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

 

128x128tony1954

Favorite? These are mine:

1. Johnny "Guitar" Watson

2. George Benson

3. Carlos Santana

Plenty more could go on either of these lists.

Prog:

Steve Hackett
Steve Hillage
Steve Howe
Robert Fripp
Franco Mussida (Italian prog great)
Gabriel Federow and James Mac Gaw (from Magma)
Fred Frith (from avant-prog band, Henry Cow)

Jazz:

Allan Holdsworth
John McLaughlin
Mary Halvorson
Alex Machacek
Ralph Towner
Pat Metheny
Frank Gambale
Steve Morse
Terje Rypdal

Metal (progressive and technical):

Paul Marsvidal (Cynic)
Daniel Goldenlow (Pain of Salvation)
Ron Jarzombek (Spastic Ink, and Blotted Science)
Robby Bacca (The Contortionist)
Tosin Abasi (Animals as Leaders)
Acle Kahney (Tesseract)

 

 

Not any order (and who says you have to be ancient to be a great, influential musician):

Alex Lifeson

David Gilmore

Pete Townshend

David Gilmour

Mark Knopfler

Geddy Lee

Nils Lofgren

 

 

ZAPPA for God's sake.  Mentioned only twice above with a few guys who can hardly play three chords.

And Richard Thompson can outplay a lot of the above.

Who the hell is Derek Trucks?  Does he play guitar in his cab?

Though I might not consider either of then in the absolute "greatest" level, they are up there. I love watching these guys play. Sonny Landreth and Lindsey Buckingham.

 

Oh, and Joe Walsh is certainly at the top of my list. Surprised he hasn't been mentioned more. 

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. 

 

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.

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."

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!!!

 

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

 

 

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.

Too many great and loved ones, just to add, Buck Dharma, Randy Rhoads, Paco de Lucia, and good that Gabor Szabo was mentioned.

 

+1 for Brian Setzer, also:

James Honeyman Scott (Pretenders)

James C. Heath (The Reverend Horton Heat)

 

Yeah, Rory #1, with Duanne #2, 

Doc Watson
Toy Caldwell
Terry Kath
Gary Moore
Glenn Campbell
Robin Trower
Paco DeLucia
Jan Akkerman
Lindsay Buckingham
Roy Buckhannon
Leslie West
Don Felder/Joe Walsh

And recently, Billy Strings 
 

A newcomer that had a good debut and not so interesting follow-up is Tash Sultana from Australia. She is a one-woman band.

Eric Johnson playing hi Tribute to Jerry Reed or 12 to 12 Vibe.

Robert Fripp for mastering new standard.

 

Bcuz they're not mentioned yet...

Steve Morse

Brian Setzer

+ 1 more for Alex Lifeson

Insightful interview with Clapton who was intrigued by JJ Cale’s music, technique and lifestyle. 
 

 

@whiteknee 

Have to agree about JJ Cale. Very under rated and a style all his own.

Saw him at the QE Theatre here in Vancouver back in June of 1975.

Or didn't see him, as he sat on a tall stool with a big, wide brimmed hat pulled down over his face for the whole show.

A fine performance.

my favorite: Gabor Szabo

And in no particular order:

Grant Green

Philip Catherine

John McLaughlin

John Fahey

Mark Knopfler

John Scofield

And the most underrated:

Robbie Robertson

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

 

 

Walter Becker 

Curt Kirkwood

Pat Metheny

Bob "Bob 1" Mothersbaugh

Norbert "Nono" Krief (Trust)

Lindsey Buckingham 

Wes Montgomery

Kenny Burrell 

Ted Dunbar 

Les Paul

Ace Frehley 

Jimmy Page 

Narciso Yepes

Malcolm & Angus Young 

Barney Kessel 

Andres Segovia 

Joe Pass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Like to see someone caught Django Reinhardt and Johnny Marr. How’s about Andy summers? 

Fleetowner123

Right on. Who else can take a rh guitar, flip it, and get phenomenal sounds from it playing leftie? His style may not suit suit everyone but - that’s talent.

Here’s a gem for streamers - Raimundo Almador’s version of Jimi’s Little Wing. Give it some volume.

 

I am mostly a classical guitar listener. 

Alex Degrassi

Will Ackerman

Leo Kottke

But the craziest guitarist I have ever heard is Joe Satriani playing Surfing with the Aliens...!