Great Guitarists

[fredwiggy]

Some polls list guitarists that are mediocre, and some don't those that are great. Mark Knopfler, Michael Schenker, Al Dimeola, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Brian May, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Yngwie Malmsteen, Santana, Jimmy Page, Duane Allman, Roy Clark, Steve Vai, Glen Campbell, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tony Iommi, David Gilmour, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Ritchie Blackmore, Alex Lifeson, Gary Moore, Frank Zappa, Steve Howe, Steve Hackett, Tom Scholz, Neil Schon, Joe Bonamassa, Peter Green, Johnny Winter, Zakk Wylde, George Lynch, Mick Ralphs, Mike Slamer, are among the best.

[KhunLA]

10 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Got to see Doyle Bramhall II and Derek Trucks with Clapton in Bangkok 10-15 years ago, what a show.

We were at the Feb 2011 concert @ Impact Arena ... 

[save the frogs]

 

[save the frogs]

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

1 hour ago, NextG said:

What do you think of these two?

 

 

Born under a “ good “ sign !

 

Ran into that sign ( not literally ) when I was working in Batesville, MS.

Kingfish has a very Gary Moore style about him, would have been great to see them together.

JB ain’t bad either !

[DrJack54]

On 1/10/2024 at 11:56 AM, Eloquent pilgrim said:

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Without doubt. 

And an outliner: Jonny Lang

[BigStar]

15 hours ago, FruitPudding said:

 

Did you see that list?

 

The top 10 looks like some kind of woke, politically correct BS.

 

 

Sadly, lists and the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame ain't what they used to be. The woke regard the BS as positive, however. Kind of a religious fanaticism. We do have some here on the forum making regular appearances.

 

Fortunately you got 250 to choose from. The best of the greats are most likely in there.

[thaibeachlovers]

16 hours ago, it is what it is said:

 

i'm into music rather than guitarists, but check out youtube, that guy prince could certainly play.

Apparently he was classically trained before he decided there was more money in pop.

[Eloquent pilgrim]

4 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Without doubt. 

And an outliner: Jonny Lang

 

Still Rainin'

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Apparently he was classically trained before he decided there was more money in pop.

 

 

 

[DrJack54]

52 minutes ago, Eloquent pilgrim said:

 

Still Rainin'

Quitter Never Wins (17 years old when he did this video)

 

 

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

Quitter Never Wins (17 years old when he did this video)

 

 

I followed him early on, got his early CDs when released, and saw him a couple times.   Christian now, so not sure he's still singing the blues.  Kenny Wayne Shepperd is another, all of 20 yrs old maybe, back then, got airplay and noticed about the same time as Lang.  Both put on very nice shows.

Edited January 12 by KhunLA

[NextG]

5 hours ago, BigStar said:

 

Sadly, lists and the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame ain't what they used to be. The woke regard the BS as positive, however. Kind of a religious fanaticism. We do have some here on the forum making regular appearances.

 

Fortunately you got 250 to choose from. The best of the greats are most likely in there.

Actually, I disagree. There are a lot of ‘famous’ guitarists in the way that Elvis was famous. Making certain styles palatable for the masses. 
That’s why I posted the video with Kingfish Ingram, someone you possibly haven’t even heard of before, alongside someone who is relatively famous. 
But only one of them is likely on the ‘greats’ list. 
Some claim politically correct, but talk to the the ‘greats’ themselves with regard to their influences. Many people cannot tell a great guitarist from a ball of wool. 
Just looking at their ‘best’ lists makes me smile knowingly. 
As a disclaimer, I play. 
 

Edited January 12 by NextG

[Yellowtail]

There are a lot of great guitar players, but unless they have developed their own style and done something popular, you will likely never hear of them, and for good reason.

[NextG]

1 hour ago, Yellowtail said:

There are a lot of great guitar players, but unless they have developed their own style and done something popular, you will likely never hear of them, and for good reason.

What’s the “good reason”?

[Yellowtail]

4 minutes ago, NextG said:

What’s the “good reason”?

How might you hear of someone that has not done anything popular? 

 

Lots of great engineers, but you only hear about the ones that do something exceptional. 

 

Session musicians are some of the best in the business, yet you never hear of 95% of them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NextG]

27 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

How might you hear of someone that has not done anything popular? 

 

Lots of great engineers, but you only hear about the ones that do something exceptional. 

 

Session musicians are some of the best in the business, yet you never hear of 95% of them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your “and with good reason” looked like you were saying they weren’t good enough. 
Perhaps you meant “stands to reason”. 

Edited January 12 by NextG

[Yellowtail]

8 hours ago, NextG said:

Your “and with good reason” looked like you were saying they weren’t good enough. 
Perhaps you meant “stands to reason”. 

Mostly guys get famous developing their own style, and or writing their own stuff or being with guys that do. Guys generally don't get famous doing covers sounding like someone else. 

 

Some people on here were bashing Brian May. Now you can say what you want, but Brian May sounds like Brian May.

 

Whether a musician is technically better than another, really makes no difference if they do not have their own style.

 

I like what Duke Ellington said when asked about all the new jazz, and how to tell if it was good. He looked a bit puzzled and said: "If it sounds good, it is good." 

 

My dad was full time for over ten years and played great. No one ever heard of him. 

 

Edited January 12 by Yellowtail
added text

[GammaGlobulin]

16 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Quitter Never Wins (17 years old when he did this video)

 

 

 

This guys looks a little bit like River Phoenix.

