G.E. Smith - brilliance 10 seconds at a time

[jnadle1]

Matter of fact, the guitar and rhythm section also toured with Bob Dylan during these years: G.E., Tony Garnier, and drummer Chris Parker.

[Frugs22]

It was so nice to know you were going to watch an hilarious sketch from legends like Farley or Carvey and be played out by G.E.'s guitarwork afterwards. God I miss the 90's.

[Barnekkid]

He sure has a collection of guitars.

[bluesBro18]

srv on bass?

[justhemus99]

@bluesBro18 his name is t-bone wok and is the bass equivalent of SRV,look him up he is very cool

[Salguine]

I always used to love watching him play during these little breaks, not only because of his skills as a guitarist, but simply because he just looked like he was having so much fun.

[TheVIDEOBEATdotCOM]

In the last clip GE was subtly giving props to Rolling Stone founder, Brian Jones.

[Asilazi]

Such talent. Over and over he'd create 30 seconds of improvisation that exceeded most 3 minute songs.

[Allaboutthemojo]

Always liked his string work. He's got some mad skills, better than some of the known legends of his generation!

[originaltbyrd]

this man owns one of the coolest guitar collections on earth.

does anybody know which episode had JOHNNY WINTER playing his Lazar guitar along with ge smith? been trying to find it for years.

[funkster007]

I used to yell at the TV. "Nooo don't go into a commercial break!!" lol

Especially when G.E. was tearing it up. Which he usually did with that guitar.

[DarksideJohnny]

that last set of licks was sweet!

[blackstarbull]

ne pouvant répondre à votre vidéo sur la télécaster je donne donc mon avis ici

votre video sur la télécaster est hyper bien faite

ma prochaine pelle sera une télé baja.

merci pour pour tant de qualités visuelles et auditives

[dharmaseed]

I just came from a video of a guy named Tom Hess. Fast player, but G.E. actually looks like he is enjoying himself, so he's more fun to watch.

[zigzagbigbag]

Remember when he was fired from SNL the first time? Lorne Michaels has said the reason was G.E was mugging to the camea too much. I also think they received alot of mail about it. Great player though.

[ColtyRamone]

lol i like how i just watched a video of him saying he only ever uses teles, and then the first clip is him with a gibson lol

[Superstarseven]

As Montana Max said once, "Look at me, look at me".

In reference to G.E. Smith of course.

[Ilovemyfender2]

He said he only used a Tele on snl...liar

[Chriskkboongg]

@Ilovemyfender2 He said he only used a Tele with Dylan.

[DinaS6]

RIP T-Bone :( 

[sgtpepper1138]

@DinaS6 I JUST found out about this, what a bummer. I always loved his playing, and he had a very distinct look about him. He was a solid player.

[elderthewelder]

RIP T- BONE WOLK!!!!!!

[danogzilla]

haha, forgot about that bassplayer.

[jackman94]

i couldve sworn i just watched a 20 minute video with GE Smith claiming he only likes to use telecasters

[BobMillahhh]

@jackman94 That's just a marketing ploy.... he's gotta make his money, and he's pimping his signature telly.

[jackman94]

@BobMillahhh still.. i was hoping to see some sweet tele playing..

[1Doz]

Anybody know what kind of amp he used?

[1Doz]

Cool. My favorite is @ 1:09.

[dharmaseed]

Fucking amazing!!

[psichomiko]

I'm so used to seein GE with a tele, gibsons just dont look right on him anymore

[thork86]

@psichomiko yknow its funny i saw him with moonalice last year or two years ago, he didn't use a Tele the whole night! gibson ES335! wild! but he still sounded just like GE.

[psichomiko]

@thork86 weird, usually in like interviews that i've seen of him he's talking about a tele or plugging his fender custom shop tele or something but i guess he plays the field like most players i guess

[thork86]

@psichomiko yep, didn't bother me any. met him outside before the show he was smokin a stogey.

helluva nice guy, and of course a monster player!

[psichomiko]

@thork86 wow thats awesome, he definitely seems like a nice guy

[soulshaker205]

G.E. was the best on SNL!

[chrook]

RIP T-Bone.

