Guest Book

Just listening to Duane from 69 thru 10/71, you can hear how he progressed. You can also tell how hard he worked to perfect his sound and style. Some of those shows towards the end, he is just so smooth, like it was all coming together. Where it was going, is anybody's guess, but whatever it was, it would have been incredible. I think it's difficult to use the word best, as it is so subjective. Duane for me epitomizes the best. Jerry Garcia does also and so does Frank Zappa. Each one is completely different and none of them were technicians on the guitar, they were emotional players. Derek today is doing it for me. Is he in Duane's league? It doesn't really matter and that point could be debated forever. What does matter, is how these notes hit me. What kind of impact do they have and how does it cut through on an emotional level. Derek today, is about the only guitar player that impacts me as much as Duane. I hope with these upcoming vault releases, we get to hear a lot more Duane. The one thing that strikes me about the original line up, was how they could be so tight, yet also be loose enough to find new ground at each show. Not every jam had to be structured the same way. This latest line up seems to be moving in that direction and that's what I find so exciting about them. The line up with Derek & Jimmy also seemed to move in that direction.