Hidden Treasures - Natural Born Leaders

[Scott]

This week’s Hidden Treasure is focusing on those players who are the Lead Singer and Lead Guitarist. These guys are the core of the band, they seem to do it all! And to watch them actually do it live is a special experience and totally captivating. I first took notice of this when I saw Myles Goodwin lead April Wine as the headliner of a triple bill (Doc Holiday and Loverboy opened for them). It was their "Nature of the Beast" tour, and the band was at its peak. What I didn’t expect was how ridiculously good he was at his craft. I found myself focusing in on him and how he managed to lead the band, sing and play lead geetar so seamlessly.

 

So here are 4 guys who I think are great at this. I'm presenting a couple of not-so-obvious choices and I've intentionally left off some obvious ones as well, you need to fill in the blank... who else qualifies for this topic? And who is the best at it?

 

PLAYLIST --> http://snack.to/adhmg9jc

	PAT TRAVERS Crash and Burn 1980 1 - Born Under A Bad Sign Pat Travers was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. Soon after picking up the guitar at age 12, he saw Jimi Hendrix perform in Ottawa. Travers began playing in bands early in his teens; his first bands were the Music Machine, Red Hot, and Merge, which played in clubs in the Quebec area. While performing with Merge, he was noticed by rock artist Ronnie Hawkins, who invited Travers to perform with him. In his early 20's Pat Travers moved to London and signed a recording contract with the Polydor label. His self-titled debut album was released in 1976, and featured bassist Peter "Mars" Cowling, who would become a mainstay in Travers' band for several years. An appearance on the German TV show Rockpalast in November 1976 was later released on DVD under the title Hooked On Music. This performance showcases an early version of Travers' band featuring Cowling and drummer Nicko McBrain.
	Y&T Black Tiger 1982 3 - Barroom Boogie Meniketti began playing guitar at the age of 16, in his third year of high school. After playing guitar for only two years he formed his first band called, "Skin Tight". Dave Meniketti was born and raised in Oakland, California. His influences are Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, Leslie West, James Brown, Jeff Beck, Michael Schenker, Neal Schon, Gary Moore, Led Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers Band, The Who, Deep Purple, and Montrose, to name a few. As the lead singer/lead guitarist with Bay Area band Y&T, he has recorded 17 albums, toured across the United States and around the world. Y&T has sold over 4 million records worldwide.
	APRIL WINE First Glance 1978 2 - Roller Myles Goodwyn (born June 23, 1948 in Woodstock, New Brunswick) is a record producer, guitarist, lead vocalist, main songwriter, founding member of the veteran Canadian hard rock band April Wine. As the longest serving (and only original) member, Goodwyn has led the band from its modest garage band roots to multi-platinum sales. Following the band's peak years during the 1970s and early 1980s, Goodwyn disbanded the group to pursue a solo career. After a brief relocation to the Bahamas, Goodwyn returned to Canada and reformed April Wine in 1992. He continues to lead the band to the present day. In January 2003 Myles Goodwyn received an ECMA Lifetime Achievement Award for his impact on the music industry of Atlantic Canada.
	TED NUGENT Cat Scratch Fever 1977 4 - Wang Dang Sweet Poontang Nugent was known throughout his early career in the 1970s for using Fender amps, a large part of his signature sound, and for playing the hollow-body Gibson Byrdland guitar. Performing since 1958, Nugent has been touring annually since 1967 On July 4, 2008, at the DTE Energy Music Theater in Clarkston, Michigan, Ted Nugent played his 6,000th concert. Derek St. Holmes, Johnny Bee Badanjek (drummer for Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels), and Nugent's guitar teacher from 1958 Joe Podorsek all jammed on stage with Nugent for various tunes.

[Jon]

My first ever Y&T album! It holds a special place in my heart. It's special.

A couple others:

John Sykes

Prince

David Gilmour

Matthew Bellamy

Ty Tabor

Peter Frampton

Buck Dharma

Joe Walsh (weird voice, but I like it)

John Fogerty

[Niels (Mod)]

Pat Travers must be another american phenomenon. Oh. he's from Toronto, I see. Well, ain't it America?! I'm not impresed at all.

"Black Tiger" is my favorite Y&T-album. No contest in fact. I've tried to get this, but no luck so far. I haven't tried THAT hard, mind you. Meniketti is one of the best examples in this catagory. A pretty underrated guitarist imo.

April Wine is yet another band, that I know by name, but not by music. Again I'm unimpressed.

Ted Nugent I know, both by name and musically. But it's not really for me. I was a minor fan around 1985-88. If I'm in a mode, this is not bad at all. Another fine example in this catogary, even though it's not really a band, but I guess, it doesn't have to be a band. If Nugent can qualify, then can Hendrix.

What about David Gilmour?

Eric Clapton?

[Niels (Mod)]

By the way, I didn't read anybody else's comment. That's why I metioned some of the same names.

[Jon]

All killer tracks, I can never get tired of any of these. Well, I guess if they're played over and over and over again one after the other then I probably will get tired. So strike that first sentence. Ok, I just did, but am keeping it there so my thought process remains even. Yeah.

You read all this stuff about "Black Tiger" and most folks abhor this song. Juvenile, stupid, weak....plus many other derogatory words. The rest of the album, to them, is killer but that one song just ruins it a bit for them. I'm juvenile so I like the song. What can I say?

4/4!