A PHIL BRODIE BAND INFO PAGE . . ENJOY
Left-Handed
Guitarists
&
Drummers
If
you know any more lefties
please
email me
Left-handed
people play guitar or electric bass in one of three ways:
(1) Play a right-handed
guitar right-handed. (eg. Gary Moore)
(2) Play a true left-handed instrument
or a right-handed instrument that has been altered to play left-handed. (eg. Tony
Iommi)
(3) Turn a right-handed guitar upside down, pick with the left hand,
but leave the strings as they were - which makes them reversed from the normal
order for a left-handed player. (eg. Gus Isidore)
Any style of picking with
the left hand (flatpicking or fingerstyle guitar) is considered playing left-handed.
* * * * * * * * *
LEFTY
GUITAR PLAYERS
JIMI HENDRIX: American guitarist,
singer and songwriter; considered one of the greatest and most influential
guitarists in rock music history.After initial success in Europe, he achieved
fame in the USA following his 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival.
Later, Hendrix headlined the iconic 1969 Woodstock Festival.
AL McKAY:
American
guitarist; winner of 5 Grammy Awards and multi-platinum songwriter, veteran
session player, sideman on stage and studio with Earth, Wind & Fire,
Tina Turner, The Emotions, Deniece Williams, many
more
and his own Alstar Band.
ALAIN PEWZNER: French guitarist who has
been a member of Martin CIrcus since 1969 recording over 200 tracks of varied
genre in his 40 year career with them.
ALBERT KING: American blues guitarist and singer; one of the "Three
Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with B.B. King and Freddie King), he stood
at least 6' 4", weighed in at least 260 lbs and was known as "The Velvet
Bulldozer".
ANDREW WHITE: British
lead guitarist and original member of the band Runston Parva, which later became
Parva and then the indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs.
BARBARA LYNN: American R&B artist; she
has toured with such soul music greats as Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Smokey
Robinson, Dionne Warwick, Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, James Brown,
Al Green, Carla Thomas, Marvin Gaye, Ike and Tina Turner, The Temptations, and
B.B. King.
BILLY
RAY CYRUS:
American country singer-songwriter, musician and actor;
A multi-platinum selling recording artist
best known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart".
BOB GELDOF:
Irish singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and political activist; came
to fame in 1978 with The Boomtown Rats band having their first No. 1 in
the UK with "Rat Trap", which was the first New Wave chart-topper
in that country.
BOBBY WOMACK: Started his career with his family musical group
The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, his career has spanned
more than 40 years, with a repertoire in the styles of R&B, soul,
rock and roll, doo-wop, gospel, country and funk.
BUDDY MILES:
American lefty, although
mainly known for his drumming with Jimi Hendrix and many other top musicians,
he is also an inspired guitarist too.
CALOGERO
"CHARLY" MAURICI: French
singer, bass guitarist; Founder member, singer and bassist of the pop/rock
band Les Charts in 1989, staying with the band member until he launched
his solo career in 1998.
CESAR ROSAS: American singer, songwriter
and guitarist for Los Lobos. He also participates in the Latin supergroup
Los Super Seven and has been active in side sessions and guest appearances
in the studio for decades. .
CHARLES WRIGHT: American guitarist has spent his
life making music, famous for his Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd
Street Rhythm Band, the pioneering American soul and funk band.
CHRIS REA: British singer-songwriter and guitarist, learnt
to play the right-handed instrument in the despite being left-handed.
instantly
recognisable for his distinctive, raspy voice. He has sold over 30 million
albums worldwide.
DAVE MARTONE: Canadian
lefty, one of Canada's finest international guitarists, he started to play left
handed as a child, but was eventually taught me play the regular way by his Dad.
DAVID COOK: American rock singer-songwriter-guitarist,
and winner of the seventh season of the reality television show American Idol.
His post-Idol self-titled album released on November 18, 2008 and has since been
certified Platinum by the RIAA.
DICK DALE: (Richard Anthony Monsour) known
as "The King Of The Surf Guitar", plays with his backing band The Del-Tones.
He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers,
including the first ever 100 watt amp.
