Rolling Stone Editors Pick 100 Greatest Guitarists

[likeitloud]

When I read this I was shocked that a group of so called experts came up with this
BS. No Steve Vai, No Satch, Randy Rhodes not even in the top 50, Van Halen at
71, David Gilmore 82, Allman #2. The world has gone crazy. No wonder I dropped that
friggin rag 10 years ago. Here it is, sit before reading!

1 Jimi Hendricks
2 Duane Allman
3 B.B. King
4 Eric Clapton
5 Robert Johnson
6 Chuck Berry
7 Stevie Ray Vaughan
8 Ry Cooder
9 Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
10 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones
11Kirk Hammett of Metallica
12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
13 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead
14 Jeff Beck
15 Carlos Santana
16 Johnny Ramone of the Ramones
17 Jack White of the White Stripes
18 John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
19 Richard Thompson
20 James Burton
21 George Harrison
22 Mike Bloomfield
23 Warren Haynes
24 The Edge of U2
25 Freddy King
26 Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave
27 Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits
28 Stephen Stills
29 Ron Asheton of the Stooges
30 Buddy Guy
31 Dick Dale
32 John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service
33 & 34 Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth
35 John Fahey
36 Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the MG's
37 Bo Diddley
38 Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac
39 Brian May of Queen
40 John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival
41 Clarence White of the Byrds
42 Robert Fripp of King Crimson
43 Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic
44 Scotty Moore
45 Frank Zappa
46 Les Paul
47 T-Bone Walker
48 Joe Perry of Aerosmith
49 John McLaughlin
50 Pete Townshend
51 Paul Kossoff of Free
52 Lou Reed
53 Mickey Baker
54 Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane
55 Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple
56 Tom Verlaine of Television
57 Roy Buchanan
58 Dickey Betts
59 & 60 Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien of Radiohead
61 Ike Turner
62 Zoot Horn Rollo of the Magic Band
63 Danny Gatton
64 Mick Ronson
65 Hubert Sumlin
66 Vernon Reid of Living Colour
67 Link Wray
68 Jerry Miller of Moby Grape
69 Steve Howe of Yes
70 Eddie Van Halen
71 Lightnin' Hopkins
72 Joni Mitchell
73 Trey Anastasio of Phish
74 Johnny Winter
75 Adam Jones of Tool
76 Ali Farka Toure
77 Henry Vestine of Canned Heat
78 Robbie Robertson of the Band
79 Cliff Gallup of the Blue Caps (1997)
80 Robert Quine of the Voidoids
81 Derek Trucks
82 David Gilmour of Pink Floyd
83 Neil Young
84 Eddie Cochran
85 Randy Rhoads
86 Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath
87 Joan Jett
88 Dave Davies of the Kinks
89 D. Boon of the Minutemen
90 Glen Buxton of Alice Cooper
91 Robby Krieger of the Doors
92 & 93 Fred "Sonic" Smith, Wayne Kramer of the MC5
94 Bert Jansch
95 Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine
96 Angus Young of AC/DC
97 Robert Randolph
98 Leigh Stephens of Blue Cheer
99 Greg Ginn of Black Flag
100 Kim Thayil of Soundgarden
__________________

[elapsed]

That was printed back in 2003, I would hope the team that put this list together has been fired long ago!

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/sto...ts_of_all_time

[Dusty Chalk]

The Edge @ 24 ?

Jerry Garcia @ 13 ?!? Right above Jeff Beck ?!?!?

Rolling Stone should stick to doing what they do best...dressing up young teenage pop tarts in faux porn-star outfits and taking photographs of them.

[SlumpBuster]

What to you expect from Rolling Stone.
No Alex Lifeson too. Probably too math rock for Rolling Stone, along with Vai, Satch, Malmsteen. The really dumb thing about a list like that is how all the artists are from super well known mainstream bands and dominated by 60s and 70s artist. Moby Grape?!?! You gotta be kiddin' me.

