Bruce - All Along The Watchtower

[tele-rain]

My bro-in-law showed me this video last night and I had to share!!

I'm used to seeing Bruce just strumming along and singing his head off, but this clip makes you appreciate his Tele skills up close and in your face.



Now, for my silly question (because there always is one with me ) When listening to Bruce (or bands with multiple guitar players) how do you determine who's playing what guitar part? My assumption is that you just have to have that well trained ear and knowledge of the band as a whole. I'm sure it's mixed up, maybe if Little Steven wrote a lead guitar part, that's him playing it, and if it was Bruce, he'd play it...but maybe not always live since he's busy doing other things?

[greggorypeccary]

I think Bruce decides who takes the leads, I mean, he is The Boss afterall!

But he, Steve and Nils have such different sounds & styles that I have no issues knowing who's taking the lead. That, and Bruce takes most of them.

[tele-rain]

Originally Posted by greggorypeccary

I think Bruce decides who takes the leads.

But he, Steve and Nils have such different sounds & styles that I have no issues knowing who's taking the lead. That, and Bruce takes most of them.

Ahh see I didn't know that, so now I will listen with a closer ear

[thefees]

Look I am not a snob, not ego centric, but I have to say something. Bruce Springsteen plays guitar like a kid in his second month of learning. Sorry I know he is a super star and if he has written some of the songs he plays then he has great song writing talent, but his guitar playing is amateurish as best. It always has been and appears after all of this time that it always will be. I don't care if anyone agrees with me or not, it is so blatantly obvious and true you have to be a pretty bad guitar player yourself not to see it.
His Tele skills are not up close and in my face, they are on the floor because I just threw up.

[greggorypeccary]

Well alrighty then....

[fezz parka]

Originally Posted by thefees

Look I am not a snob, not ego centric, but I have to say something. Bruce Springsteen plays guitar like a kid in his second month of learning. Sorry I know he is a super star and if he has written some of the songs he plays then he has great song writing talent, but his guitar playing is amateurish as best. It always has been and appears after all of this time that it always will be. I don't care if anyone agrees with me or not, it is so blatantly obvious and true you have to be a pretty bad guitar player yourself not to see it.
His Tele skills are not up close and in my face, they are on the floor because I just threw up.

Bruce is very much like Neil Young. Plays from the heart. I think he's great. And by the way, I can play my ass off.

[JeradP]

Originally Posted by thefees

Look I am not a snob, not ego centric, but I have to say something. Bruce Springsteen plays guitar like a kid in his second month of learning. Sorry I know he is a super star and if he has written some of the songs he plays then he has great song writing talent, but his guitar playing is amateurish as best. It always has been and appears after all of this time that it always will be. I don't care if anyone agrees with me or not, it is so blatantly obvious and true you have to be a pretty bad guitar player yourself not to see it.
His Tele skills are not up close and in my face, they are on the floor because I just threw up.

On the other hand, you have to be a pretty bad, amateurish guitar player to not be able to tell Bruce plays with feel and you have to be borderline deaf to not be able to hear that his guitar playing is just fine.



I think it's really cool when Bruce's band plays covers, especially this one. It's one of my favorite RnR songs. The camera man needs some help in the beginning though...

[yark14]

Originally Posted by thefees

Look I am not a snob, not ego centric, but I have to say something. Bruce Springsteen plays guitar like a kid in his second month of learning. Sorry I know he is a super star and if he has written some of the songs he plays then he has great song writing talent, but his guitar playing is amateurish as best. It always has been and appears after all of this time that it always will be. I don't care if anyone agrees with me or not, it is so blatantly obvious and true you have to be a pretty bad guitar player yourself not to see it.
His Tele skills are not up close and in my face, they are on the floor because I just threw up.

I've never seen you play, but I would bet my bottom dollar that Bruce on his worst day would completely outplay you on your best day......and then proceed to make you mop up his sweat.

[Coop47]

Originally Posted by thefees

Look I am not a snob, not ego centric, but I have to say something. Bruce Springsteen plays guitar like a kid in his second month of learning. Sorry I know he is a super star and if he has written some of the songs he plays then he has great song writing talent, but his guitar playing is amateurish as best. It always has been and appears after all of this time that it always will be. I don't care if anyone agrees with me or not, it is so blatantly obvious and true you have to be a pretty bad guitar player yourself not to see it.
His Tele skills are not up close and in my face, they are on the floor because I just threw up.

Uh... yeah, he wrote a few...

Wow.

[JeradP]

Poor OP, the troll trolled his thread...

I hate when that happens.

:/

[yark14]

Originally Posted by tele-rain

Now, for my silly question (because there always is one with me ) When listening to Bruce (or bands with multiple guitar players) how do you determine who's playing what guitar part? My assumption is that you just have to have that well trained ear and knowledge of the band as a whole. I'm sure it's mixed up, maybe if Little Steven wrote a lead guitar part, that's him playing it, and if it was Bruce, he'd play it...but maybe not always live since he's busy doing other things?

Thats not a silly question. Its pretty easy to figure out live who is soloing. I agree that it is hard on the records. If its a tele sound, then it is probably Bruce. If it sounds like a strat or Gibson, well then it could be any of the three! Nils has the most distinct style, as he uses his fingers and a thumb pick (not exactly like Lindsey Buckingham, but there are similarities). Both Bruce and Steve are no-frills players that play with feeling and complement the song.

BUT, in a nutshell, it is widely believed that most recorded solos are Bruce, while Steve and Nils do the fills/rhythm/etc.

