John Sykes | 5 Killer Riffs (That Aren’t Whitesnake) | Blue Murder, Thin Lizzy, Tygers of Pan Tang
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00:00 – Intro
00:55 – Hellbound
03:01 – Cold Sweat
04:41 – Billy
09:18 – Cry For Love
11:09 – Cautionary Warning
#John #Sykes #Killer #Riffs #Arent #Whitesnake #Blue #Murder #Thin #Lizzy #Tygers #Pan #Tang
Originally posted by UCrlsD6OalGm8pIqKVo81k6A at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiDIspb87XU
What's your favourite John Sykes moment?
Crying in the rain is my all time favorite solo ,there many but that one is killer still waiting on your part 2 video for that one
1807 todarabatodd!
Cold sweat
Was a big fan of Blue Murder….
I loved John's tone and style. Obviously he left his mark with 1987 but the Blue Murder stuff is killer. Tony Franklyn shouldn't be forgotten on those albums either, has to be one of my favourite bass tones. Remember hearing the title track to the Blue Murder album on the radio, was probably the first of Sykes I'd heard after 1987 and I still think that's probably one my favourite Sykes riffs. He will certainly be missed and it waws great to see such a outpouring of love from the community and the media abut his passing.
R.I.P John Sykes, are you kidding at 65 taken, but scum like Trump, Putin, Xi Ping all alive but pure evil, and a god given gift taken at 65 that crosses all ethnic boundaries, take too early.. Love you Sir Sykes, your work will live on for ever. God bless his family
Is it just me or does the song "Billy" have a chunk of "Cheap Sunglasses" in it?
That Tygers riff reminds me… Just like '2 Minutes', that style of riff was most popularized by Ted Nugent in the '70s. Very typical of Ted. He doesn't get much credit for influence on other metal bands.
Fun fact: 'Cold Sweat' was named by Dimebag as one of his top ten favorite songs.
I listened to Steve Vai’s tribute to John and he had a great story about how they lived close to each other, so that their kids got together. But what really impressed me was Steve’s tribute to him and he couldn’t say enough about his playing as well as the monster success he had with Whitesnake’s 1987 album❤️????❤️????????
Leon, the harmonic thing at playing rthytm reminds me of Akira Takasaki from Loudness. Also check out his solo album Tusk of Jaguar from long long ago.
Could you do a lesson about his style?
Dude you got some killer tone going there.. nice.
Some really great live performances have been showing up on YT since his passing. Amazing stuff.
I really am gutted about Sykes. I'd like to take a moment to shoutout an absolute monster tune from him, Cry for Love from the second Blue Murder album. It has basically everything that made him a great rhythm and lead player all in one tune. A bit like a follow up to Looking for Love.
LT, your tone is always on point, bro. ????????????
Awesome selection of riffs , my favourite is We All Fall Down and many others
Great video, highlights all the special tricks of JS. RIP
When I heard John passed away, it was like a punch in the gut. I really like Valley of the Kings and Crying in the Rain. Pretty much everything on Blue Murder.
I met John on a few occasions (I'm in the NWOBHM band Overdrive) – he was always a gentleman ???? – I would not admit this to the rest of the band, but… 1987 is his best work for me ????
His Blue Murder riffs are Awesome ❤ RIP John Sykes ????
John was one of my biggest influences as a kid. I grew up in the 80’s. I started learning guitar in 87, at 12. The first song I learned was In the Still of the Night when I started taking guitar lessons. John was a master song writer and player. You don’t get any better than him. His tone and feel is unmatched. RIP legend!
Man, believe it or not, you listed my favorite things from those albums, and you showed me how to play them right! You're damn good. Once again I'm convinced that the brains of real metal players are connected by the invisible universal power of music. TOTAL KILLS!!
Great video! Just so everyone knows, I transcribed and uploaded to Ultimate Guitar all of the Thin Lizzy and Tygers of Pan Tang songs that John played on which were previously unavailable. Now, it's the main riffs without solos so don't get too excited. It's mostly intros but that includes intros, verses and sometimes the chorus as well. Cheers and R.I.P. John Sykes – the G.O.A.T. His death just crushes me.
So awesome!!!!!!!!! I asked John how long did he take to sing and play BM and he said it was the hardest ever and he loved playing those riffs and singing! My all time favorite guitarist and inspired me so much and I told him. This was at the NAMM show years ago…… I was very blessed to get that picture with him and talk guitars and riffs! Thank you for sharing this and playing!!!!!!
