John McLaughlin: Speeding On The Acoustic

John McLaughlin Solo Guitar

Recorded August 30, 1981 St. Goarshausen, Germany.

There’s a lot of people that don’t necessarily appreciate  “Speed Guitar”

but then again,,,

there’s a lot of you that do.

But to be a successful guitarist, you have to be able to do it all… you know, play slow, play melodies, play with feeling, and play fast.

Well John McLaughlin for the longest time that I can recall, was (is) perhaps the sheer fastest on the acoustic- able to play lines at blistering speeds. You can give that to him.

As for the other stuff he’s doing, maybe it just wouldn’t be impressive if it didn’t have the speed riffs included? What do you think?