Lone Belew

This post from 2010 had a little controversy.  I stood my ground on Belew better then Eddie Van Halen.  I still do believe the same to this day.  When I posted this back then I had two different viewpoints in the comment section.  These viewpoints were valid and I understand both sides.  I picked on Eddie Van Halen because of the diversity of musicians that Belew played with.  Eddie was just stuck in Van Halen and occasional playing for the likes of Michael Jackson.  The reason for the Belew pick was he is a chameleon and can fit anywhere as I mention below.  The last reason is a personal one.  Belew is a more approachable guy.  My friend and I had dinner with him one night before he did a show with Robert Fripp.  He answered my questions and talked to my friend about his  tattoo he saw the night before for a signing.  If I needed session work for an album Belew would be my choice.  

Some people have spotlight on them for no reason, because they suck and I won't get into that, and others need to be in the spotlight because of how underrated they are. He is always over looked and should be recognized for his great guitar playing. I mean how many artists can you say played with Frank Zappa, Talking Heads, David Bowie, and King Crimson all in one breath. Not to mention, he has had people play with him by the likes of Les Claypool, of Primus and Danny Carey of Tool. He has recently been a sideman for Trent Reznor and Paul Simon. But he did not start playing guitar, his first love is drums. It was his love of the Beatles that got him hooked on guitar.

He started in a cover band in Nashville playing "straight music" and was seen by Zappa who needed to fill a void in his guitar department. He needed someone to play on Zappa's European tour. It was quite an honor that he could not pass up and what led him to be the most important guitar players out there. If you see the DVD Baby Snakes you can see him play with Zappa it's a real treat. From there he went to play with David Bowie. He is only on one album Stage but he makes his mark. At that point he was introduced to Brian Eno and Robert Fripp. The rest is history.

If you have ever seen Adrian Belew then you know all about him. He is a very good guitar player and his lyrics are pretty damn cool too. He is the spokesperson for when King Crimson goes up on stage. Fripp does very little talking or non at all in my case when I have seen King Crimson or any of the Projekcts that Fripp set up after the band toured in 1996. Adrian jokes with crowd and is very talkative. I had a chance to meet him a couple of times and he was really nice. I have begged a couple times to get the album from his early career in print on CD and he has many times said the masters are lost in Japan somewhere.

Adrian Belew's early albums are wonderful and Lone Rhino is no exception. The album is full of those early King Crimson and Afro-Beat roots. Adrian was making his presence known in the music world with his first album and even more he was in front of the spotlight with King Crimson. From the first song to the last each song is Adrian's. There is even a track with his daughter.

So if you want to be hip and I know you do, I would go out and look for this album. It's a great start to the early career of Adrian Belew. It shows early on what Adrian was taught by everybody who came across him and wanted him to play with. Adrian is a true guitar hero to me because not only can he play but he does not show off and he shows his fans he is just a front man who loves to have fun. I have a story about seeing King Crimson in 1996 and he came out to tell the King Crimson fans they were here for our entertainment. He also made fun of Eddie Van Halen for using a drill and a guitar in one Van Halen song and mentioned the video. He laughed and tried the drill and handed it to the roadie and told him and the crowd if Eddie Van Halen was watching this how you play guitar. He did not show off he just went about his business and reminded all of he played with Zappa and Eddie did not. Play this loud and remember it's not how you show off your instrument it's how well you play it. Enjoy!