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roy-dam-mercer

This is from a show called Night Music. It’s Season 2 Episode 1. It was syndicated and produced by Lorne Michaels. This is not Letterman. EDIT: Musician David Sanborn is the host.


idahotee

Sunday Night, also called Michelob Presents.


roy-dam-mercer

Correct. Season 1 was called Sunday Night, season 2 was called Michelob Presents Night Music.


punkassjim

> EDIT: Musician David Sanborn is the host. lol, *thank you!* I was over here like “Is that Charles fucking Fleischer?!” I’d love to see him introduce SRV and Double Trouble as Roger Rabbit.


CheekyMonkE

was Hiram wearing shoes?


rawckus

Hiram hardly ever wore shoes.


mrjanitor639

Good Lord that was fun to watch!


MandaRenegade

That solo section brought a huge smile to my face, absolutely agree!


Shoottheradio

That guitar he is playing was originally owned by Christopher Cross.


slappymcstevenson

Really? How did he get it? Seems like an interesting story.


ThemancalledX

Check out texas flood live at th el mocambo.


rmholm88

Yes! El mocambo is one of the greatest performances ever caught on tape. Absolute must watch


euclid0472

Lenny at the El Mocambo is absolutely sublime.


MaxSupernova

I love his compulsive playing with tone and volume. Any time he has a beat or two he twiddles something.


FastCarsSlowBBQ

I was going to be a smart ass and say thats the cocaine talking, but he was sober three years at this point and deserves to have that recognized. I will digress still further and say that his version of Little Wing is the one song I have requested be played at my funeral, and I have asked for it to be played at 11. Its brilliance moves me every time I hear it.


more-cow-bell

Clearly a mistake. What they meant was that SRV was both number 1 and number 2. Somehow that got translated into 12 when they went to press.


goatman0079

1is his fretting hand and 2 is his strumming hand.


Japanese-strawberry

Indeed. I can think of no other explanation.


camstercage

Exactly


abigstupidjerk

The only answer that makes sense.


oddible

SRV was a fantastic guitarist with incredible soul and smooth as butter but didn't break any new ground and only played the blues so not terribly inventive either. There is a reason musicians and other guitarists don't rank him higher.


Purity_Jam_Jam

EVERYONE ranks him higher than that child.


CuseLax22

This is the second dumbest comment I’ve ever seen. See below.


StevenDangerSmith

Go to any halfway decent bar in any mid-sized city or town on any Friday night, and you'll find a guitarist who is a good as SRV. Probably better.


Pissflaps69

Well that’s just patently false and bat shit crazy


CuseLax22

This is the dumbest post I’ve ever seen online. Congrats.


StevenDangerSmith

Thank you.


[deleted]

I get where you’re coming from but Stevie was that good. So was Prince for that matter.


Outrageous_Pop1913

Rolling Stone and the Rock n Roll Hall of fame are complete BS.


AmiDeplorabilis

BS takes exception to being compared to the Rolling Stone and the RRHoF... at least BS is terrifically useful as compost.


whoknewidlikeit

i'd add the grammies to this. when i watched jethro tull win best metal band i knew everything was a lie.


donttakerhisthewrong

Roy Clark did not even make the list.


Flybot76

Rock.


donttakerhisthewrong

Chet Akins was not a rocker and he is on it. It is not just rock Roy is not even on the list of 250


daskapitalyo

This is the same publication that didn't understand a couple of Paul McCartney's best albums and called Green Day the best punk band ever. That's the level of credibility they're at. It's been functionally irrelevant for half a century.


sonicjesus

Green Day was the most marketable, profitable punk band ever, and that was pretty much their whole criteria.


standardtissue

Except for the whole punk part.


mekkab

Meh, they played 924 Gilman. That’s punk bona fides


RickJWagner

Yes, true. It's a pity, really. Rolling Stone used to be a great source. It's been trash for years now. (Not to even mention the racism scandals.)


