Great guitar players

[Seven]

Originally Posted by smellthegum

Mark Knopfler is #1 for me. So powerful and evocative without being screaming loud and frantic. Similar to David Gilmour in that way but his own distinctive sound and style. Instantly recognizable. I'm also a huge fan of Brad Paisley who probably gets overlooked because of his lighthearted lyrics and the Country genre in general. And I recently saw a broadcast of a John Mayer concert, Atlanta 2022 maybe, and was both surprised and amazed. Man, that dude can play! I read somewhere that Eric Clapton has said of him: "He's a master, and he doesn’t even know how good he is."

You already know the performance of his I'm going to link, so I'll let the video do the talking. Close to 11 minutes of musical talent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pa9x9fZBtY

[Eric72]

Yngwie J. Malmsteen

(if you know...you know)

[steve B]

[todeen]

Originally Posted by steve B

this brought a big smile to my face. thanks for sharing!

Sent from my SM-G9900 using Tapatalk

[Exhibitman]

I'm biased to rock and roll I like, and I look at the overall body of work:

1. Jimmy Page: the alpha and omega of rock guitar for me.
2. Alex Lifeson: greased lightning on the fretboard. The solo on Working Man, just amazing.
3. Prince: see Clapton's comment above. What he could do in concert when he cut loose was just transcendent. So happy I got to see him.
4. Eddie Van Halen: Eruption. nuf ced.
5. Brian May: a unique sound that worked perfectly with Freddie Mercury's vocals
6. Rossington-Collins-Gaines: had to put them in together because they played as one at the apex of Skynyrd and it was brilliant.
7. Hendrix: would rate higher but died too young
8. Duane Allman: same as Hendrix
9. Angus Young-Malcolm Young: like the Skynyrd guys, they are inseparable to me.
10. Tom Scholz: because of his innovations. Nothing sounded quite like him. Boston is the greatest debut album I've ever heard.

I left off Clapton and Beck because i just don't like their stuff as much.

Kudos also for Johnny Ramone. How different and great was he? Watch other guys trying to play like him. They struggle.

[Peter_Spaeth]

For all I know he was mediocre technically, but for making it work in the context of a hit song, Chuck Berry.

[Exhibitman]

This is phenomenal

https://youtu.be/zqUDWAt0XSE

[tschock]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

For all I know he was mediocre technically, but for making it work in the context of a hit song, Chuck Berry.

Agree. For me, the reverse is true as well. There are a lot of technically great players who lack the ability (or willingness?) to project the 'emotion' of the song they are playing. And I personally prefer those that might be lacking in the technical skills but who are able to drive home the purpose of the song they are playing.

[irv]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I'm biased to rock and roll I like, and I look at the overall body of work:


6. Rossington-Collins-Gaines: had to put them in together because they played as one at the apex of Skynyrd and it was brilliant.

I assume you're familiar with this song, Adam?
Written and sung by Steve Gaines.
I remember reading/hearing a story where Cassie, his sister, tried to get the band to hear him/take him on but they were hesitant.
They decided then the sound guy, during a concert, dubbed out the rest of the band and solely listened to Steve which he shared with the rest of the band after the fact. It was then, I believe, they let him join.
I'm always torn which is my favorite band, Skynyrd or Zeppelin?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQPqoe5mnbw
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/lyny...t-no-good-life

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by irv

I assume you're familiar with this song, Adam?
Written and sung by Steve Gaines.
I remember reading/hearing a story where Cassie, his sister, tried to get the band to hear him/take him on but they were hesitant.
They decided then the sound guy, during a concert, dubbed out the rest of the band and solely listened to Steve which he shared with the rest of the band after the fact. It was then, I believe, they let him join.
I'm always torn which is my favorite band, Skynyrd or Zeppelin?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQPqoe5mnbw
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/lyny...t-no-good-life

I've heard that story before. I watched the LS documentary on Prime(?) a while ago.

Take a look at this one:

https://youtu.be/QxIWDmmqZzY

One of the greatest live performances I've ever seen on video. The guitarists played as one, with perfect synergy and pure rock and roll joyousness. And did they ever know how to close a song! I wish I'd been old enough to go to a show. Best comment in the comments section, referring to the numerous crowd pans of young ladies in various states of undress was "Our grandmas were hot." Our grandmas? More like our older sisters. Sic transit gloria mundi.

[robw1959]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I'm biased to rock and roll I like, and I look at the overall body of work:

1. Jimmy Page: the alpha and omega of rock guitar for me.
2. Alex Lifeson: greased lightning on the fretboard. The solo on Working Man, just amazing.
3. Prince: see Clapton's comment above. What he could do in concert when he cut loose was just transcendent. So happy I got to see him.
4. Eddie Van Halen: Eruption. nuf ced.
5. Brian May: a unique sound that worked perfectly with Freddie Mercury's vocals
6. Rossington-Collins-Gaines: had to put them in together because they played as one at the apex of Skynyrd and it was brilliant.
7. Hendrix: would rate higher but died too young
8. Duane Allman: same as Hendrix
9. Angus Young-Malcolm Young: like the Skynyrd guys, they are inseparable to me.
10. Tom Scholz: because of his innovations. Nothing sounded quite like him. Boston is the greatest debut album I've ever heard.

I left off Clapton and Beck because i just don't like their stuff as much.

Kudos also for Johnny Ramone. How different and great was he? Watch other guys trying to play like him. They struggle.

