Vernon Reid: From Chic to Cream to Jimi Hendrix, the Seven Guitar Riffs That Inspired Me 

Vernon is one of the greats and has been a huge influence on me. He chooses unique melodies and phrases that crossover genres. The first two Living Colour records should be owned by all guitarists! I still listen to them often to this day!

I ran into Vernon Reid randomly in NYC at Javits and he was heading to Comic Con...I was with my son who was around 13 at the time. We spoke for a few and I got to tell him that he inspired me to start playing guitar as a teen. He asked my son if he played and he encouraged him to uphold the tradition and start playing too...well a few years later my son finally took the guitar seriously and he's been very good for a little over a year now. Every now and then I tell him one of the greatest guitar players EVER told you to play so you better do it. Thank you Vernon for everything ❤

Vernon is one of the best guitarists ever...period.

Cult of personality is still one of the sickest riffs of all-time

Awesome. Vernon is so great as a player and writer, but also a teacher.

Met Vernon when Living Colour toured for the "Stain" album back in the 90's. He signed my copy of Guitar World (where he was the cover story). I still have that issue. A cool, down to earth guy and a great guitarist. One of my musical heroes.

This man is absolutely one of my heroes.

Underrated guitarist and band. We need a new Living Colour album Vernon!

My band shared the stage with Vernon and he used my Gutiarist rig..... That was one of the best moments of my life being a musician.

My band opened for Living Colour in the early 90’s in Wellington NZ. they were awesome and really nice guys. I love that Vivid album. Takes me right back!….❤

Met Vernon at Manny's Music in NYC in 2003. Such an incredible player and composer, and the nicest, most humble, sincere guy. Truly an inspiration!

Vernon Reid is an amazing guitarist. He mentioned so many legendary musicians. This was awesome. Cheers! 👍🏻👍🏻✌️🎸

“Everything comes from some place, you dig?” Couldn’t have said better, I love Vernon Reid.

Can’t get enough of Vernon Reid. Such an inspiration ❤

I have been a Vernon fan since 1990 and have seen him many times with Living Colour over the years. He’s so creative and unique. Also, chops for DAYS. Love the guy.

A brilliant legend and deep historian. Vernon Reid Rocks

Thank you Vernon! It's funny, all the great ones have one thing in common: they love music. You can tell his knowledge is deep and his interests are wide.

Props to Hubert Sumlin, right on!

I could watch hours of this. Vernon is so good to watch.

Doug, Will, Corey and Vernon are superb. Calhoun's drumming is beyond, Doug bass lines are top, Corey is a great singer, Vernon's lines are in between intuition, spunk, funk and virtuosity. Vivid and Time's up are superb albums to this day.

Vivid was so, so important for me. I was 16 when it came out and I was a suburban Surrey (near London uk) whiter than white white boy😂 the album opened my eyes in every direction. Musically and culturally. I'm sure I am not alone in this experience. The band played the Town and Country Club London that year and I was there early for their arrival at the stage door. They all signed my album (except for Wil - Corey's words "he's hiding in the bus" 😂). I asked Vernon for a pick, and he went upstairs (presumably to his guitar case) came back down and slammed a pick in my hand "don't say I never gave you nuthin!". The gig was amazing obviously, at this time I had only barely heard of Bad Brains so black guys doing this was beyond my ken. But the bit that stuck with me most almost, was this beautiful tall black guy standing next to me, singing along at the TOP of his voice to the opening words of Open Letter perfectly. The metal world was so white back then, so almost everyone reading this will have no idea how huge this whole thing was. Vernon. Corey. Wil. Muzz. (And later Doug). Legends.

Burnin' Vernon.....as much of an infuence to me as the guitarist and musician and composer that he is, I've always been equally impressed by his ever thoughtful and interesting views on not only music and arts, but just life and shit in general. A real Renaissance Man. God bless, and keep up the good work, Mr. Reid. And yeah....some new Living Colour would be deee-lightful. 🤘👽 🎸

"Stain" is just one of greatest albums recorded and always loved Vernon Reeds Style of playing.

Reid has a huge wingspan as a player and a listener. I only saw him live w/ the Spectrum Road Project, The Zig Zag Trio and w/ Percy Howard, Trey Gunn and Charles Hayward... he was great every time. He recognizes and brilliantly incorporates lots of things that most guitarists overlook.

