Chris Spedding

Everything you think you know about guitar heroes is wrong. In the pantheon of guitar gods of the past 35 years-Page, Hendrix, Gilmour, Beck, Clapton-there has been one name missing. Chris Spedding. On the annual lists of the greatest guitarists of all time-invariably a stew of heavy metal pyrotechnicians, old school bluesmen, murky grunge players, and the usual '60s and '70s suspects, with Jimi Hendrix inevitably at the summit-one rarely finds low-key session guitarist and solo artist Chris Spedding. To rectify this crime against Anglo-American musical heritage, meet the Great Lost British Guitar Hero. Sometimes described as to the left of Dave Edmunds and to the right of Brian Eno and the best guitarist you've never heard of, Spedding has played on over 200 recording sessions for a wide spectrum of flashes-in-the-pan and renowed artists (Paul McCartney, Donovan, Elton John, John Cale, Katie Melua, Bryan Ferry). As a producer he has worked with the Sex Pistols, Dee Dee Ramone, the Nils, and the Cramps. He also found time to enjoy Top 20 success in the U.K. with his own 1975 hit Motorbikin'. This biography of an underrated, reluctant guitar god, will make you reconsider what you think about rock music.