[atlantaprog] Re: female guitarists

Veronica wrote...it would seem to me 
that because they (we) are
so few, we'd all be better known

I would argue that this is probably true.  Being
a guitar player AND being female seems to be
somewhat automatically noteworthy.

...She was a very accomplished and recognized
jazz guitarist, almost unheard of in
that genre.

"accomplished and recognized" and yet "unheard
of?"  I will ponder this :)  Do bear in mind also
that jazz guitarist (male and female) tend to not
be as famous as "rock stars."

...I heard she commited suicide

my understanding is that she had a heart attack. 
However, she was a heavy user of heroin and I'm
sure that didn't help matters.

....I'll bet many of you guys know who the lead 
guitar player for White Snake
was

Actually, I haven't the faintest.  But I'll bet
he had long hair ..hehe


...Who knows Liona Boyd (classical) 
or Jennifer Batton (rock)
or for that matter, who recognizes Nancy Wilson 
(Heart) as a great guitar
player?

I've heard of Liona Boyd, although I can't say
that I am familiar with a lot of her playing. 
I've never heard of Jennifer Batton.  As for
Nancy Wilson...geez...I mean, she's a good
player...I don't think I could say "great."

...You guys should check out some of 
their early vocal and guitar
arrangements on "Dog and Butterfly" and "Little 
Queen".

Actually, this is the Heart that I am familiar
with.  The best stuff..in my humble opinion.

...if you were to try and
think of great slide players, would any of you 
(realistically) think of
Bonnie Raitt as being one?

How about J.R. Cobb or Barry Bailey?  Do YOU know
who these guys are?  And personally..I like their
slide better than Bonnies.  But I can assure you
they will never be as well knownl.

...I'd guess probably 
not, even though she has won
top spot in more readers polls in the guitar mags

than anyone in history.

And I think the real question here is...to what
degree does this reflect talent as opposed to
fame?  Frankly, winning polls doesn't impress me
all that much.  Sometime is reflects true musical
talent..sometimes it doesn't.

...If you guys out there can convince me
otherwise 
(that you don't really
think like this), I'd be surprised, but in a good

way. :-)

This would be a no-win scenario for sure. 
Nothing that anyone says is going to convince you
of anything if you have made up your mind how you
are going to see things.

...If 
you could argue, via the
higher percentage of male players, that 
guitarists are thus inherently
males, you have create a standard of what is 
normal.

No.  Just pointing out the simple fact that more
guys do play guitar.  I don't think this says
that it is "abnormal" for women to pay the
guitar...just less common.

...they really don't get
the same recognition for the exact same 
accomplishments.  If they did, they
would be BETTER known, as they are more rare, and

not the lesser knowns
that they really are.

I just don't see this as being the case at all. 
If anything, women, by virtue of being female,
are probably BETTER known than their male
counterparts.  And frankly, the novelty factor
(of being female) seems to propel some female
musicans to a level of recognition beyond what
their musical talents would otherwise merit.  I
have seen many a male guitarist..who could play
well beyond a Nancy Wilson, who will never have
her fame.  

...And God bless you for recognizing Emily, but
you 
spelled her name wrong!

So did you ;)
In any case, I'll be the first to admit that I'm
not that world's greatest speller.  And it
doesn't help matters that I haven't listened to
Emily in at least 15 years.  But I'll never
forget how I stumbled upon her.  I was visiting a
university in Iowa, and she played there, in a
small student center.

....If you
want me to come up with a female for every male 
you mention here, I can do
it!

I'm sure you can.  But...for whatever
reason...the general music consuming public
doesn't seem to see it quite the way you do.  And
call me "un-enlightened" but I just don't see
this as being the result of a conspiracy or
backward thinking or anything else like that.  It
simply reflects peoples choices.  And..as much as
we may not like to consider it...it is a
completely fair thing to suggest that maybe -
just maybe - it's simply because these female
players to which you allude just don't move
people in the same way that Eddie Van Halen,
DiMeola, Eric Johnson...etc etc do.  That being
said..I would love for you to give me some
listening recommendations.

...if I could, I'd have me
a big stack of them Hughes and Kettner's that 
Alex Lifeson keeps using

Does ANYONE still recognize classic vintage amps
anymore *sigh* *shaking head*  lol

Sorry..I'm kidding (for the most part).  If
Hughes and Kettner does it for you..so be it :)

...Ahh we live in such an "enlightened
society"...  
Where truly masculine men
are free to exhibit their sensitive sides and be 
intuitive, and truly
feminine women are free to be logical and 
objective, and nobody is offended
or threatended...  NOT!

Possibly.  But another possibility is that men
and women are simply acting the way that they
choose to act.  Sorry to sound blunt..but when
you get right down to it..isn't it just a little
arrogant to suggest that the world would be more
"enlightened" if people would simply act the way
we think they should.

...>....I have encountered guys not liking to be 
>called boys.  Something about
>their "manhood" or something... :-)
>
>Right, just as it might say something about a
>womans "womanhood" if she is uncomfortable being
>called a girl ;)  Bottom line, man or woman, if
>you're comfortable with who you are you aren't
>going to bothered by someone elses choice of
>terms.

Yes, but only if those choice of terms aren't 
historically used as
diminuitive and derrogatory.

I absolutely disagree with the notion that the
term "girl" has been "historically used as a
derrogatory term."  Geez...Veronica...as you just
recently told someone in here....lighten up! :)

Just my two cents worth :)
Gene



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