Your tone is sick
I absolutely love your tone. It's awesome. Sounds great.
John was SOOOOO effin heavy. My favorite hard rock rhythm player ever.
Sykes was an amazing player my favorite song of his is out of love Blue murder that ending solo is amazing
For me John was the number one player who had it all: unique riffs, song composition, fierce playing and technique, amazing phrasing and feeling and a powerful voice and rockstar looks too. He inluenced the way hardrock was played with his fierce way of playing and the great songs he composed, starting with the Whitesnake stuff and later Blue Murder and solo. John influenced me and a lot of the solo stuff I recorded on the first Lifechanger album was inspired by his playing too. A lot of my friends are true fans of John too. I never saw him live, but what a force he was: playing songs linke Billy and singing at the same time, so awesome! I am so thankful for all the music John left us and for the great inspiration he gave us.
Thanks Leon for sharing all John Sykes vids. on your channel. I've probably watched all of them. He was my top 2-3 favourite players. I would "air guitar" his songs even though I had the actual guitar transcriptions of them. I was very fortunate to see him play in Blue Murder back in '89..I even have my ticket stub to the show. Sykes passing away is a tough one. I was hoping he would restart touring soon amd coming out with new material. R.I.P. John Sykes.????
Great tribute Leon. In an alternative universe Coverdale doesn’t kick John out of Whitesnake and he gets to tour the 1987 album and be properly recognised as one of the true greats! Then again we would never had got the amazing Blue Murder album! RIP John.
A bit of Black tyger from Y&T i heard
He had more than a cult following. Blue Murder's record sales were not reflective of what an amazing player and leader he was. Rest In Peace.
Thank you for reflecting on so many hardrockers’ feelings. Rest in peace, the poet of hard rock, the maestro’s music will live on and continue to generate goose bumps as long as rock will live.
????Heartbreaking loss????
The first Blue Murder album has zero bad songs. It's epic start to finish. Been on regular rotation for me for 10+ years. I came across the video for Valley of the Kings here on YouTube and I've been a huge Sykes fan ever since. An absolute monster player.
John was a major influence in my playing along with Neal Schon. He was such a great composer and singer. Blue Murder is my fav record by far.
Thanks for this "hommage" . An inimitable and incredible guitar player… ????
A lott off guitarists are think now…. oooooh was that John to!!! Always ten years ahead! ????
p.s Leon – love your guitar sound – can you give me a breakdown of your gear + settings- it sounds amazing!
that first riff is basically IDENTICAL to 2 minutes to midnight. hmm…
2003 saw Deep purple and Thin lizzy with John sykes open up. it was magical. first song was jailbreak with flashing police lights
Silver and Gold was on a mixed cassette my dad would play me a lot. Ultimately my favourite John Sykes anything is from the Whitesnake 87 album, but my introduction to him was through Tygers (not a common band here in Canada but my dad knew his shit) and later Thin Lizzy came in to play in a big way.
I do own Blue Murder’s first album as well, but I haven’t given it enough chances, which I plan on changing soon.
I was still a teenager just starting on guitar when Whitesnake’s album, 1987, came out. I had never heard of them prior to that. Still of the night is the first clip I remember watching, even though Sykes was not in it! I also liked him with Blue Murder’s first album but didn't buy the second album because "Grunge" came along and I was attracted to that also, so I moved in that direction and didn't hear much about him after that period.
In regards to Blue Murder, I actually thought that his vocals were just as powerful as his guitar playing, a brilliant singer. He was a great allrounder, very talented guy. I loved the vibrato technique in his rhythm chops and lead playing, but also in his voice. The song, Valley of the kings, is a masterpiece to me, all of his talent on show. The guitar tone and vibrato in the guitar solo still mesmerises me. I presume it was recorded with a Gibson Les Paul.
P.S, I bought the debut Blue Murder album around the time it originally came out (at the time, I thought I was the only person in Australia who knew about Blue Murder!). Anyway, long story short , years later in the late 1990s, when CDs became more popular, I threw the album out (along with my Dokken and Ratt albums), and bought the CD versions. I regret that so much now, gaaawd! I wish I had kept those Records/LP versions because they were the real deal from that particular time period. Great Video by the way.
The Sun Goes Down is VERY similar to a Gamma tune. Maybe ‘Voyager?’