Arlen Roth
Encyclopedia
Arlen Roth is an American guitarist. His first solo album won the Montreaux Critics' Award for Best Instrumental Album of the Year in 1978. He was Guitar Player
magazine's top columnist from 1982 to 1992. He has performed with artists such as Bob Dylan
, Danny Gatton
, John Entwistle
, John Prine
, Rick Wakeman
, Paul Simon
(as well as Simon and Garfunkel
), Ry Cooder
, Sonny Landreth
, Levon Helm
, Bill Kirchen
, Duane Eddy
, Steve Morse
, Albert Lee
and Phoebe Snow
. Roth is a Telecaster enthusiast, and has written the book Masters of the Telecaster, which details the techniques and licks of many famous Telecaster guitar players. As a solo artist Roth performs frequently with his younger daughter, Lexie Roth, a recording artist, performer and songwriter in her own right. Roth is often referred to as "The Master of the Telecaster", and as the "King of All Guitar Teachers."
He is the son of renowned New Yorker Cartoonist, Al Ross, who turned 100 years young on Oct.19, 2011. Ross is one of four Roth brothers all of whom became cartoonists. Arlen Roth's brother is noted artist and painter David Roth.
Arlen Roth attended the High School of Music and Art in NYC from 1966-69 as an art student. He then studied at the Philadelphia College of Art from 1969 to 1971. His band, Steel lived with him, and would play in Woodstock, NY on weekends, where Roth was quickley discovered. In 1970, Steel put on the first "Woodstock Reunion" concert at Yasgur's Farm,. to commemorate the 1 year anniversary of the Woodstock festival in Bethel, NY, a small town Arlen lived in every summer since he was born. Soon after, he moved to Woodstock, NY, and began his career as a professional guitarist. He began to back-up in recording and touring with artists such as Happy and Artie Traum, Eric Andersen
, John Herald
, John Prine
, Tony Bird
, Art Garfunkel
, Helen Schneider
, Don McLean
and many more. He toured with the Bee Gees
in 1974, Simon and Garfunkel
in 1983, and Duane Eddy
with Huey Lewis and the News
. He has several successful solo albums to his credit, such as Guitarist
1978, Hot Pickups 1979, Paint Job 1983, Lonely St. 1986, Toolin' Around 1993, Drive it Home 2002, Landscape
2005, Toolin' Around Woodstock w/Levon Helm 2008, Subway Walls and Tenament Halls-The Music of Simon and Garfunkel 2009, How Does it Feel? The Music of Bob Dylan 2009, and All Tricked Out! 2012.
Roth was voted in the Top 100 Most Influential Guitarists of All-time by Vintage Guitar Magazine.
Roth was also voted in the Top 50 Acoustic Guitarists of All-Time by Gibson.com
His version of Roy Head's "Treat Her Right" was listed in the Top 10 Guitar Sounds Ever Recorded by Vintage Guitar Magazine
His column "Hot Guitar" ran for 10 straight years in Guitar Player Magazine, and was later published as a book by Guitar player. He also wrote numerous articles for this and other magazines. His "Hot Guitar" column was voted #1 by the readership for all 10 years in a row.
Arlen Roth is the Founder and CEO of the GUITAR HALL OF FAME slated to open approx. 2013 in the historic town of Cooperstown, NY, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. This Museum and Hall of Fame will celebrate all aspects of the guitar and its players, covering all genres and eras.
