jazzy excursions. But he often wrote plain slices of scenes. a little portrait or a scene that draws you to a place so you can begin to feel what Van feels.

On the song ‘And it Stoned Me’ from the Moondance album, see how Van sets the scene without over describing.

Half a mile from the county fair
And the rain came pourin’ down
Me and Billy standin’ there
With a silver half a crown

Hands are full of a fishin’ rod
And the tackle on our backs
We just stood there gettin’ wet
With our backs against the fence

Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Hope it don’t rain all day

Oh the water, let it run all over me

He drops in detail but with a deft touch leaves a little wiggle room for you, the listener, to put in your own details: These kids, adolescents, had just been to the fair? Or were going? Had a silver half a crown.

I don’t know what the song is about. Or, wait, maybe I do: Life.

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Daily Journal, Sept. 29, the great Pretenders edition

POSTED in AL.com a story about how we perceive how people die.

One group I absolutely enjoyed during my college years was the Pretenders led by Chrissy Hynde. As I posted my Kinks timeout yesterday, I recollected that she and Ray Davies were at one time married.

If you saw my list (scroll down to find) you will see my write-up on Smith (or a Group Called Smith). They didn’t achieve the fame of the Pretenders but they are similar in that both sang well fronted a male band, and did great with rockers as well as ballads. Here’s Middle of the Road:

In the middle of the road you see the darnedest things
Like fat guys driving ’round in jeeps through the city
Wearing big diamond rings and silk suits
Past corrugated tin shacks full up with kids
Oh man I don’t mean a Hampstead nursery
When you own a big chunk of the bloody third world
The babies just come with the scenery

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Daily Journal Sept. 18, 2019 (Kinks included)

My favorite newly rediscovered Kinks song:

I hope every body saw my underrated lists. They are on this website broken into three or four parts. They are altogether one story on AL.com

A colleague is singing the praises of Highwomen. Will check it out. Guess a lot of people are — it debuted at No. 1..

More to come …

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7 most underrated songs in MVC

Here is the third part of a three-part series.

This one is ‘7 underrated songs.” Already published on MyVinylCountdown.com are 7 underrated artists and 7 underrated albums.

Full story with all the lists plus more will appear on AL.com over the weekend.

Smithereens ‘Behind the Wall of Sleep’ This is just straight head rock and roll from a great band. But while the song was played in its day (late 1980s), you don’t hear it much anymore. It’s as good as rock and roll gets people.

UFO ‘Can you Roll Her’ UFO was called a heavy metal band because of the instant shredding guitarist Michael Schenker could put forth at any given time. However songs off this album such as Belladonna and Martian Landscape showed softer, tuneful, side. This song ‘Can you roll her’ showed both a tuneful touch with the guitar power rock that was the band’s staple.

Squeeze ‘Pulling Mussels from a Shell’ This conjures up a summer beach setting, but there’s something going on behind the chalet? I’m not 100 percent sure what it is or what it has to do with mussels, but I have long liked the song. (And I love mussels from a shell).

Tina Turner Better Be Good to Me  Tina Turner was a longtime R&B singer with her husband Ike whom she said beat her and abused her. When she broke out in the 1980s with a solo album and the worldwide hit ‘What’s Love Got to Do with It,’ she was a superstar. But while Better be Good to Me was a hit, it seemed overshadowed by others including What’s Love Got to Do with It. ‘Better be Good to Me’ was the stronger song, powerful rock and roll sung by one of the best entertainers ever, who sang from real life pain and passion. Underrated?  Many would say no. I say yes it is so.

Steve Harley’s ‘Make me Smile (Come Up and See Me)’ I discovered this on a British Rock compilation and then realized I had a live Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel double album obtained at a flea market that had a live version of the song. What a great catchy song. The pause for effect part is genius. The acoustic guitar solo is cool. The over-the-top Dylan imitation is also groovy.

Waterboys ‘Whole of the Moon” The Waterboys could have been on Underrated Artists list. They put out a really nice body of water, er, work. Mike Scott was the driver of this band, which did nice work with a core band that used a lot of violin, saxophones, trumpets and piano in addition to guitar. Best album is probably ‘This is the Sea’ although I really like ‘A Pagan’s Place’ as well, which really introduced the band as one that plays ‘Big Music.’ “Whole of the Moon,’ with its upfront piano, sounds like a timeless classic. Maybe it already is.

Lou Reed ‘Strawman’ An angry sing-along about corruption in the world. Lou Reed is not underrated I’d say, but given his long career, he had few radio hits. Radio stations must be afraid of him. Of course there was the anomaly ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ which falls in the ‘Lola’ basket – it may be controversial but it has a tune that just won’t be denied.

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His and Hurricanes (Part 11)

This is a serial story.

Scene: The Ocala People’s Forest in which lies Alexander Springs. Prosby tries to get to the portal in his efforts to go Underground to rescue Burneese. But dangers, such as lightning fast gators and the killer Abe Lincoln robot await.

Prosby was on high alert now. He’s was lucky to get out Boybando, even though he believed he could  have killed Justy with two well placed blows. He was walking the old 441 highway under a misty dark day. It was always a dark day these days, but this one was particularly dark. He passed Zellwood. He got close enough to Lake Apopka to smell it.

