Sir Richard Bishop Raga Blues - Manchester, UK 2005

[ParadoxIncarnate]

Saw him open for Swans in Asheville, NC. He's amazing.

[mickhutchinson]

Great

[svantearrhenius1]

SIR RICHARD MARRY ME

[Walnutjohnson]

Does anyone here know if any of his stuff is improvised or how much of it is played the same as on the record?

[bookdemon]

@Walnutjohnson - the majority is improvised but it really depends on the piece in question. For this one, there are a few phrases that are from the original recording but the rest is improvised.

[TheOnkruidt]

not this particular one, but srb was one of the best live gigs i've ever seen.. blew my mind..

[Debaser86]

sir richard bishop is the best guitarist, sun city girls are the best band

[jaymeeluu77]

Brilliant! I love Sun City Girls.

[lexo30]

0:29-0:31 - he plays this exact two-part phrase as part of the climax of the track 'Howrah Station' on Fingering the Devil.

[ironbuttermilk]

Pretty nice, but some of it just seems like a bunch of well executed banging. It would sound better to me if it flowed more and seemed a bit less frenetic. I also miss the interplay with another player, tabla or other percussion. The build between the two instruments seems to grow organically from their interaction, rather than here, which sounds sort of arbitrary and inorganic. It's still inspiring though.

[monkeygonetoheavensi]

Check him out on Electric guitar on Sun City Girls 'Torch Of The Mystics' cd...if you can find it for less than a hundred pounds on Amazon...that will truly blow yr fucking mind

[nightingalerider]

He puts in also the main theme from Howrah Station. Anyway, I guess Kali Yuga is coming and this guy is working for it.

[JediMaster81078]

Just amazing. Blows my mind constantly.

[indy4ever]

Absolutely brilliant. I've seen this kind of open string instrumental acoustic all over the place before, but I've never seen someone doing it with such skill, clarity, or energy. Normally it seems like pointless strumming that drones on and on to nowhere. But his powerful strumming sections have such incredible direction and purpose. Also the closest I have ever seen an acoustic guitar player come to immitating Ravi Shankar at his peak, which is a mightily impressive thing to be able to do!

[lexo30]

I agree. One reason Bishop plays this so well is that he was listening to Indian classical music from when he was a little kid, so he understands the structures and can improvise within them and not seem like he's trying to sound Oriental. Also, unlike most acoustic guitarists he manages to project power and fury, although i admit that amplification helps with that.

A friend of mine saw him in concert in Dublin and said that he didn't stop playing until every string was broken. I believe it.

[durkadurka123]

If he was black he'd be at least twice as good.

[d1esl0winnit]

from my experience as a human being. 8/10 people who comment on youtube are complete idiots.

[downupacross]

NOU

[res813]

I'll give you a run for your money

[Pomegranatem]

9/11

[varunshivashankar]

@d1esl0winnit are you part of the 8 or the 2?

[TheOnkruidt]

@d1esl0winnit from my experience as a human being, 8/10 people are complete idiots..

[aviatoreyes]

this shiz is the awsomeness.

[mode30]

open tuning wanking is not impressive imho

[savagerabbit]

It's not about impressing people, it's about musical expression.

[Drewb18c1]

you nailed it. music that's simply about impressing people gets boring...this is how i feel about people like steve vai - TONS of talent, but the music gets monotonous.

Bishop has no lack of technical talent, but he also writes expressive compositions...this is a perfect example.

Mode30 - in case you didn't notice the name of the piece, it's based on Indian raga music...which by definition has a drone.

[d1esl0winnit]

we take it you can play better than this if you are saying this mode30. show us some of your vids playing then. show us how its done in eadgbe then eh ? prick.

[SourabhRK]

aweful

[Scripp]

david lee roth would have told the sound engineer, " fix the feed back john or I'm gonna kick your ass".

muahahaahaha

[Bandy500]

what's the difference between this and shredding?

