We ALL can learn something from the WORST GUITARISTS

[@lordaeon5636]

7:40 As you briefly mentioned, RIchard Benson's story is actually tragic. He was indeed a really good guitarist, and a quite quite influent one with his band (Buon Vecchio Charlie) during the italian progressive wave in the 70's, and he was also host of some TV programs about music (see Ottava Nota). What happened next is not clear, as far as I remember he was diagnosed with arthritis, which understandably led him to suffer from a severe form of depression, and then the accident happened. Unfortunately he couldn't play like he did before. He kinda gradually went from great guitarist to trashy internet personality, and as an Italian who grew up during the first 2010's I got to know about him mostly because of that, YTPs and many memes. I heard about the rest only years later. Before he passed he managed to write and publish a song called ''Processione'' with his band. If you get the chance, please listen to that. You'll see what I consider to be his real side.

[@hallucinatedovens8414]

Very cool, he reminds me a little of Adriano Celentano, he started out as a beloved rock n roll guy then became a parody of himself

[@GuyXVIII]

Truly tragic. I remember a few years back every musician on YT took the chance of ridiculing him UNTIL that one video that shed light on Benson's story. Then everyone stopped laughing at him. Didn't know he passed away. The whole thing is so heart breaking.

[@KeybardExplorer]

And don't forget that the little guitar solo he plays in that song is actually decent. It's a shame he became a "meme"

[@mr_bassman6685]

@@hallucinatedovens8414 I thought he was still fairly respected in Italy unless I haven't been keeping up?

[@FlyingV344]

@@mr_bassman6685 in the land of the blind......

[@DrKevGuitar]

Sammy, your common sense, empathy, and compassion makes you stand out amongst other guitar KZbinrs. Makes me keep coming back too. Great job buddy. And thank you.

[@KarstenJohansson]

It's funny.... Lil Wayne actually looks *cool* with the guitar. The look and the persona. He rocks it. Just 'it' is not in the execution. 😅

[@SearchingForTone]

I’m wondering if I’m going to be featured in this?

[@ragnadrabinowitz7629]

me, too.

[@ladymctavish3299]

If you haven't seen Chance Wilkins on here then you wave nothing to worry about. No one is worse than that.

[@SearchingForTone]

@@ladymctavish3299 challenge accepted 🤣🤣🤣

[@SearchingForTone]

Phew I was safe….this time🤣

[@Santaheckler]

Me three 😆

[@michaelanthony9068]

I touched this thumbnail accidentally, but watched all the way thru because of your sensitivity and maturity in your assessments. I don’t usually get into “epic fails”, but the way you found positivity and/or understanding in every video, is redeeming for the human race. Liked and subscribed.

[@RobKandell]

DJ Khaled reminds me of my favorite Clint Eastwood quote: “GODDAMNIT, EITHER TUNE THAT THING OR STOP PLAYING IT!!”

[@Damian-the-hackerman]

I love Henry Kaiser solo. How it starts only a little bit weird and then glitches out in every direction, exploring many ideas. It takes a lot of skill in creativity to improvise something like that. In my opinion it sounds great, but I get why some people don't like it. People expect something else from guitar solos, especially with a rhythm section like that.

[@hallucinatedovens8414]

I get that all music is subjective but perhaps youd prefer atonal music if 😂think this sounds good, maybe just randomly strum an out of tune guitar with rotten old strings and see if sounds good 🤷‍♂️

[@bonkman6463]

@@hallucinatedovens8414 nah because they actually think about what they do

[@KarstenJohansson]

I thought the sound was pretty awesome. If it wasn't for the effects, I'd probably give it a hard pass. But it's clear he's doing all of that absolutely purposefully.

[@jens-kristiantofthansen9376]

I was going to say something about this too but you said it better, @Damian. From the moment he starts playing you can tell that everything he does is entirely intentional. This isn't a guy who doesn't know how to play the guitar - he could play clean as anything and sound great that way too. This is a different expression to what most people are used to, and sure, it's not for everyone but I like how it challenges.

[@wjstephens4654]

Kaiser has a huge body of work and is in reality a masterful and accomplished musician. This is not a good representation of his work.

[@sazalamel4749]

The second dude reminds me of something Jack White would come up with. I kinda like unpolished and bizarre sounding stuff from time to time. It definitely stands out.