It's like the greatest, by definition, must have been found by mainstream. If Jack White got a day job after the DeStijl record, he would still be a great guitarist, but certainly wouldn't be on the list.

I have to admit, I was shocked to see Eddie Hazel on the list.

[KaiWinters]

I do not waste my time over magazines "Top Anything" lists. My choices seldom agree and like "opinions" they are very personalized and usually not worth much to others.

[nobody]

I just alwasy hate that Duane Eddy may just be my favorite guitar player and I don't think I've ever seen him on any of these lists.

[SlumpBuster]

I just alwasy hate that Duane Eddy may just be my favorite guitar player and I don't think I've ever seen him on any of these lists.

Too true. Favorites don't always match up with the establishments definition of "great." Some of my favorites are guitarists you won't ever see on a list like this and certainly aren't "guitar gods":

Mick Mars of Motley Creu
Downing and Tipton of Judas Priest
Phil Collin of Def Leppard

Emma Anderson of Lush
John Squire of Stone Roses
Robert Smith of The Cure

Tom Wisnieski (Sp?) of MxPx
Allison Robertson of the Donnas
Ben Weasel of Screeching Weasel/Riverdales

What are some other favorites of yours that other people would scoff at?

[likeitloud]

Too true. Favorites don't always match up with the establishments definition of "great." Some of my favorites are guitarists you won't ever see on a list like this and certainly aren't "guitar gods":

Mick Mars of Motley Creu
Downing and Tipton of Judas Priest
Phil Collin of Def Leppard

Emma Anderson of Lush
John Squire of Stone Roses
Robert Smith of The Cure

Tom Wisnieski (Sp?) of MxPx
Allison Robertson of the Donnas
Ben Weasel of Screeching Weasel/Riverdales

What are some other favorites of yours that other people would scoff at?

George Lynch
Joe Satriani
Steve Vai
John Petrucci
And Move Edward To The Top 3, or #1 On My List!

[shokhead]

I only agree with 2 of the first 8.

[PeruvianSkies]

Is this Jimi Hendricks any relation to Jimi Hendrix?

[rob7]

George Lynch
Joe Satriani
Steve Vai
John Petrucci

Good to see George Lynch get mentioned.

[oneway]

Steve Howe #69? For me one of two things jumps out at me for a guitarist to be truly great. Can they do something that is almost impossible for others to repeat? Or is their feel of music so fantastically exactly what you wanted to hear but didn't know it that it makes you smile? Steve Howe plays so many styles fantastically with great feel AND precision. I don't know who I would pick as #1, but surely Steve Howe is better than #69. Speaking of feel for music, where the heck is Billy Gibbons? Check out Brown Sugar by ZZ Top on One Foot In the Blues. Turn it WAY up. Thanks for the venting session.

[icarus]

Personally I disagree with having JImi Hendrix as the top guitarist. All the other guitarists actually wrote and played songs with riffs' bridges ect, not just one prolonged guitar solo. granted he had some serious skill, but by no way would i consider him better than BB king and Jimi Page, and Stevie Ray Vaughn.

And speaking of missing people, were on earth is Les Paul... granted he didn't have too many albums, but he revolutionized modern music by being the creator of the solid body guitar... Yes it was Les Paul not Fender!!!!

[MindGoneHaywire]

[Dusty Chalk]

Personally I disagree with having JImi Hendrix as the top guitarist. All the other guitarists actually wrote and played songs with riffs' bridges ect, not just one prolonged guitar solo.

What? You're high. One of Jimi's biggest strengths was as a songwriter. Sure "the solo" is what he's famous for live, but if you listen to his studio output, you see he had some "mad skills" in the "pop sensibilities" department. Songs like "Dolly Dagger", "Fire", "Purple Haze", "Crosstown Traffic" and on and on and on...he could sing (admittedly, he was no Freddie Mercury), then throw a lick in, then go right back to singing, and then riffing on top of that the whole time.

#1.

Easily.

No doubt in my mind.

Far and away.

