Why George Harrison called Keith Richards “one of the best” rhythm guitarists
George Harrison has always been the archetype for what a lead guitarist is supposed to be.
The definition of a guitar hero has turned into who the fastest guitarists in the world are, but Harrison always knew the beauty behind taking a great melody and turning it into a bit of musical magic with The Beatles. But for all of the great melodic lines he played, he never forgot about the importance of having a great rhythm structure behind everything as well.
For a band that were known as studio labrats like the Fab Four became in their later years, they never stopped being a kickass rock and roll band. And while Harrison did have his moments to shine when he wrote the odd song in their early years, one of the biggest pieces of their sound was hearing how John Lennon made the band jump whenever he played. He was far from the most complex guitarist in the world, but him playing off Ringo Starr was what gave the band their swagger.
Because if you think about it, Lennon’s approach to rock and roll goes all the way back to what the titans of blues had been doing. Any lead guitarist can study their scales and try to find the right key to play in half the time, but with Lennon learning from icons like Chuck Berry, he was absorbing the same kind of bluesy structure that came when listening to Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson.
Granted, there were going to be limits on where they could go with that. As much as the band liked to bill themselves as pure rock and roll, they were the definition of what a pop act could be in their earliest days, and anyone vaguely interested in heavier music would usually find a lot more dangerous riffs coming from The Rolling Stones.
While much has been made of the bands hating each other back in the day, every one of the Fabs were friendly with The Stones, even giving them songs to use for their singles. It might have taken Mick Jagger and Keith Richards a fair bit of time to catch up and start making their own classics, Harrison knew that nobody could replace what Richards was doing when he locked into the groove.
For Harrison, that kind of bluesy rhythm that their music had put Richards a cut above every other guitarist in the world, saying, “I think Keith [Richards] is one of the best rock ’n’ roll rhythm guitar players. I don’t think he’s very good at lead. But this is what I feel about myself too: What we do is make records, and the records have some good guitar parts on them. I like Keith enormously, I think he’s great, but he’s not Albert or BB King.”
That’s probably why Harrison mentioned that the Traveling Wilburys had five rhythm guitar players among their ranks. It’s one thing to be a great lead player in the vein of Eric Clapton or Gary Moore, but Harrison knew that the best foundation for anyone starting to play is to pick up an acoustic and start strumming away on the traditional chords first until you start paying attention to what your strumming hand is doing.
Harrison might not have thought that much of his own lead playing, but the melodic framework of all his breaks come from him learning the ropes as a rhythm player. The chords are what provide the bones of a song, and when it comes to soloing, Harrison saw it as the final garnish to layer on top of the tune after you have that foundation.
