Joe Satriani names the “most innovative guitarist of the last 50/60 years”
It seems that the evolution of the guitar has continued to change by the minute in the modern age. Whether it’s the people who have come up listening to Eddie Van Halen as their musical god or just want to play some tasty blues licks, there’s still a lot to be made out of this electric instrument with strings on it, and Joe Satriani is among one of the many responsible for twisting everything inside out. But if you were to ask him, Billy Gibbons is far and away the most innovative blues player he has ever seen.
At the same time, blues is just a small piece of what Satriani can do. While many categorise him as one in a legion of people expanding the craft of guitar like Eddie Van Halen, Satriani was his own animal. Surfing With the Alien wasn’t just a cheeky album title. It may as well have been a reminder that he was an extraterrestrial guitarist, especially with the rapid-fire work he did on the title track of the insane tapping skills on ‘Midnight’.
That was all about the finesse in playing, and ZZ Top were always a different beast. Despite getting his first itch to play in the garage rock outfit Moving Sidewalks, Gibbons took the entire concept of rock and roll and soaked it in the tradition of blues, eventually making ZZ Top the kind of group that anyone could throw on if they needed to learn how to make the guitar talk.
And it’s not like Gibbons was a fly-by-night player or anything. His tasty bends across every tune are the stuff of legend to this day, even garnering praise from Jimi Hendrix in his early years, which is probably the guitarist equivalent of being sanctified by a musical prophet.
It’s not always the most standout lick that wins people over, either. Looking through ZZ Top’s catalogue, the main reason why ‘La Grange’ works is just how much attitude he puts into his bends, especially when he employs the pinch harmonics to make his instrument sound like it’s crying out in pain halfway through.
Even for someone who seemingly advanced beyond blues, Satriani had to give it up for Gibbons’s work ethic as a guitarist, saying, “With Billy, we all know the guitar sound, and his style of Texas blues is quite unique. It’s built on wonderful styles of other blues players, but it’s completely unique. He’s the most innovative blues composer who has come along in ’50/’60 years. And he keeps getting better at it. That’s the true testament to his talent.”
It’s not like Satriani hasn’t taken a few cues from Gibbons’s sound, either. Listening to a song like ‘Satch Boogie’ is basically the same thing as a ZZ Top if it were given a healthy dose of musical steroids and almost a jazzy flair.
But while Gibbons might appreciate the accolades from the guitarist who came before and after him, he never got into the business to become famous. If anything, he wanted the opportunity to carry on the tradition of the countless other blues players that inspired him, and as long as future generations like Gary Clark Jr are around, that flavour of blues will never truly die.
