100 greatest guitarists

[burnsbyrne]

And where are:
Wes Montgomery
Joe Pass
Paco de Lucia
Sabicas
and how could anybody even THINK about the guitar without Django????

I think this was really a popularity contest between young people with no sense of musical history. Bah!
Mike

[dubhlinn]

I think this was really a popularity contest between young people with no sense of musical history. Bah!
Mike

Yep.

Over on this side, one of the major TV stations regularly runs a phone in vote on the greatest song of all time. "Bohemian Rhapsody" or "Imagine" usually win but the nine or so underneath them have usually been in the charts over the previous year.
It's the same with Movies, it's always the past years blockbusters that make it to the top ten.

The youth of today, eh?

Slan,
D. (48 year old curmudgeon and proud of it )

[Paul Reid]

My list (in order):

Chet Atkins
Steve Howe
Tommy Emmanuel
Pat Metheny
David Gilmour
Mark Knopfler
John Willliams
Adrian Legg
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Jimmy Hendrix
Keith Richards

[edit]I'm not a big Hendrix or Stones fan, but you can't deny the innovation or productivity albeit heavily commercialized

[flynnieous]

Charlie Christian, maybe?
And Django is tops.

At least someone had the sense to put Freddy King in there.

[flynnieous]

I don't believe any of the albums Duane Allman worked on were in VH1's list of the 100 best albums; I'm not sure if any were in Rolling Stone's top 50 or so of their top 500. But he's #2 on their list of guitarists.

The Allman Brothers Band's "At Fillmore East" was #59 in the VH1 list and #49 in the Rolling Stone list.

Duane also played on Derek & the Dominos' "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs" which was #89 (VH1) and #115(RS).

Moreover, he was a really important session guitarist. From Wikipedia:

In November 1968 (Rick) Hall hired Duane to play on an album with Wilson Pickett. Duane's work on that album, Hey Jude (1968), got him hired as a full-time session musician at Muscle Shoals and brought him to the attention of a number of other musicians, such as guitar great Clapton, who later said, "I remember hearing Wilson Pickett's 'Hey Jude' and just being astounded by the lead break at the end. ... I had to know who that was immediately - right now."

Duane's performance on "Hey Jude" blew away Atlantic Records producer and executive Jerry Wexler when Hall played it over the phone for him. Wexler immediately bought Duane's recording contract from Hall and wanted to use him on sessions with all sorts of Atlantic R&B artists. While at Muscle Shoals, Duane was featured on releases by a number of artists, including Clarence Carter, King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, Otis Rush, Percy Sledge, and jazz flautist Herbie Mann.

Not that that makes him the second greatest guitarist ever, but he was pretty darned good.

[The Weekenders]

Better to cut these lists up by genre.

Duane Allman had one of the greatest SOLOES of all time (live at the Fillmore East), but I'm not sure that made him in the league of that guy in Queen or Mark Knopfler, for example. I didn't see Steve Cropper or Dick Dale in the pop lists, which is a shame. Even though Clapton has been a copycat, his breadth of accomplishment is undeniable. I hope Jeff Beck was there somewhere, too.

Junior Brown. Amazing.

In terms of classical: Barrios was probably the best classical player in terms of overcoming obstacles, using substandard guitars and steel strings when necessary. . Segovia will never be exceeded in terms of legitimizing classical guitar; living long, touring everywhere, publishing, and pushing composers to write but Barrios was a physical phenom (he was also a gymnast) with huge hands who could likely match Segovia but did not play the wide repertoire. Actually Giulio Regondi was probably the best technical player (based on the compositions he left which few can play convincingly), but most of you never heard of him. He was also a prodigy on the newly-invented concertina. His works leave his contemporaries in the dust and approach the piano composers of those days. Similar to Chopin.

But guitarists get better and better so the best one is still coming. John Williams might be the best living but there is always somebody around the corner. And McLaughlin certainly can do anything, it's just that what he does isn't always that satisfying.

[chas]

I don't believe any of the albums Duane Allman worked on were in VH1's list of the 100 best albums; I'm not sure if any were in Rolling Stone's top 50 or so of their top 500. But he's #2 on their list of guitarists.

The Allman Brothers Band's "At Fillmore East" was #59 in the VH1 list and #49 in the Rolling Stone list.

Duane also played on Derek & the Dominos' "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs" which was #89 (VH1) and #115(RS). . .

Thanks for setting me straight. I wasn't arguing against him, just saying that if they thought he was so great, I would've thought they'd rank his albums higher.

I still just can't get my brain around a list like this that doesn't include Django or Chet Atkins.

[brianormond]

Stop the presses! They left out Norman Blake!

[talasiga]

Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band
Chuck Berry
Ry Cooder
....

Manitas de Plata
Phil Manzanera


BTW, I appreciate Weekenders post. I agree that tis better to list on genre basis.

Manitas I would list in the pure Flamenco genre. I say "pure Flamenco" becuase he plays by ear in an oral trad. continuum. He does not read music.

Phil Manzanera. Which genre for him when you consider his contribution in Nico's "The End"?

[FJohnSharp]

As for guitarist's names, I'd nominate The Edge as one of the top ten.

[Tony]

..... I hope Jeff Beck was there somewhere, too.....

Yeah... He's number 14.
Bravo! I agree with that.

This is sad:
Eddie Van Halen is only number 70 ?? !! ??
Joni Mitchell came in at 72.

Eddie has influenced thousands of aspiring young guitarists with his playing style. He's got signature guitar, amplifier, sound effects endorsements from major manufacturers. He is still recording and touring and fills huge arenas wherever he performs. How could he only be two notches up from Joni Mitchell? Something is seriously wrong with this list.

[Joseph E. Smith]

If he hasn't already been mentioned (or even if he has), then I would like to list a Blues Guitarist monster from Cork, Rory Gallagher (RIP).

I had the good fortune of attending a concert of his many years back in Minneapolis MN. Out of this world. What a rocking Blues Power Trio!!!

His guitar had the autographs of some of the founders and most influential guitarists in the genre and outside of it... except, a then bitter (and remains so today... can't blame him, really) Chuck Berry, who refused to sign Rory's guitar citing something to the effect that the white man stole the black man's music... etc... and so on. John Lennon, on the other hand, had no problem signing it.

[Claus von Weiss]

And Martin Carthy???!!!???

My first choice for sure!!!

Claus

[Henke]

I think that's what Penn and Teller would call BULL***T!

A lot of these guys are just average guitarists in big bands. I know guys that are 15 years old and can play just as good if not better.
A few on that list deserved to be there but most of them, naaah.
I wouldn't hold Jimmi Hendrix as the number 1 guitarist of all times eighter. He deserves to be in the top 10 though.
Where's Joe Satriani and Steve Vai? Espessially Vai who would probably be one of my top contenders for first place.
And where's Pat Metheny? Frank Zappa and Santana deseves to be higher up on the list.

Judging by the way they seem to be judging, I'm surprised they didn't put Johnny Cash right up there on the list as well. He's sold more albums than most of these guys, and he always played a guitar
Because that seems to be what counts.

[dfernandez77]

John Hammond.