My favorite guitarist, the great Robert Quine, died three years ago today. He is missed.

If you’re not familiar with his work, here’s a few samples from YouTube:

Quine did the lead guitar on Richard Hell & The Voidoids’ “Blank Generation,” though the famous intro was by Ivan Julian, the band’s other guitarist. This particular video sucks, but the audio quality is decent.

Here he is playing “Sister Ray” with Lou Reed in Italy, 1983. Quine and Reed worked together on The Blue Mask and Legendary Hearts. I blogged about The Blue Mask awhile ago.

The lead guitar on Matthew Sweet’s “Girlfriend” was Quine’s work…

… and on Tom Wait’s “Downtown Train” he played rhythm, with G. E. Smith on lead. (Yes, “Downtown Train” was Tom’s song. The horrible Rod Stewart version is a cover.)

A brilliant, under-appreciated artist. If you should ever find a copy of his album Basic, snap it up.