Welcome one and all to the Guitar Wars. These battles feature songs nominated by you, the folks from the Realms. This isn’t about who the better guitarist is, or what band is better. This is about the instrument and the song. Great solos are something that make us sit up and take notice, but the guitar is more than that. There are great riffs like the one in Beat It, which was not done by Eddie Van Halen. You know, that awesome riff that permeates the song is also the part that EVH had nothing to do with. There are ways that the guitarist wraps his playing around the melody and makes a perfect fit that’s so subtle and imperceptible that most times it gets missed. And of course, there are the solos, some with blinding speed and some played so eloquently and with so much feel that you can get lost in one sustained note after another.

You are hear! Hendrix, Clapton, Lifeson, Atkins, Page, Abasi, Santana, Morello and a host of others will be popping up. Come on in and check out the virtuosity of these and others. Find new songs you can add to your shuffle or just reminisce on songs you may not have heard in a while. Enjoy.

Listen to each song and pay attention to the guitar part and vote for the song whose guitar part you liked better. Maybe you’re a fan of the slide, or finger-picking or electric solo, but give each song a chance and then vote for the performance that you liked better. We’ll go round by round and match by match until we have a winner. That song will be crowned best overall guitar song to listen to on the Realms. All the songs will have the main guitarist or guitarists listed along with the band’s name and the name of the song. Critique it if you want, and judge it as you will, but keep in mind, this isn’t a battle of what band or artist is better. I for one may not be a fan of a certain band or solo artist, but that will not keep me from voting for a song of theirs if that song has one of the most gorgeous guitar solos ever heard.



Matchups will close on the fifth day after they are posted.

So, without further adieu, here we go:

Chet Atkins "Orange Blossom Special"

Buddy Guy – Baby Please Don’t Leave Me

I hate hate hate to vote against Chet Atkins but I have to support my nom Mr. Buddy Guy. A man who taught Jimi Hendrix a thing or two.

Two very different styles represented. Personally, I'm partial to some fine old-fashioned pickin' so I'm giving Chet a vote.

I am no musician.

Trying to isolate the guitar from a body of work is going to be sometimes easier, sometimes harder, depending on the work.

In Chet Atkins' case, it is easy. The accompaniment is so sparse that the entire song is effectively a guitar solo.

In Buddy Guy's case it is more difficult. Heavy drums and vocals are fighting to distract me, take my focus off of the guitar and on to the song as a whole.

But even after that, there is a matter of the end result. Merely isolating the guitar is only the first step. Now who did "better"?

Am I qualified to grade two guitarists on their work? Nope. Not at all.

Am I going to, anyway? That's what I am here for.

After much back and forth, I am going to vote for Buddy Guy and Baby Please Don't Leave Me.

Well, since this opener makes me feel similarly, RE, I guess that makes us fellow travelers --- just ones moving in different directions.

That said...

Chet Atkins -- Orange Blossom Special --

You and me both, buddy.

This is a great match to get things going. Two very distinct styles. One blues guy who influenced Hendrix versus another guy who influenced the fingerpicking styles of just about everyone, from masters like Tommy Emmanuel and Doyle Dykes to just about anyone who wants to play country or bluegrass. Buddy Guy is awesome here, but I'm going to go with the guy that most think may be the most creative picker ever.

Chet Atkins

Chet Atkins for me.

I love guitar, both playing one and listening to great songs, and can see right now this TOC is going to be such a mixed blessing. Love hearing some songs I've never heard before AND enjoying old favorites. But having to choose between songs like this is SO hard!! Such talents and I have to vote against one. In a squeaker, I guess I'll vote Buddy Guy and Baby Please Don't Leave Me.

Add me to the list of not qualified to really know what is what on guitar, but in a way I think that makes this a bit more fun, because so many of us are just going by our untrained ear.

Also as this is the first contest I should say that I wish I could play 100th as good as the weakest player in this competition, so when I inevitably criticize a song here or there know that there is an invisible "They are obviously amazing but..." in front of anything I write.

All of that said this is one heck of starting match, Chet's picking is crazy, but it's Buddy Guy that really blew me away. I think I had a preconceived notion that he was this generic blues guy and hot damn was I ever wrong. That could have just as easily been a Hendrix song, and I don't know much about Guy, but I am guessing he was an enormous reason why Hendrix sounds the way he does. Awesome stuff.

Buddy Guy

Well said!! It seems to be an awesome lineup of guitar songs.

A tournament were I actully am excited to listen to every song.

Buddy Guy - Baby Please Don't Leave Me. Just more my style of play, but Chet is a legend. Just groovy.

This is going to be very tough.

This song came out in 2001 so this was more of a case of the student influencing the teacher.

You can find plenty of standard blues tracks by Mr. Guy.

I really want to vote for Buddy Guy but it is not the song that is carrying this contest.

I wanted to vote for Chet Atkins as a big old FU to Eddie Van Halen as it seems like he ripped off a similar tapping style in Hot For Teacher.

Holy crap! I thought this was going to be an easy win for Chet Atkins. But Buddy Guy plays like B.B. King with a vein full of Black Sabbath (and sings like Ozzie with a vein full of B.B.) You just don't hear the blues rocked like that very often.

But I have a daughter who is just now learning to play the guitar and I would really, really love for her to hear and watch Orange Blossom Special over and over again. Chet really is Mr. Guitar and watching the ease with which he pulls off those riffs and runs is just stunning.

Are all of the Guitar Wars going to be this tough?

Chet Atkins - though I reserve the right to change this vote by the end of the round.