MR

for those of you in California. I wish I could go

Once again , my cover band COMMERCIAL FREE is playing this Saturday, March 24th in La Crescenta, CA. The venue is Leo's, found here , and the start time is approximately 9:30. You will here us doing the not so usual covers by bands like Queen, Van Halen, Journey, Whitesnake, and even Mr. Big, Extreme, Krokus, King's X and Y&T! There is no cover charge, the drinks are cheap and the girls who work in the place are beautiful (see their link)! You simply can't say no. We promise you will have a blast or we will refund your entrance fee. And we guarantee the entire night will be Commercial Free!


Leo's All-Star Sports Bar & Grill
2941 Honolulu Ave, La Crescenta, CA 91214

Commercial Free is:

Brian "Hacksaw" Williams - vocals
Howie Simon - guitar
Tim Luce - bass
Glen Sobel - drums

GirlLikeYou wrote:for those of you in California. I wish I could go

Once again , my cover band COMMERCIAL FREE is playing this Saturday, March 24th in La Crescenta, CA. The venue is Leo's, found here , and the start time is approximately 9:30. You will here us doing the not so usual covers by bands like Queen, Van Halen, Journey, Whitesnake, and even Mr. Big, Extreme, Krokus, King's X and Y&T! There is no cover charge, the drinks are cheap and the girls who work in the place are beautiful (see their link)! You simply can't say no. We promise you will have a blast or we will refund your entrance fee. And we guarantee the entire night will be Commercial Free!


Leo's All-Star Sports Bar & Grill
2941 Honolulu Ave, La Crescenta, CA 91214

Commercial Free is:

Brian "Hacksaw" Williams - vocals
Howie Simon - guitar
Tim Luce - bass
Glen Sobel - drums

Howie doing 'Queen' - I remember him wanting to wear a 'T-shirt' that simply said 'I Hate Queen' when the JSSB played the Queen Fan Club Convention, nevertheless he was damned good. I'd rate him highly amongst most pluckers - damn CA is a long way from the UK.

Uncle heFTy wrote:

GirlLikeYou wrote:for those of you in California. I wish I could go

Once again , my cover band COMMERCIAL FREE is playing this Saturday, March 24th in La Crescenta, CA. The venue is Leo's, found here , and the start time is approximately 9:30. You will here us doing the not so usual covers by bands like Queen, Van Halen, Journey, Whitesnake, and even Mr. Big, Extreme, Krokus, King's X and Y&T! There is no cover charge, the drinks are cheap and the girls who work in the place are beautiful (see their link)! You simply can't say no. We promise you will have a blast or we will refund your entrance fee. And we guarantee the entire night will be Commercial Free!


Leo's All-Star Sports Bar & Grill
2941 Honolulu Ave, La Crescenta, CA 91214

Commercial Free is:

Brian "Hacksaw" Williams - vocals
Howie Simon - guitar
Tim Luce - bass
Glen Sobel - drums

Howie doing 'Queen' - I remember him wanting to wear a 'T-shirt' that simply said 'I Hate Queen' when the JSSB played the Queen Fan Club Convention, nevertheless he was damned good. I'd rate him highly amongst most pluckers - damn CA is a long way from the UK.

but he sure is good at the Queen stuff, tho'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a44WcE5Po_s

I dont care much for his style cause he has none! He simply is an Yngwie-Wanna-be.
If you check out the Gods 2002 you can tell that he has not developed a sound or techniuqe of his own. He does play fast at times but he uses that right hand way too much which in some solos make it too sloppy.
He did a little better job on the Talisman shows back in 03, but not as good as the other 2 Talisman Guitar Gurus (Fredrik Akesson and Pontus Norgren).
I'd rate him a mediocre cocky guitar player who thinks he is better than he actually is .

Behshad wrote:I dont care much for his style cause he has none! He simply is an Yngwie-Wanna-be.
If you check out the Gods 2002 you can tell that he has not developed a sound or techniuqe of his own. He does play fast at times but he uses that right hand way too much which in some solos make it too sloppy.
He did a little better job on the Talisman shows back in 03, but not as good as the other 2 Talisman Guitar Gurus (Fredrik Akesson and Pontus Norgren).
I'd rate him a mediocre cocky guitar player who thinks he is better than he actually is .

wow!! i cant believe what i just read.. i thought you were a huge simon fan.

