Adrian Belew: The Voices Inside His Guitar

After hearing Adrian Belew play guitar, one is never likely to think of the instrument in the same light again.

Belew is the Mel Blanc of the guitar world. His instrument is capable of producing “voices” never before heard in rock music. Whether performing serious works or looney tunes, his sound impersonations are befuddling.

Out of his Stratocaster comes elephants, rhinos, seagulls, insects, snakes – and that’s not all, folks. He claims he’s barely scratched the surface.

If that’s true, expect to hear a lot more from this cat, Belew.

In the past couple of years, Belew has established himself as one of the most talented guitar players in contemporary music. He’s currently on tour with the band King Crimson, which will be appearing Friday at Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theater in an 8 p.m. concert.

Although there is little comparison in Belew’s style to that of Jimi Hendrix, his guitar playing is drawing considerable attention throughout the music industry as the most inventive since Hendrix’s creative use of sustained feedback in the late ‘60s.

While his work with people like David Bowie, Frank Zappa and the Talking Heads as well as his subsequent work with Crimson sparked some curiosity, it is Belew’s recently released solo album, Lone Rhino, that is making people take notice.

“It’s designed to be more of my personality,” Belew said. “I waited 16 ears to do it, (so) I tried to present an eclectic picture… a retrospective of where my playing had been and a base for where I’m going.”

On Lone Rhino, Belew ventures beyond the conventional sound of an electric, stringed instrument by using feedback, fuzztones, backward tape loops, a fretless guitar and a guitar/synthesizer among other effects.

Belew has been trying to stretch the boundaries of guitar playing, practically since the time he picked up the instrument. Originally a drummer in a band that performed Beatles covers, at 16 he started picking the guitar after learning the importance of songwriting.

“My approach to the guitar was different because I didn’t know what I was doing since I had no formal training,” he recalled. “I’m sure that’s why I can play odd time signatures like I’ve had to do with Frank Zappa and King Crimson.”

It was in 1967 that Belew, while recovering from a bout with mononucleosis, taught himself to play guitar. When he finally bought his first guitar, Belew decided it was time to stop trying to copy licks by Hendrix or Jeff Beck.

“I wasn’t getting anywhere as far as my own sound was concerned, so I tried forgetting all the licks I’d learned and stopped all the habits of attempting to copy others,” he said.

As it happened, though, Belew was offered a lucrative position as the drummer for a band that played the Holiday Inn circuit. For the next 2-1/2 years, he stopped playing guitar.

That lasted until 1977 when he joined up with a Nashville-based, original music group called Sweetheart.

“When I went back to (the guitar), I made the changeover. I was pretty much left to my own devices. I started working with one or two little interesting effects, until finally the momentum got going.

“I don’t know why, but I became very laden with effects. I guess they just sounded natural to me. But I always try and use them effectively within the context of a specific song.”

It was one night with Sweetheart in a Nashville club that Zappa first caught a glimpse of Belew. After several months, Belew was asked to join the group. He did not hesitate.

After an album and a European tour with Zappa, Belew joined forces with Bowie. Later, he worked with such acts as the Talking Heads and the Tom Tom Club.

Eventually, he formed his own group, Ga-Ga, which disbanded before he joined King Crimson, but came back together to join in on the recording of Lone Rhino.

For Belew, joining King Crimson was more royal treatment than he was used to receiving. He found it hard to accept, seeing that he had always been in considerable awe of the talents of Crimson guitarist and founder Robert Fripp.

“I felt a bit intimidated because here was someone whom I’d admired and respected for years, asking me to join up with them,” he said.

“For the first time in my whole life I had so much insecurity, while at the same time I was getting all these wonderful offers.”

Belew’s crisis of confidence lasted about eight weeks.

“Once we established our grounds, we became very comfortable with each other,” he said. “It’s wonderful working with a guitarist like Robert. We each have a common ground and yet we’re different enough to complement each other well.”

Belew said he feels King Crimson has finally found its niche after two albums. The band essentially experimented with its sound of Discipline, Belew said, and the direction became more focused with the latest album, Beat.

But it’s his solo album that pleases Belew the most. “Big Electric Cat,” “Lone Rhinocerous,” “Adidas in Heat” and Belew’s favorite, “Man on the Moon,” reflect a combination of humor, melancholy and excitement.

Ultimately, Belew hopes to tour his own band, probably after recording a second solo album later this year. But that group, based in Champaign, Ill., will not bear any likeness to King Crimson.

“My object with my own band would be to do the sorts of things we’re not able to do now in Crimson, such as costumes and humorous songs. I might even add a tape operator as a full member of the group, adding films and special taped effects.

“Flamboyant? When Ga-Ga was playing, that’s the one word everybody used to describe us. We were fairly outrageous.

“I think it would be fruitless to try and do the same thing that King Crimson is already doing.”

“While Belew debates the merits of a solo career, he encourages fledgling guitarists to experiment with their instruments.

“I’m not a guitarist with a load of expensive equipment,” he said. “My advice would be that you can do what I’m doing with a minimal amount of effects. All it takes is a little imagination.”

Originally published Aug. 1, 1982.