Maneuver B Sideways

This is a really interesting video for at least a couple of reasons...

First, I don't know who that white singer is, and it shames me to admit that for some reason, but it seems like he's slightly pissed when big ol' Buddy Miles starts singing the second verse...

HA!

The second interesting thing is that none of the guitarists are sure who's supposed to be taking that first solo...It ends up being Carlos Santana taking the lead, which leads me to the third interesting thing about this video...

Jeff Beck fucking smokes Carlos within the first six notes of his follow-up solo, and even more interesting than that, Carlos KNOWS it, and you can see it in his eyes! There is awe and fear in Carlos eyes, as if Beck is gonna wholly expose him for the second rate noodler that, c'mon, Santana really is...But hey, Carlos is a cool dude, and how can ya not love that huge grin he's got on his face...I saw him twice at Summerfest back in the early '90's, both times in the first ten rows, and I gotta say, no matter what I think of his playing, he and his band put on one helluva great show, and I gotta respect someone who loves what he does...

But I'm not here to once again proclaim the Jeff Beck Godhead (fuck you too, Clapton fans), or to outright ridicule anybody who's a whole lot better a guitarist than I will ever be, and I'm certainly not here to completely ignore Steve Lukather...

(How did he end up on this particular stage in Japan? And hey, is that white singer from Toto?)

No, this particular sideways maneuver is a final tribute to the passing of Buddy Miles, funky drummer and soul provider that he was. Rest in peace.

Hotcha! Hank

Speaking of Jeff Beck

I've been a huge Jeff Beck fan since about the age of 12 or so...Hard to believe, probably, but oddly enough, my dad turned me onto him after finding me air guitaring along to Van Halen one evening. "Oddly enough" because my dad was almost exclusively an Outlaw Country kinda guy, ya know? All I know is Jeff Beck, while being fairly famous and well-respected, is still perhaps the most overlooked and underappreciated guitarist I can think of...An utterly amazing player, and a true master of melody...What's perhaps most impressive of all, to me, is that throughout his 40+ year career, he has been constantly evolving and has never been afraid to embrace and experiment with new technologies and the styles those technologies birth...A true seeker, through and through...

Hotcha! Hank