There will never be the consensus among music fans, or even the musicians themselves, over who is the greatest when it comes to the players. But there are those who broke the mold, knocked down barriers, or who set a precedent for the generations to come that will always get them near the top of the list. Jimi Hendrix Jeff Beck, Prince, and Eric Clapton are such artists.
In his new book “Ultimate Heavy Metal Guitars” Pete Brown features over 80 musicians who have “rocked the world” while pa ing new paths in rock in music.
In the 50s artists like Bill Haley took what was called “race music“ and added some fancy electric guitar playing giving birth to rock n roll. But after the invention of the solid body electric guitar and the British Invasion of the early 60s, the door was blown off of what the younger generation called music.
The next several decades, brought new stars, new styles of playing, and some brand new musical genres that continue to evolve.
Set for a September 12 release, Brown goes back to the beginning – even before metal had its own name – to feature artist who laid down the groundwork for a genre of music that would have players and fans banging, thrashing, and cranking up the volume.
Not to spoil the surprise, but many will be very surprised to hear just who it was that was the first artist to crank up the amp and insist his music be recorded while playing loudly.
“Ultimate Heavy Metal Guitars” Is nearly 200 pages of tintilating facts and photos on heavy gloss paper including plenty of colour photos with the stars in action.
With an index of over four pages the names are far too many to list; but the list of “the guitarist who rocked the world“ include Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Sir Brian May, Eddie Van Halen, Nancy Wilson, Ritchie Blackmore, Alex Lifeson, Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Steve Vai, James Hetfield, Slash, and Brett Hinds.
“Ultimate Heavy Metal Guitars” comes in a hard cover slip case and retails for $45 in the U.S. and $60 in Canada.