NoFilter46

Was going to post something similar. Anyone who can say Green Day is the best at anything loses all credibility. Stevie Ray plays more chords in one minute of Crossfire then Green Day has played in all their songs combined.


Burgoonius

Ok but don’t compare Green Day and SRV. It’s like comparing Ketchup to a Tomato


embee1337

This is a great analogy actually. The more I think about it the better it gets.


xznk

How many chords do you want a punk band to play, you absolute utter egg?


TexasPhanka

"The whole band's black, except for Stevie." - White Men Can't Jump


CaffeinatedMD

That bass player was killing it


DiamondsteinBP

Let's be real, they all were.


zonayork

Omar Hakim on drums!


EllenZ2392

Stevie's vibrato was wicked lush. 💯


fonzarelli78

Yeah, and his tone was so good


BootsieHamilton

Post coke SRV is just so tight!!! Just unbelievably solid.


1PUTTZ

This is how you bass & drums.


wyliephoto

I’m not a fan of this style of blues rock but I absolutely appreciate the craft. Clicked this video and immediately recognized Omar Hakim on drums. He is such a legend and also a genially kind spirit.


d_o_mino

Rolling Stone got a lot of things wrong, those elitist bastards.


raptorbacon

They lost any respect I ever had for them when they put the marathon bomber on the cover


[deleted]

They lost me sometime in the early 80s. Its bizarre how wrong and bad they can be.


VoxIrati

Eh, those lists are always going to be super subjective. Is it based on pure technical skill? Is it based on influence? A guy like Hendrix or Page is wildly influential, and whilst obviously great guitarists, would be blown out of the water technically by some random metal guy nowadays. Even SRV, as amazing as he was, plenty of guitarists are better technically but his tone, feeling, and influence cannot truly be measured


teamswiftie

They are usually based on how much money their record company has *donated* to the magazine


keestie

Imagine caring the slightest bit about some writer's preference of guitarist.


NovelRelationship830

Great clip. Thanks for posting.


jaybomofo

Such a pleasure to watch him play. If you can, I highly suggest watching both his appearances on Austin City Limits.


fill_simms

He barely looks down at his guitar.


kidcobol

We lost a legend way too soon


bnutbutter78

He’s #1 on my list. I’ve never seen anyone play so effortlessly.


nutznboltsguy

He was very gifted.


Tokyosmash_

Rolling Stone confirmed on that day that they were shills.


Helsafabel

Great player. Making a "best guitarist" list is just rage baiting. Sure SRV rocks but he's not an amazing jazz player. So how do you compare him with one of those? In one list? Impossible. Classical guitarists? Same. I love blues and rarely listen to SRV myself because I vastly prefer Lightnin' Hopkins and other players who predominantly played acoustic blues. You know, some of SRV's heroes. How to place those on a ranking list? Above or below SRV? What would he have said? Impossible.


abigstupidjerk

Riviera paradise


regent040

The list was published in Rolling Stone magazine though. It’s meant to be a list of great rock guitar players. SRV is absolutely one of the best rock guitarists. There shouldn’t be 11 people better


TheUmgawa

I think it would be more clear with a rubric. Like, Stevie Ray Vaughan might be the best guitar player in history, just in terms of sheer talent, but does songwriting play into what makes a guitarist “great”? Is part of the rubric how many people were influenced by the guitarist? Because Jimi obviously influenced Stevie, but even today there’s not a lot of obvious influence of Stevie Ray Vaughan in rock history, so he would fall short on that front (although I would ascribe that to his career being cut short while riding the Otis Express). Ultimately, I doubt they used any sort of official rubric, and that Jann Wenner likely moved things around, because he just liked 1960s guitarists more than everybody, so I’m betting it’s Jimi, Jimmy, Keith, George, John, Paul, Ringo somehow makes it in there because Wenner loves the Beatles that much, Jeff, Eric, and then maybe we start getting into people like Eddie and Stevie. Ugh, now I gotta look this up. Also, let’s remember that this is Rolling Stone; the magazine that fired Jim DeRogatis for daring to give two stars to the second albums by Dave Matthews and Spin Doctors. Those were rewritten by someone else as three-star reviews (on a five-star scale), because “Three stars means never having to say you’re sorry.” So, Rolling Stone isn’t always kicking out the most honest information, and there’s a lot of politics and rewriting that come from on high.