! The detailed close-ups of the fretting and strumming and other guitar playing techniques that he had helped develop for and had been so prominent in the Crossroads film became the trademark for these instruction videos. Before long the video roster started to grow enormously, and it was not uncommon to see double-page Hot Licks ads in GP magazine. Aside from Guitar
- and Bass guitar
instructional videos the Hot Licks catalogue came to include Drum
, Banjo
, Mandolin
and Harmonica
instructional videos. Roth considered it a joy to document artists such as Eric Johnson
, Joe Pass
, Emily Remler
, Tuck Andress, Mick Taylor
, Buddy Guy
, Danny Gatton
, James Burton
, Joe Morello
, Stuart Hamm
, Vinnie Moore
, Brian Setzer
, Tal Farlow
, Charlie Byrd
, Mundell Lowe
, Larry Coryell
, Cornell Dupree
, Junior Wells
, Jay Geils, Ronnie Earl
, Duke Robillard
, Warren Haynes
, Allen Woody
, David Grissom
, Scotty Anderson
, Lonnie Mack
, Otis Rush
, Joe Morello
, Sal Salvador
, Jeff Tamelier, Steve Douglas
, Mick Taylor
, John Entwistle
, Jerry Jemmott
Lee Roy Parnell
, Brent Mason
, and many more, in addition to continuing to do more of his own titles. Roth has stated that "many of these artists were heroes of his, and it was such an honor to work with them".
In 2006 it was announced that The Music Sales Group has acquired the entire Hot Licks video catalog and is implementing an ambitious program of transferring and expanding all existing material onto DVD. The result will be a new lease of life for the instructional series they will also recruit new artists for future releases, ensuring that the brand will continue to develop and attract top star names.
Aside from his Hot Lick instructional videos, Roth currently hosts a series of daily video lessons at Gibson.com. Known as the "Master of the Telecaster", Roth innovated many string-bending styles on the guitar, simulating "pedal steel" guitar sounds on the guitar never before used. He was great influenced by Clarence White of The Byrds' string bending style, but at the age of 14, he did not know White had invented a "B-string bender" for his Telecaster, so Roth developed a new style of doing this with fingers alone. Roth has many successful guitar books to his credit, including Slide Guitar
, How to Play Blues Guitar, Nashville Guitar, Arlen Roth's Complete Electric guitar, Hot Guitar, Arlen Roth's Complete Acoustic Guitar, Heavy Metal Guitar, Rock Guitar for Future Stars and Masters of the Telecaster.
To date, Arlen Roth's books have sold in excess of 600,000 copies worldwide, and Hot Licks videos have sold over 2.5 million copies.
Guitar Player
Guitar Player is a popular magazine for guitarists founded in 1967. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print since the late 1960s and during the 1980s, under editor Tom Wheeler, the publication was...
magazine's top columnist from 1982 to 1992. He has performed with artists such as Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Danny Gatton
Danny Gatton
Danny Gatton was an American guitarist who fused rockabilly, jazz, and country styles to create his own distinctive style of playing. A biography, Unfinished Business: The Life and Times of Danny Gatton by Ralph Heibutzki, was published in 2003. It has a voluminous discography...
, John Entwistle
John Entwistle
John Alec Entwistle was an English bass guitarist, songwriter, singer, horn player, and film and record producer who was best known as the bass player for the rock band The Who. His aggressive lead sound influenced many rock bass players...
, John Prine
John Prine
John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...
, Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
, Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
(as well as Simon and Garfunkel
Simon and Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel are an American duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl". As Simon & Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965, largely on the strength of the...
), Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
, Sonny Landreth
Sonny Landreth
Sonny Landreth is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, but soon after, his family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, before settling in Lafayette, Louisiana...
, Levon Helm
Levon Helm
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm , is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band....
, Bill Kirchen
Bill Kirchen
Bill Kirchen is an American rockabilly guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the guitarist with the original Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen from 1967 to the mid 1970s, although, in reality, his time with the Commander accounts for only a portion of his career...
, Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he had a string of hit records, produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young"...
, Steve Morse
Steve Morse
Steven J. "Steve" Morse is an American guitarist and composer, best known for his work in the hard rock band Deep Purple since 1994. He began his career to form the unique styled instrumental rock band Dixie Dregs in the 1970. Morse's musical inspiration comes from country, funk, jazz fusion, and...
, Albert Lee
Albert Lee
Albert William Lee, born 21 December 1943 in Leominster, Herefordshire, England, is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked both in the studio and on tour with some of the most famous musicians which stretch through a very wide of genres...
and Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow was a fictional character created by Earnest Elmo Calkins to promote the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. The advertising campaign, based on a live model, using impressionistic techniques and a fictional character, was one of the first of its kind.-The advertising...