[@GregStraub42]

Re: Richard Benson I have had arthritis since I was 15. Mine is not as acutely severe but it is... Difficult. I have had to entirely learn, relearn, and adapt to very different playing because there is often pain and a lack of strength that gets in the way of doing things "Normally". It sucks. Don't take for granted that your body works properly, one day it might not and that is extremely difficult to deal with.

[@LMacNeill]

"worst guitarist" Wait -- how'd you get a camera in my basement?!

[@Ab12918]

😂

[@Schmidty030]

In all the years ive seen the Weezer Disaster video, I've NEVER seen the redemption ending. Wow.

[@I.M.Guitar-Nerd]

Segal is horrible person that the world should forget all about.

[@no_nameyouknow]

So you are saying he should probably make a run for the oval office?

[@courier11sec]

Him and Khaled should take a submarine ride. Ocean gate is still in operation.

[@TrashHeapCustodian]

Honestly with the menagerie we've got stumbling their way there right now it might happen regardless But yeah people need to learn about Seagal's life, there's some podcasts about him, I think The Dollop and/or Behind the Bastards did at least one on him

[@beng4151]

There's a lot of people like that these days; they mostly live in California.

[@bronsoncarder2491]

Yeah, I completely agree on the Henry Kaiser points. Seems like he's trying to find a very specific sound, and judging by the, like, three seconds of it I heard, I would bet that even he would agree that he hasn't quite found it yet. But there are some really interesting ideas going on in there. EDIT: Please watch the DJ Khaled Hot Ones. It is literally the only additional thing you need to know about that person. lmfao

[@thatunicornhastheaudacity]

He's actually a really good guitarist. You should watch his tutorial video. Insane. Think Primus guitarist. Wild stuff!

[@UrbanGarden-rf5op]

He has appeared on more than 300 albums since the late seventies, has played with some of the greatest musicians and was even nominated for a Grammy. So whatever he does, he does it by choice. If you don't like it, fine. But don't slag him off as being incompetent. ✌✌

[@hallucinatedovens8414]

Yes, he was experimenting with new digital effects, that's the purpose of the presentation. The greater tragedy though is that the great amp builder Alexander Dumble was also showcasing his amps in this feature (the only footage of him we have) but the guitar player never bothered to play the amp without the effects so you could hear the quality of the tone, and it's a shame mr. Kaiser overlooked that

[@KarstenJohansson]

When I was 13, my band played Amazing Grace, followed by House Of The Rising Sun in church, with a (rather good) sax player doing the vocal lines. They responded to the first song just fine, but the silence after the second had us completely baffled. I don't know about the others, but it took years before I found out what HOTRS was about, and why the church sat their silently with their mouths agog.

[@philipschlaepfer9866]

I believe that Henry Kaiser is playing that music from a place of deep artistic vision; Art that is motivated by the primal urge to create and nothing else. Our society is hostile to art that doesn't conform to our preconvieved notions of what "good music" should sound like, so very few artists like that survive

[@taxationistheftmemes]

Or he just sucks

[@Irkennalpha]

By design no, he cannot play, I’ve seen many of his other videos. A kid with a xylophone can play things that I cannot replicate, he’s a true artist, playing whole tone/microtonal scales in odd time metrics. So no, Henry Kaiser just sucks

[@hallucinatedovens8414]

My brother in christ. You know what you're hearing, your ears arent lying to you. Hey plugged in a bunch of effects which had no familiarity with and began playing as randomly as he could muster in the moment within his familiar scales. It was a demonstration piece, it was never meant to be music in the first place

[@philipschlaepfer9866]

@@Irkennalpha you're absolutely right, he can't play by your standards, and yet he still plays. He is fulfilled enough in his conception of a musical pursuit that he continues on his path and he even has an audience. Yeah, he probably can't play Autumn Leaves to save his life, but that's not the point for him

[@Irkennalpha]

@@philipschlaepfer9866 He's just a nepo baby buying a place under the spotlight. He hired really great musicians to play with him and he showcases remarkable instruments, maybe that's how he gets validation from a couple ones. I've seen hours length videos of him, just a kid enchanted with himself with ton of cash to burn, nothing to admire. No musicality, no underlying complexity either. Everyone being so 'out of the box' by defending his case, I'll take The Shaggs and Tiny Tim as better examples of outlier music or 'avant garde', but not this guy. His playing style is not a design choice, he truly cannot play.

