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Favourite Guitarists
This discussion was inspired by the recent article about our 3 favourite female singers.
Because it was impossible for me to pick just three female vocalists ( I love women singers), I will not put a limit as to how many you wish to vote for. I limited myself to a dozen. However, if you list more that 50 I will seriously question your decision making skills.
In no particular order, except for Rory at number one.
1. Rory Gallagher
2. Peter Green
3. Roy Buchanan
4. Joe Bonamassa
5. David Gimour
6. Slash
7. Johnny Winter
8. Duane Allman
9. Stevie Ray Vaughn
10. Mark Knopfler
11. Glen Campbell
12. Guthrie Govan
260 responses Add your response
Since no one’s mentioned Johnny Thunders, I will. He may not have been technically proficient, but he played with more attitude than anyone before or since. I often find myself returning to "Frankenstein," "Vietnamese Baby," and "Bad Girl," all off the New York Dolls’ self-titled album. And his take on "Pipeline" on So Alone is absolutely menacing: One more highlight of his is the So Alone title track performed at Max’s Kansas City with The Heartbreakers (the other Heartbreakers: not affiliated with Tom Petty): |
Honorable Mention: John Cippolina The Quicksilver Messenger Service co-founder and lead guitarist was considered one of the father’s of the San Francisco sound, often referred to as psychedelic rock. Not happy with standard PA packaging of the day, John developed his own amplifier stack. In John’s own words: "... I like the rapid punch of solid-state for the bottom, and the rodent-gnawing distortion of the tubes on top." (from Wikipeadia) To create his distinctive guitar sound, Cipollina developed a one-of-a-kind amplifier stack. His Gibson SG guitars had two pickups, one for bass and one for treble. The bass pickup fed into two Standel bass amps on the bottom of the stack, each equipped with two 15-inch speakers. The treble pickups fed two Fender amps: a Fender Twin Reverb and a Fender Dual Showman that drove six Wurlitzer horns. John’s "complete resume" can be discovered in a single 14:30 track -- The Fool, where John’s command of the instrument and creative genius are spun together in one very long record groove. I call The Fool a classical ballad redered by a group of 20-something-year-olds doing their best to do something with the space and time allocated to an entire side of a record album. John was inducted into the Rock ’n Rock Hall of Fame a while back, and I was hoping to see some small tribute to John when I visited there about 10 years ago. Imagine my delight when I saw John’s custom amp set up on full display at the entrance to the exhibit hall. Made it worth the trip all by itself. When I’m not in a hurry to get somewhere, I get comfortable and play The Fool. It’s a truly unique piece of work.
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I will go for my greatest to mean most influential innovators AND artistically accomplished, chronologically ordered. I am a Blues and Rock guy first, Jazz down the list. Django Reinhardt Charlie Christian Elmore James BB King Chuck Berry Wes Montgomery Michael Bloomfield Eric Clapton Jimi Hendrix John McLaughlin Adrian Belew I also love acoustic folk guitar… Doc Watson Mississippi John Hurt Jorma Kaukonen Tommy Emanuel Billy Strings
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@speakeasy412 mentioned one of my favorites: Kenny Burrell. I know nothing about the technical aspects of guitar playing, and it is difficult to separate the quality of the composition from the guitarist sometimes, but Nick Drake did some magical things with a guitar. Early George Benson, when he was with CTI: The Other Side Of Abbey Road, White Rabbit, etc. Johnny Smith did not record much, and if you find any of his old LPs, they are in the "Easy Listening" bin, but he played with beautiful tone and control. |
So many mentioned, many I want to explore now. A couple more to throw out, who couldn't be more different. First is Buckethead. Hard to put in a genre but most known for possibly "fastest" guitarist, appears alot with like of Claypool and Incubus/Praxis. Solo stuff super varied in styles. Try Electric Sea then Monsters and Robots. Second is Tab Benoit. Funny, just saw at Falls Church Theater. Old school Fender sound, Delta/Zydeco blues. Tone just drips from his guitar. Loads of tube goodness! For blues, unusually large library of his own writing. Fever For The Bayou, Medicine. |
Keeping in mind the OP asked about "favourite guitarists," not "best" or "greatest," I came up with this list. I've been a guitarist for 55 years, and these are the 10 guitarists I most enjoy listening to, if I haven't forgotten someone: Jeff Beck Jimi Hendrix Jimmy Page Eric Clapton Pat Metheny Jim Hall Mike Bloomfield David Gilmour Steve Hillage Andre Segovia
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Not surprising there are so many excellent guitars in many different genres. Since Rock n Roll in 50's & 60's, every kid wanted to play guitar, I know I did! So it's not surprising that the Rock guitars are so dominantly listed here. Was a bit surprised how infrequently Hendrix was listed though. But for me the best Guitarists are the Jazz players, though Classical guitarists are way up there, And any Country & Bluegrass players are exceptional.I think it's the improvisational talent that makes Jazz stand out for me as a musical form; so much more than just technique. So here's a few Jazz greats I think that got missed in no particular order other than maybe chronological. Some of my favorites: Charlie Christian Jimmy Raney Tal Farlow Wes Montgomery Kenny Burrell Jim Hall Pat Martino And so many more that are more obscure, unfortunately. And a whole slew of younger guys too! Jazz guitar is alive and well!!!
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dmader48- That's a proper list of Jazz guitarists, but you forgot the great Barny Kessel. Barney Kessel was probably heard by more people than imagined. He played with everyone who was anyone, along with being of the first call for other artists, movie/TV soundtracks. Part of the original "wrecking crew." |
Apologies, looks like several I mentioned had already been included. Oops!! And I meant "many" County & Bluegrass players, Was listening to Doc Watson earlier today. Saw him twice. Once with his son. Also fortunate to have seen Clapton, Hendrix and Pete Townsend, one of my favorite rock guitarists. Lucky to see Raney, Hall and Burrell too, Was hoping to get to Pittsburgh to see Pat Martino but his health had declined and he passed away earlier this year. |
Jimi Hendrix Elliot Easton Richard Lloyd Steve Bartek Robert Quine Neil Clark Andy Gill Mary Timony Molly Tuttle Kristin Hersh David Gilmour Todd Rundgren John McLaughlin Allan Holdsworth Joey Santiago Annie Clark David Bryne Mick Ronson Curt Kirkwood Joff Oddie Courtney Barnett Jonny Greenwood Ry Cooder Johnny Marr Prince Tons of great guitarists. I generally like those who sort of invent or refine their own style.
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