. Roth is a Telecaster enthusiast, and has written the book Masters of the Telecaster, which details the techniques and licks of many famous Telecaster guitar players. As a solo artist Roth performs frequently with his younger daughter, Lexie Roth, a recording artist, performer and songwriter in her own right. Roth is often referred to as "The Master of the Telecaster", and as the "King of All Guitar Teachers."
Personal Life
Roth lost both his wife, Deborah, and oldest daughter, Gillian MacKenzie Roth (b.1983) in an auto accident in 1998. Gillian was a gifted actress and guitarist who had just signed to have her own Nickleodeon Show, "The Gunks", an all-girl band loosley based on "The Monkees". She recorded the theme for the show just 2 days before the accident.He is the son of renowned New Yorker Cartoonist, Al Ross, who turned 100 years young on Oct.19, 2011. Ross is one of four Roth brothers all of whom became cartoonists. Arlen Roth's brother is noted artist and painter David Roth.
Arlen Roth attended the High School of Music and Art in NYC from 1966-69 as an art student. He then studied at the Philadelphia College of Art from 1969 to 1971. His band, Steel lived with him, and would play in Woodstock, NY on weekends, where Roth was quickley discovered. In 1970, Steel put on the first "Woodstock Reunion" concert at Yasgur's Farm,. to commemorate the 1 year anniversary of the Woodstock festival in Bethel, NY, a small town Arlen lived in every summer since he was born. Soon after, he moved to Woodstock, NY, and began his career as a professional guitarist. He began to back-up in recording and touring with artists such as Happy and Artie Traum, Eric Andersen
Eric Andersen
Eric Andersen is an American singer-songwriter.-Biography:In the early 1960s, Eric Andersen was part of the Greenwich Village folk scene in New York...
, John Herald
John Herald
John Herald was an American folk and bluegrass songwriter, solo and studio musician, and one-time member of The Greenbriar Boys trio.-Biography:...
, John Prine
John Prine
John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...
, Tony Bird
Tony Bird
Tony Bird is a folk rock singer-songwriter who was born and grew up in Nyasaland in Southern Africa. He is known for his Dylanesque vocals and for his songs which describe life in colonial Nyasaland from a progressive anti-colonial point of view....
, Art Garfunkel
Art Garfunkel
Arthur Ira "Art" Garfunkel is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and actor, best known as being a member of the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel...
, Helen Schneider
Helen Schneider
Helen Schneider is an American singer and actress working mainly in Germany.Born the daughter of Dvora and Abraham Schneider , she studied piano before starting to perform as a singer in venues in New England and New York.Between 1978 and 1984, she achieved success as a rock singer in Germany;...
, Don McLean
Don McLean
Donald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".-Musical roots:...
and many more. He toured with the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
in 1974, Simon and Garfunkel
Simon and Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel are an American duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl". As Simon & Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965, largely on the strength of the...
in 1983, and Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he had a string of hit records, produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young"...
with Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, eventually scoring a total of 19 top-ten singles across the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Rock charts...
. He has several successful solo albums to his credit, such as Guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
1978, Hot Pickups 1979, Paint Job 1983, Lonely St. 1986, Toolin' Around 1993, Drive it Home 2002, Landscape
Landscape
Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including the physical elements of landforms such as mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of...
2005, Toolin' Around Woodstock w/Levon Helm 2008, Subway Walls and Tenament Halls-The Music of Simon and Garfunkel 2009, How Does it Feel? The Music of Bob Dylan 2009, and All Tricked Out! 2012.
Roth was voted in the Top 100 Most Influential Guitarists of All-time by Vintage Guitar Magazine.