DJAMEL LAROUSSI: Algerian guitaist who excels
at combining his Arab-Kabyl roots with an in-depth understanding of Western sounds
ranging from jazz to rock to Latin genre.
EDDIE "The Chief" CLEARWATER:
(Edward Harrington) American Chicago blues musician who performs both
in the US and internationally at blues festivals in France, Germany, the
Netherlands etc. In 2004 he was nominated for a Grammy Award with Los
Straitjackets for their collaboration, Rock 'N' Roll City.
ELIZABETH "Libba" COTTON: American self taught leftie,
her unique style
of finger picking, and her signature, alternating bass style is known
as "Cotten Picking". Her
unmistakably original chords, melodies and finger picking techniques would
go on to influence many other musicians. Charles Seeger discovered her
in the early 50s when Libba was 60 years old. She performed at the Newport
Folk Festival on many occasions throughout the 1950's, 60's, and 70's,
and played at Carnegie Hall in 1978 and on the television show, "Austin
City Limits," in 1979. Her album, "Elizabeth Cotten Live!"
won her a Grammy Award in 1984. Her songs, especially her signature track,
"Freight Train", written when she was 11, have been covered
by Peter, Paul, and Mary, Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan, Devendra Banhart, Matt
Valentine, Laura Veirs, His Name Is Alive and Taj Mahal to mention just
some.
ELLIOT EASTON: American guitarist,
played lead guitar for The Cars after which he joined Creedence Clearwater
Revisited and currently is a member of The New Cars as well as makng guest
solo appearances..
ERIK SPROOPEN:
Dutch leftie, who, in 1992 started in the death metal band Inquisitor,
before joining the Belgium metal band Ancient Rites in 1996. He also plays
in the bands Menticide and Plusminus.
GARY MOORE:
Northern Irish guitarist, a
left hander, but learnt to play with his right hand. He
has played with artists including Thin Lizzy, Colosseum II, Greg Lake
and the Blues-rock band Skid Row, as well as having a successful solo
career.
GRAHAM RUSSELL: British guitarist
and member of the soft rock band Air Supply. He is still with them today,
34 years down the road.
GUS ISIDORE: British lefty upside down guitar player; has strummed
his fretboard for the likes of Seal, Mark Bolan, Peter Green, Peter Gabriel,
Phil Lynott and co-writer of the Seal 2 Album amongst many others in his
long career.
JEFF SCHMIDT: American bass soloist;
he is left-handed, but having learnt to play on an inverted right-handed
bass he still plays with the strings the opposite way to convention. He
also tunes his basses higher than normal using lighter strings, also known
as Piccolo bass. In 2005, he was placed first in the Bass Extremes International
Contemporary Solo Bass Competition.
JEN LEIGH: American lefty guitar
virtuoso; she was guitarist with the NY based, rock band Big Sister. Now
solo, she has toured with the likes of George Clinton, 420 Funk Mob &
Drugs, Sweet Honey In The Rock, Toshi Reagon, Merl Saunders, Kelis, and
Ferras. Her left-handed style able to play strung either way, adding to
her uniqueness.
JOHNNY JENKINS: a renowned left-handed American blues guitarist,
his flamboyant style of guitar playing influenced Jimi Hendrix, who would
later use some of Johnny's tricks in his stage show. In
the 1960s Jenkins was the leader of a band called the Pinetoppers, he
employed a young Otis Redding as a singer for the Pinetoppers.
JOHN FLANSBURGH:
American guitarist and actor; he is half of the longstanding alternative
rock duo They Might Be Giants, for which he writes, sings and plays rhythm
guitar, he also plays in his own band Mono Puff.
JOHNNY MAC POWELL: American guitarist singer-songwriter and producer
who co-formed the Christian rock band Third Day. He won the 2001 Gospel
Music Association award for "Male Vocalist of the Year".
KENNETH
"BABYFACE" EDMONDS:
Besides his musicainship, he has produced
and written music for artists including Diana Ross, Sheena Easton, Whitney
Houston, Katharine
McPhee, Toni
Braxton, Michael Jackson, Paula Abdul, Pebbles, Tevin Campbell, Tamia,
Bobby
Brown, Brandy, Mary J. Blige, Janet Jackson, Shola Ama, 3T, Sisqo, Dru
Hill, Fall Out Boy, Céline Dion, Boyz 11 Men, Mariah Carey, Vanessa
L. Williams, En Vogue, Eric Clapton, Madonna, Aretha Franklin, Japanese
singer Ken Hirai, Pink, Marc Nelson and Phil Collins among many others,
and received three consecutive Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year
in 1995–1997.
