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Jerry Garcia or Dickey Betts. Define you own criteria for "better".
Follow Ups:
Dickey probably was a better technician but I always sort of knew where his solos were going. Jerry was much more unpredictable, whether that is a virtue or a vice depends on your perspective.
N/T
"I always play jazz records backwards, they sound better that way"
-Thomas Edison
...at least spell 'definitely' right. :^D
Why are old bananas like prostitutes?
Cause they're both bruised and nobody wants to eat em!
YECH
N/T
"I always play jazz records backwards, they sound better that way"
-Thomas Edison
;^)
My cryteria for better is alive.
.
.Jerry was a piker, could not play for beans.
playing is limited.I have listened extensively to perhaps hundreds of live Grateful Dead and JGB recordings,mainly Soundboards and while Jerry did make more than his fair share of mistakes,missed noted and flubs,when he found the groove he could pull off some stunningly beautiful and at times fully mind blowing stuff.Its those perhaps relatively few instances where he and the band gets its just right that makes wading thru the forgettable stuff worthwhile. Jerry was a true musical explorer and the music for which he reached was often beyond any earthly means of playing but he was anything but untalented.Remember also he was missing his middle finger on the picking hand too.Its been said when waxing romantic the Gods had to take it lest his playing being too good diminish their glory or cause the premature death from extreme rapture by his audience.Dickey was probably a more consistent player and of very impressive ability.I wouldn't want to have to choose one or the other.
and he don't. He can jam fairly well, but he is basically, as stated above, a noodler. Wanto to hear the straosphere, same guitar tone? Larry Carlton AT THAT TIME, not now. He can't play for shite either, now. In fact he can't play nearly as well now as Jerry did. And Jerry as not better because he was missing a finger, that explains why you don't play well or better. I have never heard him play anything I cannot; that's my acid test (no fun intended). As Greg Lake said "We could jam with the Grateful dead, they could not jam with us". Differnce between noodlers and serious musicians.
I agree with John Peel after ELP's first gig... I think it was their first gig, anyway it was the Isle Of Wight Festival 19...70? 69?
And the comment was...
"Never has so much talent been wasted by so few in front of so many".
followed Larry Carlton around the Country for years and at one point he was the highest grossing touring performer in the world.Saying Jerry was "just a noodler" is like saying Earth is just a rock.To isolate Jerry' from the whole result of his input misses the greatness of which he was a part and without him never would have been.Maybe because of his imperfections he was that much more accessible to us imperfect,flawed human beings.
He was a similar noodler.
from someone who helps drunk drivers stay on the roads...
on January 23, 2007 at 08:37:53 ArdRi wrote:> > Yah,right.That's why thousands of people followed Larry Carlton around the Country for years and at one point he was the highest grossing touring performer in the world.Saying Jerry was "just a noodler" is like saying Earth is just a rock.To isolate Jerry' from the whole result of his input misses the greatness of which he was a part and without him never would have been.Maybe because of his imperfections he was that much more accessible to us imperfect,flawed human beings. < <
While that may all be true, *not* isolating Jerry from "the whole result of his input" only describes why he was a cultural phenomenon. If you want to compare apples to apples and judge his guitaristic abilities rather than his cultural phenomena, you have to take his playing at face value, out of context of the juggernaut that was the Dead, and see if it stands on its own merits without the influence of extra-musical criteria.
Dickey Betts of course!The main soloist in The Allman Bros Band from the beginning.Orginal Songs and solo's is my criteria.Liz Reed is a masterpiece.........JD
different meanings to different people. Not wanting to taint or slant opinion in any direction I left "better" up to the individual.
There is no doubt that Garcia was a very old soul with depth of feeling and tenderness that comes with that.
Betts was adequate,but he had the Greg and Duane to do the gritty work.
I cannot think of why these 2 appeared in your question together.
Agreed - I would hate to declare either of these guys "better" than the other given their dissimilar styles and accomplished music careers.Jerry wasn't the cleanest electric player, and his playing could be down right bad, but the brilliant moments were, well - brilliant. I always liked his version of "I Shall Be Released" on Garcia, and many examples of good electric work on "Dead Set". Loved the acoustic work on "Reckoning". I would hate to pass of Garcia as a G-Dead guitarist - he was very versatile. When discussing musicianship, the wonderful bluegrass work Jerry did with David Grisman should also be considered.
The fact that the Allman Bros continued to thrive after Duane Allman died is largely due to the strength of Betts workman-like abilities on the electric, slide and acoustic guitars - not to mention the material he went on to release post Allman Bros. "Little Martha" continues to be one of my guitar solo favorites of all time, and is one of the most covered tunes by many guitar giants (Kottke, Jerry Douglas, Pete Huttlinger, many others I can't think of at the moment).
Exactly what occurred to me. I like them both for different reasons. I like Richard Thompson and John Renbourne more than either.
... Bill Frisell.
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