This doesn’t mean you NEED two guitars to make a great band—I’d be leaving off a lot of great guitar music if I scratched Hendrix, Cream-era Clapton, The Who, early Uncle Tupelo and a ton of other great bands. Nor do you need to have the kind of two-guitar interplay I’m talking about to have a great band—there are fabulous bands with two guitars playing standard rhythm-lead arrangements that don’t fall into the category I’m talking about here. Bands like CCR, the Beatles, the Byrds, Big Star, the Replacements and the Kinks are filled with great guitar work. But great guitar work done (usually) in the traditional rhythm/lead style.

No, I’m talking here about bands where the two guitars are so intertwined, so filled with communication that the players seem to be operating on a telepathic level when playing. There’s nothing quite like it (for the player or audience) when two guitars really have that going on.

Here’s a list of some great twin-guitar bands. I’m not claiming these are the GREATEST twin-guitar bands, as music is largely an issue of taste. And my greatest is not your greatest. For instance, while I greatly admire the dual-guitar work on King Crimson’s DISCIPLINE record, I don’t really love the record, so it’s not on the list. But that’s no dig on the talent and ability and chops of Belew and Fripp—you’ll find a bunch of players on this list who are, technically, nowhere near as good as the guys in Crimson. But here are some bands who, if you love dual-guitar, you just might love. Some of them are big and you’ll have heard of them, some of them should be bigger and you might want to check them out. In no particular order:

• The Rolling Stones: While there may not be a “particular order” you kind of have to put them first because, well, they’re the Stones…not named “The World’s Greatest Rock & Roll Band” for nothing. While early Stones is incredible, and Brian Jones had a wonderful genius for playing, well, for playing things that weren’t guitars (sitar, dulcimer, and so on), the band really starts becoming a major two-guitar band in the Mick Taylor years (1969-74). Listen to the interplay that drives through EXILE ON MAIN ST and you’ll hear Richards and Taylor at their best. Ron Wood, the “new guy” (all 34+ years of being the new guy) is no slouch, either.
  

  Richard Hell & the Voidoids on stage at CBGB in 1976

• Richard Hell and the Voidoids (first album, especially): Ivan Julian and the late, great Robert Quine offer up a killer dose of dueling guitars on the first album. Great tones, great playing and great intertwining parts—while showing each player’s distinct style in their solos. Check out the traded leads on “The Kid with the Replaceable Head” and tell me you don’t love guitar.
• The Dream Syndicate: For their whole career, but especially on the still fresh and incredible sounding DAY OF WINE AND ROSES. The original lineup of the band (with Karl Precoda and Steve Wynn on guitars) brought back long guitar songs—reclaiming them from boring patchouli drenched jam bands and given them back to rock and roll. Examples? The title track, with Precoda torturing a Harmony-made Silvertone awash in feedback, or “Halloween” with Wynn showing us why those plinky Jazzmasters are such great guitars when used right. And they are used right here.
• Luna: Again, most of their recorded work. But the live version of “23 Minutes in Brussels” from the fine movie of their final tour TELL ME DO YOU MISS ME is a good place to start. They were always a great night out for lovers of guitar (or of great songs) and this has some great live footage of underrated guitarists Dean Wareham and Sean Eden (along with a fabulous rhythm section…actually every band on this list has a great rhythm section, which should tell you something about what guitar players need to soar) making some great guitar rock. Also, anyone who doesn’t own PENTHOUSE has missed out on some of the best music of the last 15 years. I wouldn’t stop there, but it’s not a bad start.
• Neil Young & Crazy Horse (especially in the Danny Whitten era): Later versions of the band have Young handling (quite capably, btw) all the lead guitar. But to listen to the interplay between Young and Whitten on EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE is a true joy.
  

  Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers

• Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers: Maybe a surprise pick, but damn if LIVE AT THE SPEAKEASY doesn’t show the 2nd-Generation Heartbreakers (after Richard Hell left) as one of the great two-guitar bands of all time. Walter Lure and Johnny Thunders learned all (or at least most) of what was great about Chuck Berry, Keith Richards and R&B and tossed it into this great mix. If there had been less heroin and better lyrics in this band, they might have conquered the world.
• Television: Wow, three bands that Richard Hell was a part of at one point (though he isn’t on any of the classic Heartbreaks or Television material). But Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd set the bar for punk-era dual guitar bands. Listen to the majesty of the building guitars of the title track on MARQUEE MOON, or the incredible intertwining guitars on “See No Evil” or “Prove It.” One of the all-time great bands for guitar-heads. These two guys play together, as Richard Lloyd once said, “like the gears of a watch.” No doubt.
• Wilco: Another, perhaps, surprise pick. And while, if I had to choose (and I’m glad I don’t), I’d take the Jay Bennett era Wilco over any other lineup, the current lineup is a better live band and able to show off a range than would stun most rock bands. Nels Cline has been showing the world what had been one of LA’s biggest secrets prior to his joining Wilco—that he’s one of the best guitar players alive. A man able to play a three hour show and not play a cliché. Not easy. And for anyone who doubts Jeff Tweedy is a great guitar player, listen to “Kidsmoke” (off A GHOST IS BORN) and tell me differently. One of the great guitar songs of the last ten years. Also, check out any live footage of the current band doing “Impossible Germany” which blends not two, but three guitars (thanks to multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone) in about a beautiful a fashion as possible.
  