KRIS
ROE: American
guitarist,
singer and songwriter in the alternative rock band The Ataris who formed
in 1994. He plays guitar left-handed and is known for playing an upside-down,
right-handed Les Paul, but apparently contrary
to popular belief,he
is in fact right-handed!
KURT COBAIN: American musician, best known for his
roles as lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the Seattle-based
rock band Nirvana.
LEFTY BAKER:
American lefty guitarist, he was a member of Spanky & Our Gang, having
hits including "Sunday Will Never Be the Same", "Lazy Day",
"Three Ways From Tomorrow,"" and "Give a Damn",
in the late 60s.
LEFTY DIZZ: American guitarist who played with many greats and
fronted his band, Shock Treatment.
He
played a standard right-handed model flipped upside down, without reversing
the strings,
playing and singing with an unbridled enthusiasm, maybe the most flamboyant
blues man.
OLLIE HALSALL: One of Britian's most under-rated
guitarists, with
incredable virtuosity, inventor of the fluid
4-finger 'hammer-on' runs taken up by everyone today.
Best known for his role in the bands Patto
and Boxer, and for his work with Kevin Ayers. If
the world made any sense he would have been up there with the guitar heroes.
OMAR RODRIGUEZ-LOPEZ:
Puerto Rican
lefty, with the rock group The Mars Volta.
He also
has
a prolific and genre-defying solo career, frequently described as experimental,
avant-garde and/or progressive and has collaborated with numerous artists
spanning from John Frusciante to El-P.
OTIS RUSH: Influencual US blues guitarist and singer; his distinctive
guitar style features a slow burning sound, jazz-style arpeggios and long
bent notes.
PAUL McCARTNEY: Grammy Award-winning English rock singer, songwriter
and multi-instrumentalist who first gained worldwide fame as one of the
founding members of The Beatles.
PERRY BAMONTE:
An Anglo-Italian lefty best known for his work with The Cure. After playing
keyboards he took up the role of playing dual lead guitar alongside singer
Robert Smith. He also plays 6 string bass.
PHIL GUY: American blues guitarist
and singer. He
tried to figure out how to play guitar, upside down and backwards didn't
work, so he forced himself to play right handed. Besides playing and touring
internationally with his with his brother Buddy Guy, Raful Neal, and Junior
Wells, he also backed up Son Seals, Albert Collins, Koko Taylor, Memphis
Slim, John Lee Hooker and Big Mama Thornton among others.
SLIM WHITMAN: American country singer, guitarist
and songwriter;
one of the best-selling and most influential artists in country music
history and yet at the same time is one of the most unrecognized by the
American public at large.
TIM ARMSTRONG:
American lefty and songwriter best known for his work with punk rock bands
Rancid, Operation Ivy, Downfall, and the Transplants. He is also the owner
and operator of Hellcat Records.
TINY TIM: American singer-songwriter
and lefty eukele player, most famous for his hit .. "Tiptoe Through
The Tulips" and his awesome appearence at the Isle Of Wight Fest!
TONY IOMMI: British guitarist best known for his tenure
in the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He is the only person to have remained
in Black Sabbath throughout the band's entire lifespan.
TONY KAYE: American lefty who has been an in-demand jazz and classical
session player for many years. After having played guitar left-handed
upside-down for over 20 years, he suddenly decided to reverse the strings
and relearn everything as an ‘orthodox’ left-handed player.
WILLIE DUNCAN: British guitarist;
from 1967, he has played with The Spectical Booth, Fate, Boaster, Claymore,
Buzzard, The Duncan Ford Band, Duncan-Smith and the Machine, and The Willie
Duncan Band.
YOMO TORO: Latin guitarist and one of Puerto Rico's most famous
cuatro players; probably best known for performing the opening theme song
to the 1971 Woody Allen film Bananas, and various Willie Colón
and Héctor Lavoe's albums.
