Great "Bowie guitarists" video, including a Guild!

Several of Bowie's guitarists talk about and show riffs from particular songs - great stuff!

At 8:21, Gail Ann Dorsey plays "Ziggy Stardust" on a Guild acoustic - I'll let the experts tell us what model, I'm just going to enjoy her acoustic version...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y86q3rGpSh4

CORRECT LINK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JVN-CuCfrM

walrus

Might as well kick off the veering "post haste":
I think my very first exposure to Guild was the S-100 brought to a high school jam by a buddy's new acquaintance.
Guy said Mick Ronson was his hero, Ziggy Stardust was just released.
Looking for pic of Ronson with an S-100 was fruitless but did turn up this (I think) previously-unseen-here Guild sighting, only it's Ian Hunter with the S-100, from their stint together in Mott the Hoople:

walrus said:

Several of Bowie's guitarists talk about and show riffs from particular songs - great stuff!

At 8:21, Gail Ann Dorsey plays "Ziggy Stardust" on a Guild acoustic - I'll let the experts tell us what model, I'm just going to enjoy her acoustic version...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y86q3rGpSh4

walrus

Click to expand...

Uhhh...that's the "Harry's House" link....so lemme toss out Adrian Belew and Carlos Alomar as my 2 favorite Bowie guitarists.

Follow along: Looking for the You Tube video Walrus intended to post led me into an extended David Bowie You Tube binge, including several different versions of "The Man Who Sold The World", including at least one with Gail Ann Dorsey on bass. That led to Nirvana's MTV Unplugged cover of the same song, which featured Krist Novoselic playing a B30E, apparently rented for the gig:

I felt lucky to see Mick Ronson do a solo show in a club, and also about eight or ten times with Ian Hunter. He was great.

Gah, my bad! Thanks - I edited the post above. BTW, Alomar is in there for you, Al!

Here is Dorsey again with the Guild at a different show, a song called "The Fool":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwG1yD-wAMw

walrus

adorshki said:

Uhhh...that's the "Harry's House" link....so lemme toss out Adrian Belew and Carlos Alomar as my 2 favorite Bowie guitarists.

Click to expand...

Well, for me, this would be a hard decision. I have most of Bowie's albums, and each guitarist brought something different to the songs. Reeves Gabrel's "wild" technique always impressed me. And Stevie Ray Vaughn (relatively unknown at the time) played lead on the "Let's Dance" album, while Nile Rodgers laid down the rhythm. And does Bowie become Bowie without the early work of Mick Ronson?

The April 2016 Guitar World magazine had a great cover story interviewing all of his guitarists. IMHO, Bowie's ever changing "personas" and musical styles would not have been possible without his diverse selection of band members over the years, most particularly his guitarists.

And just to veer from your veer, Al, check out King Crimson's THRAK album - Belew and Fripp together, playing some heavy stuff!

walrus

My favourite was Mick Ronson, I met Earl Slick once in Frankfurt at the Musikmesse, who played on some of the Bowie records and did an ad for the Guild Liberator in the 80s






In the late 80s, I once did lighting for another of Bowie's hired guns, Robert Fripp. The word was that Fripp hated lights, he spent an entire Peter Gabriel tour behind a curtain to avoid them, so I was a bit leery approaching him when he turned up solo (with wife Toyah supporting) at a club I worked at between tours.

"Ah, whereabouts will you be moving on stage?"

"I will sit here and not move one inch" said Fripp stone-faced, pointing to a barstool between two racks of gear. He then retired to a corner of the club with his guitar and practised scales, three other guitarists from his band did the same in the other corners while we set the gig up.

All you could hear was the faint sound of exotic note sequences on un-amplified electric guitars (from them) combined with clanking aluminium ladders and swearing (from us).

Couple of years later, he was out with The League of Crafty Guitarists and instructed another lighting guy friend of mine to focus all the lights on one spot downstage.
20 minutes into the gig, the stage floor starts to smoulder, so much so that they had to take a brief break to avoid a potential *ahem* hazard .

Great story!

How did we forget Fripp in our posts about Bowie's best guitarists?!

walrus

walrus said:

And just to veer from your veer, Al, check out King Crimson's THRAK album - Belew and Fripp together, playing some heavy stuff!
walrus

Click to expand...

And veering wildly along, my 3 favorite "Krimson" albums are actually Discipline, Beat, and 3 of a Perfect Pair, Mr. B's first 3 albums with 'em.
Got Mr. Belew's signature on my copy of Lone Rhino at a show in San Jose around '88 or so.
The King Crimson "family web" would probably surprise a lot of folks by the way, with how many members also appeared in other much more widely recognized bands, but maybe that's another thread....in fact...look for it!
:friendly_wink:

My 3 favorites would be "Red", "Starless and Bible Black", and "Thrak". Honorable mention to "In the Court of..."

walrus

walrus said:

My 3 favorites would be "Red", "Starless and Bible Black", and "Thrak". Honorable mention to "In the Court of..."
walrus

Click to expand...

Given that Red was my fave until Beat, but I always preferred the Lark's Tongues/Starless incarnation to the earlier ones until then, I'm gonna have to give Thrak a try.
I was in a long period of unstable finances (not looking for music to buy and then focusing on playing the D25) when that came out, never even realized Belew was on it.
(I really love "Great Deceiver" on Starless)

walrus said:

Several of Bowie's guitarists talk about and show riffs from particular songs - great stuff!

At 8:21, Gail Ann Dorsey plays "Ziggy Stardust" on a Guild acoustic - I'll let the experts tell us what model, I'm just going to enjoy her acoustic version...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y86q3rGpSh4

CORRECT LINK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JVN-CuCfrM

walrus

Click to expand...

Hello Walrus

I am a brand new member, and I only registered because I want to know this info just as much as you do . I don't have a Guild yet, but I very much fancy one, and for me it looks like a G37 Blonde that I plan to purchase soon.

Welcome, poniklo! Good luck in your quest for a G37 blonde!

walrus

walrus said:

Welcome, poniklo! Good luck in your quest for a G37 blonde!

walrus

Click to expand...

Thank you! There are some for sale, but being a European, the problem is the usual: they're all in the US...

Anyways, Gail's Guild pretty much looks like a G37 to me. Maybe not, though...

Bowie had such a knack for finding talented guitarists. I love the way Ronson rocks. Stevie Ray -- nuff said! And Fripp is also a fave.

adorshki said:

And veering wildly along, my 3 favorite "Krimson" albums are actually Discipline, Beat, and 3 of a Perfect Pair, Mr. B's first 3 albums with 'em.
Got Mr. Belew's signature on my copy of Lone Rhino at a show in San Jose around '88 or so.
The King Crimson "family web" would probably surprise a lot of folks by the way, with how many members also appeared in other much more widely recognized bands, but maybe that's another thread....in fact...look for it!
:friendly_wink:

Click to expand...

These three are also my faves, In the Court of the Crimson King is also a true classic!

Well, I'm going to have to give those three Crimson CD's another listen!

walrus

Don't forget that the man himself knew his way 'round the fretboard. He deferred to other players more out of choice than necessity. And his latter-day live performance guitar of choice was ace!



-Dave-