Roth was also voted in the Top 50 Acoustic Guitarists of All-Time by Gibson.com
His version of Roy Head's "Treat Her Right" was listed in the Top 10 Guitar Sounds Ever Recorded by Vintage Guitar Magazine
His column "Hot Guitar" ran for 10 straight years in Guitar Player Magazine, and was later published as a book by Guitar player. He also wrote numerous articles for this and other magazines. His "Hot Guitar" column was voted #1 by the readership for all 10 years in a row.
Trivia
- Roth coached Ralph MacchioRalph MacchioRalph George Macchio is an American actor, best known for his roles as Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid series, Bill Gambini in My Cousin Vinny, and Johnny Cade in The Outsiders. He is also known to American television audiences for his season five recurring role as Jeremy Andretti on the...
in the performance of all of his guitar parts for the 1986 movie Crossroads. - Roth was a guest on WFANWFANWFAN , also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station broadcasts on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio...
on the morning of March 10, 2010. Hosts Boomer EsiasonBoomer EsiasonNorman Julius "Boomer" Esiason is a former American football quarterback and current network color commentator. He played for the National Football League's Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets, and Arizona Cardinals before working as an analyst for ABC and HBO...
and Craig CartonCraig CartonCraig Harris Carton is an American radio personality who currently co-hosts the Boomer and Carton in the Morning radio program.-Biography:...
alternated naming songs which Roth had to play, many of the titles of which Roth did not know, but he knew the riffs/ including Jimi HendrixJimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
's version of the Star Spangled Banner from WoodstockWoodstock FestivalWoodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
. - Roth appeared in the Bob Dylan film, Renaldo and ClaraRenaldo and ClaraRenaldo and Clara is a surrealist movie, directed by and starring Bob Dylan. Filmed in 1975, during Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour, it was released in 1978...
, performing with Dylan, Joan Baez, Ramblin' Jack Elliot and Patti Smith. - Roth appeared on the Conan O'Brien Show with close friend Danny Gatton, in 1994, performing "Tequila" from his album "Toolin' Around."
- He appeared on Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
in 1978 with Art Garfunkel. - He created the music for the short-lived Aaron Spelling TV show, "10-8"
- Roth's trademark tune is his instrumental version of "When a Man Loves a WomanWhen a Man Loves a WomanWhen a Man Loves a Woman may refer to:* "When a Man Loves a Woman" , a song by Percy Sledge, also covered by Michael Bolton* "When a Man Loves a Woman" * When a Man Loves a Woman...
", and was called "Perhaps the most intense workout ever recorded on a Telecaster" by Tom Wheeler of Guitar Player Magazine. It reached #2 on the British Pop Charts, and was used by BBC Radio to sign off the air every night for many years.
Arlen Roth is the Founder and CEO of the GUITAR HALL OF FAME slated to open approx. 2013 in the historic town of Cooperstown, NY, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. This Museum and Hall of Fame will celebrate all aspects of the guitar and its players, covering all genres and eras.
Hot Lick Videos
In 1983 Roth decided that there were enough VCRs in the world to warrant doing instructional videos now! He started the Hot Licks Video label. While teaching Ralph Macchio the parts for Crossroads, he began recording his first videos. Six of these features Roth as instructor, and one by trusted friend, bassplayer John EntwistleJohn Entwistle
John Alec Entwistle was an English bass guitarist, songwriter, singer, horn player, and film and record producer who was best known as the bass player for the rock band The Who. His aggressive lead sound influenced many rock bass players...
! The detailed close-ups of the fretting and strumming and other guitar playing techniques that he had helped develop for and had been so prominent in the Crossroads film became the trademark for these instruction videos. Before long the video roster started to grow enormously, and it was not uncommon to see double-page Hot Licks ads in GP magazine. Aside from Guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- and Bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
instructional videos the Hot Licks catalogue came to include Drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
, Banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, Mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
and Harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
instructional videos. Roth considered it a joy to document artists such as Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson is an American guitarist. Though he is best known for his success in the instrumental rock format, Johnson regularly incorporates jazz, fusion, gospel and country and western music into his recordings...
, Joe Pass
Joe Pass
Joe Pass was an Italian-American jazz guitarist of Sicilian descent. He is generally considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century...