ZACKY VENGENCE: American lefty rhythm guitarist for the metal/rock
band Avenged Sevenfold. Despite being left-handed, the first guitar he
learned on was right-handed which his parents had bought him for his 13th
birthday. He learned by playing it upside down. He has been ranked as
the 2nd best rhythm guitarist's of all time in Kerrang!.
LEFTY
DRUMMERS
AL SOBRANTE: also known as
John Kiffmeyer, American drummer and founder member of the punk rock band
Green Day.
ANDREW
STEELE: British drummer, he had been a member of the bands Gary Farr &
the T-Bones, The Herd and Stealers Wheel, as well as his work in the studios as
a session drummer.
BILLY COBHAM:
American
"ambidextrous"
drummer, one of the greatest
fusion
drummers in the world, also one of the first drummers to play with 3 or
more snare and/or bass drums and multiple hi-hats. Drummed with Miles
Davis, Paradox,
Mahavishnu
Orchestra, Nordic,
Carlos
Santana, Horace Silver, Wayne Shorter, Gil Evans, Jack
Bruce,Stanley Turrentine, Glass
Menagerie, Jazz Is Dead, Missisippi Knights, George Duke and a host of
others
(uses
a right-handed kits, but plays the hi-hats
and ride cymbals mounted on the left with
the left stick)
BRETT A. REED: American drummer best known
for his 15 years with the punk rock band Rancid.
BUDDY MILES:
American lefty, he has played with many top musicians
including Carlos Santana, but he is probubly best known as being a member
of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys from 1969 through to January 1970.
BUN E. CARLOS: US drummer for American rock
band Cheap Trick, he alternates between left-handed and right-handed playing.
CARTER BEAUFORD: American
"ambidextrous"
drummer, percussionist, and founding member of the Dave Matthews Band
(DMB). He is known for his ability to mix together countless percussion
styles with his ambidextrous approach to playing.
(plays a right-handed set, but with the ride
cymbal
and the hi-haton his left...because
he rides with his left, but does fills leading with his right, and comes
out of them crashing a cymbal with his right!)
CHRIS ADLER: American drummer and member
of the metal band
Lamb
of God. He plays on a right-handed
set of drums even though he plays left-handed. He is known for the speed,
power, innovation and precision of his drumming.
CHRISTOPHER GUANLAO: American lefty with the alternative rock band
Silversun Pickups is left-handed but plays a right handed set primarily
in "open style" (opposite to cross handed) and has his ride
cymbal to his left.
DOMINIC HOWARD: UK drummer for the
English rock band Muse, inspired by drummers like Stewart Copeland, Roger
Taylor, Buddy Rich, Nick Mason, Tre Cool, Tim Alexander, Dave Grohl, and
many more.
FENRIZ:
(Gylve Fenris Nagell) Norwegian
drummer better
known for his work with the two-piece black metal band Darkthrone.
FRAN CHRISTINA:
American blues and country rock drummer; a member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds
from 1980 until 1995, has also worked with the likes of Michael Duke Robillard
and Al Copley.
IAN PAICE: English drummer, made his
name with seminal heavy rock band Deep Purple. As of Jon Lord's departure
in 2002, he is the only founding member of the band still performing with
the group.
JAVIER WEYLER:
Argentinian lefty; after playing with Venezuelan band Claroscuro, he moved
to London, UK. In 2004 Javier joined the Stereophonics and in 2008 he
released his first solo album, Lagrima, under the pseudonym of Capitan
Melao.
JOE ENGLISH:
American
"ambidextrous"
drummer, played
in Paul McCartney's band Wings and in the Southern Rock/Jazz group Sea
Level, the Compassion All Star Band and his own Joe English Band among
others.(used
a right-handed kit, but played the hi-hat
and ride cymbals mounted on the left with
the left stick)
LENNY WHITE:
American drummer, best known for playing
in Chick Corea's Return to Forever and being one of the forerunners of
jazz-rock/funk. He has also played with many of the greatest jazz musicians,
including Joe Henderson, Jaco
Pastorius, Woody Shaw, Gato Barbieri, Gil
Evans, Stan Getz
and many more (self
taught lefty on a right-handed kit, but plays the hi-hat
and ride cymbals mounted on the left with
the left stick)
MARK JACKSON: a member of the British futurepop
duo VNV Nation, responsible for electronic drums, percussion and live
keyboards. He is also established as a professional Club DJ and remix
artist.