LarryFromNextDoor wrote:

Behshad wrote:I dont care much for his style cause he has none! He simply is an Yngwie-Wanna-be.
If you check out the Gods 2002 you can tell that he has not developed a sound or techniuqe of his own. He does play fast at times but he uses that right hand way too much which in some solos make it too sloppy.
He did a little better job on the Talisman shows back in 03, but not as good as the other 2 Talisman Guitar Gurus (Fredrik Akesson and Pontus Norgren).
I'd rate him a mediocre cocky guitar player who thinks he is better than he actually is .

wow!! i cant believe what i just read.. i thought you were a huge simon fan.

Oh no!! Hell No! Im a huge Marcel Jacob fan,,, Im a huge Pontus Norgren fan,,,, but not a Howie fan. Howie is just Howie. He has no emotion when he plays and he is not a very good songwritter. He is good at playin cover songs, but guitar players who play other peoples songs are a dime a dozen.
I think he was the weakest in the Gods 2002 DVD. Gary Schutt and Pontus Norgren played much better than him IMO ( st john )

Behshad wrote:

LarryFromNextDoor wrote:

Behshad wrote:I dont care much for his style cause he has none! He simply is an Yngwie-Wanna-be.
If you check out the Gods 2002 you can tell that he has not developed a sound or techniuqe of his own. He does play fast at times but he uses that right hand way too much which in some solos make it too sloppy.
He did a little better job on the Talisman shows back in 03, but not as good as the other 2 Talisman Guitar Gurus (Fredrik Akesson and Pontus Norgren).
I'd rate him a mediocre cocky guitar player who thinks he is better than he actually is .

wow!! i cant believe what i just read.. i thought you were a huge simon fan.

Oh no!! Hell No! Im a huge Marcel Jacob fan,,, Im a huge Pontus Norgren fan,,,, but not a Howie fan. Howie is just Howie. He has no emotion when he plays and he is not a very good songwritter. He is good at playin cover songs, but guitar players who play other peoples songs are a dime a dozen.
I think he was the weakest in the Gods 2002 DVD. Gary Schutt and Pontus Norgren played much better than him IMO ( st john )

well this just throws off everything, i must meditate on this for a while..

LarryFromNextDoor wrote:

Behshad wrote:

LarryFromNextDoor wrote:

Behshad wrote:I dont care much for his style cause he has none! He simply is an Yngwie-Wanna-be.
If you check out the Gods 2002 you can tell that he has not developed a sound or techniuqe of his own. He does play fast at times but he uses that right hand way too much which in some solos make it too sloppy.
He did a little better job on the Talisman shows back in 03, but not as good as the other 2 Talisman Guitar Gurus (Fredrik Akesson and Pontus Norgren).
I'd rate him a mediocre cocky guitar player who thinks he is better than he actually is .

wow!! i cant believe what i just read.. i thought you were a huge simon fan.

Oh no!! Hell No! Im a huge Marcel Jacob fan,,, Im a huge Pontus Norgren fan,,,, but not a Howie fan. Howie is just Howie. He has no emotion when he plays and he is not a very good songwritter. He is good at playin cover songs, but guitar players who play other peoples songs are a dime a dozen.
I think he was the weakest in the Gods 2002 DVD. Gary Schutt and Pontus Norgren played much better than him IMO ( st john )

well this just throws off everything, i must meditate on this for a while..

it doesn't throw it off for me.

come here, Behshad!! I'm gonna slap you silly. never mind, I'll come over there!!! and then slap you some more!!!!!

To each his own.

GirlLikeYou wrote:

LarryFromNextDoor wrote:

Behshad wrote:

LarryFromNextDoor wrote:

Behshad wrote:I dont care much for his style cause he has none! He simply is an Yngwie-Wanna-be.
If you check out the Gods 2002 you can tell that he has not developed a sound or techniuqe of his own. He does play fast at times but he uses that right hand way too much which in some solos make it too sloppy.
He did a little better job on the Talisman shows back in 03, but not as good as the other 2 Talisman Guitar Gurus (Fredrik Akesson and Pontus Norgren).
I'd rate him a mediocre cocky guitar player who thinks he is better than he actually is .

wow!! i cant believe what i just read.. i thought you were a huge simon fan.

