Blood, Frets and Tears —on Amazon Prime

[zorrow]

Guys, I watched this on Amazon Prime last night:

https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Frets-Tears-George-Lynch/dp/B07NMXT5TB

It’s about the evolution of the “Guitar Hero” role along the years. 

I was happy to see they consider Charlie Christian —> Chuck Berry —> Jimi Hendrix —> Van Halen —> Yngwie Malmsteen as key milestones in the evolution of the role. Some other greats are mentioned too, such as Clapton, Jeff Beck, Blackmore, Page, Randy Rhoads, Uli Jon Roth, etc.

Towards the end they identify Slash and Kurt Cobain as key milestones as well, which is a point of view I don’t necessarily share, but it’s OK anyway.

BTW, many known heroes are interviewed and some live footage of them is presented —Jennifer Batten, George Lynch, Paul Gilbert, Michael Angelo Batio, Carlos Cavazo...

It was an enjoyable documentary to watch, so I guess you guys might like it too. 😉

[EricS]

Thanks, man. Added to my watchlist and will check it out soon. 

[HAMERMAN]

Thanks for the head up - it sounds very interesting.

As far as Slash and Kurt Cobain go there is no denying that they both influenced new generations of guitar players. As much as they may or may not be what we think of as guitar hero's you have to keep in mind that all it has to do is light the fire - once it's lit people often take their playing in a different direction. I am reminded of that when I hear a famous guitar player list their influences because a lot of the time they aren't what you would expect.   

[draelyc]

Watched this the other day ~ thought it was pretty cool!

Also, if it's still on Netflix, there's a doc on the Wrecking Crew ~ the session cats who played on almost every hit of the '60s and early '70s.  It's really good.

[zorrow]

19 hours ago, HAMERMAN said:

Thanks for the head up - it sounds very interesting.

As far as Slash and Kurt Cobain go there is no denying that they both influenced new generations of guitar players. As much as they may or may not be what we think of as guitar hero's you have to keep in mind that all it has to do is light the fire - once it's lit people often take their playing in a different direction. I am reminded of that when I hear a famous guitar player list their influences because a lot of the time they aren't what you would expect.   

I do get the point about Slash and Kurt Cobain. They inspired a lot of guitarists and they absolutely deserve the title of “Guitar Hero”. The intense-but-minimalistic approach of Cobain, as well as Slash’s “back to the roots” style did bring a breath of fresh air to guitar playing, which had become stale and sterile under the reign of shredding. Nevertheless, they aren’t precisely innovators, while all the others they mentioned as milestones, are. 

Also, at a given point, in the post-Van Halen/post-Yngwie era, there was a mini-revolution in electric guitar led by Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, who became, to say it somehow, the guitar heroes of the geeks. I would have liked some extra content about them —to me they’re always worth mentioning when talking about this subject.

Otherwise, the documentary was great to watch. Just a bit short. 😉