[@riccampbell]

I've known about Kaiser since the 80's when Guitar Player put out a soundsheet of him. Like others have noted, some of his stuff is way cool, others.....ouch. But I can say the same thing about Zappa, and we call him a genius. After some 55 years of pro/semi playing, I'm retired from playing now at 69 - various/sundry medical things, boredom, no new ideas. But early on I made every mistake you can make on a stage - and learned, got good at it. So I'm not inclined to pass too much judgement on anybody, you never know where you'll see them next.

[@Scottocaster6668]

Zappa has a lot of feel, and some of his licks are really cool. They fit his tone. Tons of attitude in them. They may not fit or in the wrong key, but it makes you think. Good stuff, I like it!

[@numerousattention103]

Mr. Benson was an unsung metal/progrock hero slowly deteriorating in his ability to shred, but doesn't take away the passion for guitars. Fly on, mio amico.

[@bluesdjben]

I like the idea that DJ Khaled's first name is DJ. Does this apply to all DJs?

[@adam_enabledtrue]

Yes, all DJs are DJs and subsequently all DJs are DJs

[@danowl1]

You are always insightful, understanding, respectful and knowledgeable - rare qualities to find on social media. Please keep doing what you're doing, inspiring guitarists and random other folks. I'm not in a stage of life right now where I can play, or practice, which is hard to take after 50+ years of fretting, but your videos keep me thinking about guitars and music and all the good stuff in life. All the best to you, and go Jets/Bombers/Etc. there in Canada's musical mecca.

[@pixearles]

That Henry Keiser piece sounds like it could have come straight off Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt

[@guy_incognito]

Great piece, although I'm not sure why I wasn't in there. As for Kaiser, however, calling Kaiser a bad guitarist is like calling Shostakovich a hack -- he knows what he's doing and why. A point you made quite well.

[@KarstenJohansson]

Those kids are just starting, and they're already part way through their first Spinal Tap experience. I hope they've watched the original and will watch the follow-up coming next year.

[@OldManSedgewick-qd2zr]

I like your ability to be both honest and respectful.

[@Chuck-Bob]

Dude, I'm glad there wasn't a camera rolling every time I missed a note. Hell I did it every night for years and might still miss a note upon occasion. People are such asses sometimes.

[@Mindless_Ape]

I suck at drums, not guitar, but I love watching your videos. You've always got something informative or entertaining to say, and I love you for that. My wife bought your guitar course and loves it. Thank you for being so damn cool and genuine.

[@josephtardio1086]

Putting Yoko Ono into the "art piece" category with Ornette Coleman makes me question everything you've ever said on your channel.

[@diotenchi]

You would know, as the gatekeeper of the arts.

[@doremind1]

Richard Benson was also an amazing poet, he wrote poems about the human condition and suffering that will make you cry. He was a tormented soul, but played the funny guy who wouldn't take himself seriously. May he rest in peace.

[@albertchurchill4845]

No man, I'm the guy who sneaks into the intermediate lounge and act like he's a member.

[@Waqq23]

I really seriously appreciate you focusing so much on whatever's positive to be found. I wish there was more of this on youtube. Well everywhere really, but in this case youtube

[@fumanpoo4725]

I suck, therefore I am...Sometimes we just cannot comprehend free form cacophony. Too deep...too intense. Now, the bassist with the broken finger is badass...a trooper! The show must go on! Rock on!

[@user-oh1uk9ls8b]

This is why I like you. You’re nice and open minded. You don’t pass off avant garde stuff as “bad” and encourage people to understand its intention

[@DaveDurango]

The thing with Ornette, is he knew the rules then he broke them. Kaiser is a nepo-baby who bought his way into circles of some very good musicians

[@hallucinatedovens8414]

Is that true about this Kaiser guy? His playing surely reeks of it lol, honestly curious about your source

[@EbonyPope]

Kaiser can actually play though as far as I know.

[@bluechalk6275]

Steven Seagal plays like a midwestern dad who pulls his guitar out once a year at Thanksgiving

[@isobig]

I don't know why but as soon as the Richard Benson spot started @7:40 , I thought it was Gene Simmons.