 

 

[NextG]

2 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Mostly guys get famous developing their own style, and or writing their own stuff or being with guys that do. Guys generally don't get famous doing covers sounding like someone else. 

 

Some people on here were bashing Brian May. Now you can say what you want, but Brian May sounds like Brian May.

 

Whether a musician is technically better than another, really makes no difference if they do not have their own style.

 

I like what Duke Ellington said when asked about all the new jazz, and how to tell if it was good. He looked a bit puzzled and said: "If it sounds good, it is good." 

 

My dad was full time for over ten years and played great. No one ever heard of him. 

 

I disagree with even your first statement. 
Many styles were ‘borrowed’ from people who weren’t famous. 

[BigStar]

19 hours ago, NextG said:

There are a lot of ‘famous’ guitarists in the way that Elvis was famous. Making certain styles palatable for the masses. 

 

The intro to the list gives the selection criteria. Many on the list aren't known to the masses. Each inclusion is given a little blurb. 

 

19 hours ago, NextG said:

Many people cannot tell a great guitarist from a ball of wool. 

 

Obviously. But the committee members selecting for the list could do so.

 

19 hours ago, NextG said:

Just looking at their ‘best’ lists makes me smile knowingly. 

 

But that would take only one omission or one disagreement with the ranking. Ah HAH. X isn't on there. Any list, including one compiled from posts here, will provoke disagreement, especially among those at least somewhat knowledgeable. Reddit has nearly 500 comments on the Rolling Stones list. So other guitarists would have the most. As with lawyers, good alternate, convincing cases can of course be made. Here's one discussion:

 

 

Nonetheless, we often rely on lists found on the internet in absence of other sources of information. They have their place. If I were looking only to appreciate guitarists, I'd check out this list and also look around on reddit. I probably wouldn't come here, as my taste seems to differ from that of most forum members, based on what I've encountered in the music threads.

 

That said, I'm pretty well satisfied listening to those guitarists I know already playing the kind of music I like. There's already so much of that I haven't yet heard that I may not get through it all in my lifetime. Still, youtube algorithms keep suggesting similar stuff that a sample. But then it also distracts me too often with hot women who have their own list and millions of followers, ha ha. Suddenly my free time for youtube is just all used up!

 

 

I'll close with respect for the long tradition of praise for unrealized, unrecognized greatness:

 

Full many a gem of purest ray serene
    The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
    And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

Some village Hampden, that, with dauntless breast,
    The little tyrant of his fields withstood,
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
    Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.

     --Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

 

 

 

 

[Yellowtail]

13 hours ago, NextG said:

I disagree with even your first statement. 
Many styles were ‘borrowed’ from people who weren’t famous. 

For example?

[connda]

They broke the mold after Hendrix's birth.


 

[NextG]

1 hour ago, Yellowtail said:

For example?

Just ask any of your favourite guitarist about their influences. You’ll find most copied someone else along the way. They’ll copy a style they heard, but most of their fans wouldn’t have a clue as to the originator. Every now and again, you hear about them going to see some obscure musician. Paying respect to the real thing. 

[KhunLA]

Michael Monarch of Steppenwolf (not lead singer) but on lead guitar :

 

Edited January 14 by KhunLA

[quake]

Robert Johnson

 

[Yellowtail]

19 hours ago, NextG said:

Just ask any of your favourite guitarist about their influences. You’ll find most copied someone else along the way. They’ll copy a style they heard, but most of their fans wouldn’t have a clue as to the originator. Every now and again, you hear about them going to see some obscure musician. Paying respect to the real thing. 

So, you don't know. 

 

A riff being difficult, does not make it good. 

 

 

 

[NextG]

18 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

So, you don't know. 

 

A riff being difficult, does not make it good. 

 

 

 

Huh? Are we in the same page here?

I simply not that interested in singling out any particular ‘famous’ guitarist and then going through their influences. Then you might not want to discuss that particular guitarist, but instead another…. So I decided to just discuss it generally. 
I don’t know where ‘riffs’ came into the conversation at all 🤭

 

[Yellowtail]

2 hours ago, NextG said:

Huh? Are we in the same page here?

I simply not that interested in singling out any particular ‘famous’ guitarist and then going through their influences. Then you might not want to discuss that particular guitarist, but instead another…. So I decided to just discuss it generally. 
I don’t know where ‘riffs’ came into the conversation at all 🤭

 

You said: "Many styles were ‘borrowed’ from people who weren’t famous."

 

I asked for an example, and you were not able to provide one, whatever. 

 

That one guitarist cites another guitarist as influence does not really mean anything. Virtually all the guitarists that might be cited by others, were popular in their own right at some point. 

 

 

[NextG]

32 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

You said: "Many styles were ‘borrowed’ from people who weren’t famous."

 

I asked for an example, and you were not able to provide one, whatever. 

 

That one guitarist cites another guitarist as influence does not really mean anything. Virtually all the guitarists that might be cited by others, were popular in their own right at some point. 

 

 

Able, but not willing 😊 A not so subtle difference…. and of course you are wrong about ‘popular in their own right’. I’m beginning to think that you really don’t know what you are talking about. 
Without naming names, as I really cannot be bothered to spend too much time on this, someone might have copied an obscure blues guitarist. Know to the local scene but not popular in the sense of worldwide or even countrywide acclaim. 
Famous guitarist brings the style to a wider audience. Everyone, but the few who know, thinks the famous guitarist is the originator. 
Please don’t go on, it’s tedious. If you don’t agree, it’s fine. I worked with Universal/SONY and lots of smaller outfits too, so I have some idea of the music biz.