Tommy Tedesco Throwback Thursday From the MI Vault 3/28/1996 

“I never copied licks... I copied feelings.” Bravo, Tommy, that’s music to my ears.

people, before you criticize him just remember your looking at the single most recorded guitarist in world history you have been listening to this guy play guitar YOUR WHOLE LIFE in fact ,in relative terms; you have rarely heard anyone else

He was quite a funny and charming personality, not to mention that he was a crack number one guitarist, we don't have people like this anymore, R.I.P big guy.!!

this was filmed after a stroke left him basically without the use of his left arm. He had to rehab it and the rest of his left side in order to play again. Still sounds great. He's definitely a guitarist's guitarist.

My intention was to watch 10-15 min, but stayed till the end. Really enjoyable.

To put it mildly, he was simply awesome... and hilarious to boot. R.I.P. TommyT.🎸

I learned to read music from his book "For Guitar Players Only". That book is a must for the beginning reader, there is no better book!

Tedesco has a brilliant sense of humour . His stellar playing goes without saying. This is the first time I've heard him speak. He doesn't disappoint!

Tommy was one of the greatest studio guitarist of all time. He could read and play anything by sight. He's not a loud mouth, he has a great sense of human, which you need in stressful situations and believe me playing in studio orchestras for movies and TV ain't easy.

The Wrecking Crew member. What a wonderful person and a musician he was. We are fortunate to have his mark on the records! Rest in peace, Tommy.

My beloved teacher and mentor since I was a kid!

In the 70s I used to buy Guitar Player magazine, I still have all those old copies, especially to read Tommy's column. He was the king of session players and I wanted to be a session player above all. I didn't know that the writing was on the wall for session musicians. Tommy had a reputation of being able to sight read anything you put in front of him. His Guitar Player page would include a score that he had played that week. Sometimes this was a professionally scribed score, other times it was, literally, something someone had scrawled on a napkin. Tommy was king. This is the first time I've heard him speak. Thanks for posting this.

Understand..This is after his stroke and that he was a Master of the guitar. This guy and his fellow Crew created the magic that was music of the 1960's. I am lucky to have been raised on it.

This video is pure gold. What an amazing musician and personality. Holy moly. Hilarious, too.

A True Genius with a great heart and mind like a computer....could read anything and with that also a great sense of humor. He was one of a kind and the likes of him will never be seen again. RIP TT

Going to MI was one of the best experiences I ever had. I learned later who and what these men and women had already accomplished. I still feel I was Lucky. '89.

This man was a genius! I just discovered this man, wow what pure 100% talent!

He was one brilliant genius. One of my idols.

You can tell that before his health began to fail, Tommy Tedesco was ridiculously badass. The funny thing is that even in poor health he was badass...LMBO. Respect and RIP.

That was once of the best and funniest video's I have ever seen on You Tube and I had to watch all 57 mins it was so good, what a funny guy.

I worked for the delivery company that would deliver Tommy's equipment to the studios. I set up his amp and guitar many times a week for a couple of years.

2:21 I remember Tommy giving us guitar students from GIT tickets to that concert at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion .. This video reminded me of us students laughing at his solo. thank YOU Tommy for reminding ME of that wonderful time !!!!!!!

the story of the latin feel at the beginning is EPIC...he is so inside and real...the Georgia On My Mind endings was epic! ...Lukather has a lot of Tommy in him!

What a card! I laughed my ass off! What a great musician!! What a great attitude, I can do it, even if I've never tried before. You'd be amazed what you can do in a situation where you're under a lot of pressure and in unfamiliar territory. You can either blow it, or do a great job, it all depends on your attitude and overcoming the fear of the unknown. I've learned a lot being in situations where I had to really be on my toes and pay attention, playing unfamiliar material. Tedesco is great!!!!

Truly a National Treasure. Thank you Mr. Tedesco.

THANKS for posting this .... I have so much respect for this man ..... he was the best ! Hope ya have a guitar in heaven Tommy ... maybe they put you in charge of harp !