[Wodey25]

Damn, now that I think about it, GE is probably one of the top three reasons I picked up the guitar...

[mrsullyrox]

the guy is a real gunslinger!

[robinthais]

Thank you TRENZ2 for letting me know about T-Bone being in the SNL house band. I did not know that and any H & O trivia is interesting to me.

[6402680]

On a great many of these shows, G.E.'s musical breaks was 10 times better than the foolishness that preceded it.

[ubacam]

seeing some yardbirds, clapton solo around 1:13

[legomanxd449]

My dad is one of his good friends. I'm seein him perform with Roger waters tomorrow!

[nowyano23]

@legomanxd449 Very nice. He is great. I don't play, but have family member who has for 50 plus years, so I know a real guitarist when I see one. Similar style actually. Enjoy show.

[WTig3r]

who the fuck is ge smith?

[DrDeath26]

@WTig3r Do yourself a favor and educate yourself. You've probably heard him a thousand times and just didn't know who it was, because he's played with and for everyone. He's currently touring w/ Roger Waters on The Wall - Live. He's one of the most amazing guitarists around.

[robinthais]

Whoa... was that T-Bone I saw in the first and fourth clip? Looks like the same song, but don't see him in any others, was he just helpin' a buddy out on that one show?

[TRENZ2]

@robinthais T-bone was in the SNL house band for like six years. He was seen with G.E. in many many clips before they cut to commercial. I use to watch this show obsessively.

[DURecords]

I just watched a 20-minute video about the G.E. Smith signature Telecaster where he says, "I was on SNL for 10 years playing nothing but Teles. There wasn't a show where I didn't play a Tele." Well, I only see 1 Tele in this video. Anyway, who cares!

[Masterphonic]

@DURecords It might have something to do with the fact that he's shilling guitars for Fender in that video, lol. Brilliant musician and awesome guy, though. Can't blame a guy for makin' a buck.

[hideawayblues]

@DURecords I believe GE said, "There wasn't a show there that I didn't have a tele with me.." You can even see the the tele in one segment where it was there ready to go. I didn't interpret this as he always played his tele on every show.

[BucksStudent]

GE Smith is great, but the sax intros got on my nerves so bad!

[RythmandStrings]

I hate him. It looks like it's just comes naturally, and it does...bastard, just like Vaughn. I hate him too. So good!

[tejastiger61]

Awesome and them some. GE's wicket RIG always delivered the goods ... Like his Twin1961ReverbTanks on top of a 61 Showman head X 2 ..WOW !

ThanX a HEEP fer posting... GE has got dah TONE !!

[LPFan3118]

one word: AWESOME!

[TRENZ2]

I used to look forward to watching these two more than watching the skits. Once they left I don't watch anymore.

[shimokita2]

Awesome!

Too bad SNL let him go.

[Wgrant]

I so clearly remember being a kid, watching old episodes of SNL on whatever channel they ran them on, late at night, and just loving the little bits of G.E. Smith's playing so so much

[gecafe]

seriously I could easily watch 10 minutes of this. you have the power. YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN

[GitarCarl]

Wish I could put up some more like this, but its all I have. I thought I'd fill out the last minute of a VHS tape with these clips but it was too much work (I didn't find SNL very funny) so this was the one and only. Why SNL doesn't release a series of DVDs of complete performances of this wonderful American music is completely incomprehensible to me.

[vintagekarmatattoos]

@GitarCarl  I just loaded the first VHS worth of SNL band. More to come!

[vintagekarmatattoos]

@gecafe I literally have on VHS almost EVERY commercial bump of G.E. and the Band...not to mention all of the other great moments like the Paul Shaffer Monologue. Lovingly recorded by hand over a period of 5 years back in the 90s. If I ever had the time I would love to convert it to digital before the VHS tapes break down. I did in the late 90s put it all on audio cassette. It ends up being over 2 hours of footage.

[gecafe]

this owns it owns, thank you thank you <333333 x A BILLION

[StephenMatthewMusic]

THANK you for posting this. I was hoping somebody actually posted a bunch of these commercial break playouts and my wish has come true. His tone, playing, and sheer love for it were always great.