Who are the greatest guitarists of all time? - Page 4

To bobbyacro - share your respect for Greenwood. To me, the real musical center ("genius" if you like) of Radiohead.

As to EVH = Mariah Carey (or is "studioized")...At least the first 4 VH records are far from "studioized" in any way. Albums started & completed in a cuple of weeks, tops. Blast thru the tracks a few times, a few vocal overdubs/layers & done. Those records have "mistakes" all over them. Got 'em out quick to once again hit the road.

2 of EVH's sickest solos on record - "Hot For Teacher" and "Romeo Delight?" Both 1st take & done. Having seen EVH play live several times over the years, while various states of intoxication may have played a positive or negative role overall, the playing itself showed that no such studio trickery was going on.

TONS of reverb, though.

I would like to add yet another piece to the equation----live playing---where they got their chance to shine without limitations. In the years 69 thru 84 i was very fortunate to see almost all the players mentioned in that time frame perform live. Expectations were always high as most bands had great or very competent guitar players. Without a doubt most performed well , however i found Clapton, Beck and Paige to be slightly underwhelming. Maybe it was the expectations but overall they just didn't have that wow factor that i was hoping for.There are way to many to list that i enjoyed immensely but if push comes to shove it will always be Hendrix and Allman for me in the live arena back then and Warren Haynes today. In my book you must be able to perform live at the same standards or higher than they set in the studio to get the great label.

Kirk Hammett--who, if memory serves, was once a student of Satriani's.

Which brings to mind that I recently saw Satriani play in Boston a few days ago. Although he is technically nowhere at the level of, say, someone like Hendrix or any of the other greats, he is still a great axeman, and shreds it live like few others I've seen.

(I also scored aftershow passes for that night and got Joe's autograph on a couple of his CDs. He's a great guy to meet in person, although rather reserved.)

I will, of course, be getting a chance to see his student when Metallica come to Boston next January.

There are many, but the last 2 on this list have the best over the top jazz chops I've ever heard.

John Williams - Cavatina "The Deer Hunter" (Live 1979)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=M_8d0DJpbBI

Excellent thread hare we can place the all time greatest guitarist performers.



Cavatina -The Deer Hunter performed by (The Shadows)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=FlnYvglS-K4

I urge all of you to visit either YouTube (for great live videos) or Wolfgangs Vault (vintage concert recordings) and experience these great guitarists that we have discussed lately. After reading the above posts i went to YouTube and put in Warren Haynes name and a multitude of videos became available, many of which give credence to why i feel he is one of today's finest. But we all share different opinions and if you find an example of one of your favorites doing his thing please share with us. I am of the older generation and have not frequented YouTube for this particular matter. It is a wonderful thing and with Wolfgangs Vault they will bring back the memories guaranteed

Another YouTube ex. Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin Tales of the Black Forest Live

It depends on the definition of 'better'. The purpose of making music is not to be technically proficient, it's to move people. Some people can do both, but it's far from necessary to do the former, only the latter. U2s music delivers in spades on the moving people front and Edge's guitar contributes mightily to that.

And, for that matter, what he does isn't as easy as it looks. It requires a level of accuracy and subtlety that is actually more difficult than it looks.

I am a big fan of electric blues and all the masters mentioned. But I also like other styles spanish and other acoustic guitar work, so I would like to hear more about these masters.

Recently I have been impressed by Brooks Williams "Little Lion" and his acoustic guitar work. Frenzy by the feeder is a favorite and really all others on the album.

I don't know if he's quite as fast as either of those two, but I've always dug Allan Holdsworth.

These posts are always laughable because some of the greatest guitarists don't even get mentioned. It sickens me really.

BUDDY GUY

Seriously. One of the, if not the most influential guitarists of all time. Without Buddy Guy, there would be no Hendrix, no Clapton, none of that. Eric Clapton called Buddy Guy "Without a doubt the greatest guitarist alive." Stevie Ray said "Without Buddy Guy, there is no Stevie Ray Vaughan." We're talking about a guy who was one of the first to use distortion and effects in playing the electric guitar, and his live shows are second to none. I've seen Clapton live and his shows don't compare to Buddy's (who is 72 years old by the way).

Jimi Hendrix used to cancel his own shows to go see Buddy Guy play. Think on that one for a moment.

Another great blues guitarist comes to mind
Luther Allison (RIP)

True...those early records had the guitar-and in some cases, Roth's voice-with tons of old school plate reverb (wasn't old school @ the time, though).

As to the "best" I heard EVH live? Actually not @ a concert, but a trade show. Years back, when I worked in a music store that happened to be a Peavey dealer, I got a VIP pass to the Peavey Dealers-Only presentation at the NAMM show in Anaheim, CA (@ the gigantic convention center near Disneyland). Peavey's mammoth display area had an enclosed section set up for the "VIPs" for a special presentation. It was glass-walled, so the uninvited could still see what was up.

Me & probably 50-60 other Peavey dealers were seated in this room one morning. Small stage w/ the old 5150 amps set up. I joked to another guy - "hey, maybe Eddie will show up". Not that much later, in walked EVH!!

He was there to promote the then-soon to be issued Peavey Wolfgang guitar. Eddie comes in greets everyone a & starts discussing the idea, design & implementation of this new sig model guitar. Then, it was time for him to show the Peavey folk why this was such a cool guitar, in his opinion. For the next half hour or so, EVH starts blazing thru all kinds of classic VH riffs, solos & stuff. And it was freakin LOUD in that room. Oh....and ZERO reverb.

And it was also hands down some of the most impressive playing I have ever witnessed - esp since I was at most sitting 10 ft away from the guy.

Afterwards, EVH hung out w/ the VIPS in the room & chatted w/ everyone (and broke the house rules & lit up a smoke) before heading out among the "common folk" to sign autographs & whatnot.

