Have you seen Eric Clapton at his best?

While bluegrass and blues, or rhythm and blues, are different animals, we should also include Jerry Douglas whose mastery of the dobro is worthy of mention. Douglas would have to be included on a list of 'best' guitarists if not on a list of best blues guitarists.

the only time i ever got to see eric clapton was back in 83 or 84,it was the money and cigarettes tour and he was at the civic arena in pittsburgh ,ry cooder opened the show for him

"Clapton Is God" Why? Because if it wasn't for him I, ( a poor dumb white kid) wouldn't have investigated Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Freddie King, Albert King, BB King, Taj Mahal, and Bob Marley, and I wouldn't love all the wonderful vibes I've gotten from their uplifting music!

All these icons said the same thing about Eric Clapton - "The boy feels the blues!"

Eric - Thank You Very Much!

If music is meant to convey and evoke emotion, then I agree Derek Trucks is "the greatest living slide guitarist". Ry Cooder leaves me cold, and always has.
There, I perpetuated the argument!
I once heard BB and Eric do a joint interview, where they went on about the search for the "One Note." In effect, too many notes, too much playing is the opposite of what they both felt was the pinnacle of playing an instrument. Technical mastery does not fit into that line of thinking. It's about emotion. I have heard Carlos Santana speak of the same thing.
You could argue of course, that technical mastery is a means to that end, but simply displaying that mastery will not make you a guitar god - for long anyway, until the next technical wizard shows up!

The last time I saw Clapton was in Hartford around 1988 or '89. Mark Knopfler, no slouch, was seconding him on guitar and I couldn't believe how much Clapton ran circles aqround him. The (personal) upshot is after an encore Clapton threw his guitar pick into the audience where it landed on the floor a few seats away. (I was in the 2nd row.) I got to the pick first and as I was trying to pick it up from the beer-soaked floor, some girl tried to peel my fingers off the pick by pulling them straight back. Before I could respond, she managed to dislocate three fingers on my left hand. The irony is that my fingers don't line up properly anymore and I can't chord a guitar neck right. BTW, the pick said "Have a Nice Day" on it.