, Emily Remler
Emily Remler
Emily Remler was an American jazz guitarist who rose to prominence in the 1980s. She recorded seven albums of hard bop, jazz standards and fusion guitar.- Early Life and Influences:...
, Tuck Andress, Mick Taylor
Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin "Mick" Taylor is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and The Rolling Stones...
, Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...
, Danny Gatton
Danny Gatton
Danny Gatton was an American guitarist who fused rockabilly, jazz, and country styles to create his own distinctive style of playing. A biography, Unfinished Business: The Life and Times of Danny Gatton by Ralph Heibutzki, was published in 2003. It has a voluminous discography...
, James Burton
James Burton
James Burton is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 , Burton has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame...
, Joe Morello
Joe Morello
Joseph Albert Morello was a jazz drummer best known for his 12½-year stint with The Dave Brubeck Quartet. He was frequently noted for playing in the unusual time signatures employed by that group in such pieces as "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo à la Turk"...
, Stuart Hamm
Stuart Hamm
Stuart "Stu" Hamm is an American bass guitar player, known for his session and live work with numerous artists as well for his unconventional playing style and solo recordings.-Beginning career:...
, Vinnie Moore
Vinnie Moore
Vinnie Moore is a guitarist and a member of the English hard rock band UFO. Along with Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony MacAlpine, and others, Moore is known as one of the most influential guitarists to emerge out of the shredder boom in the mid 1980s.-Biography:Moore was born in New Castle, Delaware...
, Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He first found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly revival group The Stray Cats, and revitalized his career in the late 1990s with a jazz-oriented big band.-Career:Setzer was born in Massapequa, New York...
, Tal Farlow
Tal Farlow
Talmage Holt Farlow was an American jazz guitarist. Nicknamed the "Octopus", Farlow's extremely large hands spread over the fretboard as if they were tentacles. He is considered one of the all-time great jazz guitarists. Michael G...
, Charlie Byrd
Charlie Byrd
Charlie Lee Byrd was a famous and versatile American guitarist born in Suffolk, Virginia. His earliest and strongest musical influence was Django Reinhardt, the famous gypsy guitarist. Byrd became the American guitarist who best understood and played Brazilian music, especially the Bossa Nova genre...
, Mundell Lowe
Mundell Lowe
Mundell Lowe is an American jazz guitarist.Lowe was born in Laurel, Mississippi on 21 March 1922. In the 1930s he played country music and Dixieland jazz. He later played with big bands and orchestras, and on television in New York City. In the 1960s, Lowe composed music for films and television...
, Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell is an American jazz fusion guitarist.-Biography:Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas. He graduated from Richland High School, in Richland, Washington, where he played in local bands The Jailers, The Rumblers, The Royals, and The Flames. He also played with The Checkers from nearby...
, Cornell Dupree
Cornell Dupree
Cornell Luther Dupree was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He worked at various times with Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, King Curtis and Steve Gadd, appeared on David Letterman, and wrote a book on soul and blues guitar: Rhythm and Blues Guitar ISBN 0-634-00149-3...
, Junior Wells
Junior Wells
Junior Wells , born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., was an American Chicago blues vocalist, harmonica player, and recording artist...
, Jay Geils, Ronnie Earl
Ronnie Earl
Ronnie Earl is an American blues guitarist and music instructor.-Career:Earl collected blues, jazz, rock and soul records while growing up. He studied American History at C.W...
, Duke Robillard
Duke Robillard
Michael John "Duke" Robillard is an American blues musician.After playing in various bands and working for the Guild Guitar Company, he co-founded the band Roomful of Blues with pianist Al Copley in 1967. He has also been a member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds which included Kim Wilson, replacing...
, Warren Haynes
Warren Haynes
Warren Haynes is an American rock and blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Haynes is best known for his work as long time guitarist with The Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was a guitarist for David Allan Coe and The Dickey...