The 10 minutes or so I spent having a conversation with the guy in that glass room...all I can say was that to meet the man responsible for me picking up a guitar @ age 13 & find him one of the most genuinely nice people - famous or not - that I have ever met....well, it is a contributing element as to why, in MY book, EVH is the greatest living rock guitar player.

Only problem with this experience was that this was right before the release of VAN HALEN III, the god-awful album w/ Gary Cherrone. Eddie sounded very excited about the album, but the result was horrid. Good tour, though - lots of Roth era tunes (still the best VH material by a mile) that Cherrone had no issue performing, unlike Hagar.

But the GREATEST overall? That goes to Hendrix, IMO. There would be no rock guitar as we know it today w/o Jimi (there'd be no Prince, either).

And to havoc - yes, Buddy Guy was & still is a monster blues player!

You are absolutely correct. I do remember being on the road in the early 70's (i was a roadie) and every time we stopped in Chicago we went to the blues clubs after the show. These are the names i remember Albert King, Otis Rush, Freddie King and Elmore James. They were all fabulous talents and if any had had the chance to go mainstream such as BB King or Robert Cray this thread would have had a different look to it. Most of us were never exposed to these talents or their style of music ,the Blues( the first blues i was aware of was John Mayall, how suburban white was i) before the Hendrix, Clapton era. Besides Chicago, the south and small scattered clubs throughout the major cities you had little chance to see them play live and they never made it to the radio stations that i listened to. This situation gave most of us very little chance of ever seeing them live or actually even becoming aware of them until mentioned by one of our favorites as a major influence or covering one of their tunes. All i know is that we never did see Buddy Guy and the band members would always voice their disappointment if we happened to miss him by a day or 2. Thanks for bringing this info to the table.

If you people are gonna mention The Edge, forgive me for mentioning Tony Iommi.
Slow as molasses but Master of the Riff.

PS What does it tell you that the Best Guitarist ever (by most admissions) is a lefthanded guy who played the guitar upside down? Is the guitar badly designed?

Rory Gallagher!

It's my understanding that while the guitar was upside down, it was restrung in reverse order so that when it was inverted it would be correct.


These posts aren't that bad, dude. And, you are absolutely correct about Buddy Guy. He is an awesome player, and a monster bluesman. I must admit that even though I had heard his name now and then throughout the years, I hadn't listened to any of his music until about two months ago... Now, I am hooked. Next time I purchase some CD's Buddy Guy will probably be two of them. Thank-you for dropping his name.

A couple more that I enjoy listening to (not the best guitarists but a lot of fun to listen to) :

Electric Blues:

R.L. Burnside
Hound Dog Taylor
Andre Williams

He was on Letterman a week or so ago. Old now, but still has it.

As far as Satriani playing Hendrix better than Hendrix himself, It is of my opinion that it's far easier to imitate somebody than actually invent a sound. A sound which has influenced every rock musician since then.

It seems like feeling doesn't count for much in your book because Hendrix blows both of those guys away in terms of the emotional power and soulfulness of his playing.

Dudes can rip gnarly scales up and down the neck with technical prowess all day long, but if there's no soul in their playing then ultimately it's just wankery, in my opinion.

All you Edge haters should take a close listen to this, especially the solo and outro:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrE749rKTHY

At the very least you have to admit that the man has a unique, articulate sound and a mastery of his instrument.

Check out the Buddy Guy and Junior Wells albums. Quite a few are on iTunes and elsewhere for download.

Yeah, I admit it. I just don't think that he (or the band since their third album) are what I'd call "great".

Thanks for the tip, I was thinking of starting out with Sweet Tea, and Stone Crazy. next wave I will look more into stuff with Junior Wells. Or if I can find an excellent (quality & quantity) box set, I may go that way...

Why "greatest", isn't this really just a list of peoples favorite guitarist? Who's to say who is great? What make a great guitarist? Speed, style, melody, stamina, other, all of the above? How can someone objectively state the criteria of the greatest guitarist? Sheesh, it's rock and roll, blues, bluegrass, country, whatever. It's music, not a competitive event.

My favorites include (in no order) - Clapton, Beck, Dave Edmunds, Leslie West, Rory Gallagher, Mike Bloomfield, Duane Allman and Dicky Betts, Brian Setzer, Peter Green, David Gilmour, Ritchie Blackmore, Shuggie Otis, Martin Barre, Jorma Kaukonen, Hendrix, Joe Walsh, Johnny Winter, Page, Luther Grosvenor, Paul Kossoff, Robin Trower, Carlos Santana, Kim Simmonds, Randy California, SRV, Alvin Lee, to name a few.

yes I'm old


I love a good solo and/or strong rhythm, or some fancy picking.

Carry on

I don't think a lot of people are even aware of how great a guitarist Brian Setzer even is. The guy leaves me slackjawed when he really gets going.

Another guy that's good in that catagory of layered and full sounding, with a lot of flange and phase-shifting, like Lifeson, Trower, et al, is Pat Travers. I especially like those guys that can play a mixture of lead and rhythm so that it sounds like more than one guitar. Winters was good at that back in the day, too. Frank Marino, too.

Well yeah U2 sucks now, although I think they were good through Zooropa, but I chalk that up to Bono's ego and not any lack of talent on the part of "Mr. Edge".

It's also interesting that Prince has only been mentioned once.

I wouldn't put him at the top of my list, but I do think he's an underrated guitarist. He can definitely tear it up, especially live.

I saw Frank Marino in a small club a few months back and he blew me away. Still an incredible player.
Another guitarist that blends the rhythm & lead well is Gordie Johnson of Grady (ex-Big Sugar).