Talk:Slide guitar

"In rock music" section

Eagledj & others interested: Wikiuser100's 19 October 2019 edits changed the section from "In 1960s rock music" to the open ended "In rock music". Expanding the scope of the section was discussed in the GA – there are several rock guitarists who are well-known for slide, but can they really be added to the article and still keep it "encyclopedic"? Too many music instrument and genre articles wind up with excessive examples, without text (or refs) to explain or support why they are significant. Keeping the section "1960s" or "early rock", etc., limits the scope and focuses on a few standouts, like the "Influential early electric slide guitarists" section. Or should a new "In contemporary music" section be added or would that just be a magnet for name dropping? BTW, I'm thinking about expanding the List of slide guitarists to something more long the lines of List of blues musicians; the current list is no better than Category:Slide guitarists. —Ojorojo (talk) 18:22, 19 October 2019 (UTC)

Let me be clear, I'm not in favor of opening this section up to becoming a catch-all for every "rock" guitarist who ever picked up something hard and used it on his guitar strings. Anything but. I only changed the section heading for two reasons: one, it is completely arbitrary, and thus gives an inaccurate depiction of the importance and depth of role of slide guitar in rock music. Proof of this (and part of my reason #2) is that Duane Allman is widely regarded as the most creative if not best slide guitarist in rock history, yet his best known work (as on Layla (1970) and The Allman Brother Band (1971) and Eat a Peach (1971 - albeit released posthumously in 1972) was laid down in the 1970s.

Secondly, per the above, the Rolling Stones are cited as being seminal in using slide guitar in rock, yet their entry continues on to reference slide guitar on their albums in the 1970s. Ditto Ry Cooder. Also, Butterfield Blues Band 2nd lead guitarist Elvin Bishop emerged as a slide player upon Mike Bloomfield's 1968 exit from the band, and indeed played it on his best-selling albums of the 1970s - though I did not seek to expand the text to insert this.

The net being that the 1970s were actually a more influential period of slide guitar in rock than the seminal 1960s. Sooner or later we need to recognize this, and the article reflect it. We just don't want some chaotic mish-mash of name-dropping and popular cultural references happening before level heads give that transition their best effort.

As for expanding the list, go for it! Yours, Wikiuser100 (talk) 22:11, 19 October 2019 (UTC)

Expanding the List of slide guitarists

This is a proposal to expand the List of slide guitarists. Please add your comments there. —Ojorojo (talk) 16:16, 23 October 2019 (UTC)