, Allen Woody
Allen Woody
Douglas Allen Woody was bass guitarist best known for his tenure in the rock groups The Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule, The Artimus Pyle Band, The Peter Criss Band, Blue Floyd, and Montage.-Biography:...
, David Grissom
David Grissom
David Grissom is a US session guitarist who has played and toured with several of America's leading bands and recording artists.- Professional Biography :...
, Scotty Anderson
Scotty Anderson
Scotty Anderson is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League and the Arena Football League...
, Lonnie Mack
Lonnie Mack
Lonnie Mack is an American rock, blues and country guitarist and vocalist....
, Otis Rush
Otis Rush
Otis Rush is a blues musician, singer and guitarist. His distinctive guitar style features a slow burning sound and long bent notes...
, Joe Morello
Joe Morello
Joseph Albert Morello was a jazz drummer best known for his 12½-year stint with The Dave Brubeck Quartet. He was frequently noted for playing in the unusual time signatures employed by that group in such pieces as "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo à la Turk"...
, Sal Salvador
Sal Salvador
Sal Salvador was a bebop jazz guitarist and a prominent music educator.He was born in Monson, Massachusetts and began his professional career in New York City. He eventually moved to Stamford, Connecticut. He taught guitar at the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut as well as at...
, Jeff Tamelier, Steve Douglas
Steve Douglas
Steve Douglas may refer to:*Steve Douglas , American saxophonist, flautist and clarinetist*Steve Douglas , late-night radio personality from Denver, Colorado...
, Mick Taylor
Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin "Mick" Taylor is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and The Rolling Stones...
, John Entwistle
John Entwistle
John Alec Entwistle was an English bass guitarist, songwriter, singer, horn player, and film and record producer who was best known as the bass player for the rock band The Who. His aggressive lead sound influenced many rock bass players...
, Jerry Jemmott
Jerry Jemmott
Gerald Joseph Stenhouse "Jerry" Jemmott is an American bass guitarist. Also known as Gerald "Fingers" Jemmott, Rasan Mfalme or "the Groovemaster", Jemmott was one of the chief session bassists of the late 1960s and early 1970s, working with many of the period's well known soul, blues, and jazz...
Lee Roy Parnell
Lee Roy Parnell
Lee Roy Parnell is an American country music artist. Active since 1990, he has recorded eight studio albums, and has charted more than twenty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts...
, Brent Mason
Brent Mason
Brent Mason is an American session guitarist and occasional songwriter. He is known primarily for his work in the field of country music. In addition to releasing two instrumental studio albums, he holds several credits as a songwriter...
, and many more, in addition to continuing to do more of his own titles. Roth has stated that "many of these artists were heroes of his, and it was such an honor to work with them".
In 2006 it was announced that The Music Sales Group has acquired the entire Hot Licks video catalog and is implementing an ambitious program of transferring and expanding all existing material onto DVD. The result will be a new lease of life for the instructional series they will also recruit new artists for future releases, ensuring that the brand will continue to develop and attract top star names.
Aside from his Hot Lick instructional videos, Roth currently hosts a series of daily video lessons at Gibson.com. Known as the "Master of the Telecaster", Roth innovated many string-bending styles on the guitar, simulating "pedal steel" guitar sounds on the guitar never before used. He was great influenced by Clarence White of The Byrds' string bending style, but at the age of 14, he did not know White had invented a "B-string bender" for his Telecaster, so Roth developed a new style of doing this with fingers alone. Roth has many successful guitar books to his credit, including Slide Guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
, How to Play Blues Guitar, Nashville Guitar, Arlen Roth's Complete Electric guitar, Hot Guitar, Arlen Roth's Complete Acoustic Guitar, Heavy Metal Guitar, Rock Guitar for Future Stars and Masters of the Telecaster.
To date, Arlen Roth's books have sold in excess of 600,000 copies worldwide, and Hot Licks videos have sold over 2.5 million copies.
External Links
- Arlen Roths official website
- Hot Licks DVD Catalogue
- http://guitarhalloffame.com