Daktari

Hi there,

I've listened to Willy Nelson on and off for a long time now. I play guitar myself but I still can't decide on whether he's an absolute genius guitarist or just not very good,it kind of puzzles me.

Same in some ways with his singing style, I guess he's an acquired taste which I'm still working on. Just wondered what anyone else thought about his guitar style.

Look forward to hearing some opinions.

Gordon.

mr dave

he's no virtuoso so i can't really call him a genius guitar player but at the same time he's not 'not very good'.

also, it's Willie and this track alone makes him a great guitarist (yes they misspelled his name in that clip too )

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Engine

I consider any guitarist who writes and performs good songs with a guitar is a good guitarist so, yeah, Willie really is a good guitarist.

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Flower Child

Daktari, I'm glad you looking for some opinions, I consider Willie Nelson one of my specialties so I couldn't reply to your thread fast enough to assist you with this decision.

First things first, there are better guitar players out there, yes. None in the country music business mind you, but most certainly in the whole spectrum.

But let me tell you, any man who sings-
'...Now I am so much better,
and if my words don't come together,
listen to the melody,
for my love in its hiding' (referring to 'A Song For You') and then shreds that son of a bitch right after would most certainly get some respect from me.
I feel his lyrics and voice go perfectly hand in hand with his guitar playing. He has almost a Spanish flair at times, and the fact that he likes to do duets with many artists of that genre even further my suspicions. I mean, its a sound all of its own.

My final point: Just look at the man guitar for christs sake



The fact that a person has to ask if he is 'not very good' really dissapoints me. What more do you want for the man?

Anyway Mr. Dave had a pretty good song choice there for you but here are just a few off the top of my head that you surely need to listen to if you haven't.

Both off of the Willie and Family Live album

1. Uncloudy Day (please try to block out Dyan Cannons horrid voice if at all possible)
2. Stay A Little Longer

Youtube didn't have what I wanted so I will have a couple of downloads of these songs for you tomorrow.

Jedey

Willies album "Red Headed Stranger" is a must have.

TheBig3

I wish you'd write more here. I think I'm going to dig through your journal again. As I was, that guitar looks like it was the weapon used by Greek Gods to defeat the titans.

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Daktari

Hi there,

Thanks for your opinions so far and also for the links. As I mentioned though, I have been listening to Willie for years, I even play "Blue Eyes Crying inthe Rain" if I get asked for a Willie song so all those examples posted I am familiar with already. I've even seen the guy playing live.

I guess it's down to personal taste. I love listening to and also performing and writing music. I know that a lot of music is not instant and takes a while to grow on you. It's just in Willie's case, After about 30 years, I'm still undecided.

Even when I saw him playing live, the other musician's were struggling at times to follow him, his timing seemed weird and they did follow him because they were good musicians. I love his guitar playing most of the time, it does have a strong Spanish influence but quite often he gets real quirky with it.

By the way, to say that Willie is the only good guitarist in country music is missing out guys like Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Vince Gill, Chet Atkins, Doc Watson and loads of others.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not downing Willie Nelson, I'm just wondering if anyone else has a problem getting used to his quirky guitar style,(and singing I guess at times).

Cheers, Gordon.

Flower Child

You've inspired me to bring that thing back from the depths in the near future.

Actually that hole is a result of Willie cracking it over my head when I tried to attack him and rip his clothes off at the last concert.


Just kidding.
That would make a hell of a story though.

You play Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain, not bad, not bad at all.
Anyway, getting to what you mentioned about his band hardly being able to follow him. Yeah, they have a hell of a time. But thats just his style, he never likes to do the same thing over and over again, and spontaneously changes song lineups and such which makes him a bit of a wild card for his band. I actually find that a good trait in him rather than bad. But then again I embrace quirk. Willie didn't make it famous because he followed the bland Nashville mold that Chet Atkins laid out for him thats for damn sure.

Oh yeah, and the songs I promised

http://www.mediafire.com/?htmo3z2y1mt Uncloudy Day
http://www.mediafire.com/?zmq2kymnwq3 Stay A Little Longer

catfish billy

This old thread I found on google made me register to this forum lol

I just wanted to throw in my opinion...

I believe Willie is one of the most underrated guitarists ever. Last I checked Rolling Stone put him at 77 out of 100 and I feel like he should be top 25 easily.

Considering so many different styles of playing, there are very few in any genre who play like Willie and as effortlessly brilliant. He plays such a technical style so easily it's hard to think of him as a genius. He will hardly ever play the same song the same way, and each time it sounds like it was made to be that way. His picking ability blows my mind.

Actually, his vh1 storytellers performance with Johnny Cash is what made me want to learn how to play guitar. I'm a huge country and blues fan.. I mean outlaw and classic country.

He's not my favorite of all time but on my personal list he's top 10.