Saw him in 1981 in Dallas, part of Frank Zappa band. He was a skinny 24 year old kid, and he just killed it on guitar!, Frank was grinning during his solos.
Vai on his Zappa audition.
Rory told my list
You're talkin' about the guitar player Frank Zappa hired to notate (write down) his music. Many of FZ's song lyrics were about Steve's encounters with groupies.
Did not know this - very cool
For me on guitar, TERRY KATH was all the above and then some...And that's not even mentioning his soulful vocal ability.
Nothing to do with whether you liked his band or not....Just strictly from a guitar playing standpoint, a MONSTER PLAYER,
simply because he combined all these best qualities into one package.And he is RARELY if ever mentioned in any so-called "Greatest Guitarists" lists.
Just proof those lists are meaningless.
Completely agree - well said
Wish there was more material of him out there doing his thing. CTA was fortunate to have such a talent willing to stand back so often like he did in their music.
I could only imagine what that power trio he wanted to form would've become towards the last part of his life....
I'm a fan of Vai, but I prefer the slow-build ballads to the more metal-ish stuff. Whispering a Prayer is probably my favorite song of his (from Where the Wild Things Are).
I also like Guthrie Govan and the Aristocrats quite a bit. Wanted to catch them last summer, but I already had tickets to another show with a large group of friends, and I didn't want to punk out on them. Also, check out Guthrie's solo album Erotic Cakes.
Here's an entertaining clip of him playing on a fretless neck over some tasty blues comping...
I only know Guthrie Govan for his work on Steven Wilson's solo albums, but that is great stuff.
Check out "Hand.Cannot.Erase." It is a great modern prog concept album, in which Guthrie Govan emerges as "David Gilmour meets Steve Vai" - he has all of the shred of the modern shredder, but has so much bluesy feel. Maybe it would be better to call him a Prog Jimmy Herring. Lol.
If I was a german just learning english I would say, "Vai? Vai vould anyvone listen to zis?"
Best post of this thread!
Back in the late 90’s I took my son who had just started playing guitar to see the G3 tour with Satch, Vai, and Kenny Wayne Shepard. They each did a set then all 3 closed the show. 5 minutes into Vai’s set, I was bored to death.
