Girls With Guitars
Sep 9th, 2007 at 9:31 pm by Susie
So the guitar question turned out to be interesting in a way I didn’t anticipate. I told you to define “greatest” any way, any genre you wanted, yet most of you automatically assumed I meant lead guitarist - more to the point, lead electric guitarist. As in “speed.” As in “pyrotechnics.”
As in “male.”
And I couldn’t help noticing how few of the female readers had anything to say.
Well, I have to admit, the feminist in me was concerned. I mean, I like those old school guitar heroes myself. But as I learned in art school, the use of white space around the line is powerful, too. Subtlety in a player is a great thing, and that’s where female musicians reign. So I thought I’d take the opportunity to point out some of the great female players out there.
Guys don’t think of women guitarists because they don’t identify with them. Little boys don’t typically play air slide and lip-synch to Bonnie Raitt while they dream of being a rock star. I’m a female writer and musician, though; I did. And I have to wonder: Just like with female bloggers, I wonder how many great female players fall through the cracks because no one knows or cares they’re there.
I love music, and I can hold my own with male music geeks. (I got all the inside jokes in “High Fidelity.”) But I refuse to concede music as a competitive sport. Remember, guys - if all it took was speed, Eddie Van Halen would rule the universe - and my ex-boyfriend wouldn’t be my ex. (Rim shot.)
I will say that every single musician* listed here 1) has a distinctive sound 2) is an incredible live guitar player and 3) has chops well-regarded by other musicians. (*Except for Liz Phair, who might fall short on No. 2 and 3 and yet, she should be here anyway.)
Yeah, guys, we do have some shredders, too. Here’s Jennifer Batten, playing with Jeff Beck.
I wouldn’t want to be the one to tell The Donnas’ Allison Robertson she’s not good enough to play with the boys:
(Or Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner, or the Great Kat either. You might lose some teeth.)
Women mostly play rhythm and bass, which doesn’t hog the fan spotlight the way lead guitarists do. (I read somewhere that women have only 45% of male forearm strength, a must-have to play lead. That would explain a lot.) But as anyone who’s ever played in a band will tell you, the rhythm guitarist isn’t exactly a frill. Let me put it this way: No way would a band split up the gig money with an extra player if they didn’t have to.
Whether it’s for cultural or biological reasons, women stand out in the acoustic and blues genres. Joni Mitchell is certainly one of the most underrated guitarists out there. (You could ask Charles Mingus if he was still alive.) From the very beginning, she made the guitar into an orchestral instrument through a dizzying array of open tunings and ushered in a whole new age of acoustic guitar in rock:
Here’s Patty Larkin at the Falcon Ridge Folk Fest. This one doesn’t show off her virtuosity as well as it might (’cept for the ending, where she gives Richard Thompson a run for his money), but there’s not such a great selection of her work on YouTube:
Bonnie Raitt is one of those people whose body of work is both broad and deep. Her singing voice is so powerful, it’s too easy to forget what great chops she has. Here’s a shot of the young, pre-VH1 Bonnie in 1977:
I’ve been following Rory Block’s work for at least thirty years and even managed to talk the management into booking her at Philadelphia’s now-departed Chestnut Cabaret (it was a flop - they couldn’t figure out how to market her) but fortunately, her career took off without my help. She’s (as we say) Big In Europe. Here she is, playing “Terraplane Blues”:
So the next time you’re knocking back a few beers with some friends, and the subject turns to that old perennial “How come there aren’t any great female guitar players?”, go against the barroom grain and drop some of these names. And hey, here’s more: Susan Tedeschi, Kaki King, Phoebe Snow, legendary session player Carole Kaye, Ellen McIlwaine (Jimi Hendrix used to play for her), Lucinda Williams, Ani diFranco, P.J. Harvey, Lita Ford, Chrissie Hynde, Nancy Wilson, Tina Weymouth, Joan Jett, Sue Foley, Emily Robinson, Shawn Colvin, Melissa Etheridge, Patty Griffin, Marnie Stern, Lee Aaron…
Just tell ‘em. “That ‘no great female guitar player’ thing? Dude. It’s. So. Over.”
i don’t think it’s simply forearm strength: witness the large number of incredible female fiddlers, like molly cherryholmes, the now tasteless alison krauss, april verch, natalie macmaster.
the same is true of female mandolin players like rhonda vincent.
if women can play like that on those intruments i can’t see why they can’t go “weedly wee” on the electric guitar as well.
like Great Kat.