Oh no!! Hell No! Im a huge Marcel Jacob fan,,, Im a huge Pontus Norgren fan,,,, but not a Howie fan. Howie is just Howie. He has no emotion when he plays and he is not a very good songwritter. He is good at playin cover songs, but guitar players who play other peoples songs are a dime a dozen.
I think he was the weakest in the Gods 2002 DVD. Gary Schutt and Pontus Norgren played much better than him IMO ( st john )

well this just throws off everything, i must meditate on this for a while..

it doesn't throw it off for me.

come here, Behshad!! I'm gonna slap you silly. never mind, I'll come over there!!! and then slap you some more!!!!!

To each his own.

Hey , this isnt about my personal prefrences. This is about facts and about Howies musical abilities. Dont get me wrong I like Howie , but he really isnt as he thinks he is.
I know you had a great time seeing Howie with Jeff jamming, but what it boils down to is that Howie isnt THAT great. Gary Schutt, whom you love so much, is much much better than Howie. Gary has that smoothness, the soul, the skills, the talent AND he can write some kick ass songs. Howie can not write any songs. His best solos are what he learned note by note(only slower) from Brian May , Fredrik Akesson and Yngwie Malmsteen to name a few.
If you can show me 2 decent songs that HE WROTE and performed , then I may be a bit nicer to him.
Maybe Im too spoiled cause all the other guitar players Jeff has worked with are much better than him. Besides the 3 I mentioned above, I think the following guitar players (that Jeff has worked with) are ALOT better than Howie:
Jason Bieler (Saigon Kick), Kuni, Masi, Pell and of course NEAL SCHON.
I think you just like Howie so much cause you had such a blast at the show, but I bet you wouldve had the same fun without him. The backbone of the songs and performance that nite was JEFF and GARY

Ok, we get the point. Enough said I think.

Behshad wrote:Hey , this isnt about my personal prefrences. This is about facts and about Howies musical abilities. Dont get me wrong I like Howie , but he really isnt as he thinks he is.
I know you had a great time seeing Howie with Jeff jamming, but what it boils down to is that Howie isnt THAT great. Gary Schutt, whom you love so much, is much much better than Howie. Gary has that smoothness, the soul, the skills, the talent AND he can write some kick ass songs. Howie can not write any songs. His best solos are what he learned note by note(only slower) from Brian May , Fredrik Akesson and Yngwie Malmsteen to name a few.
If you can show me 2 decent songs that HE WROTE and performed , then I may be a bit nicer to him.
Maybe Im too spoiled cause all the other guitar players Jeff has worked with are much better than him. Besides the 3 I mentioned above, I think the following guitar players (that Jeff has worked with) are ALOT better than Howie:
Jason Bieler (Saigon Kick), Kuni, Masi, Pell and of course NEAL SCHON.
I think you just like Howie so much cause you had such a blast at the show, but I bet you wouldve had the same fun without him. The backbone of the songs and performance that nite was JEFF and GARY

It sounds to me like you must be a hell of a guitar player, having all of this knowledge about who is 'better' than who, at what...etc

This is about facts and about Howies musical abilities

:roll:

Hey, if you don't think SOUL DIVINE is a great song, that's YOUR opinion. Howie can write great songs. Just because they might not get the same exposure Gary's do, not that many people are aware of it.

