Here's a REAL guitar player - Mark Hitt

NY Chief · Post by **NY Chief** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 1:04 pm

Check out some of the other vid's posted under Rat Race Choir. This guy was the most ferociuos AND tasty player back then (80's). And still is from what I saw at NAMM.

Mark is a player's player and if you can't appreciate his chops and taste...well....

And , I would put him up with any of the guitar heros and he would smoke them all, including EVH....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjHm4lJaxsI

NY Chief · Post by **NY Chief** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 1:13 pm

and in his hey day. A 335 in two feet in front of 2 100 watt Hiwatts...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLUMGU80 ... ed&search=

rockstah · Post by **rockstah** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 3:54 pm

how you can compare a player like this, which is good as far as knowing some licks to the originality of someone like evh is beyond me but i guess its all expression and what reaches you that really matters. but then again i never really get the whole sport vibe placed into music/art... or maybe i do...heh

NY Chief · Post by **NY Chief** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 4:40 pm

rockstah wrote:how you can compare a player like this, which is good as far as knowing some licks to the originality of someone like evh is beyond me but i guess its all expression and what reaches you that really matters. but then again i never really get the whole sport vibe placed into music/art... or maybe i do...heh

Lets not start THAT again, Mark!!!

I was introduced to this guy when I was 17 and had never seen anybody play like that so I was pretty impressionable. VH 1 was still 6 months or so out. So to me when I heard EVH it was a lot like "shit" Mark Hitt is doing that on the other coast. He was tapping, getting pinch harmonics, etc and had monster tone. Rat Race was a great cover band that did Zep and Jethro Tull usually better than the orignals! They leaned more to a progressive rock side than the raw R&R like VH (probably 'cause the R&R was too easy for them to play) and their originals were more Prog Rock (with an EVH guitar twist to them). Mark Hitt can go a little off on the shred but I've heard a lot of that in clips here, too. He almost always comes back to a blues resolution that makes music sense, though.

To me EVH was brillant but did not come totally out of left field. There were guys doing similar stuff (like Mark Hitt). I still maintain that what lifted EVH above the rest was his strong writing. Mark Hitt and Rat Race never connected with songs that could have mass appeal on the radio like VH.

I'll always defer to your professiosnal opinion (and tend to agree most times) but in this case to say "is good as far as knowing some licks..." I gotta say you're totally off the map here. Mark Hitt has a passion and pure joy for playing that you rarely see. These clips do not due him justice. Plus the depth of his fretboard / music knowledege is incredible.

And dat's my 2c!

JD · Post by JD » Mon Jan 22, 2007 7:58 pm

Guy can play, that's for sure, but I guess I don't see him as better than EVH or the need to compare them. Only other comment I have is the backing drums/bass didn't always seem to fit his playing style in the clips I watched.

yngwie308 · Post by **yngwie308** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 10:31 pm

Listen to Yngwie's version on Inspiration,from 1996,he does Dead of Night as well,Chief I will send you a copy of this so you won't have the shame of buying it,if you could find it,absolutely killer versions of Demon's Eye,Mistreated,Child in time,Carry On Wayward Son,Pictures of Home,Manic Depression,The Sails of Charon,Anthem,Gates of Babylon.
Uli Jon Roth was on the stage in the back with Yngwie at Fender's Firing Squad Line,I mean frontline,

!!
yngwie'managing to get Malmsteen in every topic since'06'308

PS Have heard of Rat Race in NY,Right Chief?
I was going to put a smart ass link to EVH's FenderFrontline performance,but clips are no longer available I wonder why

NY Chief · Post by **NY Chief** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:45 pm

JD wrote:Guy can play, that's for sure, but I guess I don't see him as better than EVH or the need to compare them. Only other comment I have is the backing drums/bass didn't always seem to fit his playing style in the clips I watched.

Agreed, JD. I'm not trying to spark the "who's better than who" wars again for sure. This guy is a personal hero but I really do believe objectivley that he could hold his own easily with EVH and the rest of the guitar hero's. These clips do not do him justice. I've seen him live way too many times to count.

I'm also quite positive that he did not rehearse what he did with the backing tracks. One take blow over and that was it.

NY Chief · Post by **NY Chief** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:48 pm

yngwie308 wrote:Chief I will send you a copy of this so you won't have the shame of buying it,....:

Thanks, Dave!