&c, &c

[shokhead]

What? You're high. One of Jimi's biggest strengths was as a songwriter. Sure "the solo" is what he's famous for live, but if you listen to his studio output, you see he had some "mad skills" in the "pop sensibilities" department. Songs like "Dolly Dagger", "Fire", "Purple Haze", "Crosstown Traffic" and on and on and on...he could sing (admittedly, he was no Freddie Mercury), then throw a lick in, then go right back to singing, and then riffing on top of that the whole time.

#1.

Easily.

No doubt in my mind.

Far and away.

&c, &c

Some compare ELL with S Peppers.

[icarus]

oh you better beleive it.. this_____ is on now!!

[icarus]

Granted I over simplified hendirx, but by now means can i deny the hendrix was an amazing guitarist. But I still have to say that jimi Page still deserves one of the top spots, just watching him play the gibson EDS 1275 (double neck) is truly an amazing site. And look at BB king, at the age of 81 he can still thrash his guitar like no other. Truly amazing a can't wait to see him live in April.

[Dusty Chalk]

But I still have to say that jimi Page still deserves one of the top spots...

Yeah, he should be in the top 10, no doubt. But my reasons for admiring him are entirely different from yours -- he took the guitar places. He was a path-forger.

Listen to, for example, "The Rain Song" -- practically cinematic in its evocation of various different aspects of rain -- drizzle, downpour, sheets, you name it. Masterful.

Gilmour belongs in the top 10 as well -- known to make a grown man cry with a single note. The compilers of that list must not like rock'n'roll very much. They're those people in the back of the auditorium with drinks in their hands too busy talking to each other to listen to the concert going on full-tilt on the stage.

[DariusNYC]

Without endorsing the list as a whole or giving it much credence, I always really liked it, because it had a lot of choices that would piss off the "technical chops" school of music appreciation, who I have always strongly disagreed with. Folks who think fancy fretwork speed and agility are what makes a great guitar player, for example, as opposed to contribution to the music. Great to see Cobain so high on the list, and The Edge. Dead on. Great from my perspective that they omitted someone like Steve Vai. I know this is a somewhat inflammatory post. And I'm not trying to endorse the exact choices or order of the list -- lists like this are more valuable for the writing that accompanies the list in the actual article, which we're not seeing. Should be an enjoyable read, not some official ranking. But what can I say? The very choices that pissed the "musicianship" crowd off on this list are my favorite things about it.

[Dusty Chalk]

Great to see Cobain so high on the list, and The Edge. Dead on. Great from my perspective that they omitted someone like Steve Vai.

And you -- high. Higher than high. The Edge? Easily the most over-rated guitarist ever anywhere. He sucks. All his riffs are variations on "Pinball Wizard". Cobain may be an excellent songwriter -- you've had this discussion before, albeit with someone else -- but that doesn't make him a great guitarist, and he's good enough, but hardly the cream of the crop. This is a list of greatest guitarists, not "people you like" or "people that can write a great song" or "people whom I admire greatly and just also happen to be guitarists", they are being judged based on one thing -- their ability to play a guitar. Admittedly, you can't rip that out of context, but you're going to the other extreme -- you're placing context above all. It's not more important than the ability to play the guitar, it's just context.

You guys who hate Vai probably haven't really listened to him, you picture some wanking fool a la Malmsteem, but Vai can actually do a lot of different things. He's actually quite silly.

[kexodusc]

Without endorsing the list as a whole or giving it much credence, I always really liked it, because it had a lot of choices that would piss off the "technical chops" school of music appreciation, who I have always strongly disagreed with.

Whatever sadistic pleasure you derive from pissing off the technical chops crowd really shouldn't influence the absolute question of greatest guitarists.

Folks who think fancy fretwork speed and agility are what makes a great guitar player, for example, as opposed to contribution to the music.

Yeah, so? If the list was 100 greatest contributions to music, 100 greatest songwriters, or 100 most popular influences in music it'd be different. It's not.

