The Genius of JB

Music Makers
#1

One of the greats:

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#2

I know I may have posted this before, but it’s hard to explain what a loss this is.

I saw JB once, at the House of Blues in Orlando, which was a surprisingly small venue for seeing one of the founding fathers of rock guitar.
Needless to say, I was riveted to his hands, trying to figure out how he was wrestling unworldly cries, screams, purrs and wails out with an endless combination of volume tone and whammy adjustments, along with a seemingly endless imagination of how to stray from the melody enough to make you wonder, but never so far as to confuse you.

Because We Ended As Lovers, a song I played for many years live, was a revelation. All those years of trying to learn the nuance displayed on Blow By Blow were absolutely futile. He played it like it was brand new, with twists and turns you can’t describe without being there, and basically rewrote it on the spot while elevating the sense of loss and looking back, and I’m not ashamed to say I was holding back tears, for both the fluidity of his playing, as well as the futility of my attempts to come close.

You can learn the words to the Gettysburg address, but delivering it is different.

I left the place knowing I had witnessed greatness. This guy was channeling whatever voice he chose through a guitar, with a nonchalant attitude that said “Wait until tomorrow, you won’t believe it”.

If you’ve ever tried to play or understand guitar, you’ll know how big a loss this truly is.

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#3

RIP
Legend lost to time

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#4

I love your post, @ColdRoomStudio !!!
I love @StylesBitchley 's excellent comments!!! You can learn the words to the Gettysburg address, but delivering it is different. Simply agree 100% on this statement.
Every person will have a different way of delivering the “address words”
Genius indeed, JB!!!

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#5

I don’t think I ever saw him, but I especially remember his song Definitely Maybe, an instrumental, from the day. I kept wanting to call it Melancholy Maybe, but after scouring the tracks on the early albums I finally found it. What a way to go, so unexpected.

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