God bless Tommy Tedesco's hands, those hands should be on Hollywood Boulevard with all the stars. I had the grand honor to have met him; he used to play, I think it was once a month at The Two Dollar Bill; a club/pub . When he took a break from his set he went out to have a smoke and I followed him and he talked to me as if I was an old friend. I began by telling him that I'd read every single issue of Guitar Player and that his column Studio Log was my favorite. He was a Mahatma. He must be in heaven conducting the gang. Kudos to his son for creating his documentary!! Be well, all of you!!

an amazing guy.. i loved his columns in guitar player way back... what a great video to hear the man tell all those stories

What a treat! Tommy literally made modern recorded guitar accompaniment! I wish I had met him! He was one of the best!

I love this! What an amazing guy and musician.

I used to subscribe to "Guitar Player" mag just for this man's page. Wonderful.

I'm from Niagara Falls, NY like Tommy was. He is a local musical hero. And he deserved it. He played on every TV show from the 50s,60s,70s. Endless top 40 songs. He is the ultimate studio musician. And most importantly his sight writing skills were amazing. And all musicians know that sight reading isn't easy unless you do it ALOT! This was recorded about a year before Tommy passed away. RIP Tommy Tedesco. 🙏

I went there for drums but would try and catch Tommy because he made me laugh and remember what was really important in life : )

love his tone as he describes his accomplished and result oriented achievements...& Human touch to sharing inside experience.,priceless

Singly the most enjoyable video I have ever seen. What an amazing character. Must have been a laugh a minute working with him. And a gem of a musician to boot!

I knew Tommy for several years as I was first a student at MI and later as an employee. I have some great Tedesco Stories.... He was a RARE individual and I miss him. Shortly before he died he came to Las Hadas Mexican Restaurant and I was playing in the big band (can't remember the leader's name but he played accordian, lived in Vegas and drove a Rolls to the valley every Tuesday). I believe Tommy recognized me but before the set ended he an the family left. He also made very complimentary remarks at my class recording session.

He was one of the greats, and didn't realize it. Mighty sorry he's gone.

I used to love Tommy's column each month in Guitar Player magazine back in the '70s. Good old days.

I used to love his attitude in the GUITAR PLAYER magazine columns what a gem, this is great .

One huge thing besides his musical talent that made him successful is his personality and humor. Truly a legend in music. One of a kind. RIP

maple heights Ohio, the 80s ,I go to a Catholic Church for a guitar clinic by Mr tededco, raise my hand, called me on stage and forgot how to read, he covered me, thank you

I studied with Tommy Tedesco at Musicans Institute way back in the day. I loved my time at Musicians Institute, back then it was Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT). Great Times

His song, at the end, truly is brilliant! Great seminar, great guitar player, great man. Funny, too.

So glad I searched this when I heard Lukather drop his name. Dude is funny and a legend.

"You got to come in there and give them something they don't have" Thank for for the encouragement, now I'm going to need some courage:)

I saw him at MI back in the late 80s wow good times

With all due respect, as a mexican guitarist, thanks Tommy for giving us the Flamenco intro as a gift for the Spanish flamenco guitarists that maybe rambling that that is not Mexican music style but from Spain. 😜

My Family grew up with Tommy on 12th Street in Niagara Falls. My Dad always had very high respect for Tommy.

What a great video! Thank you for posting one of the Masters.

I met Tommy in California once in 1991, he was funny and an incredible cool guy!

I learned so much from This. Thank you Tommy

Saw him in 80's at a music store 'clinic' in Bellevue, WA. Was fabulous. He told his familiar story where he said I can only play one flamenco lick and he's used it - that single lick for years kept him paid handsomely for years. I'm sure he knew more than one but it's a fabulously instructive story. Only other thing I remember, was some snooty due said he was a country guitarist and asked a super technical question. I got the impression the dude probably really was a great country guitarist. Tommy said "we have some really good musicians today asking fantastic questions" and then answered the guy's technical question as if it was a totally different question, the gist of which was, if you want to play great technical country licks, come up with something imaginative. Wonderful guy.

It’s amazing he can still play after a stroke. It’s also amazing he lived as long as he did as hard as he lived. He might not be the greatest guitar player ever but he might be the most interesting player and best player no one knows.

Only a person who’s that good can kid around like Tommy does here. That’s confidence and skill!

What a legend. Because he was a Great player, and he Listened!

I love this! These are great stories and he was the BEST of his time. Hilarious! He's right, we make the music but it's not for us it's for the listeners who don't always (or never) know what's right and what's wrong, only if they like it!

