I would be surprised if he could not read music well being a serious studio guitarist before. I agree about well know folks, but not one who were studio type musicians for hire before hitting it big.
Ok, it is possible. Just unusual in his line of work.
It's really not that difficult. I don't read and did quite a bit of studio back in the day. Of course, someone that learned by ear, like myself, might find it very hard to rehearse with a bunch of reader musicians and vise versa. But the kind of music Glen was doing could easily be considered "no brainer" material. The music wasn't that complex. "Gimme a tape and I'll have the parts worked out in a couple of days" I'd be surprised if it were any different that just that.
Right....my favorite tune by him...bought his album when I went off to school - just for this tune.
Gary, I have played for a long time, and almost exclusively by ear. It depends on the type of studio gig. There are some where they want you to be creative and there may not be charts, and others where they want you to sight read the part pronto. All depends.
I'm fairly certain this defines what I was saying. True, my studio experience, band experience and any other jam sessions and such, were all by ear. I tried to learn to read but I was too far into it to keep focused. So I gave up trying. The few times I tried to mix talents with readers went absolutely nowhere, unless I was in a position to improvise. I do know this though. It was way easier for me to follow a readers lead with improv, where it was impossible for a reader to rip loose without the sheet music and mix minds with an ear musician. Glen probably had plenty to choose from back in his studio days. A great lot of music was being created off the hip.
