SOME MUSICIANS HAVE a love/hate relationship with their hit songs. Not so for guitarist Pat Travers and his 1980 flamethrower blues-rock smash, "Snortin' Whiskey." "I'm totally good with it," he says. "It's a really cool and solid rock song. It's not supposed to be profound. In fact, its silliness is one of the great things about it.
"Plus, it's got a killer opening riff. The second I start playing it, I get an immediate response. What's not to like about that?"
BAD BEHAVIOR
That riff is one Travers had been toying with a few years before he wrote "Snortin' Whiskey." A friend had shown the guitarist a country lick, and over time he added a blues-rock flavor to it. Several years later, in 1979, Travers and his rhythm section - bassist Peter "Mars" Cowling and drummer Tommy Aldridge - were in a Miami rehearsal studio working on material for his fifth studio album, Crash and Burn. Hours went by as the band waited for their second guitarist, Pat Thrall, to show. "We jammed on a number of things, including that riff," Travers recalls.
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Denne historien er fra May 2022-utgaven av Guitar Player.
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TRANSCENDENTAL MAN
Luther Dickinson interpreted a priceless work of art in music. In the process, the blues guitarist wrote his own next chapter.
THE BEAT GOES ON
Together with Tony Levin, Adrian Belew and Steve Vai join forces for a Robert Fripp-endorsed revival of King Crimson's groundbreaking 1980s music.
I'M 100 PERCENT HAPPY WITH THE WORK I'VE DONE WITH PINK FLOYD. BUT...'MY FOCUS IS DIFFERENT RIGHT NOW'
Leading a rock group and being a solo artist were \"not what I asked for,\" David Gilmour says. For Luck and Strange, he assembled a team that shared the weight of his creative efforts. The result? \"The best album I've made since The Dark Side of the Moon.\"
DOUG GILLARD IS INDISPENSABLE
His six-string genius has proved vital to the music of Guided by Voices, Nada Surf and other indie-rock favorites. But all he really wants is to make good music.
Sol Salvation
The genius of Sol Hoopii is preserved in 16 timeless cuts on Master of the Hawaiian Guitar.
Pickup Artist
With its Wide Range humbuckers, the 1970s Fender Telecaster Thinline scores better than most of its contemporaries.
MY CAREER IN FIVE SONGS
Joe Walsh's Jazzmaster, Billy Cobham's bass line... As Bush head out on tour, Gavin Rossdale reveals the history behind a handful of their best tunes
TIPSHEET
We asked Brian Ray for his advice on playing Beatles tunes. After all, he learned from the best.
MAN AT WORK
A juke joint just wasn't in the cards. So Cedric Burnside turned the old building into a studio for his hardcore blues workout, Hill Country Love.
MADE IN THE SHADE
The Gibson Custom Shop created just 59 examples of the Jason Isbell \"Red Eye\" 1959 Les Paul Standard. We got our hands on one of them.