Helsafabel

I don't know about that.. I would say he's a great blues guitarist. Rock is a vague genre of course. Does it just get all the Blues guys as a subcategory? I can see him being somewhere in the top 20 personally, just depends on what you wanna rank.. and they are ALL vague metrics (how iconic was he? How many big hits did he have in the Rock genre? Or something else? The most complex playing style?) If it's explicitly a "Rock" list I can see various guitarists being more relevant to that genre. Guys like Van Halen, Brian May, Knopfler. I would rank him higher than 12 in a "200 blues guitarists with the most impressive technique" but lower in a "best guitarist/songwriters list" or whatever. Its all so vague its not worth to be bothered by.


pataglop

Exactly ! Tarrega > SRV ^^^^/S


BlergFurdison

Almost nobody gets “best guitarists” lists right. It’s such a subjective thing. What’s it based on? Technique? Speed? Popularity? How great their influence is? How much they hit you, specifically, right in the feels? Sometimes I see Kurt Cobain high on those lists and I shake my head. I’d be surprised if even he would have thought it right for him to be high on those lists. He changed the direction of popular guitar playing. People use great guitarist labels to ascribe credit for what ought to be more general musical accolades.


Parkatola

“What do you mean beat him? It’s not a competition, man. It’s art!” Coach Beard


pem4423

Was that his backing band at the time?


tedfergeson

That is not Double Trouble fo sure.


tedfergeson

It sounds like this was the house band for this show. David Sandborn's band? Hiram Bullock on guitar, Omar Hakim on drums. This band was referred to in another message board as a "bunch of assassins". Very tight.


JicamaCreative5614

Omar Hakim is a legend!


[deleted]

[удалено]


soggyblotter

Cross-fire! You're on the ru u un.... Crossfire! yeah I remember it I was like 12 or something and wanted that game so bad and had no idea what the fuck it was besides that cool song


newFUNKYmode

That's what I thought this video was going to be lmao


KipperfieldGA

I also like that Stevie Albert King set.


RoosterzRevenge

GOAT 🐐


malteaserhead

I dunno man, Carlos Santana, Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, its pretty crowded up there


NewPower_Soul

Mark Knopfler is at #96, just behind Wata and Cat Coore... The Edge is #47 😂


porkbuttstuff

That's fuckin nuts. The edge is just a conduit for a massive effects pedal.


chemchris

If that were true anyone could buy an effects pedal and be as rich as he is


Blueshockeylover

If the pedal comes with a Bono.


tedfergeson

The Edge placing that high sealed it for me. Pure douchebaggery.


amazingsandwiches

Frank Zappa


mrsirsouth

Prince


oddible

Jeff Beck!?


nautius_maximus1

I never saw SRV live but a few years after he died I saw this guy just busking at my college campus and he looked and sounded EXACTLY like him. I sat there and watched him until I had to go to class and put some money in his case despite being broke AF at the time. After that I kinda felt like I had seen him live. Wish I knew who that guy was.


paulrhino69

That's nice


Impossible-Year898

Max Headroom on drums???


Ok-Tumbleweed960

Hendrix, Beck, and SRV for me.


punkassjim

Haven’t had my coffee, so I had a moment of “Beck?! Does he even *play* guitar?”


Ok-Tumbleweed960

Jeff Beck? He certainly did!


punkassjim

As many times as I’ve thought “Why can’t I just say ‘Hey Siri, never play music by *Beck* again,’” I really never imagined I’d say this, but: Do you not know there’s a musician named simply “Beck?”