[@ExaltedDuck]

Check out COMPLETE. I'd recommend starting with Hoogie Boogie Land. I have a buddy that started covering it maybe around 2012 or 13 and several years later actually booked COMPLETE to come from Texas to play at the world famous doll hut in Anaheim for his 50th birthday party. It was amazing. I think there were only 3 or 4 of us left by the time the set was over, but all beaming with joy for having gotten to see them live. They were terrible but they were honestly terrible, and really put their heart on stage for us. Everyone that stuck around, was also a musician and it felt like when a comic bombs for the enjoyment of other comedians. I was saddened to see tonight that their frontman had passed away a year or two ago but glad I got to see them, meet him, shake his hand. Great guy, really had a ton of heart.

[@nyobunknown6983]

When I was learning I refused to play in public for 6 months until I could actually play something.

[@ImnotgoingSideways]

4:30 Exceptions: Wolfmother's "Dimension" has a great single primal scream at the start of the song. Does "Crazy Train" count? Castle Rat's "Fresh Fur" kinda-sorta has one in the start-ish part of the song. Led Zeppelin's "I Can't Quit You Baby", for sure. A few Pink Floyd songs have screams in the intros. You, kind sir, may be incorrect. =^-^=

[@honkytonkinson9787]

The world has decided that DJK has something that I don’t, I’ll never understand, and no one cares that I’m a better guitarist and could eat all the wings!

[@davidgedlinskeiii6421]

I don't get it either....riding coat tails and being a misogynist gets you pretty far, I guess.

[@Chico50445]

I first discovered your channel through the lil Wayne and Nick Jonas videos. I gotta say what stood out about those videos at the time they were popping up everywhere is that it didn’t feel like you were mocking them in a disrespectful way at all, if anything it was creative to find a way to make those solos sound good, in ways that weren’t intended but showed that you can make good music from the stuff that is famously bad through some small changes

[@DionSt.Michael]

I was taught early on all the benefits to really LISTENING to music whenever I had the opportunity to and because of it I’ve learned and benefitted from it in all kinds of ways both from great musicians and/or beginners I have played with. I have always tried to exercise patience and support burgeoning musicians for two reasons, I’m no pro either and simply because at the end of the day it’s only music and it should be shared and celebrated by everyone. The more people you welcome regardless of the level they are at at the time and the more you encourage others to do music the better for us all in my opinion. In my opinion music by and large should be fun not a competition or a peeing match!

[@nathanmcdonald610]

It was nice of you to try and find compliments for DJ. Khaled.

[@MuscleCarLover]

When Richard Benson was young, and the few times he played slow, he sounded really good. I remember seeing a clip from his guitar lesson back in his youth and his slow playing had a vibe

[@2killnspray9]

2:13 he clearly is not a bad player at all. The style is voluntary like this it sounds like something is falling and getting broken.

[@DeadKoby]

Henry Kaiser's stuff is REALLY polarizing. I've found some of the material that he's done to be interesting....... some to be "out there" but fun... and other stuff I don't need to hear ever again.

[@noviatoria2436]

Referring to DJ Khaled as if his first name is "DJ" is so fuckin funny.

[@TheHangarHobbit]

A worst guitarist and nothing from The Shaggs? I mean you know something is bad when famous musicians like Frank Zappa consider The Shaggs as Dadaist performance art.

[@damiens4601]

The first one I feel is someone who came for the troll ^^

[@davepayne164]

Maybe. But those ‘talent’ shows love to find someone who’s struggling mentally and put them in front of millions of people to be laughed at.

[@tccostello]

Wonderful positive vibes on this videos! It put a smile on face that still hasn;t gone away.

[@davidblankenship7985]

Thanks for turning me on to Henry Kaiser, man

[@Morrisasaurus]

Oh man, have you done Corey Feldman? Also, it's nice to see you turn this so positive!

[@TheAndostro]

you just can't hate richard benson if you know his story he was good guitar player but life can be unfair so he made something from this anyway

[@JayZed-tl5bc]

If Ozzy hired me to be his guitarist, my stage name would be Stink ‘E’ Lead.

