Topic: Best Guitarist

[CrisPDuk]

Again it depends on how you classify play Ern

Technically he's not brilliant, in fact technically I'd class him as average, but you can't deny he put everything he's got into it

And if you ain't tapping your foot by the time he's three bars in, you're clinically dead

[mrbreeze]

Gotta agree with that.....I can blow a pretty mean harp (if I don't say so myself!!) and one of my very favorite to jam to is John Lee Hooker....Lets Make It. Thought of a few more guitarists....Elliot Easton (The Cars) Steve Marriot (Humble Pie-- deceased).........keep em commin'........Steve Cropper (The Blues Bros.----HELL YA!!)

[upperlake04]

This same thing is why to me, Aretha Franklin is a great singer, but someone like, say, Celine Dion is not.

Exactly CrisP, we have given her to the Americans who have gratefully accepted her and have installed her permanently in Las Vegas

[mrbreeze]

Just remembered.....I bought a couple of used CD's last weekend.......How about Kim Simmonds and Dave Peverett of Savoy Brown......the band that went on to become......---------- Anybody??

[TwoTired]

I'm a little surprised Leo Kotke or Tab Benoit haven't come up yet...

Leo was in my list.   And, I agree that very good players that can't work the music bizz machine, just don't get the recognition they deserve.

I thought about Joe Walsh, who is very good and I like a lot of what he has done very much.  But, the best?  I'm not so sure.  I should have put him in the honorable mention catagory, though.

I do agree that few of the speed metal guitarists can keep me interested beyond the "will you look at that" stage.  Both Vai and Satriani, for example, can play some seriously emotive riffs.  But, seem to stray into the show-off-look-what-I-can-do mode too much for my tastes.

Speaking of which, some of those listed in this thread are really more entertainers/showmen than noted guitarists.  In my opinion, the best ones are versatile enough that if you take them out of their primary genre, they can still perform respectably.

Oh, and some I forgot to add was Joyce Cooling and Ian Crichton.
Probably most of you are saying... Who's that?  Or, who cares?

But, how could a harp player not like J. Geils?
How's your rendition of Whammer Jammer MrBreeze?

Cheers,

[mrbreeze]

Good one Lloyd!!!!!.....I couldn't keep up with Magic Dick in a million years!!!!!! John Popper(Blues Traveler......... Nope!!!) But some of the older bluesy type tunes.....oh yeah!!!!! How about "Room to move" John Mayall? Nope!!!!....Too speedy for me but killer harp tune.

[Clutch Cargo]

The late and great Duane Allman......

[Rocking-M]

Glad Mr. Breeze stuck Rory Gallagher in the list,

I'm sure there is no best after looking through all those listed but there
are some mighty fine ones

[BobbyR]

Here is the Rolling Stone list of  100 Greatest Guitarists of all Time:

1Jimi Hendrix
2 Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band
3 B.B. King
4 Eric Clapton
5 Robert Johnson
6 Chuck Berry
7 Stevie Ray Vaughan
8 Ry Cooder
9 Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
10 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones
11Kirk Hammett of Metallica
12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
13 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead
14 Jeff Beck
15 Carlos Santana
16 Johnny Ramone of the Ramones
17 Jack White of the White Stripes
18 John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
19 Richard Thompson
20 James Burton
21 George Harrison
22 Mike Bloomfield
23 Warren Haynes
24 The Edge of U2
25 Freddy King
26 Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave
27 Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits
28 Stephen Stills
29 Ron Asheton of the Stooges
30 Buddy Guy
31 Dick Dale
32 John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service
33 & 34 Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth
35 John Fahey
36 Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the MG's
37 Bo Diddley
38 Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac
39 Brian May of Queen
40 John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival
41 Clarence White of the Byrds
42 Robert Fripp of King Crimson
43 Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic
44 Scotty Moore
45 Frank Zappa
46 Les Paul
47 T-Bone Walker
48 Joe Perry of Aerosmith
49 John McLaughlin
50 Pete Townshend
51 Paul Kossoff of Free
52 Lou Reed
53 Mickey Baker
54 Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane
55 Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple
56 Tom Verlaine of Television
57 Roy Buchanan
58 Dickey Betts
59 & 60 Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien of Radiohead
61 Ike Turner
62 Zoot Horn Rollo of the Magic Band
63 Danny Gatton
64 Mick Ronson
65 Hubert Sumlin
66 Vernon Reid of Living Colour
67 Link Wray
68 Jerry Miller of Moby Grape
69 Steve Howe of Yes
70 Eddie Van Halen
71 Lightnin' Hopkins
72 Joni Mitchell
73 Trey Anastasio of Phish
74 Johnny Winter
75 Adam Jones of Tool
76 Ali Farka Toure
77 Henry Vestine of Canned Heat
78 Robbie Robertson of the Band
79 Cliff Gallup of the Blue Caps (1997)
80 Robert Quine of the Voidoids
81 Derek Trucks
82 David Gilmour of Pink Floyd
83 Neil Young
84 Eddie Cochran
85 Randy Rhoads
86 Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath
87 Joan Jett
88 Dave Davies of the Kinks
89 D. Boon of the Minutemen
90 Glen Buxton of Alice Cooper
91 Robby Krieger of the Doors
92 & 93 Fred "Sonic" Smith, Wayne Kramer of the MC5
94 Bert Jansch
95 Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine
96 Angus Young of AC/DC
97 Robert Randolph
98 Leigh Stephens of Blue Cheer
99 Greg Ginn of Black Flag
100 Kim Thayil of Soundgarden