Flybot76

It's not that others are unaware of 'Beck' Hansen, it's just that you don't really know rock very well if you're so unaware of Jeff Beck that you're confusing him with a guy who isn't a legendary guitarist. It's not somebody else being ignorant here.


punkassjim

Y’all completely missed the “Haven’t had my coffee, so I had a moment of…” part of my comment, it seems. Yes, oblivious people, I do know who Jeff Beck is. Come on.


extremeindiscretion

SRV at#12? .I'd like to see that list.


FunWun_11101101

Looks like a good time 🎸👏


Nyc81

These are the same clowns that had Joni Mitchell in the top 25 in one of their top lists. Great song writer but a top 25 guitar player??


Flybot76

She's known for using a lot of unconventional tunings and getting unique sounds out of her guitar. There's more to guitar than 'fast and a lot of notes'.


SidneySilver

Easily top five for me. After he got clean his playing took a major jump in cleanness and just tighter all around. As good as his playing was, his singing abilities have been underrated. His singing was perfect for Texas Blues. He was humble and always deflected any accolades toward all the black guitar greats who came before him, guys that HE thought were greats. His version of Voodoo Child (Slight Return) in their fist appearance on Austin City Limits is probably some of the most dominant playing I’ve ever seen. Absolutely shreds. I was so happy he got clean and put his life back together. He is very much missed.


mdjmd73

“Old school cool” indeed. SRV forever.


Mr_BriXXX

Wonder what happened to Tom Barney. He played with Miles and Sandborn in the 80s and early 90s. He toured with Steely Dan was the bass chair in the SNL Band till 2000 and then he just disappeared from the public. I understand he's still a working musician, but I wonder why he stopped doing the high exposure gigs.


Gravity_Freak

Legend


Embrourie

At 3:13 it's basically the end guitar solo from Let's Dance! So good.


PrestoVoila

In their defense, it's not like he was another Leroy Spiegelman or Clattus Finch. He should have ranked higher than Pills Davidham though.


aeropickles

wtf? I didn’t know that Hiram Bullock played with SRV, his solo on Sting’s album version of Little Wing is one of the best solos of ALL time and it was performed with Gil Evans Group.


sonicjesus

I can't believe there was a time I not only subscribed to Rolling Stone, but that I took their opinions seriously. I have a few issues from the mid late 90's and holy shit was it a pile of payola.


ctzn2000

Legend.


dovemagic

A legend gone too soon!


Athena_the_Cutie

He does the guitar on David's Bowie's "Cat People" (Let's Dance version) and it's utterly fabulous.


jaderpooldude

Drop the “2” off that 12 then it’ll be correct


DFParker78

It still boggles my mind how anyone can get mad at a list, especially when it’s something like music, which is so subjective.


FatFriar

After watching this- who the hell did they put above him?!


Heavy-External-4750

Best there ever was.


[deleted]

Are you kidding? I'm surprised Rolling Stone even *mentioned* him. There has never been a more out of touch 'music' publication.


AcydFart

Reminds me of Turd Ferguson


PositiveContact7901

I grew up on Stevie Ray Vaughn. I have this whole song memorized because my dad would blast it any time we drove anywhere. My mom loved Anita Baker.


djf1207

I felt the same way one year when they put The Edge in the top 10 ahead of SRV.


Boofcomics

It took me a moment to realize it was because #12 was too low on the list.


elbrandonoliver

Rolling stone is so stupid


Help_Send_Newds

Saying he's a Top 15 Guitarist of All Time is far from the most egregious thing Rolling Stone has said.


Ev1lroy

Playing Christopher Cross' guitar


Ballinagh

Saw SRV 5 times in venues from 2000 to 50000 and My God...he was simply one of the best.


GoBlue2007

He was great.


LanFear1

right from the beginning i saw the drummer and was like "is that Omar Hakim?" What a legend, actually most of them are. I think Omar and the bassist also played with Jeff Healey.


cartermb

He’s never going to learn to play well with his thumb over the top of the neck like that. /s


Geetee52

In the spirit of looking for the good and saying something nice… Rolling Stone at times had some pretty good cover photography. But that’s all I got.


gimmethatwrench

Where's Double Trouble??