[/quote]PS Have heard of Rat Race in NY,Right Chief?:[/quote]

Oh fuck yeah. Every Wednesday night at Speaks in Island Park for 3-4 years. At one time it was Zebra on Tues, Rat Race Choir on Wed and Twisted Sister on Thurs. Then one of those three would play the weekend. I LIVED at Speaks! Great club.

:[/quote]I was going to put a smart ass link to EVH's FenderFrontline performance,but clips are no longer available I wonder why

[/quote]

I wasn't too impressed...

NY Chief · Post by **NY Chief** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:45 pm

not exactly a guy who "knows a few riffs"...

"Mark Hitt
Ratrace Choir, Witch Hunt, Hindenburg, The Tubes, Richie Scarlet, Leslie West, John Entwistle, John Bonham

Mark Hitt is the world-class guitarist that recorded with Maggie Bell, John Bonham and Robert Plant before Bonham

yngwie308 · Post by **yngwie308** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 4:25 pm

Hey I'm with you NY Chief,Mark is very talented,we all should listen without a prejudical ear to music,but unfortunately that is not always the case!Once every guitarist is compared to the 'gold' standard guitarists,and who decides who these gold standard guitarists should be.
The whole comparision thing becomes very touchy real quick

,as I well know.I stand by my earlier statements as far as guitarists that were influential,but not currently really playing anything improving on what has happened in the past.
I don't think guitarists deserve to be compared,we should all like our own choices,and it may be painfully obvious to each of us that clearly we think the one we are championing is better,the other person still dosen't look at it that way.
Some facts are patently obvious about inovators that have led guitar revolutions but either are still alive and shadows of their former selves,others continue to improve and still are at the top of their game,as far as writing,playing goes.
When I started my Malmsteen Topics only,which some still find hard to stomach,I was pissed with having to defend my choice in a player that I admire,that created his own niche in guitar history,and still plays with the fire he always had.
Of course there are other guitariss that I like and continually listen to as well,but if I need to get defense,then I have in the past,everyone here,knows who prefers who,so lets leave the comparisions out if possible,I know that will be hard when some have their own forum sections,but that's the way it is so I stand by he Malmsteen and Hendrix threads,their is no need for a other guitarists than Malmsteen thread,but some still enjoy winding me up or trying to,it dosen'y really bother me anymore,I have more important things to worry about!

Peace man,
yngwie308

Tone Slinger · Post by **Tone Slinger** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 4:31 pm

I loved that stuff ! Great feel and tone. I feel that in certain situations every "accomplished" player has a time when they can connect at levels higher than anyone else. That guy was "musical" for sure, and could certainly make many a "Hero" look bad in lots of situations,but not all though. I feel that he would lose out in a "crossroads" type, headcuttin deal to lots of players.

NY Chief · Post by **NY Chief** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 12:58 pm

Tone Slinger wrote: I feel that he would lose out in a "crossroads" type, headcuttin deal to lots of players.

Can't say that 'till you've seen him up close and personal. He drips passion in his playing. Wouldn't that be a killer show? The "Headcutting Crossroads Olympics". Featuring all the greats listed in the other thread.

No doubt there are thousands of fantatstic dedicated players out there that we will never hear of. I ahve a personal affinty for Mark because I watched play many nights

rich E. · Post by **rich E.** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:37 pm

chief...

I love this guy! Yet a new player for me to check out. Do know of any more stuff he's done that plays like that transperformance track?

NY Chief · Post by **NY Chief** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 1:00 pm

I've been watched this guy play for years and never once got a decent vid or audio track. To come across these vids blew me away. He endorsed Dimarzio in the late 70's. He was on the cover of one their catalogs that came with one of those vinyl sound pages with Mark doing clips of various pick ups. (This was before Seymour Duncan!) I wore that out!

This all I know of. Do a search for all the Rat Race Choir posts on youtube. There's a number of them.

Here's Rat Race with John Entwhistle. The guy with his head in the way eventually moves. Watch the whole thing. This is what Mark was like on stage back then. He used to beat the living shit out his 335.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oRtefMG8d8

Ans this was always one of my favorite Rat Race copies...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLUMGU80zz8

Mark has also been affiliated with Ed Roman (

)
Ed's known to exaggerate. But in this case he's right on... (except Mark is NOT 6'6")...

http://www.celebrityrockstarguitars.com/rock/hitt.htm

JimiJames · Post by **JimiJames** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:31 am

Yeah ! That's Killer !
It's not everyday when you hear a band cover UK.
One of my favorite Bands back in the day no doubt.
Got my attention!