Don't look at me. It is their list. You can fine it here  http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5937559/the_100_greatest_guitarists_of_all_time

[Rhonda750F]

#26 Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave

Hell yes!  Talk about making up your own chords.  This guy can create sounds on his guitar that you shouldn't be able to.  It's too bad rage broke up.

[eldar]

Well rolling stone blows chunks anyways.
And why is hendrix considered so good? He took a guitar and put the strings on upside down and proceeded to put feeling into questionably played music. I seriously doubt he could have done anything if he was not always stoned. Maybe thats why people like him, he played stoned and did weird things? I think that was a requirement of the 60 and 70s. The only song I really like by hendrix was supposedly written by clapton, along the watchtower. but hey, I guess this all points to people liking different things, though I could never agree with him being #1.

Also las t I heard, rage had gotten back together somewhat and did a show in Ca somewhere.

[CrisPDuk]

When did Rage play together again? I thought Zack de la Rocha had done an Axl Rose and disappeared up his own rectum   Bit harsh on Chris Cornell if it is true


I would dispute several entries in that Rolling Stone list:

Kieth Richards, John Frusciante and Brian May are way too high up it

Angus Young and Frank Zappa are way too far down it

The Edge shouldn't even be on it

[BobbyR]

Well rolling stone blows chunks anyways.
 I think that was a requirement of the 60 and 70s. The only song I really like by hendrix was supposedly written by clapton, along the watchtower. but hey, I guess this all points to people liking different things, though I could never agree with him being #1.

All Along the Watchtower was written by Bob Dylan.

[sparty]

#26 Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave

Hell yes!  Talk about making up your own chords.  This guy can create sounds on his guitar that you shouldn't be able to.  It's too bad rage broke up.

Good News.  They are getting back together for a short tour this summer.  However, I think one of the original members will be out.

Sparty

[Chris Schneiter]

I agree about Zappa...but Angus? I didn't even think about Jeff Beck or Pete Townshend..I think Kieth is a master!
Eldar...don't dis Jimi! He played with his own style and was incredibly proficient....he played with everybody from the Isley Brothers (Ooh! Earnie Isley!) to Little Richard..he played Roots Blues and was more electric than anybody and was able to rearrange on the fly...his greatest contribution, stoned or not, was that he changed the sound of music completely....oh, and "Watchtower" was written by Bob Dylan...

[gregwaits]

As a musician, I don't believe there is such a thing as best in any of the arts, but I have my favorites.

My main love is Jazz, and I dig Bill Frisell and John Scofield a lot.

I have had a chance to see Adrian Belew live and he blew me away. His style reminds me of Leo Kottke, another monster finger picker.

Don't ever forget the greatness of Chet Atkins or Roy Clark.

[Uncle Ernie]

Again it depends on how you classify play Ern

Technically he's not brilliant, in fact technically I'd class him as average, but you can't deny he put everything he's got into it

And if you ain't tapping your foot by the time he's three bars in, you're clinically dead

"What he lacks in technical expertise, he more than compensate for with unbiridled enthusiasm."
Sorry Crisp, but that would put me in the top 10 guitar players of all time !

[eldar]

Chris, a lot of guitarists can do that. Jimi was nothing special but it is like the band Rush. It is unthinkable to talk bad about them. Why? I dont think Jimi did anything special. He played a different sound. You know what, it would have happened anyways.

Look at the way Nikolo Paganini played. Back in his day, he was basically considered the heavy metal of piano players. He made different compositions than most of the others did.

To this day, people are refining and changing the way music sounds. So why is Jimi so regarded? He did the same thing that musicians have done for centuries.

Not saying he is the worst, just dont see why people think he was so great. He did nothing new.   you want something new, the Kinks would cut the center of a speaker to gain distortion.  I dont see their name thrown at the top of every list even though a vast number of songs use guitars with distortion.

