Best blues guitarist, Clapton or Green

Catch John Renbourn doing his version of Robert Johnson and you will be blown away. The man is a master guitar player and can play blues, renaissance, medieval, ragtime, jazz....whatever. I just saw him in Berkeley on his recent tour last week. He'll be at Columbia University for five nights, I think.

He has a couple of live albums with Stefan Grossman that are spectacular and full of blues (cocaine blues, methinks is on one and great) and ragtime.

RE: Cpdunn99.wow...very old thread...very relevant subject. Is the auther still around? I printed it for further study. One entry: from Cpdunn99..there are blues guitarists...there are blues-sounding guitarists, and that's Clapton. Damn!...well said.

I think Clapton had the major inspiration to play the blues. Certainly Mike Bloomfield, Peter Green and Duane Allman are excellent players too.
I'm sorry but I don't think Johnny Winter can really be considered a great bluesman. Probably because he reminds me Hendrix too much (for example hear the many live versions of the fantastic "Red House" and then the many Winter's blues-rock standards like "It's my Own Fault").
Also don't forget that the greatest slide player in the blues-rock area was certainly Duane Allman. He inspired a lot of slide guitar players from Michael Messer to Dave Hole.

bye.

Green and Clapton recorded some great material, as did many of their inspirations. Like others, I find it difficult to select a best blues guitarist. However, if forced to select, I believe Clapton is the single greatest and that the studio Layla album was his greatest work. Yes, his work with Mayall and Cream was great, but the passion expressed on the entire Layla album, along with Duane on slide, remains my absolute favorite. Shows what losing the love of your life and a drug problem can help create. That boy was seriously Blue at the time! Raw and unpolished.

As great as Eric Clapton and Peter Green were/are as guitarists, I can't, under any circumstances consider them among the greatest Blues guitarists. NOT EVEN CLOSE! The greatest Blues players emote in a way that is completely separate from technique. Clapton and Green are great, great guitar stylists with technique to burn. However, neither Clapton nor Green have ever conveyed to me the manic terror of Buddy Guy, the frank sexuality of Albert King, or the threat of imminent violence of Son Seals. I don't see it as a race thing either as Stevie Ray was eminently capable of throwing down.