The Greatest Guitarists Thread

[Tripping William]

Some comments in the R.I.P. Prince thread got me thinking about this. Disclaimer: I have no musical ability whatsoever. I don't play anything, never really have, and couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. I have no talent for production, synthesizing, or anything else. And I'm not terribly "well-read" on the subject.

That said, I do have some nominations, based on what I've heard/experienced/seen/read/otherwise, and thought this could be an interesting thread.

So, my initial-cut nominations, in no order whatsoever:

(1) Prince: Since his passing inspired the thread, and I've seen good commentary about him, he'll be at the top.

(2) Eric Clapton: Also mentioned in the Prince thread.

(3) Tim Reynolds: I have seen him live a lot (shocker!), and some of the stuff he does (both acoustic and electric) is really impressive to me.

(4) Warren Haynes: I have also seen him live a handful of times, including with Tim Reynolds (which was just awesome), and really enjoy what he can do.

(5) Stanley Jordan: I have heard him live a time or two as well. Perhaps an off-the-wall pick, but his sound sometimes seems almost like a harp (heavenly).

(6) Carlos Santana: So smooooth!


I know I'm omitting any number of easy-pickin's (see what I did there), and I focused only on rock-style folks above. But this should be enough to get a conversation started (which is all I really care).

Feel free to do what DBR does . . .

[mattman91]

Tim Reynolds rocks...especially with Dave Matthews (who I'm going to see next month)

I'd also nominate Kirk Hammet, Angus Young, Les Paul, and B.B. King.

[mattman91]

Oh...and Jimi Hendrix!

[Billy Dat]

Great thread, I'll weigh in later but for now check out this very thorough and authoritative podcast on "Guitar Gods" by college bball writer Matt Norlander who does a music podcast series called "Record and Riffs"

http://www.mattnorlander.com/norland...13-guitar-gods

[CDu]

Jimi needs to be on the list for me. Jeff Beck, Chuck Berry, Duane Allman, Mark Knopfler as well. Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson too.

[gus]

hard to narrow down a list like this.

Randy Rhoads?
Jimmy Page?

a lot of these big solo guys end up sounding the same to me, but they're all really good.

How about people who play different styles?

David Rawlings?
Someone young like Chris Eldridge? Sean Watkins ain't shabby.

[OldPhiKap]

Add to the list: Mississippi John Hurt; Frank Zappa; Jerry Garcia; Rich Brotherton (Robert Earl Keen's guitarist); Leo Kottke; Michael Hedges; Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Gilmour . . . .

I'll have to think about my top ten, some good names above and some more sure to come.

[devildeac]

Off the top of my head, w/o a particular genre or looking at the Rolling Stone list of top 100:

Django Reinhart, Andres Segovia, Julian Bream, Christopher Parkening, Jimmy Page, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Joe Satriani, Leo Kottke, Robert Johnson?, Mark Knopfler?

There's my 10.

Man, this will be fun and difficult.

[devildeac]

Add to the list: Mississippi John Hurt; Frank Zappa; Jerry Garcia; Rich Brotherton (Robert Earl Keen's guitarist); Leo Kottke; Michael Hedges; Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Gilmour . . . .

Off the top of my head, w/o a particular genre or looking at the Rolling Stone list of top 100:

Django Reinhart, Andres Segovia, Julian Bream, Christopher Parkening, Jimmy Page, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Joe Satriani, Leo Kottke, Robert Johnson?, Mark Knopfler?

There's my 10.

Man, this will be fun and difficult.

Great/dangerous minds...

[gus]

Jeff Buckley? He was amazing.

[OldPhiKap]

Great/dangerous minds...

I prefer to think "Beautiful Mind(s)"

[CDu]

Yeah it is really hard to do this. There are so many genres.

Guys like Slash and Van Halen fit in the stage performer mix.

Then there are bluesy guys like Vaughn and others. Then the folk guys.

[OldPhiKap]

Eddie freakin' Van Halen

[gus]

Dick Dale

[cato]

Once you get to a certain point, I don't know how you would rank them. I've seen Warren Haynes cover Zeppelin and Hendrix songs, and was very impressed. I doubt there is anything that Eddie Van Halen can't do on a guitar. Etc.

[CDu]

For those Southern Rock fans, Allen Collins probably deserves mention. His Free Bird solos for Skynyrd were epic.

[Bob Green]

George Harrison, Keith Richards and Pete Townshend.

[fuse]

Pete Townsend

[weezie]

...Stevie Ray Vaughan...

Yes. What a jam session it must be on that big bandstand in the sky...

Still with us here on Planet Earth I'd include Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

[Olympic Fan]

A lot of good suggestions --Prince definitely deserves to be there - but the No. 1 guy without debate has to be Jimi.

Pete Townsend tells the story of dragging Eric Clapton to a small London club to see an unknown American perform for the first time. After listing to Hendrix play one set, Townsend said he had to talk Clapton out of giving up the guitar ... and this was a time when London fans were scrawling "Clapton is God" on walls and subway tunnels.

Not mentioned yet, but I've always admired Rich Williams, the one-eyed soloist from Kansas ... and let me add a vote or two for a couple of the pioneers -- Chuck Berry certainly took the art to another level ... and Bo Diddlley was an early master:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeZHB3ozglQ

I always thought this tribute to George Harrison at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 was one of Prince's greatest moments:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y