[Rushoid]

Alex Lifeson got left out again. He's got to be the most underrated guitarist in the world. I guess he gets overshadowed by the greatness of Neil and Geddy (yes, he's better than Les Claypool. Even Les will tell you that). I'm not a fan of these guys because they're my favorite band, they're my favorite band because of these guys.  

I agree with TT that those guys (Vai, Satriani, Malmsteen) are technically great. They lack something though - heart, soul - call it what you will. Jimi had this but I don't think he rates #1.

Back in the 80's there were so many excellent rock guitarists: Nuno Bettencourt, Vito Bratta, Warren DiMartini, George Lynch, Jeff Watson, Richie Sambora, ... I miss guitar solos.  

Eldar posted before me...Why is it unthinkable to talk bad about them? Everyone has their own tastes. The thing with Rush is that you love 'em or you hate 'em (generally speaking). I happen to love 'em and I always think more people would if they heard more of their music. The 6 songs they play on the radio doesn't do them justice.

[CrisPDuk]

Good News.  They are getting back together for a short tour this summer.  However, I think one of the original members will be out.

Sparty

How does that work then? Considering Audioslave are Rage with one of the original members missing

  Nuno Bettencourt

Either I'm older than I remember being Rushoid or Extreme were '90s, not '80s



As far as Rush are concerned I'm with Eldar I'm afraid

But I say stone the heretic for his views on Hendrix

[Jv550]

How did I forget Dick Dale, master of the surf guitar? Would be much more well-known if they hadn't produced his early albums in that wacky, orchestral way they did in the 60s.

I like Joe Walsh too - good guitar player, but I alwasy think of him as a songwriter first. RS has ike turner on their list. Now I like Ike, he can play, but mostly his skill was as a producer.

Jeff Beck - amazing player, can't get into his music. Likewise John Fahey - thought I heard he had a new album out?

[sparty]

The Rolling Stone's 100 Best is playing favorites to the popular guitarists.  It should read 100 Most Popular Guitarists.

John Petrucci from Dream Theater should be in there.  He was trained at Berkley College of Music.

Also, Herman Li of Dragon Force should make the list.

Sparty

[Rushoid]

  Nuno Bettencourt

Either I'm older than I remember being Rushoid or Extreme were '90s, not '80s

Yes, you're old.  But if you want to get picky, they formed in 1985 and "Extreme II: Pornograffiti" came out in 1990. 

I second (or third) John Petrucci and Dream Theater. 

[sparty]

Good News.  They are getting back together for a short tour this summer.  However, I think one of the original members will be out.

Sparty

How does that work then? Considering Audioslave are Rage with one of the original members missing

 

I guess that they will be playing Rage songs... qualifying it as a Rage reunion.

Sparty

[ElCheapo]

Normally I would go with

Steve Vai
Joe Satriani
Eric Johnson

But for me these guys have fallen short in some way. For me a trully great guitarist must beable to do so much more than guitar acrobatics. A trully great guitarist can play in multiple venues and is BAND FRIENDLY. Just listening to solo that was played on the Whitesnake step in by Steve Vai just proves he is not exactly band friendly. The solo was cool but it did not go with the whole theme that was Whitesnake for the time.

First I look to the obscure, not quite to the front porches in the deep south, but I look to guys that few really knew could play.

Dicky Bets - No one knew he could play until Allman died.
Jim Morrison "The Lizard King" - A very acomplished spanish guitarist
Robert Johnson - He remained obscure for so many years and never really got famous until he was dead.

Then the true greats IMHO:
Randy Rhoads - I pay homage here because he was a perfectionist to the point he knew he could not live up to the hype everyone had made. In short he was good, real, and humble. He was so hard on himself that there was a piece used from the studio in the tribute album Ozzy did that he wanted destroyed. There was a huge lawsuit over the whole thing.
Zack Wylde - He had Randy's shoes to fill and did well at it as well as cutting his own niche
Jimmy Page - A bit sloppy by todays standards, but he was cutting a new path. I know perfection does not happen when you are cutting a totally new path. And tell me when you here a Zep tune other than Stairway to Heaven like Black Dog, you dont get into it. Zeppllin took us all to places we had not been yet.
BB King - While not a guitar great in my mind, he is a great entertainer. He can get the crowd where they need to be to "Feel" the blues.

Great bands:
Kiss - Stood the test of time. They were serious entertainers. They could get a crowd just crazy. When "God of Thunder" came out I figured music just could not get harder or pushed futher.
Rolling Stones - Mick Jaggar said the last thing he wanted to do is being doing this (music) when he was 50. Guess what, yep still rolling.