[tele-rain]

Thaks for the cool replies! I am not too great on picking out a tele vs. Strat etc, but now i think i will test myself!

And to the troll...doesnt matter to me what anyone thinks about anyone's playing. Music for me is expression not technicality. This is why I never participate in any "best" threads. For me there is music i like, and music i probably will like someday because i found a part of it that speaks to me. Why waste time comparing and judging, the point is to listen, feel, share,and ENJOY!

[IdahoPicker]

Originally Posted by thefees

Look I am not a snob, not ego centric, but I have to say something. Bruce Springsteen plays guitar like a kid in his second month of learning. Sorry I know he is a super star and if he has written some of the songs he plays then he has great song writing talent, but his guitar playing is amateurish as best. It always has been and appears after all of this time that it always will be. I don't care if anyone agrees with me or not, it is so blatantly obvious and true you have to be a pretty bad guitar player yourself not to see it.
His Tele skills are not up close and in my face, they are on the floor because I just threw up.

If I would have been playing like that in my second month of learning, I would be in the RnR Hall of Fame by now!

[thepassivevoice]

Originally Posted by thefees

Look I am not a snob, not ego centric, but I have to say something. Bruce Springsteen plays guitar like a kid in his second month of learning.

I think that's intentional on Springsteen's part. The above analogy to Neil Young is a good one. I think both Springsteen and Young use the guitar to add various qualities to the song rather than use the song as a platform to demonstrate their guitar technique. Both seem to like the raw energy that a lot of players lose as they become more fluid and technically proficient.

The world is full of virtuosos with very similar styles but Springsteen and Young are pretty unique.

[Gilby]

Off the "can he or can't he play" thread, of which I am not going to join in.
What pick ups are in that tele? Hot rails, chopper ?
Any one know for certain?

[thefees]

Sorry if I have offended any Bruce Springsteen fans out there. When I was in high school my band tried out for a county wide rock and roll contest. We were in two of them. Out of the 50 bands that tried out only 10 made the contest. We tied for first place on the second one and had the only standing ovation of the evening. Our singer took the best vocalist award in both contests and I received votes as the best guitarist I saw their voting sheets. I used to do 45 minutes a day of finger exercises and then spent another hour and a half working on material for the band.

You may be saying that is no big deal, but when you consider who was in those contests including the first one; Ricky Veto the lead guitar player in Fleetwood Mac for three years. He was on tour with Bonny Rait for more than a year, toured with Jackson Browne... the list goes on. Also in that contest was Hughey MacDonald who is currently the bass player in Bon Jovi. Also Billy "Obie" Obrien who is Bon Jovi's recording engineer. Many other notables in those contests back in 66 and 68 including Mike Nicosia who played with The Guess Who. I was 16 and 18 back then. When I was in college I formed a band called "Dirty Time Incorporated" we had the best talent of WCU school of music, our lead trumpet player left in his last semester getting ready to graduate because he went on tour with Maynard Ferguson. I have seen a lot of talent. We spent 6 months screening the music school to get the best for that band.

Look you can go into any music store and hear guys in there with tons of talent. You can ignore the playing ability of Bruce Springsteen all you want because you may be a "Bruce can do no wrong" kind of fan as in you are that enamored with him, but any arbitrary person with an unbiased opinion could listen to him play and realize that for some reason his hands are frozen.

OK he plays a Tele and he had quite an old looking one for a long time, maybe he still does but that in of itself doesn't make for good playing.

Look I know that no one is coming to my rescue because they are smart enough to know that you don't stand in the way of a Bruce Springsteen fan. Bruces fans are not alone there are millions of them out there. I admit I have enjoyed his singing, performances, and songs for a long time. I am only commenting about his lead guitar playing. Hey some guys are great singer, songwriters, rhythm guitar players, and performers, and others play lead guitar. Then again you have Eric Claptons and Jimmy Hendrix who do it all well. Oops, there I go again

So the only point I am making is that Bruce is great, he just isn't a great lead guitar player.

I betcha my Daddy can beat up your Daddy.

[tap4154]

Bottom line; millions of folks love Bruce, and how many fans do you have?

Who cares who was in some old HS talent contest you were in, besides you?

Dude, swallow the sour grapes and move on.

BTW, I'm not a big Bruce fan, but do prefer players like him and Neil Young over technically precise shredders, who produce little more than white noise to my ear.

[thefees]

Originally Posted by tap4154

BTW, I'm not a big Bruce fan, but do prefer players like him and Neil Young over technically precise shredders, who produce little more than white noise to my ear.

I agree with you on that point. Shredders with their never ending white noise is not what I call enjoyable music to listen to.
Guitar players that I love.
Stevey Ray Vaughan
Eric Clapton
Jimi Hendrix
Me

Ok I guess it is not polite for me to criticize another guitar player, and for that I apologize. I will let this go and any others who wish to have the last word, I will let it be. Sometimes silence is golden. I would much rather talk about what I love and that is Tele's and Strat's with an occasstional Les Paul thrown in.

[rsclosson]

I bet Bruce could show us all a thing or two in the studio.

[pondcaster]

Originally Posted by thepassivevoice

I think that's intentional on Springsteen's part. The above analogy to Neil Young is a good one. I think both Springsteen and Young use the guitar to add various qualities to the song rather than use the song as a platform to demonstrate their guitar technique. Both seem to like the raw energy that a lot of players lose as they become more fluid and technically proficient.

The world is full of virtuosos with very similar styles but Springsteen and Young are pretty unique.

^^ THIS ^^