MICHAEL STEPHEN:
American lefty drummer from New Jersey. Michael
is a studio drummer and also a member of the band Groove Authority who
are featured in the 2010 Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz movie Knight and Day.
MIKE BORDIN: Scottish drummer; he was a co-founder of Faith No
More playing for the duration of the band's career and now plays with
Ozzy Osbourne.
NICK BOWCOTT: British drummer and
founder of the
heavy metal band from the NWOBHM era .. Grim
Reaper, formed in 1979.
PAT BAUTZ: US drummer for Three Dog Night since 1993;
he has also worked with artists such as Dave Mason, Freddy Fender, Everett
Harp, Little Richard, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Tiny Tim and numerous
others.
PETE RILEY: UK lefty played with guitar greats including recording
work with Motorhead's Eddie Clarke and touring work Phil Hilborne, as
well as drumming as a member with bands including Republica and the Keith
Emerson Band.
PHIL COLLINS: UK musician best known as the lead singer and drummer
of progressive rock group Genesis and as a Grammy and Academy Award-winning
solo artist. He is also an actor, having starred in numerous films.
RINGO STARR: English
drummer formally of the legendary Beatles. Ringo quote.."I'm your
basic offbeat drummer with funny fills. The fills were funny because I'm
really left-handed playing a right-handed kit. I can't roll around the
drums because of that". Ringo is naturally left-handed but as he
was taught to write right-handed, he has his drums set up for right-handed
playing, however, he still leads with his left hand.
ROD MORGENSTEIN: US drummer
known for his work with the heavy metal band Winger and with the jazz
fusion band Dixie Dregs. He also played with Fiona, Platypus, Jelly Jam
and has also done session work with Jordan Rudess among others.
SIMON PHILLIPS:
British "ambidextrous"
drummer, played with Toto,
The Who, Judas
Priest, Big Country, Jeff Beck, Michael Schenker, Jack Bruce, Brian Eno,
Toyah, Mike Oldfield, Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Gary Moore, Asia,
Duncan Browne, 10cc,
Mick Jagger, Ph.D., Mike Rutherford, John Wetton, Juan Martin, Stanley
Clarke, Derek Sherinian, Gordon
Giltrap, Nik Kershaw, Jordan Rudess and many
more. (uses
right-handed kits, but plays the hi-hat
and ride cymbals mounted on the left with
the left stick)
STEVE HEWITT: British drummer for the band
Placebo between 1996 and Oct 2007. Previous bands included Electric Crayons,
K-Klass, The Mystic Deckchairs, Boo Radleys and Breed. Steve now has a
new band, Love Amongst Ruin.
STEVE JANSEN: English drummer, best
known
as a founding member of the group Japan, after
which he played with The Dolphin Brothers and Nine Horses.
STEWART COPELAND: American drummer, best
known as the drummer for the band The Police. During the group's extended
hiatus from the mid-1980s to 2007, he played with many other artists and
bands as well as composing soundtracks. (Although
he writes left handed, he uses
right-handed kits, but his left handed-ness really comes to play in his
intricate hi hat work)
ZACHARY HANSON: American drummer and youngest member in the band
Hanson with his brothers with Clarke Isaac and Jordan Taylor.
JUST
A BY THE WAY ... CHARLIE CHAPLIN WAS A LEFTY VIOLIN PLAYER
AND SO IS CANADIAN VIOLINIST ASHLEY MACISAAC.
If
you know anymore Lefties please email
SOME
WIERD LEFTY FACTS
to the modern increase in left-hand usage:
*Left-handers
suffered severe prejudice during the 18th and 19th centuries and it was often
"beaten out" of people.
*In
adulthood, left-handers were often shunned by society, resulting in fewer marrying
and reproducing.
*As prejudice slowly
declined in the 20th century, the number of natural left-handers who stayed left-handed
increased,
*The rising age of motherhood
contributed as, statistically, older mothers are more likely to give birth to
left-handed children.