With regard to #4 on your list, Eddie Van Halen was asked by Rolling Stone Magazine in the 1980s how it felt to be the world's greatest guitar player. His response was, "I don't know; ask
Phil Keaggy." Here are a couple of his solo cllips . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T3to3DHLIE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aoDEMETXek

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Eric72

Yngwie J. Malmsteen

(if you know...you know)

Saw him live along with Triumph.

Which reminds me about Rik Emmett.

[irv]

Originally Posted by steve B

Saw him live along with Triumph.

Which reminds me about Rik Emmett.

Did you see the Triumph documentary that was released this year?
It's a good watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_w05t6qpCY

[Michael B]

A lot of interesting choices. Two of the popular picks I feel are terribly overrated, but I will leave that for another day.

You cannot say someone is the best of all time due to so many genres. Also playing loud and fast while acting like you are squeezing a watermelon out your butt does not mean you are great or even good.

Some of my choices:

Brian May
Carlos Santana
George Benson - especially his 1960's recordings on Verve
Paco de Lucia - one of the finest flamenco guitarists
Al DiMeola
Roy Clark - master of the guitar, banjo and fiddle
Glen Campbell - a musicians musician. There are always stories about bands asking other musicians to play on their recordings. One of the great stories of him is he would be in a recording studio working and he would ask bands if he could play with them. This was during the time when the musicians knew who he was, not when he was unknown.

Others to consider:

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - listen to her recording of "Didn't it Rain" which she first recorded in 1947/48. You can see where Chuck Berry, Duane Eddy, Carl Perkins and many others got their style.

Mother Maybelle Carter - mother in law of Johnny Cash. Known for her two finger style of playing. Picking the bass strings with her thumb while fingering the other strings.

Django Reinhardt - a Gypsy/Romani and probably the first European jazz star.

Peter Green - check out 'Hypnotized' by Fleetwood Mac

Steve Howe - rarely mentioned in this category, but a lot of his work on the early Yes albums is quite complex.

Alan Holdsworth - King Crimson and UK

Brian Setzer - re-popularized rockabilly with Stray Cats and his own band

Larry Carlton

Bonnie Raitt - mistress of the glass/bottle slide

Nancy Wilson

Robert Fripp - King Crimson. Ignoring the fact that he is a bit of a richardhead. I saw him perform a private Frippertronics show in NYC in 1981.

Jennifer Batten - mostly known as a sidewoman. Lead guitar Michael Jackson's Bad tour

Steve Cropper - Booker T and the MG's, Blues Brothers and hundreds of top 10 songs and albums. Stax session guitarist who also co-wrote "Knock on Wood", "In the Midnight Hour" "Soul Man" and "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay".

Link Wray - the original grunge guitar player.

Johnny Ramone - most people dismiss punk guitar as 3 chords fast and loud. A lot of it was, but listen to the Ramones covers of songs like "California Sun", "Surfin' Bird" "Come on Let's Go" (w/Paley Bros) and "Little Bit of Soul"

Rick Derringer - I think he gets no respect. He has been performing for over 48 years. Starting with the McCoys to Edgar and Johnny Winter, Derringer and solo. He also played on quite a few other bands albums - Steely Dan ("Rikki Don't Lose That Number" is about him), Air Supply ("Making Love Out of Nothing at All" his favorite guitar solo), Bonnie Tyler ("Total Eclipse of the Heart"), Barbra Streisand, Todd Rundgren and Meatloaf. I also heard he played on at least one of the songs on "Kiss Alive II". Along with his rock albums he has also recorded blues and Christian albums.

I have been fortunate to have met a number of them (Santana, Benson, Cropper, Carlton, DiMeola, Howe, Holdsworth, Batten, Wray, Ramone and Derringer) and photographed many in concert as well (May, DiMeola, Howe, Holdsworth, Batten, Wray, Ramone and Derringer). I was fortunate enough to photograph Link Wray's last and only U.S. show of the year on October 14, 2000 at Clark University, Worcester, Mass. Most of the 70 or so people in attendance could have been his grandchildren and probably did not know who he was. He signed my rock book and I got his guitar pick after that show.

queen-3.jpg

[pawpawdiv9]

I love the blues/rock/country guitarist.
All the above are greats.
Grew up on Clapton & Stevie Ray Vaughn
I also add Joe Walsh (from the Eagles)
Johnny Lang
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
and the new kid --Marcus King

[Tere1071]

Julian Bream, Joe Pass, Eliot Fisk, Li Jei (check out her interpretation of Paganini's 24th Caprice on YouTube as a 13-year-old), Johnny Winter, George Van Eps, and Ted Greene because of his dedication to teaching guitar and that I knew personally in the late 70s as he was also a football card collector.

I also enjoy the music of Robert Fripp and Paul Dresher. My favorite in terms of rock would be Jimi Hendrix and the most fantastic guitar solo that plays through my head constantly is "I Heard Her Call My Name" by Lou Reed on the Velvet Underground's "White Light/White Heat."

I guess the best guitarist is the one whose playing is pleasing to a particular listener.

Phil aka Tere1071
A listener, not a player.

[judsonhamlin]

Two underrated guys who I haven’t seen mentioned yet are Robert Quine who was behind some of Lou Reed’s best sounds and Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze.
Fripp, May, Knopfler, Vai and Stevie Ray all rank up there with Hendrix and Prince in the top tier.