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For me, it's a tossup between B.B. King and Jimmie Vaughan. They've mastered the "layin' back" feel -- in musicians' jargon, it's learning how to find the heavy hole behind the backbeat that is right in the groove.
B.B. King shows off his expertise with vibrato and with wigglin'
that note to where it'll make you wiggle in yo' seat. Jimmie's got
that self-assured artistic confidence. I first saw him playing at a
nightclub in Dallas, in '69. We were both just startin' out, and we
both looked up to so many of the same players from growing up in
Texas. So many contemporary guitar players have the same list: B.B.
King, Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, Jimmy Reed. The blues list.
My favorite songs by them are B.B.'s "Three O'Clock Blues" and
Jimmie's "Boom-Bapa-Boom." The guitar playing exemplifies great
tone and composition. Those two songs qualify as the definitive
work.
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