Rogue's Gallery
Most Honourable Mentions
Martin Barre
Jethro Tull
When Martin Barre took over from Mick Abrahams as guitarist for Tull in 1969, he changed the band's sound immensely and spurred their rise to international fame. A Les Paul player, Barre's sound was crisp and punchy with a distinctive warmth characterized in songs such as Aqualung, Locomotive Breath and Thick As A Brick.
Rory Gallagher
Rory Gallagher commands perhaps the most loyal legion of followers of any player from the golden age of rock and roll. He is an intense performer who plies an honest, gritty brand of blues, and is most at home on the live stage. His 1972 LP 'Live In Europe' containing the classic Messin With the Kid, provides an excellent cross section of his finest work. Sadly, Gallagher died in 1995 of a liver disorder.
Tony Iommi
Black Sabbath
Wanna know what it feels like to be hit by a cement truck? Just turn your stereo up to "11" and throw on a Black Sabbath CD, preferably 'Paranoid', 'Master of Reality' or 'Heaven and Hell'. And what makes being smacked by a ton of concrete fun? Tony Iommi's monolithic, stellar-furnace guitar sound. There are many pretenders to his throne as heaviest guitar player in the world, but none can reign except Iommi.
Mick Jones
Foreigner
Mick Jones is the creative force behind the band Foreigner; and not only wrote and produced the bulk of their material, but distinguished it with his sharp, rythmic guitar phrasings. Vastly underrated, he has the ability to dominate a song with his crisp tone and catchy solos.
Paul Kossoff
Free
Mention the band Free, and virtually every rock fan will cite the 1971 hit All Right Now. Paul Kossoff was the sparkplug that drove Free's fresh, bluesy sound. Although the picture here depicts him with a strat (during his Back Street Crawler days), his most recoginizable work was done using a Les Paul.
Jim McCarty
Cactus
McCarty (right in picture) took part in a number of memorable bootleg sessions with Jimi Hendrix, but is most well known as the guitarist for the band Cactus. Their 1969 self-titled debut, 'Restrictions' and 'One Way Or Another' (both released in 1971), are classic high-energy blues rock. Your humble author had the opportunity to see them open up for the original Free in 1971. Heck of a show!
Gary Moore
Gary Moore is perhaps most known as a premier blues/rock player, and his excellent 1990 album, Still Got the Blues has thankfully brought him back into the limelight. Still, he has enjoyed a long and storied career as not only a master session player, but as lead guitarist in Colosseum II and a couple of stints with Thin Lizzy. Moore crafts a passionate and compelling style, and definitely deserves more mainstream recognition.
Gino Scarpelli
Goddo
The Toronto band Goddo were at their peak in the late 70s, and Gino Scarpelli's distinctive sound was a big piece of the puzzle. A true power trio, Goddo's legendary live shows were driven by Scarpelli's unique combination of a Stratocaster guitar and Ampeg V-4 amplifier. Goddo were typical of the booming Toronto music scene of the time: a hotbed that produced Rush, Triumph, Jeff Healey and Kim Mitchell, to name a few.