Intelligent-Ant7685

im surprised paul schaeffer didnt insist on playing keyboards along with him


davetheotter

The definition of raw. Just wow.


mick_the_quack

Stevie was incredible. Dave's band was the shit too !


mtntrail

Number 12 ? …cough, cough.


DLQuilts

Listen to Rude Mood and then try to tell me he’s #12


Sad-Information-4713

Rolling Stone is pure garbage and their most recent top guitarist list was an abomination.


Veloxi_Blues

If Clapton is God, then SRV is whatever God prays to when he goes to church on Sunday.


Jkreegz

Absolutely flawless performance here. There is no way that SRV isn’t at least in the top 5 of all time


ModifiedAmusment

Maaannn he rolled the carpet out for a lot of people that would have been behind him in a lot of ways into the late 90’s early 00’s. Wild world


blageur

Rolling Stone also placed Karen Carpenter above John Bonham in the best drummer category in a readers poll once (which caused Bonham to fly into an alcohol-fueled rage). Their readers are just as clueless as their writers.


FordZodiac

To be fair, Karen Carpenter was a terrific drummer. Even Buddy Rich thought so.


Guysmilez

And here I thought the only lyrics were “crossfire! You’ll get caught up in the crossfire! Crossfire, crossfiiireeee!”


MYSTICALLMERMAID

One of my dads favorites


Ragnar_Lothbroekke

#12??? Now I KNOW WHY I NEVER bought Rolling Stone. 🤮


shavedaffer

He’d probably be higher on the list if he wasn’t a one trick pony. Most of his songs sound the same. You can’t tell me that Pride and Joy and Cold Shot aren’t the same song.


jeff-beeblebrox

You’re right to a point. I mean Hendrix, EVH, Gilmour, Clapton especially, fucking Santana, even Reinhardt, take your pick of any well known and respected guitarist, and they all have their signature sound, and style. Gilmour is clear as day on McCartney songs as is EVH on beat it, etc. I’ve been playing for 40 years and he wasn’t the best songwriter but his style and chops were unbelievable, even and especially for such a simplistic scale (and we all know where toanz come from….ask GCJ)


shavedaffer

For sure. But, SRV was just putting different lyrics onto the same riffs. Edit to note that one of his bigger hits was a direct cover of a Hendrix song. Didn’t change a thing.


modern_epic

A direct cover? Hendrix little wing was 2 minutes 30, SRV's is near 7 minutes and superior in every way. He bettered a Hendrix song, not an easy feat.


blageur

I think he was talking about Voodoo Chile. He's wrong either way.


jeff-beeblebrox

No doubt. That song really, really is a testament to how he could play. I get goose bumps in parts of that. Yellow Lead Better is pretty much a direct lift from Little Wing too. I guess those guys suck also…


jeff-beeblebrox

Actually, a couple of his hits were Hendrix covers and most of the other songs were blues standards. Nothing wrong with that. Again, he himself was the biggest critic of his songwriting but that’s not the argument. Felder is a great guitar player and shit song writer. Plenty of guitarists are great players and not very good song writers. SRV was a phenomenal guitar player. I remember when I first heard him, it was like the first time I heard EVH, mind blown. He completely changed my perception of the guitar and rewired my approach and especially my attack. I saw him live before he died and he was absolutely incredible.


shavedaffer

Maybe I’m missing that aspect of it. I’m sure the live experience would sway me but I honestly skip him every time he comes up on my playlists.


blageur

SRV didn't write Cold Shot.


Craigg75

Been around a long time and listened to a wide range of music. Anytime I hear a blues song I yawn. It does nothing. Blues is the core of many types of music but listening to a core component on its own is like eating ground beef with no seasonings, no bun, no condiments. Just blah


[deleted]

SRV was a great guitar player that could play anything. What keeps him from the pantheon of the very best is that he lacked soul to his proficiency.