The Anti-Clapton
December 16th, 2006 by 
Rory Harper
Steve Vai is likely the most technically proficient guitar slinger who’s ever lived. From reading his columns in Guitar Player magazine, back when hair bands stalked the earth, I also know that the inside of his head is complex and fascinating. He’s not just another shredder.
This is probably the most extreme example of guitar-wankery you’re ever likely to see:
You’ll either hate it or be blown away by it. As a guitarist and hippie freak, I worship at the altars of Clapton, Hendrix, and Page.
But Vai is definitely also one of the deities in an alternate universe.
He first got national exposure in ‘Crossroads’, which starred Ralph Macchio as a punk Juilliard student who learns to play the Real Bluze while following elderly harp master Willie Brown around the South. Vai played Satan’s guitarist in the final shootout for possession of Willie’s soul. He composed and played both his part and Macchio’s:
This is still my most favorite wank-off of all time. Even though the ending promoted exactly the wrong philosophy about music, that technical competence can trump emotion.
EDIT: From an on-going discussion at KVR on shredding, which triggered this post by me, one of the KVR posters says that the slide guitar playing in the ‘Crossroads’ duel is actually by Ry Cooder. Given the disparity in styles, I’m inclined to think that he’s right. And, not to take away from Vai, the slide part of the duel is the best part. IMHO.
Posted in Music, People, Pop. Culture, Rory | 
December 16th, 2006 at 11:12 am
So, the top is a 12 string tuned to an open chord and the bottom neck is fretless (with an open chord tuning?)
I’ve seen multiple necks where one is a bass, before, but is this three neck thing common?
December 16th, 2006 at 11:37 am
Warren and I both have several three-neck guitars.
Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick is the King, though, with this:
December 16th, 2006 at 3:10 pm
I feel like I’m looking at a genetic mutation.
December 16th, 2006 at 3:18 pm
Yeah. I doubt if it could survive in the wild….
December 16th, 2006 at 10:21 pm
Rory, I saw “Crossroads” when it came out, and although I appreciate the technical wizardry of Steve Vai, I don’t feel the emotional appeal. Like the character he portrayed, there is something cold and distant in his technique, and I have felt that way about Jeff Beck and Eddie Van Halen as well. It’s hard to explain, but guitarists like Clapton, Page and Steve Howe (from Yes) may have less flash but more heart in their playing.
December 17th, 2006 at 12:14 am
Hey, David! Yeah, basically, I agree with you. Music is primal, it’s about feelings. Pure technique is empty.
However, I still really enjoy a lot of hair-band music from the 80’s and on.
My roots are in the blues, but sometimes excellent technique allows you to rock out at a level that you couldn’t otherwise rock, IMHO.
The shredders like Vai and Satriani and Malmsteen and Petrucci and Gilbert and so on — the guys who tap and sweep-pick and play a zillion notes a second just because they can — well, I can be impressed, but I get bored after a song or two.
Beck was always emotionally distant, that was his personality, not his technique getting in the way, I think. And I always liked Van Halen. I think he knew how to rock.
All the above being true — I still secretly wish I could shred.
I promise I wouldn’t do it all the time.
Honest.
Trust me.
December 17th, 2006 at 12:42 am
For what it’s worth, ‘Crossroads’ was a watershed movie for me. I also saw it when it first came out.
I started playing guitar at about age 16, but had quit for around 10 years.
I picked up the ax again immediately after seeing ‘Crossroads’.
It wasn’t the Vai stuff — it was the wonderful blues songs by Ry Cooder that make up the bulk of the soundtrack.
Incidentally, I saw Ry and his band once at a little club in Houston in the 70’s. It was supposedly a blues gig, and the audience was blown away by the actual musical range of the man.
I’d never seen a blues band before that had a Cuban accordion player.
If you want to blame somebody that I’m playing still, it’s all Ry’s fault….
December 17th, 2006 at 12:49 am
Ry Cooder, I’m comin’ for ya.
December 17th, 2006 at 10:50 am
Well, I’m sure glad we don’t have to worry about that one.
December 20th, 2006 at 12:05 am
I’m a guitar player as well and can’t say Vai is a shredder. I think he’s just transcended the normal techniques of playing that limit the rest of us.
If you want emotion in a piece, check out his song “Tender Surrender”. Absolutely incredible:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1VjwciFLAg
Oh, and the slide on Crossroads was Ry Cooder.
December 20th, 2006 at 12:22 am
Yeah, ‘Tender Surrender’ showed up in the KVR thread, Dave, as an example of Vai playing with feeling. He has touch and taste out the ass when he wants it. The only thing I’m left with is that can play any damn thing he chooses to, and mostly chooses to play Real Fast.
This clip also argues that he has the skills to have played the slide in ‘Crossroads’, but I think you’re right that Ry did it.
December 20th, 2006 at 12:41 am
I’ve been listening on/off to Steve since his first second LP and I think even then, he was bored with everything conventional guitarists do. I think his fast stuff gets a lot of attention from youngsters today, but he has just as much off-the-wall stuff as well which doesn’t get media play or the like.
For my taste, I like Satriani more (I like the melodical stuff), but some of Steve’s stuff is just jaw dropping.