Neil Young - Guitarist

Good one! But in our perverted little world musicians are perfect and can only make music, even if they don’t use high end cables and NOS tubes.

Whether it's a recorded concert on PBS, or Live Rust, or seeing him live I am always struck by the passion he shows when he's really into it. He literally dances with his guitar at times, it is an extension of who he is at that moment. There have been occasions where Cortez the Killer and especially Like a Hurricane found me totally absorbed and in awe of how he emotes through the instrument. That's what I'm after in the musical experience. I couldn't care less where he ranks as a technical player.

I own 12 guitars and taught for years which doesn’t mean my opinion is more valid but it does mean I know a thing or two about guitar playing.

He is easily in the top 100 not because he has amazing technical acrobatics that dazzles (he doesn’t) but because his tone, his understated nuanced touch and increadibly musical playing. His playing is literally genius. I can see how many listeners don’t notice these things. Think of the subtle complexity of a Rothko painting: a lot of people don’t see it.