Mick and Keith and Thomas

[Joe Allonby]

Keith claims that it was Mississippi Fred McDowell that was the inspiration
for the open tuning - though the Ry Cooder connection and Mr Parsons may
have been influences.

The reason I brought that up was the statement that Keith always had another
guitar player in the Stones. This is not the case. The degeneration of Brian
Jones left him alone in that regard for a while. Open tuning was an
intelligent response to that situation. It is all part of my point of
Keith's talents lying in his gifts as a band leader and arranger. The  man
plays music with his head and the other musicians that he has to work with,
not with his fingers. It's the difference between being a technician and an
artist. I've been playing guitar since 1966, professionally off and on since
1975. The lead player in my current band can play circles around me on the
fretboard (and does). He defers to me when it comes to arrangements. A good
carpenter is not an architect. A good architect is not a carpenter or brick
layer for that matter and shouldn't be. But he should understand what they
do in order to do what he does. Keith is a musical architect. Would anybody
care to dance about it?

On 7/31/06, Gordon, Alex <alex.gordon at abbeyroad.com> wrote:
>
>  Aye, people were experimenting with open tunings long before the
> Stones... John Fahey... Davey Graham... Robbie Basho... Not exactly "rock"
> but i'd place them all, in my humble opinion, above Keith in the guitar
> talent stakes...
>
>  ------------------------------
>  *From:* owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] *On
> Behalf Of *MalignD at aol.com
> *Sent:* 29 July 2006 14:12
> *To:* pynchon-l at waste.org
>
> *Subject:* Re: Mick and Keith and Thomas
>
> Well, again, there's nothing original in the notion that you'll get a
> fuller sound with open tunings.  His playing sounds great in those songs, I
> agree; but I would still say you're over-rating him; I don't think this is
> the feat you think it is.
>
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