Connolly19 wrote:

Behshad wrote:Hey , this isnt about my personal prefrences. This is about facts and about Howies musical abilities. Dont get me wrong I like Howie , but he really isnt as he thinks he is.
I know you had a great time seeing Howie with Jeff jamming, but what it boils down to is that Howie isnt THAT great. Gary Schutt, whom you love so much, is much much better than Howie. Gary has that smoothness, the soul, the skills, the talent AND he can write some kick ass songs. Howie can not write any songs. His best solos are what he learned note by note(only slower) from Brian May , Fredrik Akesson and Yngwie Malmsteen to name a few.
If you can show me 2 decent songs that HE WROTE and performed , then I may be a bit nicer to him.
Maybe Im too spoiled cause all the other guitar players Jeff has worked with are much better than him. Besides the 3 I mentioned above, I think the following guitar players (that Jeff has worked with) are ALOT better than Howie:
Jason Bieler (Saigon Kick), Kuni, Masi, Pell and of course NEAL SCHON.
I think you just like Howie so much cause you had such a blast at the show, but I bet you wouldve had the same fun without him. The backbone of the songs and performance that nite was JEFF and GARY

It sounds to me like you must be a hell of a guitar player, having all of this knowledge about who is 'better' than who, at what...etc

This is about facts and about Howies musical abilities

:roll:

Hey, if you don't think SOUL DIVINE is a great song, that's YOUR opinion. Howie can write great songs. Just because they might not get the same exposure Gary's do, not that many people are aware of it.

During the past 5 years he has written a handfull of songs and half of those are crap. You call that great songwritting!? And why do you think Gary gets more exposure? cause of his looks!? or the poor promo !? No, because he is an overall better musician.

And I dont have to be a hell of a guitar player to have knowledge of who's better. Look at Deano,,, he has all this knowledge about singers, but you think can sing as good as Augeri ? Im a decent guitar player and I know for fact that Howie is much much better than me, but he is just an average guitar player. I can mention at least 20 guitar players that are MUCH better than him.

Welcome to the board by the way.... Howie !?

Behshad wrote:And I dont have to be a hell of a guitar player to have knowledge of who's better. Look at Deano,,, he has all this knowledge about singers, but you think can sing as good as Augeri ? Im a decent guitar player and I know for fact that Howie is much much better than me, but he is just an average guitar player. I can mention at least 20 guitar players that are MUCH better than him.

Well, IMO you need to be a seriously good guitar player to KNOW who's better(or at least have a 'real world' understanding), not just who YOU like better. What's "better" anyway? This is music we're talking about. It's about taste. What you like better. It aint a race or points contest.

Howie's average? That's a joke. Average is what you see in Guitar Center on a Sat afternoon.
I just think you're baseing your harsh criticism on your opinion and taste, not actual guitarist knowledge.
Sounds like arm chair quarterbacking to me.

20 better players than Howie? in your opinion.

I'm not Howie.

Connolly19 wrote:

Behshad wrote:And I dont have to be a hell of a guitar player to have knowledge of who's better. Look at Deano,,, he has all this knowledge about singers, but you think can sing as good as Augeri ? Im a decent guitar player and I know for fact that Howie is much much better than me, but he is just an average guitar player. I can mention at least 20 guitar players that are MUCH better than him.

Well, IMO you need to be a seriously good guitar player to KNOW who's better(or at least have a 'real world' understanding), not just who YOU like better. What's "better" anyway? This is music we're talking about. It's about taste. What you like better. It aint a race or points contest.

Howie's average? That's a joke. Average is what you see in Guitar Center on a Sat afternoon.
I just think you're baseing your harsh criticism on your opinion and taste, not actual guitarist knowledge.
Sounds like arm chair quarterbacking to me.

20 better players than Howie? in your opinion.

I'm not Howie.

OK lemme explain it to you better.... lets say there's 5 million guitar players worldwide. out of those 5 million about 1 million suck. about 500 are GREAT and the rest are in the area where i would call average. Howie is amongst those. Its not just about opinions, its about his talent and his abilities as a guitar player. Ive seen BETTER guitar players in Guitar Center on a Saturday afternoon! He doesnt have what it takes to be in the top 500 guitar players of the world. Neither do I and neither do you.
And my criticism may seem harsh but hey thats how it is in the business. No need to cry about it. I am sure Howie can take any kind of criticism much better than you do.
I may not have as much knowledge about guitarist as your highness do, but I know enough to see the difference between a good guitarplayer and a GREAT guitar player.
If you think this is all just my opinions and it doesnt count anyhow, why do you let it bother you!?
I said it before and I say it again. I enjoy listening to Howie jamming with Jeff / Talisman, but he just isnt as good as other Talisman guitarists.

