Contrapuntistic two guitars

So, a lot of these bands weren’t “omitted”…they just didn’t fall into the TYPE of guitar playing I was talking about.

And, as stated in the intro, this is a list of SOME great 2 guitar bands…not ALL great 2 guitar bands.

Thanks for all the commets!

“Great to see recognition for Karl Precoda and early Dream Syndicate. It is worth mentioning that the Velvet Underground was a very heavy influence to Steve Wynn in forming that band – so much so that they took their band name from an early VU-related experimental music(via John Cale) experimental music group.

I didn’t know Karl played a Silvertone on that album, and I’d only seen him perform with a black Strat, which met its demise at one show in my hometown (Keystone Theater in Berkeley) when he smacked it against a support beam on the stage….”

Thom–thanks for the note. Yup, The Dream Syndicate got their name from LaMont (sp?) Young’s experimental band (Dream Syndicate) that John Cale was playing in before he joined Lou Reed and started VU. They were pretty wild…notes sustained for 20 minutes and so on. Interesting stuff.

On the first album, Karl played a Harmony-made 3 pickup Silvertone (the H78 model, I believe…with the Bigsby) with the middle pickup removed. On the tour following THE DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES, it broke and he replaced it with a 335 and a Strat, which is what most of the existing footage of that version of the band shows.

As I DID say in the intro…and repeated in the comments…this was NEVER meant to be (NOR was it stated to BE one) a comprehensive list of ALL the great two-guitar bands, but a list of SOME great ones….and there are issues of taste that made me leave some of them off (all the metal bands mentioned in the comments section, for instance). As for the Allman Bros, I should have put them on my list…an oversight, as they were a band I loved and FILLMORE EAST in a incredible 2 git record.

But, again…if people would read the intro, you would see that this is a list of SOME great 2 guitar bands that people might want to check out. And the comments that call for the Beatles and the Dead clearly didn’t read my lead/rhythm distinction…the Beatles and the Dead have some fine guitar work, but they are traditionally-structured where one player (such as Weir in the Dead) plays rhythm and the other (Garcia in their case) plays the lead. The same goes for AC/DC…a fine band…but not one that falls into the category I define in the introduction.

I didn’t know Karl played a Silvertone on that album, and I’d only seen him perform with a black Strat, which met its demise at one show in my hometown (Keystone Theater in Berkeley) when he smacked it against a support beam on the stage.

Someone already mentioned The Church, but they’re worth mentioning again. Peter Koppes and Marty Willson-Piper wove a wonderful electric guitar tapestry together.

Along the stylistic vain of those bands, I would also add The Gun Club, during their Kid Kongo period(s). The fringe-jazzy, Televisionesque guitar work on ‘The Las Vegas Story’ comes to mind, as well as the more lush sounding stuff they did on ‘Pastoral Hide And Seek’. Though Jeffrey Lee Pierce’s guitar work dominated their final record, ‘Lucky Jim’, it’s still worth a listen. Oh, and having seen them perform ‘Little Wing’ live, twice, I would say their version beats the crap out of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s. (but not Hendrix’s)

Also have to agree with the earlier post about The Allman Brothers, during their Duane Allman/Dickie Betts period. Incredible intertwining of the 2 guitars.

I also agree with most of the other suggestions (inc the Eagles!) – They all have something special in the chemistry between the two players. Especially Wishbone Ash, Lizzy etc. Now, I am not a fan, but Iron Maiden have been around so long now, their guitar interplay between the 3 guitarists is also very good.

Jazz: Prime Time (Ornette Coleman) with Bern Nix & Charles Ellerbee.
Folk: Pentangle with Bert Janch & John Renbourn

Check ’em out dudes, these lads go well beyond a few moody solos…

Grateful Dead (Jerry Garcia & Bob Weir)
Man (Micky Jones & Deke Leonard)
King Crimson mkIII (Bob Fripp & Adrian Belew)

Judas Priest is also one of the great two-guitar rock bands. As noted above, The Clash and AC/DC were also TWO of the great two-guitar bands. Did anyone mention The Beatles? What about The Shadows? The Ventures? Los Straitjackets?

Thanks for all the comments. And I like most of the additions (though I cannot abide any praise of the Eagles, no matter how talented their guitar players may be 🙂 And the ones I don’t LIKE (as bands), I agree with (as picks of bands that do two-guitars very well).

Re: The early 90’s TELEVISION reunion record. LOVE it! “1880 or So” and “Call Mr. Lee”…great stuff….and, yes, killer tone on that whole record.

Ditto on the Brian Jones comments. Thanks.

As far as the added lists in the comments go, I think they’re great. Please realize this list wasn’t meant to be comprehensive–only a sample of some bands who do this well. If I’d kept writing, I would surely have added the Allman Bros., XTC, the MC5, the early Alice Cooper Band, AC/DC (though they are a rhythm/lead band, I’d argue) and many, many of the others.

And there are many listed here in the comments who do twin-guitars REALLY well, but I can’t stand their music (most metal–which I find sophomoric and dumb ((sorry)), Fugazi, Sonic Youth–even though not liking Sonic Youth hurts my hipster cred–Metallica, and others) . So, they were left off as a taste issue.

And, like I said in the intro, here are “some” bands that are great at the two-guitar thing. I never meant to suggest here are “all” the great two-guitar bands.

I really appreciate all the comments. Thanks for reading and adding to the list–very cool of you all.

THANKS! Even for the Eagles 🙂

COUNTING Crows, while now 3 guitars, is another well orchestrated combination of two (or three) guitars that never double parts.

Vastly under-promoted by the sick beast that is the music industry. “Mezcal Head” is a good album to start with – great hooks, sounds, and images. Look for the song “Duel” on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArL94OjZSAU clash hate and war
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-og7aTnL8Y clash garageland

Glaring omissions:
Alice Cooper (Glen Buxton & Mike Bruce)
MC5 (Fred “Sonic” Smith & Wayne Kramer)
1974-77 KISS (Ace Frehley & Paul Stanley)
Blue Oyster Cult (sometimes upped to 3 guitars)
Trouble (Bruce Franklin & Rick Wartell)
Pearl Jam (Mike McCready & Stone Gossard)
G’n’R (the Slash/Izzy era)
Up-and-coming:
Sunship (Marc Ribot & Mary Halvorson)

+1 on Television too. The last, “reunion” Television album is mind boggling and criminally overlooked by “modern” guitar players. No Glamour For Willie, Call Mr. Lee, Mars – Perfect tones, perfect arrangements.

AC-DC – need I say more?

Finally, OK, we’re talking about *two* guitars here, but what about *three* guitars? You’d have to put these two at the top of any list:

Moby Grape – just incredible guitar arrangements. There are some songs where one guitar is playing “country”, another “folk” and another “blues” – and they all work perfectly together.
Buffalo Springfield – ditto

Surely these tow bands are the model for modern bands like Uncle Tupleo, Wilco, Thorns, etc.?

– Kerry Dean, webmaster

All this said, awesome article.

Or Broken Social Scene? (You guys are canadian right?).