I dare say we sub Cobain with another scruffy looking, sarcastic heroin addict into Nirvana, but keep Cobain singing and writing the music and the impact of the music and band is not diminished at all. Was it his guitar playing or song writing that made him great. Easy question to answer...take his song writing out of the equation and have him just play guitar for another band...how far does he go? I don't know, but I'm sure most people who pick up a guitar because of Nirvana learn pretty quick that he's not top 100 caliber. If this list is a popularity contest, fine, if it's a greatest guitarist list, it's flawed.

Great from my perspective that they omitted someone like Steve Vai. I know this is a somewhat inflammatory post. And I'm not trying to endorse the exact choices or order of the list -- lists like this are more valuable for the writing that accompanies the list in the actual article, which we're not seeing. Should be an enjoyable read, not some official ranking. But what can I say? The very choices that pissed the "musicianship" crowd off on this list are my favorite things about it.

Let's strip away the supporting casts and put Kim Thayil, Glen Buxton, and Steve Vai on stage and see what they can do? I know who I'd put money on to consistently get the biggest, most favorable reaction in front of any and every crowd.

Seriously, Kurt Cobain, and Johnny Ramone on the list of greatest guitar players is as absolutely ridiculous as having Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan in the list of 100 greatest singers. They made the list for reasons having nothing to do with the word guitar.

[SlumpBuster]

I don't know, but I'm sure most people who pick up a guitar because of Nirvana learn pretty quick that he's not top 100 caliber.

This is an interesting point though. Is the overall "greatness" of a guitar player enhanced by his/her ability to get people to pick up a guitar? I think it is. I listened to all the noodlers through junior high and high school: Satch, Vai, Malmsteen, Eric Johnson, ect. I always wanted to learn to play, but only so many hours in a day, right? Plus, where do you begin when you can't mimic your guitar heros because they are playing so damn fast.

Well when I got to college, a buddy of mine started to teach me to play. He was totally Kiss Army and I was really into punk. The DIY ethos of punk ("Yes, you too can play!) got me moving. Frankly, it was Green Day's Dookie, specifically Basket Case, that got me to finally pick up a guitar.

But, Teen Spirit was the first thing he actually taught me. Then it was the collected works of Mick Mars (Motley Crue), CC Deville (Poison), culminating with Paul Stanley. I would play Stanley's rhythm part and he would play lead. Not one of those would end up on a greatest list. Conversely, we then started learning from my Naked Raygun, Social Distortion, and Green Day records.

Which leads me to my other point, is it really fair to compare Cobain to Hendrix or Gilmore? I don't think so. Cobain was trying to do something entirely different than those guys and should be compared to other punk or hard rock guitarists. It like Roger Ebert's philosophy regarding movie reviews, they should be judged within the perameters of what they set out to accomplish, Titanic doesn't get compared to 40-Year Old Virgin. "100 Greatest Guitar Players" is bogus already because there are no jazz or classical players on that list. Hell, Charo is better than half the cats on that list! To be meaningful, I think the list would need to be tailored so that your not comparing apples to oranges.

[kexodusc]

Cobain and Ramone? Might as well have Billy f'n Corgan and Kid Rock on the list.

[MindGoneHaywire]

I'm not sure why Darius is 'high' for having an opinion that differs with yrs. Especially considering how consistent you've been for quite some time when it comes to absolutes in subjective discussions like this one. Vai aside, choices like Cobain & a couple of others in the 'top 20' that would seem somewhat out of place considering what many who choose to compile these lists tend to weigh when it comes to ability, are choices I'm glad to see there. Not because they're 'great guitarists' if you're using reasonably common criteria for such an evaluation, but because they did things with the axe that tend to diminish the importance of factors like speed, agility, etc. I think that to be great, a guitarist has to play sloppy at times. I also think that a guitarist that cannot play lead well can be great, because rhythm is generally more important to me; but a guitarist that rarely does anything but play lead can never be great.

That, and I often think ideas far more interesting can be expressed with fewer notes, not more.