[ruster2006]

Imagination, beauty and art; not wankery.

[Bandy500]

don't get me wrong, i like it - i've got a few of his records....just strikes me as similar in a way, and doesn't always hold my interest. i like the sun city girls too.

[savagerabbit]

From my experience as a player, I find this kind of stuff to be more satisfying, expressive, and musical than shredding.

[Bandy500]

ahh thanks a rational comment at last. from my experience as a player, it has virtuosity at its forefront, similar to shredding. I think I'm more of a Derek Bailey type when it comes to this sort of thing, not that I don't appreciate it.

[mufasamusic]

This is so cool. It helped inspire my raga guitar playing. Check it out...

[DerekMcA]

One of the best guitarists ever... so underrated.

[AdamDamonAtkinson]

Are you being sarcastic?

[DerekMcA]

No.

[Pattrick1965aolcom]

what tuning is this??anyone?

[mvp7894]

its in the key of G

[bookdemon]

It's an open E tuning: EBEEBE

[hteeth]

@bookdemon is this the same tuning as "the vinegar stroke?"

[bookdemon]

@hteeth yes, same tuning EBEEBE low to high, or if you like - high to low.

[72twist]

Holy mother of F**K! The part where he strums the guitar real fast sounds almost like percussion! I just ordered 2 copies each of his LPs: Improvika, Polytheistic Fragments and While My Guitar Violently bleeds. I CANNOT WAIT TO GET THEM! This guy has definitely mastered his instrument!

[HotBadgerDeluxe]

Improvika is fantastic, and I think that "Holy mother of F**K!" is probably the only possiblle response to this.

[savagerabbit]

It isn't quite right to say he's mastered his instrument based on this song. Even Chet Atkins denied having mastered the guitar.

[h86obsid]

Hopefully will be seeing this guy opening for Earth next month.

[neitherneither]

I'll go

[noleno]

is he really a Sir?

[iamtexas]

no, but he should be

[ruilouren]

I don't know if this is true, but I heard the guy being interviewed on the radio when he came to Portugal and he said it was from when he went on a trip to England. He wanted to meet the queen but wasn't allowed, so he he gave himself the title of Sir. Thus becoming Sir Richard Bishop. That's what he said on the interview anyway.

[marlontarditi]

Sounds very much along the lines of Davey Graham/Jimmy page in the late 60'. Nice

[MtFujiInMyPantsSUGOI]

Just got back from his show in Vancouver...fantastic!

[BDWong]

PS, he needs to drop the opening act deal and start headlining!

[BDWong]

I saw SRB open for Animal Collective in Charlottesville VA and he stole that show too! Saw him again recently opening for Smog at a better, more intimate venue in C'ville and again thought his performance was the high point of the evening. Apparently he likes to tour, so go see him if you can and do pick up the albums.

[alxgag1]

i saw him in lawrence, ks in may... impressed me, buy his new album "While My Guitar Violently Bleeds"

[jettp]

badamam bamdmad badmmadm aadadmabm

[bambam5333]

its obviously the steroids

[knayr]

I just saw Sir Richard Bishop open for Animal Collective. He, by far, stole the show from the headlining act. One of the best performances of 2007, so far.

[hisironlung]

this blows my mind and i love it.

[manga12]

remindes me most of charro or some spanish flamanco gitarist. fast and close to the strings

[GypsyScreamOut]

India actually had quite a bit to do with the development of what we call flamenco, spain was a crossroads for several culture,indian, gypsies, jews, and african all came to spain and influenced what we now all flamenco.

[ashharbhu]

Amazing !

[lesclaypool54]

I'm a guitar player and I didn't know him. His manner of playing the guitar is very original and interesting (unlike most of these shred)...I love it

[gmooney]

saw him play in belfast. FANTASTIC

[jejelad]

i just can say: totally awesome! (like bill and ted)

[Pacifica1988]

I just can say: awesome...