Zeeba Neighba
Staff member
I've been thinking of posting a thread on guitarists for awhile (OK, Zeeb, but the thread title doesn't mention guitarists at all...). I recently saw a list of "The Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Such lists tend to mention the same guitarists up top in various orders with the interesting choices lower down.
Still there are so many great guitarists that I just listen to all the time and love that are a bit further down (or never make) those top 10 lists. Guitarists who speak to me or who might not be a flashy as the usual suspects but have so much emotion and use of space in their solos that I'd much rather listen to them.
Guitarists often listed in top 10 Lists:
Jimi Hendrix
Eric Clapton
Jimmy Page
Jeff Beck
Keith Richards
Pete Townshend
Eddie Van Halen
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Dwayne Allman
Most of these achieve such rankings based on flash, speed, and long busy solos, and I won't argue with any off them. On the other hand, take David Gilmour of Pink Floyd (don't free, Rick, he's a great guitarist, talented, but often doesn't crack the top 10) - his solos are often slower but have such great emotion and (a plus in prog rock) really adds to the tone of the entire album/piece.
In short, I would much rather listen to David Gilmour play than (on the above list) Clapton, Beck, Van Halen, or Stevie Ray for example
OK - what the damn point?!
List some guitarists which, great or not, seem to speak to you more in their playing than the typically high ranked shredders.
Here's some from me:
Richard Thompson
David Gilmour
Johnny Marr (Smiths)
Eddie Hazel (Funkadelic)
John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane, don't get into long jams of Hot Tuna as much)
Tom Verlaine (Television)
Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow - definite guilty pleasure but man he's impressive)
All great guitarists that don't typically crack the top 10 in said lists, but man do I love hearing them play
As for the dopey title (referencing the Marilyn McCoo/Billy Davis song), I dunno - just seemed to fit (yes I know all the guitarists I mentioned are "stars"). Plus it's generic enough that we could move to drummers or bass players next
Still there are so many great guitarists that I just listen to all the time and love that are a bit further down (or never make) those top 10 lists. Guitarists who speak to me or who might not be a flashy as the usual suspects but have so much emotion and use of space in their solos that I'd much rather listen to them.
Guitarists often listed in top 10 Lists:
Jimi Hendrix
Eric Clapton
Jimmy Page
Jeff Beck
Keith Richards
Pete Townshend
Eddie Van Halen
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Dwayne Allman
Most of these achieve such rankings based on flash, speed, and long busy solos, and I won't argue with any off them. On the other hand, take David Gilmour of Pink Floyd (don't free, Rick, he's a great guitarist, talented, but often doesn't crack the top 10) - his solos are often slower but have such great emotion and (a plus in prog rock) really adds to the tone of the entire album/piece.
In short, I would much rather listen to David Gilmour play than (on the above list) Clapton, Beck, Van Halen, or Stevie Ray for example
OK - what the damn point?!
List some guitarists which, great or not, seem to speak to you more in their playing than the typically high ranked shredders.
Here's some from me:
Richard Thompson
David Gilmour
Johnny Marr (Smiths)
Eddie Hazel (Funkadelic)
John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane, don't get into long jams of Hot Tuna as much)
Tom Verlaine (Television)
Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow - definite guilty pleasure but man he's impressive)
All great guitarists that don't typically crack the top 10 in said lists, but man do I love hearing them play
As for the dopey title (referencing the Marilyn McCoo/Billy Davis song), I dunno - just seemed to fit (yes I know all the guitarists I mentioned are "stars"). Plus it's generic enough that we could move to drummers or bass players next
, and I brought up plenty of them], then we must add:
