Members DaveGrima Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 Eric Clapton is the most OVERrated guitarist in the history of music. And all the Jimi worship is starting to be really cliche. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gdsmithtx Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 I'll just tackle the top ten... 1. Jimi Hendrix (From a creative perspective, I won't argue this. Technically though, no, not even close..) 2. Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band (Not top ten material) 3. B.B. King (King of the Blues, absolutely, but his guitar skill doesn't warrant the top ten.) 4 Eric Clapton (Similar to B.B., but with better guitar skills.. 4 is about right.) 5 Robert Johnson (Great music, but not top ten guitar skill. Creativity off the charts though, cuz before RJ, guitars just didn't do that.) 6 Chuck Berry (For his era, easily top ten. But not today.) 7 Stevie Ray Vaughan (7 is too low...) 8. Ry Cooder (about right) 9. Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin (Way too low..) 10 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones (Probably the most over-rated player I've ever heard.) And now, a few "WTF?" moments... 14 Jeff Beck 18 John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers 39 Brian May of Queen 70 Eddie Van Halen 82 David Gilmour of Pink Floyd 85 Randy Rhoads86 Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath 96 Angus Young of AC/DC97 Robert Randolph Obviously, this RS list was compiled by retards... But then, isn't it always? I'm not defending the list -- because quite a few boneheaded decisions went into making it -- but I think you (and many others) are making the mistake of equating position on the list with sheer guitar skill and musical creativity. The list also ranks players by influence and legacy, which is why you see such things as BB King, Chuck Berry and Robert Johnson so high. Ranking Gilmour, Iommi, Van Halen and Angus so low is an absolute travesty, though. On the Duane Allman front, though ... despite his relatively brief recording career, he was one of the most talented, expressive and influential blues-rock guitarists to ever put finger to string. That's a hell of an accomplishment for someone who was mostly self-taught and didn't read a lick of music. Plus, he had beautiful tone and took to slide playing like a fish to water. The Layla sessions and the ABB's At the Fillmore East are transcendent because of him, and his lead work on Boz Scaggs' "Loan Me a Dime" is {censored}ing awesome, with very mature phrasing and sense of pacing/melody for someone only 22 years old. He was a sought-after session player (mostly because of his performances on "Loan Me a Dime" and Wilson Pickett's version of "Hey Jude"), and all the ABB albums he was involved with are touchstones for blues, Southern Rock and jam-band guitar playing. He did all this amazing stuff, and never reached his 25th birthday. Duane Allman is absolutely top 10 material. [video=youtube;oTFvAvsHC_Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr Songwriter Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 It looks like the sort of list you'd expect to see in a mag like Rolling Stone, given the sort of bands their target audience are into...you would probably get a very different list in a Jazz mag (!) for instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flintc Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 It looks like the sort of list you'd expect to see in a mag like Rolling Stone, given the sort of bands their target audience are into...you would probably get a very different list in a Jazz mag (!) for instance. Amen. If I were to compile a list of the top 100 guitarists I'd like to spend my time actually listening to, about 75 of them would be jazzers. Not sure whether Zappa would qualify for jazz or rock. In any case, a list like this lacking Charlie Christian near the top is clearly aimed at a, uh, unsophisticated audience. No Andreas Oberg? No Joe Pass? I'm reminded of the old joke that rockers play three chords for thousands of people, and jazzers play thousands of chords for three people. Skill on the instrument doesn't seem to relate here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members axegrinder Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 Am I the only one offended that in addition to the content, they present this list as so scientifically compiled that in more than one instance ties occurred in the scoring? There is soooooooooooooo much scatter-brained subjectivity evident in this list that more sense can be made from a {censored}-grenade pattern in a public toilet. They do these list every year or something don't they? I'd be entertained to see how people move around from year to year. Gee, So 'n' So died last year and this year he moved up past What's His Face...take that, What's His Face!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deanmass Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 The only two that really align with my thinking are... 1. Hendrix 70. Eddie Van halen My thoughts exactly.