And hear the gators.

The gators over the decades had adapted to the algae choked body of water full of bones and submerged cars. They were smaller than the 10-footers you used to see there. But they were twice as quick and had more endurance when running.

A good 5 or  6 -foot  gator could top out at 25 mph for about 40 yards. The old way to escape a running gator was to serpentine, run side-to-side while continuing to go forward. The old big -300-pound-beasts beasts couldn’t follow the cuts and wore out after about 15 yards. But over hundreds of years there were fewer of the slower, big birds to catch and gators evolved to catch the smaller faster ones. Also squirrels, racoons, wild dogs and the occasional stupid human.

These new ones could catch you at about the 15 or 20-yard mark, bite off your foot so you couldn’t go anywhere, and drag you by your remaining foot to the lake . There they would submerge you in the water and let you rot for a few days in the pea-soup of a lake until the flesh fell off the bone – kind of like a cross between pulled pork and rotten sushi.

Prosby scanned the dark wooded area near the lakefront for the orange orbits that signal shiny gator eyes Seeing none, he kept walking.

The Ocala People’s Forest was no place to let your guard down as he passed by the towns of Eustis  and Umatilla. On the fringes of the forest in makeshift shacks lived drug makers who constantly fought each other, the meth makers versus the psychedelics producers who had a symbiotic relationship with the forest people, the descendants of generations of Hippies, societal dropouts who have camped in the forest for hundreds of years — and always stayed one step ahead  of the law, both local and federal. They lived deep in the enormous forest and at any given spot they were watching you – you couldn’t see them, but they could see you.

Prosby heard a voice, deep, forceful, robotic.

“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field …”

It was Abe Lincoln the DIzney Bot. The  killer Dizney bot walked like Frankenstein out of a dense wooded area into the clearing about 20 yards from Prosby. The Lincoln bot droned on.

“We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground.‘

Prosby noticed the bot didn’t really have hands – but at the end of one arm was an 18-inch dagger, and on the other was a small whirling circular saw that he kept turning off and on. WHHHRRRR WHRRRR.

The bot was walking at quite a pace toward Prosby.

Prosby tried engaging. “Hey Abe, whassup? Nice morning to recite the Gettysburg Address, no:?’

Honest Abe didn’t appear to be lying when he said, “I am programmed to kill you and I will kill you.”

Prosby knew the portal – Alexander Springs — was about 100 yards into the thick wooded area where the bot had just emerged. He figured better now than ever and decided against running away. He would run, taking an arc around the bot, dive into the spring and make it to the portal. Getting inside the portal required a rather deep swim downward. You have to able to hold your breath for at least a minute to break on through to the other side.

Prosby ran.

The bot followed, stiffly but swiftly still speechifying:

“The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”

Prosby saw the still waters of the spring and heard the WHHRRR behind him. There was little pain as the circular saw sliced into Prosby’s back like an electric knife carving a Thanksgiving turkey. It was a non lethal  wound Prosby thought. Defense was on his mind. He turned about 10 feet from the water to face the fake Abraham Lincoln who was running and winding up to do more carving. With the whirring buzzsaw advancing swiftly toward Prosby’s  face, he dropped to the ground on his sliced-up back and placed both feet firmly in the 250-pound life-sized robot’s midsection and pushed. Using the bot’s momentum against him, he pushed his legs like a squat sending Abe catapulting through the air. The bot completed a spectacular full flip before landing feet first in the spring.

Oh yeah. Prosby remembered with a smile, you never see Dizney bots swimming. In fact full submersion fries the bot’s circuits. Sparks shot out like Fourth of July fireworks. Abe thrashed around before slowly sinking like a melting witch.

The robot died gurgling the words of a long ago president who dreamed a dream for America. That the evil of killing, brothers and sisters, will be somehow turned to good.

’… that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, (gurgle) under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the (gurgle) people, for the people, shall not perish from ..(gurgle) …(silence) …..”

“The earth.”

Posby finished the last two words as the robot sank into the springs like just another stolen car into Lake Apopka.

Prosby drifted into unconsciousness.

This is the 11th in a series. Meant to be read in ascending order from 1 to 11 ….

To be continued …

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Daily Journal Thurday Sept. 5, 2019

Checking in to organize my thoughts. With the blog I can do these things — kind of like thinking aloud. As always appreciate help from the cheap seats. (There are no luxury boxes in my forum, sorry).

I’m working on a piece outlining my strategy to beat Lewy body dementia, based on my trial and error successes so far. I think it will be worthwhile for patients, caregivers, family and friends. This should be ready by Monday if not sooner, keep checking.

On the music front, I’m going to take a look at the most underrated albums, artists and songs in my collection (emphasis on IN MY COLLECTION). I’m still trying to figure out the format and the content. As always, I appreciate suggestions. I’m hoping to drop this over the weekend in close proximity of my regular My Vinyl Countdown column which points out that, in a way, Lewy body dementia is underrated in that it is often overlooked, misdiagnosed, misunderstood and not given credit for being the devastating disease it is.

NP: Gayle McCormick