A Guitar Odyssey: Wired for Sound (2001)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

Presented by Goldhil Media
Narrated by Bob Segarini

Features:

• Solos by select guitarists
  
• Guitarist bios
  
• Guitar gallery
  
• DVD-ROM content
  

Rating: NR, suitable for all audiences

Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format.

My advice: Check it out if you’re a musician or fan of the instrument.

Easily the most influential instrument on the whole of 20th century music, the guitar has been at the forefront of blues, country, and rock music since those genres began. This documentary presents an unabashed love letter to the instrument, from some of its most skilled players. With just a touch of historical information to make it seem more like a documentary and less like a gushing tribute, Wired for Sound is still an excellent program for fans of guitar players, as well as for fans of the guitar.

Apart from the aforementioned historical tidbits, the whole of the documentary is composed of two types of footage: concert footage of various guitarists past and present, and interview footage of guitarists and their instruments answering questions (and occasionally picking a few riffs). The names are huge and widely varied, including such notables as Chet Atkins, Les Paul, B.B. King, Dave Matthews, Steve Howe, Peter Frampton, Charlie Daniels, Steve Winwood, John Entwistle, and more.

The interviews are interesting, and watching some of these people just tear off a few bars of intricate fretwork off the top of their heads is pretty impressive. A few of the more notable historical developments are discussed, including an interview with Les Paul himself about his development of “the log,” the world’s first solid-body electric guitar (actually just a 4”x4” chunk of wood with pickups nailed to it and strings tied to pegs). Hearing some of the players discuss their first exposure to the guitar, or their first encounter with one of their idols (Les Paul comes up pretty frequently) displays the fundamental similarity in all their experiences.

The DVD is nicely loaded with material. A set of bios for most of the artists featured on the program is provided, with a link, in some cases, to an extended solo performance that was not included in the finished documentary. These solos range from thirty seconds to over three minutes, and all are interesting to watch. As they are presented uncut, you occasionally get to see a guitarist in the process of actually composing, complete with missteps and rephrasing. There’s also an image gallery of a number of classic guitar models, likely of great interest to those savvy enough to know what’s what in the guitar world. The DVD-ROM content is mostly comprised of web links to various guitar-related sites, but it’s useful reference material.

So, if you happen to be a guitar player, or are keenly interested in the instrument itself, then this is probably something that merits at least a rental. Those neutral on the subject don’t have much to gain from this, though the solos and performance snippets showcase some of the most phenomenal picking you’ll likely ever see, so if you’ve got any capacity to appreciate musical virtuosity, it’ll be worth seeing.