[@SuperNovaKin]

Only hearing Richard Benson passed now is sad, I liked that he stuck with his character despite alot a people not learning it was one. I didn't know he had health issues, just thought he was having a laugh, after also learning he could playing pretty well. RIP

[@bryanh3057]

You forgot to include the Prince “Gently Weeps” solo 😂

[@aakkoin]

That Henry Kaiser thing is absolutely certainly influenced by avant-garde composer Captain Beefheart, Kaiser even played with the Beefheart-drummer John French. Beefheart has some awesome guitar pieces like "Flavor Bud Living", "Evening Bell", "Peon", "A Carrot is as close as a rabbit gets to a diamond"... It's awesome stuff.

[@levibaker_music]

If you were to listen to my recently released recordings I think you would agree that I am something of a Steven Segal myself, lol.

[@madjesterlabs9369]

What I learned today is that Sammy G has the patience an silver lining finding ability of a seasoned instructor.

[@channingsmith7859]

When anyone is making music, it makes me happy. Doesn’t mean I’m gonna like the music but I’m glad they are making it.

[@codychickadee5095]

I always got the impression that Benson was just goofing off.

[@dustinsmith9375]

You must do a Corey Feldman guitar solo breakdown

[@hinduismwithpremananddasbhagat]

The thing with DJ Khaled - he can't play, but he has so much confidence that you have to give him credit.

[@jkrause365]

Man Sam, I gotta hand it to ya...You're much more generous than I am. First off, in order for me to be that generous to let's say Guitarist No. 2, I'd have to know his back story. I mean can he play Freight Train? Does he know the circle of fifths? Can he get through rhythm changes?

[@WhiskerBiscuit1]

3:20 DJ Khaled went SUPER disrespectful with that thing.... 😞🤦🏻‍♂️ 4:36 I would have died laughing, then yelled for him like "PICK UP THAT KEYBOARD AND KEEP GOIN'!"

[@beerbikesandblues]

After seeing Seagal with an explorer, i suddenly do not want one.

[@tarcisioe]

Feel free to get the Explorer, he is using a Firebird in that clip.

[@FoxxoFox]

I would still love a guitar collection update from good old Sammy G

[@JoeR203]

My other channel is called The Worst Guitarist. (Look for the orange guitar) But I hardly use it.

[@ForTiorIJohnny]

i know reaction content is rather low brow. but i´d love to see you reacting to some live gig fails and pull some lesson out of it.

[@detroithammer8869]

awesome perspective. I need to open my mind

[@ttb101377]

I agree... your intelligent, compassionate and genuine,like...hmmmm a samurai.Thank you for your continuous encouragement... God bless you and yours

[@lsu1992]

@07:44 The screams of those captive guitars will haunt my dreams.

[@andycopland3179]

I've never came across your channel, but that was pretty wholesome commentary. Or maybe i belong on the list, whatever 😂

[@Karmaneoeric]

I have been all those guys. (probably still is). Never stopped me from my passion. Most of the time I did not have the knowledge to get 'the sound in my head' through the instrument. That is what practicing, learning and countless hours of commitment is for.

[@stephenbouchelle7706]

Kaiser has collaborated with Richard Thompson. I think that is some kind of seal of approval.

[@bazzer124]

Remember: ugly, as well as beauty, is in the eye of the beholders. Cheers....

[@Kanthon]

Sammy, check out the episode of Dancing with the Stars where Aaron Carter danced to “We’re Not Gonna Take It”. The solo … my God, is full of clams.

[@jacobleetaylor]

Khalid does the classic America thing, 100% confidence, 0% skill 😂

[@gaudeam1]

super interesting and inspiring video, Sam. As an italian, i appriciated your digging deeper about richard benson: this poor soul was an icon in Italy , but for all the wrong reasons: after being teased and mocked for years, as his actual musical ability decreased, embraced the cruel bullism of his "fans", and took it to extreme conseguences, mocking and humiliating himself in this parodistic character of the rotten, fat, disabled shredder with few teeth, swearing heavy profanities and accepting vegetables lapidation from the audience. Sad, sad, sad. Talking about avant-guarde guitarest You would be relucytant to accept, do you know DEREK BAILEY? As a huge David Sylvian fan, it was hard for me to "embrace" his veeeeeeeery weird contribution on "Blemish" album...interesting, though...expecially considering he uses acoustics...I suggest you to check it out....

[@bmint]

I’m so bad I can’t even get on a worst list 😂

[@baalmoloch4933]

Respect for your respect for other folks out there making art in their own way. Plenty of our modern music started as an affront to the musical norms of the day.

