The Art of the Boogie

Many of my favorite guitarists, especially the higher-end virtuosos like Vai and Satriani, have for some reason developed a propensity to record a signature Blues Boogie piece as a sort of trademark. I think it's a cool idea, as it is both a nod to the driving force behind all of rock (blues), and also a custom-made showcase for their great talents.

A Blues Boogie (also called Boogie-woogie), for those of you not versed in the many styles of blues, is traditionally a piano-based up-tempo blues piece that was very popular between the 1920's and 1950's. It's a form of 12-Bar blues characterized by a groovy driving bass line and a fast fancy right hand shuffle that is made for dancing. No amount of text description can truly describe a Blues Boogie, you just have to hear one and I know you will have heard them before. Almost nobody doesn't like them.

Pinetop Perkins was one of the great Blues Boogie pianists...yeah the guy who just died this week. Actually, that's a coincidence, I've been meaning to blog this for quite a while.

Well, various rock guitar virtuosos have recorded guitar/bass versions of Boogies, each adding their own particular flair. It's interesting to hear them, you can clearly tell they are based on the old Pinetop style, but with injections of modern rock elements. They are fast, up-beat, and incredibly difficult to imitate.

If you're interested, here are a few of my favorite signature Rock Boogies:

Eric Johnson (pictured above): Righteous.

Johnson plays a stock vintage Strat with such easy fluidity, such complete effortlessness, I am always reminded of this thought by Roger Ebert:

"Great writers (Nabokov, Dickens, Wodehouse) make it look like play. Almost-great writers (Mann, Galsworthy, Wolfe) make it look like Herculean triumph. It is as true in every field." Johnson gets a remarkably velvety tone on his recordings, pure honey like a Stradivarius violin.

Joe Satriani: Satch Boogie

I'm sure you've heard this one if you listened to rock radio in the 80's. It's a blistering and violent piece filled with harmonics and abrupt pauses that nonetheless is technically superb.

Steve Vai: Juice

If you've ever heard Vai, you know he does nothing by the book. He gets my vote for best rock guitarist ever, although he would argue (and has) for Hendrix. He's a verifiable musical savant, the kind that comes along once in a generation. The guy can do anything, and I mean anything. He can write incredible songs in 20 minutes, or even on the spot. He's got perfect pitch and memory, a wild imagination, and the tenacity to work through any challenge. In his hands the 7-string Ibanez Jem that he helped create turns into a machine...he can make elephant sounds one minute and front a world-renowned symphony orchestra the next. His flat picking and tapping are second to none, it's something you have to see to believe. And to top it off, he's incredibly modest and self effacing, which makes his kind of talent almost bearable for us wanna-be rockers :)

Vai started out playing for Zappa, an ultra-perfectionist who almost immediately said Vai was the best he had ever seen, even as a teenager. He has done studio session work and played with many bands (David Lee Roth, Whitesnake, ...) but he really does his best when he's unconstrained by anyone else's demands. Juice is just one of his many pieces that showcase his style. He also did a blues-based song that I think is even better but way more "out there" called Blue Powder.