Absolutely brilliant. Awesome to hear Verne share some of his inspirations. So sorry I couldn't make it this time in Glasgow but hope you'll be back soon!

I was fortunate enough to see Living Colour at Manchester University in about 1987 to 1989 amazing, the band were all masters of their instruments. Not only that the band talked to the fans after the gig. No snobbery, amazing.

Mr. Reid, you still inspire me. Love you and your band from across the universe.

Soooo glad that Vernon is having some time as a featured artist and expert on the instrument! Thanks Guitar World for highlighting this incredible player's talents and knowledge 🙏

Vernon is such a legend! thanks for sharing

Very nice Reverend guitar.

Vernon Reid is magical. I met him after a Yohimbe Brothers show once--he was very kind.

Vernon Reid is literally and figuratively one of my guitar heroes. Thank you Vernon Reid for your thoughts and performance. I agree with you. Keep sharing facts and music. Love and sharing is always the answer.

He's the guy who taught us that you can play even with a toy guitar when you play well and with feeling. That you can find another twist on the pentatonic, someone who does something new with what is already there. A true #1

Vernon is with Reverend now? He's certainly had some stellar instruments over the years, very fitting for such a an amazing player.

I had seen many bands shows in my life. From Mc Cartney to Slayer, from Roger Hodgson to Mark Knopfler, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple with classic formation to Steve Morse years, Rush, Phil Collins and others. Many others. Living Colour playing in a small venue in Rio de Janeiro many years ago was one of the best musical experiences I had in my life. All of them are amazing musicians, top notch performers.

Check out that Reverend guitar! 👍 Love Vernon's playing, such a beast 💪💪

Vernon quietly has become one of my favorites - tremendously talented - "Vivid" did it for me.

When I was 9 or 10 he is the reason for me picking up an electric guitar. That Reverend is gorgeous. Thank you Vernon.

Great playing, and really love the paintjob on your guitar, and fret markers.

U are the greatest of our TIME BROTHER

Vernon your the person that got me into playing guitar , I'd heard hendrix and srv from an older brother but I got into living colour and was mesmerised by your sound from first time listening . You are unique

Nice Reverend sig!!!👍🤩

Thank you Vernon!!

Very cool. Good to see Reverand guitars gave him a sig. Veron is extremely underrated and even more unique as a player.

So many cool riffs...and vernon is super cool 😎

Great musician.. and phenomenal taste for guitars… new Reverend signature?

Sing it Vernon! Great song by Tracy Chapman!

Anybody that can hang with Jack Bruce earns my respect.

So great Vernon knows how we carry on these shared ideas into the future...we all are learning from what came before and making them our own.Vernon is too cool!

The man ..Vernon is a beast guitar player..but very humble 👌..peace

I saw you gig just last February....outstanding!!!

Nice Dude..Met him several times..Really Great player

Love Vernon as a guitarist and as a person!

Fantastic! I hope someday Living Colour records a funk album produced by the great Nile Rodgers.

Been listening to Vernon since the 80's. He is a truly unique voice among guitar players. Living Colour is one of my all time fav bands. Check out his version of 'enjoy the silence' from the Masque album Other True Self. Vernon rules \o/

Got to see Living Color twice before they got big. Great shows front row 🎉

Hubert Sumlin one of my favorite blues men. Saw him live at Claptons Crossroads festival yrs ago.

Big Vernon Reid fan! Stain is a top 10 of all time for me. One thing that folks don't talk enough about is when a musician takes musical risks. Hendrix took risks. Ed took risks. And Vernon takes risks every time he picks up the instrument. A lot of these gunslinger types never play anything that they haven't practised a thousand times. Everything is in scale - musically choreographed. Even their improvisations are rudiments strung together. But there's nothing like watching a musician push the boat out live. It could crash at any moment and it sometimes does. But it could also be magical! Keep risking it all VR. Keep that Miles Davis tradition going. We're blessed to have you.

Thank you Vernon! Met you during the Experience Hendrix tour in Ca. Thanks for reminding people where some of this music really came from. Hope we get to hear more history from you about the music, and more future from you in Living Colour! Thanks!

Love this, love Vernon!

Love Vernon. Saw Living Colour in the 80's and was completely blown away. Interesting to see all the different influences on his playing. Was also fortune to see Hubert Sumlin a couple of times before he passed. Legend.