His stand-up (sit down) routine while playing those killer phrases is worth the price of admission. 😆

Love this guy Tedesco, l would hire him just so l could laugh through the session.....awesome

I used to read him religiously in Guitar Player

How many of you older guys instantly recognize Tommy's "Latin" sounds as every Spanish music part you've ever heard o T.V. ? Incredible how much his music has influenced American culture isn't it !

Love it. A lot of the same schtick from his Hot Licks video from 1989, which was before the stroke so his playing was in much better form. A true legend of the guitar.

The best kind of genius.

Awesome! Totally inspiring!!!

The fact this man mentioned EVH says something. R.I.P Ed!!

We've heard enough of his guitar licks over the years, it was fantastic to listen to him. Lots of life lessons.

He was a master at dealing with certain perceptions of the people he had to deal with. It came simple to him. We should all learn from this. Just keep baffling them with bullshit and 9/10 it works! He had the talent to back it up too...

HE'S AS CRAZY AS I AM STEPS RIGHT THROUGH IT WHILE HE SITS TO PLAY ON HE'S GOT IT DOWN HE LAID IT DOWN ALL OVER TOWN I WISH HE WAS STILL HERE AROUND TOWN...

THE BEST!!!!! So funny and encouraging--and deep as L!!

What a great guy - I can say no more than that xxx

Believe it or not, my teacher is the nephew of this guy. I came here after my teacher told the class. My teachers name is Joe Conti

Love it!!

George Prichert from Milwaukee was known as the other perfect sight reading session guitarist. Taught jazz later years.

Very Inspiring! Great Guitarist! Must of been awesome to play on so many hit records! He recorded the music and later the singers came in to finish up the record. That's why he doesn't recall which song is which? He played the guitar on the _Batman_ TV show from the 60's, The guitar part on the " _Green Acres_ " TV show, He plays guitar on the TV show " _MASH_ " _The Elvis Presley 1968 Comeback Special_ The " _Bonanza_ " TV show and …. _The Twilight Zone_ just to mention a few! Tommy passed the following year in 1997 from Lung Cancer. He was only 67. Hes now in that big _Rock & Roll Band in Heaven with Glen and Hal_ … 🤗🎸 ⛪✝

really, this guy is great...what a smart musician

He was so great!. Unpretentious, street smart and resourceful.

I was there that night. Seeing this again brings back many fond memories.

Tommy was just incredible and smart

There are some people God should allow to live indefinitely. Tommy is one of those people.

In his day, Tommy was THE Guy.

what a blessing

The Zappa story. You never know who's out there listening.

Tommy just Made my phylo all time favorite list of musical masters lol

top 3 players ever to pick a 6 string...mr tedesco

A Master...

A stunning human. KnockOut talent and kind and lucky. Wonderful.

I haven't laughed so hard, in a good way, watching an "instructional video." I would have loved taking lessons from this guy.

This brings back memories. I went to MI in '88 and saw him then. Same exact seminar, just about word for word, just like his bolivian guitar music. LOL

Who knew George R.R. Martin was such a great guitar player .

he had such a wonderful honesty about him. That and the hands of a God!

I WAS THERE!

The most heard...most unheard of guitar player in the world The Late Great Tommy Tedesco... if you grew up in the 60's or heard a 60's tv theme song with guitar from reruns you maybe heard Tommy Tedesco playing. Guitar Player Magazine said he's the most recorded guitarist in history, he played on thousands of recordings, many of which were top 20 hits.🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸

What a great guy! It would of been so great to play with them guys in the wrecking crew!

Ahhh, Tommy Tedesco; listen to his flamenco guitar on Gary Lewis & The Playboys Green Grass; a master class in virtuoso playing that frames the song perfectly. RIP, Tommy

what a boss!

Watched the whole thing. What a character. I love all the RU-vid interviews with the A listers from the LA session days. If you haven't, definitely watch some Jay Graydon stuff. He's brilliant and a character, too.

Hey anybody that criticizes is on a different planet but Louis Shelton and the whole wrecking crew are in the same boat. Truly a great guitar player. I can relate to his work effort and it shows. Practice makes perfect. Some got it naturally and others have to work at it. A guitars players and one that shares. I appreciate him and sounds like a truly good person

A real treasure !!

I'm from his neck of the woods didn't find out about him till the 80s with his articles in GW ... very much wish I could have shook his hand...

wonderful.

It’s funny that “ un “ Spanish lick I’ve been playing for years never knew where I picked it up.