GREAT GUITAR GUYS

What do I know ... ? I know what I hear and see.

Jimi Hendrix -- crazy, wild, when he played with his left hand he was great --played with his right -- he was great -- played with both hands -- whoa!

It was showmanship, and a clown, playing with his nose, his teeth, squatting, playing lying down, playing with the guitar over his head, and unbelievably, playing with his guitar behind his back. And then, he's the guy who coaxed flames out of his guitar, burned the guitar, smashed it.

Have a quick look at Hendrix in "Wild Thing."

Today we've got Dave Grohl, Foo Fighter's guitar man. (The current Time Magazine has a feature on him, that inspired me to check around, and hear who else is IN nowadays.)

Dave said his real love is drums -- here's Grohl in a solo concert.

Grohl's playing, his thub-thuba-boom -- a somewhat heavy-handed sound -- suggests drums to me. It's okay -- it gets to you, but not like Tommy Emmanuel .

Who is this Emmanuel guy? Ageless but definitely not young. I never saw or heard anything as riveting.

Here he is playing Boogie.

(I have to confess -- I was riveted by Jack Black's "School of Rock" -- saw it four times -- the guitar-playing kids, and Jack -- his committed madness -- Jack's and the kids' intense immersion in the music knocks me out.)

I asked JD (my son), who plays -- he's why and how I learned to play the guitar -- whom he thinks is the best. JD sent me a "sampler."

He wanted me to hear CHET ATKINS, whom he called "the grandfather of finger-style guitar." He included TOMMY EMMANUEL, "with his amazing rhythm and energy."
DANNY GALTON, "a phenomenon who committed suicide -- for no apparent reason."
MARTIN SIMPSON, "British player -- about-three-and-a-half minutes into the solo, Martin shows you his incredible technique."
ANDY MCKEE, someone JD discovered on YouTube.
And MARCEL DADI , "a great finger-style player who died on TWA 800 -- the plane that blew up off Long Island."

If you have time, browse with your eyes and ears. These guys make an interesting Sunday concert. Here's JD's guitar Sampler

My favorite is Tommy Emmanuel.