I don’t recall ever hearing anyone claim that there were no great female guitarists. Ever.
And since I posted the links to the Di Meola, let me just say that he’s not all about blazing speed; the entirety of Elegant Gypsy is musical, and not all of it is fast.
And you did ask for the best, not for my favorites.
Bonnie Raitt has been one of my favorites since the early seventies; I’ve seen her in concert several times, and when she first comes out onto stage, a little bit of a red-haired woman lugging that big ‘ol Gibson, I admit the guitar looks to be almost bigger than she is. And then she starts to play, and it seems like the guitar shrinks about five sizes — she utterly dominates the instrument.
If you’d asked for best composer I might have said Joni. Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter makes for a perfect summer afternoon. “Propped up on a samba beat with dreamland coming on …”
Brendan: Without giving it too much thought, I’d say it also has something to do with male resistance to letting women jam with them. The more you play with other people, the better you get.
I dunno about the forearm thing. I’d say that most women couldn’t armwrestle most men, and maybe the ones who can pick up instruments other than the guitar because it’s less social hassle. And while I know there’s not a sexist bone in your body, I can’t say that about most male musicians.
Joel: I’m just pointing out that there are lots of female guitar players out there, and that “best” is (and has always been) a subjective term. This wasn’t a test.
I think that’s probably true in the hyper testosterone world of metal (and a lot of rock).
You would think the same would be true on the BG scene, what with all the conservative mountain people who like the music, and there is still a degree of sexism, but that is less and less. There have always been women (and more frequently girls) in every bluegrass jam I’ve ever been in.
I’m glad to hear that, because when I was playing bluegrass, the jam circles invariably shut out the female players - unless they were playing with their husbands.
If you want to see forearm strength, check out the arms of female cellists like Ofra Harnoy.
Hard for me to think of women guitarists and not think of Nina Gerber somewhere up at the top of the list.
–Dog, etc.
woof
See? I never heard of her. That’s the point of this post.
Seconded on Nina Gerber. Saw her at a Strawberry Festival seven or eight years back - she kicked late-night ass. Etta James and Arlo Guthrie at that same event; good times.
I’m trying to think how to point you to Nina G … she was Kate Wolf’s accompanist for years, and truthfully everything she’s done (that I’ve heard) has been Teh Hot Guitar. Saw her one night in Berkeley, CA, accompanying someone (maybe Laurie Lewis, who is someone else you should hear if you haven’t), and she played a Mystery Train that would have made anyone still alive sit up straight and take notice. The kind of playing that makes you hold your breath, or conjure up imagined duos and trios that it would be hot to hear. What would she and Mark Knopfler play like together? That kind of thing.
I don’t know if she’d want her name out in public, but there’s a young woman I’ve heard a few times now sitting in with local players. She graduated from high school this past June, and she’s been playing for three or four years max.
And she can do things that pickers who’ve been at it longer than I’ve been around (and I”m older than dirt) can’t touch.
That good.
They’re out there; she’s not the only one. They’re out there.
With kind regards,
Dog, etc.
i remember home
I love Laurie Lewis; she’s great.
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I’ve been a big fan of Rory Block and Bonnie Raitt (when she played the blues) for a long time. I also agree about Sue Foley but I would add Laura Chavez of the Lara Price Band, Erja Lyytenin, Ana Popvic, Joanna Connor, Tracy Conover, Debbie Davies and Deborah Coleman to the list. Laura Chavez is just lights out! Obviously I’m a blues fan and these women are as good as anyone, regardless of genre. Check them out!
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I agree with RocDoc, Laura Chavez is an awesome guitar player, regardless of gender, she can chop an axe! Laura Chavez is currently my favorite. I also like Ana Popavic, Susan Tedeschi, Susan Foley, and Joanna Connor.