By GREG WILLIS Special to the Daily Press
Guitarist Paul Warren and his band the Wreckers return to Harvelle’s Blues Club in Santa Monica tonight for what may be their last local appearance for a while.
Warren, the prolific, much traveled guitarist who made his mark at the age of 16 as the lead guitarist on the Temptations’ Grammy Award winning song, “My Poppa was a Rolling Stone,” is about to embark on yet another international tour that will keep him away from home for the better part of the next year.
Although he regularly tours as lead guitarist for Rod Stewart, this time Warren will be backing European and South American sensation Eros Ramozzotti, the Roman whose 15-year career has seen many No. 1 hits in Europe and South America, and whose recently released CD is No. 1 in Italy, No. 2 in Germany and in the top five in most other European countries.
This is not Warren’s first tour with Ramozzotti. His most memorable show with him took place in Munich in 1998, with two of Warren’s former bosses, Tina Turner and Joe Cocker performing together. Warren also has performed with Ramozzotti on duets with Cher and Pavarotti.
Warren is no stranger to the rigors of the road and his impending separation from his family and home is no easier in his fourth decade of touring. In fact, now that his daughter is in her teens, he finds it harsher than ever.
Although he has played guitar for such acts as the Ventures, Richard Marx, Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Rare Earth, Rod Stewart and many others, Warren’s first love musically is the blues. In his now frequent appearances at Harvelle’s, he has set the benchmark for any guitar player who is ever going to carry a guitar into the venerable club.
Warren is a longtime fan of such guitar greats as Freddy, B.B. and Albert King, and most notably Peter Green of old Fleetwood Mac. Legend has it that Freddy King allowed Warren to sit in with him at the old Starwood, but would not allow him to take a solo.
Warren is well known for playing only the finest vintage or custom made guitars, the sound of his 59 Dot Neck Gibson ES335 coming out of a vintage Fender Tweed amplifier is the sweetest sound I have ever heard. Warren is an overpowering guitar player, with an unmatched repertoire of slick tricks and with an ability to solo endlessly, while displaying jaw dropping technical ability. Warren, simply put, is one of the finest guitar players in the world and quite possibly is the best blues guitarist alive today.
An opportunity to see this great guitarist at Harvelle’s for a $10 cover is not to be missed by any serious guitar aficionado, or anyone who just wants to dance and rock the blues away. Warren and the Wreckers perform an eclectic, (to say the least,) set, and you are just as likely to hear Jimi Hendrix or Johnny Rivers as you are to hear an original or a blues standard. The Wreckers are an incredible band. Keyboardist Ken Stange is every bit Warren’s musical equal. Steve Nelson is amazing on bass and in place of absent drummer Tom Walsh will be James Cruise, who has played with J.J. Cale and Taj Mahal, among others. Doors open at 8 p.m. Harvelle’s is located at 1432 Fourth St. in downtown Santa Monica.
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Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 25, 2003. Read the original PDF.