Elvis as guitar hero

[Hawksmoor]

I love some of Elvis' guitar "impersonations" sprinkled throughout. Guitar figures in "The Difference" that remind me of Marc Ribot. Short solos at the end of "Mr. Crescent" that sound so much like George Harrison. There are probably more.

Elvis has always been a good guitar mimic. I love his Hendrick impersonation in "Earthbound"

The above is from the main thread on TBNI, which is why I've switched it to here (so as not to drag that thread off-topic). It just made me think...we spend a lot of time praising Elvis as a songwriter, and a fair bit of time praising him as a singer, but we don't often extol his virtues as a guitarist. Anyone want to do some praising of his guitar skills and/or even suggest a top 3/top 5 recorded performances?

[Arnie]

I forget where I lifted this photo from, but thought it fitting for this thread.

I think he sells himself short on his abilities. I for one, love the sound and fury he gets out of his Jazzmaster, on any number of songs. And to see him live solo, with just his guitar, is always fantastic.

Elvis photo.jpg (54.65 KiB) Viewed 3022 times

[verbal gymnastics]

And yet one of his self-references is his clumsiness, hence Little Hands of Concrete.

[Top balcony]

My guitar heros are Ry Cooder, Richard Thompson (acoustic), Martin Simpson and I wouldn't ever put EC at that virtuoso level player. But he does sell himself short. Arnie's right about his solo skills - here's a clip of his fingerstyle which shed new light on a couple of familiar tunes : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7k8c03krxk

[Poor Deportee]

EC’s guitar has improved tremendously over the years. It was fairly basic when he started, but these days - while he may not be technically virtuoso - his playing is absolutely delicious. Every guitar note on “If” is wonderful.