The one guitarist that “melts” Brian May: “Lost in a world of his own”
Brian May is the kind of musician who is as gracious in giving out praise as he is receiving it. For a man whose hobbies include being an amateur luthier and an actual rocket scientist, the Queen guitarist is as humble and generous as any rock star in the world.
The usual image of swashbuckling lead guitarist is one of excess and ego, Clabering for the spotlight and willing to beat their lead singer to within an inch of their lives to get it, the usually more musical member of the band has a habit of allowing their bravado to hamper their humility. But Brian May isn’t like that.
A somewhat shy and retiring figure, May spent more time championing the performances of fellow guitarists than his own. Whether it’s highlighting the intricate soloing of Steve Hackett or complementing the unmatched riffing of Jimmy Page, May always took time to dish out some laudatory comments.
The praise doesn’t stop the figures who influenced May’s initial playing style. May was, and still is, a lifelong fan of the guitar, so much so that he continued to pick up tricks and techniques from across the spectrum of music. Whether it was keying into the electronic new wave of the 1980s or appreciating the hard-edged sounds of punk in the late 1970s, May had an uncanny knack for picking up the best of whatever was hot at the moment.
There are also times when May could just sit back and appreciate a master. That’s exactly what he did when he took some time to highlight the guitar work of one Stevie Ray Vaughan. “Ow ow ow !!! Listen to those wonderful juicy notes!! This is a man to stan!” May wrote on his Instagram account back in 2019 while sharing a video of Vaughan ripping through a verison of ‘Life Without You’ from 1985.
“This is the kind of guitar playing that melts me,” May gushed. “Stevie Ray Vaughan, lost in a world of his own, here allows his fingers to be a channel for the burning passions inside him. Like Jimi Hendrix, he effortlessly makes his guitar sing to us, speak to us of wonders beyond words. Even with both hands behind his back!!!!”
“I so wish I had met SRV, but one of the favourite moments in my life was when one of his friends told me, after he was gone, that he liked my playing,” May added. “But this man was truly one of guitar playing’s greatest champions. An elemental monster. Check him out, all ye who would bend strings!!!”
May summed up his own playing by saying: “All I ever did, really, was play the way I feel and make the guitar my voice. I play like I would like to sing. I’m not the world’s greatest singer. I’m not the world’s greatest guitarist either, but thank you for saying so. But I can speak with the guitar; I can make it sing; and that’s all I do. It just comes inside.”