Behshad wrote:OK lemme explain it to you better.... lets say there's 5 million guitar players worldwide. out of those 5 million about 1 million suck. about 500 are GREAT and the rest are in the area where i would call average. Howie is amongst those. Its not just about opinions, its about his talent and his abilities as a guitar player. Ive seen BETTER guitar players in Guitar Center on a Saturday afternoon! He doesnt have what it takes to be in the top 500 guitar players of the world. Neither do I and neither do you.
And my criticism may seem harsh but hey thats how it is in the business. No need to cry about it. I am sure Howie can take any kind of criticism much better than you do.
I may not have as much knowledge about guitarist as your highness do, but I know enough to see the difference between a good guitarplayer and a GREAT guitar player.
If you think this is all just my opinions and it doesnt count anyhow, why do you let it bother you!?
I said it before and I say it again. I enjoy listening to Howie jamming with Jeff / Talisman, but he just isnt as good as other Talisman guitarists.

Fair enough. I'm not bothered by it, just sharing my thoughts. I just hate hearing guitarists that I know are good, criticized by internet knuckleheads who think they know it all, because they post on message boards.
Why do you think Howie is playing guitar in JSS and not Gary? Jeff must know something you don't.

As far as an Yngwie rip off, which I'll admit Howie does very well, Do you think that that's easily accomplished by an 'average player'? I'll bet you anything that Neal, Gary, Slash or half of your top 20 can't do Yngwie riffs. Not that they need or want to, but that takes more talent than an average player to do so. Pontus does it very well. Is he better than Neal? Who knows? They're both great, but different.
You don't have to like Howie, it's just the average remark that tells me you don't know jack.

Humor me. Who are 20 GREAT players in your OPINION. I'd like to know where you're coming from, is all.

Behshad wrote:I'd rate him a mediocre cocky guitar player who thinks he is better than he actually is .

Behshad wrote:Hey , this isnt about my personal prefrences. This is about facts and about Howies musical abilities. Dont get me wrong I like Howie , but he really isnt as he thinks he is.
Howie can not write any songs. His best solos are what he learned note by note(only slower) from Brian May , Fredrik Akesson and Yngwie Malmsteen to name a few.

This is his best solo IMO. He wrote the solo all by himself... (I know it's a Tamplin song.)
http://www.howiesimon.com/mp3s/Tamplin/Tamplin%20-%20Falling%20Houses%20(clip).mp3

When did Howie say anywhere that he was a great player? Have you ever met him? His sense of humor may be lost on you.

Connolly19 wrote:

Behshad wrote:OK lemme explain it to you better.... lets say there's 5 million guitar players worldwide. out of those 5 million about 1 million suck. about 500 are GREAT and the rest are in the area where i would call average. Howie is amongst those. Its not just about opinions, its about his talent and his abilities as a guitar player. Ive seen BETTER guitar players in Guitar Center on a Saturday afternoon! He doesnt have what it takes to be in the top 500 guitar players of the world. Neither do I and neither do you.
And my criticism may seem harsh but hey thats how it is in the business. No need to cry about it. I am sure Howie can take any kind of criticism much better than you do.
I may not have as much knowledge about guitarist as your highness do, but I know enough to see the difference between a good guitarplayer and a GREAT guitar player.
If you think this is all just my opinions and it doesnt count anyhow, why do you let it bother you!?
I said it before and I say it again. I enjoy listening to Howie jamming with Jeff / Talisman, but he just isnt as good as other Talisman guitarists.

Fair enough. I'm not bothered by it, just sharing my thoughts. I just hate hearing guitarists that I know are good, criticized by internet knuckleheads who think they know it all, because they post on message boards.
Why do you think Howie is playing guitar in JSS and not Gary? Jeff must know something you don't.

As far as an Yngwie rip off, which I'll admit Howie does very well, Do you think that that's easily accomplished by an 'average player'? I'll bet you anything that Neal, Gary, Slash or half of your top 20 can't do Yngwie riffs. Not that they need or want to, but that takes more talent than an average player to do so. Pontus does it very well. Is he better than Neal? Who knows? They're both great, but different.
You don't have to like Howie, it's just the average remark that tells me you don't know jack.

