The Manchester Guitar Mafia

I started out this post wanting to write on one of my favourite Guitarists- Aziz Ibrahim (above), the funky Pakistani Guitar Meister (Ex-Stone Roses, Simply Red, The Christians, Asia etc), who I was fortunate to watch at the Jazz Cafe, a few years ago promoting his solo album.

Researching further, it occurred to me that some of the most influential Guitars of a generation were Mancunians.

What is it about this grey old town that inspires musicianship, certainly not the cheery surroundings, Football clubs, Gang culture or indeed the pretentious glass buildings in the city centre. I recall a couple of quotes- Liam Gallagher whilst describing the thinking behind Champagne Supernova- set the song as a contrast to the dank miserable, rainy nights they experienced as struggling musicians in Manchester. Morrissey, in justifying his move to California, stated that he had walked home on one cold rainy Manchester night too many- which finally explains his mournful lyrics.

However this city has been the inspiration of a generation of incredible Guitarists, who have greatly influenced the trends of modern music culture/style and remains a cultural outpost of great importance, lets look at a few of these:

1. Eric Stewart- Lead Guitarist of 10cc, who started his career in the mid-sixties with the Mind-benders.

2. David Gray- The brilliant but miserable Acoustic Guitarist/Balladeer, if you've ever been to Manchester you'll know understand the dour nature of his songs.

3. Mark "Cowhead" Day- The Happy Mondays Guitarist, need I say more...

4. Keith Hopwood- Lead Guitarist Herman's Hermits. Decent G

5. Bernard Sumner- Lead Guitarist of the brilliant seminal and criminally underrated Joy Division, which metamorphosed into New Order, which he formed with Peter Hook and Stephen Morris. Also formed Electronic with Jonny Marr, produced the Happy Mondays and sang with the Chemical Brothers

6. Sylvan Richardson- Simply Red Guitarist (Pre- Aziz Ibrahim).

7. Tim Cantsfield- One time Guitarist with Swing Out Sister. On an aside, I claim fame as one being one of the first to hear their first single- Blue Mood, which I filched whilst a lowly employee at London/Polygram Records in 1986, fact is no-one bought the damned record (though I loved it), so they would have probably given it to me anyway.

8. Nick McCabe- Lead Guitarist of the incredible, incomparable The Verve!

9. Jimi Goodwin- Lead Guitarist of the equally brilliant Doves

10. Peter Shelley- Lead Guitarist - The Buzzcocks

11. Tony Hicks- The Hollies

12. Noel Gallagher- Oasis. The Rock life-style and tabloid headlines should not detract from Gallagher's competence as an excellent Guitarist and arranger.

13. Johnny Marr- The Smiths. Whom I've written about previously and who was influential to a whole generation of Guitarists including Gallagher and Aziz Ibrahim.

14. Ian Brown- The Stone Roses.Rhythm Guitarist and Lead vocalist of the Stone Roses.

15. Simon Tong- Lead Guitarist of Verve (after Nick McCabe) and presently Lead Guitarist of my personal favourite band of the moment- The Good The Bad and The Queen.

16. John Squire- Exceptionally gifted Lead Guitarist of the Stone Roses, responsible for three of their greatest hits- Fools Gold, One Love and Waterfall, famous for his versatility he could switch from Indie Flange to Funky with minimal effort. Was replaced by Aziz Ibrahim, Liam Gallagher quoted Ibrahim's recruitment as the hardest job in the world, Squires was kind of a hard act to follow. Squires is also an accomplished artist- a student of Jackson Pollock, whose paintings (Squire's) adorn the front covers of the Stone Roses albums, their Instruments and a record company studio. He recently exhibited at the ICA- The Mall.

17. Damon Gough - aka Badly Drawn Boy. Taciturn and talented and an incredible multi-instrumentalist and producer