Just a truly fantastic person and unique player!

VERNON REID is GOD!! Period. Full Stop. 🖤♠

Great vid! "Doing It to Death" is Jimmy Nolen and Hearlon "Cheese" Martin on guitars.

I love Vernon's new guitar! Saw Living Colour at the Rainbow Rooms in Bristol during the Stain tour, and it remains one of my favourite gigs to this day!

Been a fan since the first album. His tones and textures fit every song. Broken Hearts is sonic perfection to me, from the bar scooped clean chords to that soaring solo. Other True Self solo album (Masque) is sadly overlooked.

Beautiful guitar!

Love these guys ,so underrated should be in the Hall of Fame. Looks so much like Denzel!

I love Vernon’s improve during solos! It’s controlled chaos that sounds pure and from the heart. I prefer that sound than a musician just doing scales as fast as they can

Vernon Reid is an EXCELLENT guitarist who NEVER got the recognition he rightfully deserved. When Living Colour first hit the scene, I rushed out and bought the cassette and each one that followed! Been a fan ever since! Nuff said.

Vernon is one of the all time greats. I put him up there with Hendrix, Page, and Van Halen. He's also one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.

I love Vernon Reid and Living Colour. There was a concert in Philly for their Stain album, but it was called off bc of rain. Fans still waited around to see the band, and the members came out to talk with us and sign material. Vernon was so cool and friendly. Super band. Stay safe all. Peace.

VH - VR !!!!….Simply Logical !!!……Love you Vern !!!🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼

A Great Master and a Great Inspiration!

When I saw the video for Middle Man on BET I was hooked on Living Colour... amazing albums, EPs, singles and education.

Vernon Reid is one of the most skilled, thoughtful and open-minded guitarists alive. And it also seems he has a killer clean tone.

Why at 50 I decided to play guitar for real. I'm 69 now. And there is just so much music to play. Grew up with all these riffs. WENT crazy the first time I heard Black Dog.

Nile Rogers made records that would make my brain stand up. Chic, Madonna, David Bowie and even Duran Duran blew my mind and continues to make me feel good.

One of the GREATS!

One of the most underated guitar player! Looooove your licks and your sound Vernon!!

Vernon Reid is a genius and an innovator.

I met Vernon twice. The second time we hung out for about 2 hours. It helped a mutual friend showed up so I felt like a peer. I consider him a kindred soul as almost none else tries to shoehorn bepop lines into heavy metal. There are numerous superlatives you can throw at him. Humble and appreciative certainly, but we have a lot of that in rock. And though the word is often bestowed upon lesser intellect, the first word in my mind is intelligence. A am pretty sure Vernon has an IQ of at least 140. I long saw this from decades of reading guitar mags. Seems there is nothing he does not know about music.

"Power of Soul" is a total extravaganza of bad-ass guitar and bass playing, Jimi and Billy was so funky with it.

Thanks Mr. Vernon Reid, I've learned a lot of funky chord changes from chords I already know. Damn awesome lesson just watching and listening.

Vernon was my guitar hero. Went to see Living Color in the early 90s at Orlando skating rink. They sounded just like the album. They blew the door off the place.

Vern how are YOU DOING? Fantastic important selection :)

Tell us about that dope Reverend guitar! Cheers, bruh!

This was so good!

Vivid was released when I was 10. I think I found it when I was 12. It became a foundational album for me that transitioned my world of music from listening to lowest common denominator pop to a fulfilling life of shredding. I can't thank you guys enough.

That Reverend is dope.

The song “type”came on yesterday and it blew me away. My God, the names he’s dropping .. He’s a real professor

Vern is one badass guitarist

Very nice 👍🏾. Thanx 4 this, Vernon Reid. T-Bone Walker is 1 of my favorites.

It's always good to know the history of things and learn from them. Being influenced by another person and absorbing what they did is not stealing if it is embellished and made into something YOU hear from it, ot IS an onfl8and should be acknowledged as such, like Vernon did here..

Thank you Vernon ✨️

Talkin’ Bout a Revolution 👍 Always loved both the original and your version

Always admired Vernons playing. You can tell from his music hes very knowledgeable and schooled in the greats. Good on you for calling out the T-bone Walker in Chuck Berry's licks!

Thanks Vernon, I'm a forever fan of you!

Fantastic. Especially the last part :)

Hug's from Porto Alegre, Brasil!