Humor me. Who are 20 GREAT players in your OPINION. I'd like to know where you're coming from, is all.

Are you even fucking payin attention?? I said 3 times I like Howie but I just dont think he is THAT great. Get a grip dude. And Yngwie is light years better than howie. Youre the one who doesnt have a fucking clue. Howie and Gary both play(ed) with Jeff, so what do you mean Jeff chose Howie!?

you want 20 guitar players better than Howie!? in no particular order, these gentlmen can smoke Howie:

Yngwie Malmsteen
Neal Schon
Joe Satriani
Steve Vai
John Petrucci
Alexi (Children of Bodom)
Gary Moore
Tony McAlpine
Richie Blackmore
Mathew Mills
Eric Johnson
John Norum
Kee Marcello
Eddie Van Halen
Fredrik Akesson
Richie Sambora
Pontus Norgren
Steve Stevens
Paul Gilbert
Zakk Wylde


and the list goes on and on and on.


Glad youre a big Howie fan, so Enjoy !

You said 2 times that Howie isn't as good as he thinks he is. When did HE say that he thinks he's great?

Gary plays bass with Jeff now.

Ritchie Sambora? nice.

Connolly19 wrote:You said 2 times that Howie isn't as good as he thinks he is. When did HE say that he thinks he's great?

Gary plays bass with Jeff now.

Ritchie Sambora? nice.

So out of the 20 guitar players I named and I can name 20 more, you picked one that you obviously dont like. Even though you dont like Sambora, the guy is a great song writter and overall better player.
Im starting to belive that you are Howie!
Howie doesnt say "IM GREAT", his attitude speaks for him. He isnt humble. He is a very cocky guitar player, with the same attitude as Yngwie, only Yngwie can live up to it and Howie cant.

Gary plays bass with Jeff now? Um OK,,, he has for a while now DUH......

no one knows JSS stuff better than Behshad.. he is the KING of the JSS family tree,, .................btw.. i played at guitar center this saturday afternoon.. ..

I guess my point was, why isn't Gary the guitar player (instead of playing bass) if he's so much better than Howie.
Sambora's a great songwriter, sure, but is he a better player?

It just seemed to me that you had nothing to add to the initial post except to go out of your way to bash Howie.
Have you actually met him?

Connolly19 wrote:I guess my point was, why isn't Gary the guitar player (instead of playing bass) if he's so much better than Howie.
Sambora's a great songwriter, sure, but is he a better player?

It just seemed to me that you had nothing to add to the initial post except to go out of your way to bash Howie.
Have you actually met him?

gary is a great guitar player as well.. i like howie too.. those 2 guys are fantastic...

Connolly19 wrote:I guess my point was, why isn't Gary the guitar player (instead of playing bass) if he's so much better than Howie.
Sambora's a great songwriter, sure, but is he a better player?

It just seemed to me that you had nothing to add to the initial post except to go out of your way to bash Howie.
Have you actually met him?

I didnt bash Howie,,, I expressed my honest opinion about him. I think he could develop to become a more solid player if he would try to improvise in the solos instead of tryin to play other peoples solos note by note.
Ive met him once back in 03. He is not as down to earth as the other guys in Talisman.
I do enjoy listenin to him performin Talisman songs.
One thing about Howie is that he is very good at

LarryFromNextDoor wrote:

Connolly19 wrote:I guess my point was, why isn't Gary the guitar player (instead of playing bass) if he's so much better than Howie.
Sambora's a great songwriter, sure, but is he a better player?

It just seemed to me that you had nothing to add to the initial post except to go out of your way to bash Howie.
Have you actually met him?

gary is a great guitar player as well.. i like howie too.. those 2 guys are fantastic...

I agree, Gary's an amazing talent!

LarryFromNextDoor wrote:

Connolly19 wrote:I guess my point was, why isn't Gary the guitar player (instead of playing bass) if he's so much better than Howie.
Sambora's a great songwriter, sure, but is he a better player?

It just seemed to me that you had nothing to add to the initial post except to go out of your way to bash Howie.
Have you actually met him?

gary is a great guitar player as well.. ..

he also plays the drums. Super guy too.