[@joermnyc]

I know about Lil Wayne via Trogly’s Guitar Show, he actually got hold of one of the guitars used for a show that unfortunately get spiked and lost it’s headstock (I believe it was a Joan Jett Melody Maker). Trogly hoped to have it repaired by Sweetwater, but I think the damage was too extensive for even the experts.

[@gieljannoe6404]

That thing had markers on the back of the neck right?

[@FISHYFILMPRODUCTIONS]

Yeah, its for sale on his reverb last I checked

[@gearViewmirror]

@@FISHYFILMPRODUCTIONS That's where it will stay, along with all his other overpriced stuff🤣

[@LuísJoel-s7k]

I was about to buy your guitar course but then you said that about confidence and I decided to build some instead.

[@screamin5325]

Richard Benson’s story is absolutely tragic. You should look into it deeper. Fame, followed by inability to blat due to arthritis, then depression snd self loathing, a few suicide attempts, and ultimately letting himself be publicly humiliated in order to make enough money to survive, including letting people throw food and garbage at him. People can be such trash.

[@fvez_]

oh yeah people in the comments of the video say that people would go to his concert just to throw fruit at him. very sad and scummy

[@stebeusmusic]

@@fvez_ It was intentional, according to some sources. He aimed for that so he could survive with his passion, despite his health conditions. So he was very intelligent. I wish Keith Emerson did this too, as he developed a neural issue that prejudiced his keyboard performance, that weren't even bad compared to Rich... So hard to be an artist when non-artists keep trashing on your work.

[@kajuiceboi3592]

The worst part is that Steven Seagal owns like half of the worlds most prized guitars, many owned and played by blues legends.

[@NickDevXT]

More an intermediate "onion" than a wall. Multiple plateau points but I find if I walk away for a week or so and come back I've improved.

[@thegabaghoul93]

Corey Feldman just wiped his brow

[@spacemissing]

I thimk what we can learn here is that if you are genuinely bad at something you should Know you are and Not publish proof for the world to suffer through.

[@DeadRobit29]

The second guy was demonstating a guitar tone if I remember correctly. Stevie T has reacted to some of these before.

[@justhalog3318]

I'm signed up and started my New Year's resolution in December

[@nickburmanmusic]

I'm convinced the worst of the worst contestants are just having a laugh. I've Never met anyone who could play so little on a guitar think that they should be onstage!

[@grene1955]

You are a much better person than me, I have to say. Much respect to you for treating people with respect. BTW, I think the 13 year olds were awesome! We've all had disasters on stage, but they persevered. THAT gets my respect!

[@alococuccoyo6103]

Gatorade! Edit: I really want to see a Sammy G × Stevie T collab someday.

[@glenbateman5960]

I'm just happy I can help.

[@rik2bits]

Henry Kaiser is a genius. A great player who could play conventionally, if he wanted to. Check out his work with French, Frith, Kaiser, Thompson. The Thompson being Richard.

[@1953bassman]

I've been part of a band that hosts an open mike for some years. Some of these remind me of some of the performances I've seen.

[@DjVortex-w]

I don't know if sarcasm or not, but I suppose it's refreshing to see a rather different perspective on these.

[@bobjason7540]

Kaiser is actually a massive guitar player. He knows what he is trying to do. He does a great cover of ZZ Top's Manic Mechanic

[@AwakeningPhilosophy]

"To farm it" means what exactly? 🧑‍🌾🎸

[@mohammadsharififard1686]

The second one is yoko ono but guitar Edit: damn he called it literally seconds after I wrote this

[@TheCSpang]

Wait... You said, "if I could do that every time I just wanna say 'forget it' and walk out," referring to the kids sticking it out through the Weezer song after their mishap, that you would be proud of yourself. Does that mean you DO actually walk out? 🤨

[@vyvy-16]

well, I for one learned that there's a guitar course for sale

[@DangerforBrunch]

henry Kaiser is the man! experimental and avant garde guitar/electroacoustic exploration isn't for everyone but he's been a major figure in that field for years! also if you like a minimalist deconstruction of somewhere over the rainbow, similar king of outthere guitar and composition Bill Orcutt has an incredible solo acoustic version of it that rips in the weirdest best way