  The Velvet Underground and Nico in 1966

• The Velvet Underground: Really, any of the records, but check out how Reed’s “ostrich” guitar (the strings all tuned to one note) and Sterling Morrison’s standard-tuned guitar go together on the classic “Run, Run, Run” or the gothic drone of “All Tomorrow’s Parties.” Or, to jump to the third album, the classic rhythm/lead combo of “What Goes On.”

So, there you go. A short starter-list of great two-guitar bands. Buy some CDs, or download the MP3s or add it to your phone or the chip in your head or whatever it is you kids do to get music these days. But, remember, PAY the artist for it!

Two Guitar Bands from MyRareGuitars.com

The Dream Syndicate: The Days of Wine and Roses

Released in 1982 the LA band The Dream Syndicate’s first full-length LP (remember those?), The Days of Wine and Roses, has stood the test of time and deserves to be hailed for what it is: a classic album of that most democratic of music forces, Garage Rock. Ever wonder what Bob Dylan might sound like had he fronted a band composed of half of Neil Young’s Crazy Horse and half of The Velvet Underground? Well, strap in, because you’re in for a ride.

The Dream Syndicate’s front man and main songwriter was Steve Wynn (not the hotel dude) – a man still making great records 20+ years later with his current (and great) band Steve Wynn & The Miracle Three. I have seen the Stones, The Allman Brothers, Wilco (Nels Cline and Jeff Tweedy are a fun pair these days…a great night out for guitar lovers, btw) Crazy Horse AND Television live (I told you, I’m a guitar freak), and I have never seen a better live twin guitar attack than Steve Wynn (and fellow guitarist Jason Victor) and the Miracle Three threw down last year in LA. Fueled by a great rhythm section of Dave DeCastro on Bass and Linda Pitmon on drums, this is one of the best live bands going right now.

But, back, for a moment, to the way back machine.

The Days of Wine and Roses ranks as one of the few timeless releases of the 80’s. If you listen to it today, there’s nothing on it that tells you whether it was recorded in 1968 or 1982 or 2006. It’s fresh and primal and raw and melodic and the guitar work is some of the best and most interesting you’ll hear. From the great, murky and melodic slide on “Too Little, Too Late” (think George Harrison on Quaaludes, or if Hubert Sumlin joined the Beatles), to the savage unhinged noise fest of the amazing jam out title track, the work by Wynn and original Syndicate guitarist Karl Precoda is as fresh today as the day it was cut. It’s like if Dylan rocked more, or if Sonic Youth knew how to write catchy songs.

The twin guitars here are majestic in their ability to go from quiet drone to the unbridled passion of the outer edges psycho beauty. If you like guitar, you will LOVE this album. I promise.

It opens with a hypnotic riff on “Tell Me When It’s Over.” The song has a central guitar figure drenched in distortion that drives the song. Next, the adrenaline rush of “Definitely Clean,” which recalls the life-on-the-edge early electric rollicking of Dylan on “Mixed Up Confusion.”

“That’s What You Always Say” starts with a fabulous seductive bass line (played by original bassist Kendra Smith), building with chimey guitars and Dennis Duck’s great drum work (Wynn has been blessed with great drummers – from Duck, who still performs with LA’s Human Hands, to his current Miracle Three timekeeper, the great Linda Pitmon), before a cresting wave of guitars takes over. “Then She Remembers” is something like folk rock pushed to its breaking point.

Next up, the only Precoda-penned number, “Halloween.” With a solo that’s worthy of Tom Verlaine (rarely has the plinky bell-like ring of a Jazzmaster been better used in rock than by Wynn on this record), the song rises and falls in a celebration of dynamics (something any band could and should learn from). As Keith Richards once said, “If music is painting, then silence is the palate. You have to remember the silence.” THIS is a band that understands quiet and loud and melody and dissonance. It’s one of the richest records to ever come out of a barely produced band (and I mean that in the best way). The album is cut largely live, and it drips with the energy of immediacy.

“When You Smile” opens with Wynn singing over a simple two-notes on guitar while Precoda squeals menacing feedback in the background (and, at times, foreground). This contains one of the best guitar solos on the record – a thick, syrupy-sounding Precoda playing a mid 60’s Harmony made Silvertone with infectious melodic style. The murky mix of Precoda’s tone with Wynn’s Fender chime is a delight throughout. The two guitar voices speaking together, rather than the standard, “you play rhythm, I’ll play lead” predictability most two guitar bands fall into. “Until Lately” sounds like an outtake from Nuggets, or maybe an undiscovered tune from Iggy and the Stooges Funhouse.

The haunting, lovely Smith-sung “Too Little Too late” leads us into the last cut – the title track. The song rocks, the band is in top form, and the guitars speak as a punctuation mark to one of the great guitar-led albums from any era.

If you love guitar, and you love great songs (and here I am defining great songs as those written by the likes of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, early Lou Reed, Exile On Main Street period Rolling Stones, Tom Waits and Television), do yourself a favor and pick up this neglected classic of guitar brilliance. And double the favor you do yourself by catching up with the great work Wynn continues to do – he’s one of our great songwriters, and more people should know it. The man rocks. And this is one of the greatest rock albums of all time.

Under the Radar: The Dream Syndicate from MyRareGuitars.com