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members George Crosley Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 My thought is that the list reads as if it was put together by the editors of Rolling Stone. It would be cool to get lists of the greatest guitarists from different magazines every once in awhile. They don't even need to be music mags. Top guitarist according to Human Events? National Review? Mother Jones? Car and Driver? Better Homes and Gardens? Popular Mechanics? National Geographic? People? Oprah? Playboy? I'm tired of the Rolling Stone lists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 Zappa should be in the top 10. I think it's cool Ry Cooder made it. I'd have Keith Richards and Chuck Berry somewhere in the 20's at best. Robert Johnson only made one album. You don't make the top 10 of all time playing for 40 minutes. Sorry. Some of these guys are songwriters who just happen to play guitar....yea I'm talking about YOU, Cobain. If you get to be #12 then Bob Dylan gets to be #7 or something because he plays better than you and also writes better songs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rock-lobster Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 I feel like this has been discussed a million times. I disagree with most of this list from top to bottom. A lot of guitarists that I really like that I still think are too high or low, and some I don't like that are too high or too low. EVH at 70 and Gilmour at 82 are lunacy, both of them should be way higher. There's some stuff I like in there, I dig that they mention Steve Howe and Robert Fripp, Les Paul too (should be at the very least in the top 20 though, he's #1 in my "list"). But who cares what I think, and who cares what Rolling Stone thinks anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rock-lobster Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 Some of these guys are songwriters who just happen to play guitar....yea I'm talking about YOU, Cobain. If you get to be #12 then Bob Dylan gets to be #7 or something because he plays better than you and also writes better songs. Agreed. Love Nirvana, but Kurt doesn't belong on top of most of the names on the list by a long shot. Certainly should be high on a "Best Frontman" type list but not on a list about guitarists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kellanium Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 1. Jimi Hendrix 2. Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band 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 11 Kirk 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 Townsend 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 People who are misplaced are in italics, people who shouldn't even be on it are in bold. People whom i've never heard of are underlined. People i have no opinion on are left blank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Christhee68 Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 At least Eddie Van Halen beat out Joni Mitchell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hubert Stumblin Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 I won't read through this whole thread but I assume somebody has said it already.... I think the whole idea of it is stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oates Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 The fact that Cobain is on there and not Slash is insane. I am a Nirvana fan but that is just crazy. AFD is an amazing album with some great solo work (by both Izzy and Slash). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members raymeedc Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 It's laughable that any list that puts Curt Cobain ahead of Jeff Beck & Les Paul should even be seriously discussed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gdsmithtx Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 8. Ry Cooder 22 Mike Bloomfield23 Warren Haynes28 Stephen Stills32 John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service36 Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the MG's47 T-Bone Walker58 Dickey Betts63 Danny Gatton71 Lightnin' Hopkins72 Joni Mitchell73 Trey Anastasio of Phish81 Derek Trucks People whom i've never heard of are underlined. You should really check out some of those folks you've never heard of. Some truly wonderful artists in that list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scott944 Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 Put it this way: these are the same clowns who run the RnRHoF, which STILL doesn't include KISS, but does include ABBA and Laura Nyro. Case closed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Christhee68 Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 I'd trade Kurt Cobain for Ace Frehley. I read Clapton's biography, and I think he said his favorite guitarists are/were: Duane Allman, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Derek Trucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members foppy Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 This is an outrage! Why aren't we doing something about it? How can you people just sit there? How? How? How? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jtr654 Posted February 1, 2012 Members Share Posted February 1, 2012 Can't disagree with any of there choices but there are many others just as good or better that aren't there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members valued customer Posted February 1, 2012 Members Share Posted February 1, 2012 You should really check out some of those folks you've never heard of. Some truly wonderful artists in that list. Yeah. Kellanium: I envy you. Would love to have the opportunity to hear some of the players you've underlined for the very first time! cool notation system, btw. I have two adds: Chris Spedding and John Perry -- CSM will back me on both of those, I'm guessing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bbreaker Posted February 1, 2012 Members Share Posted February 1, 2012 Should have made the list: Brad Paisley Brent Mason David Grissom Johnny Hiland Redd Volkaert Steve Morse Dann Huff Arlen Roth Dean Parks Sonny Landreth Leo Kottke Michael Hedges Roy Clark Glenn Campbell John Jorgensen Will Wray Louie Sheldon Tommy Tedesco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cyprusg Posted February 1, 2012 Members Share Posted February 1, 2012 I think it's pretty obvious that the list was not actually made by a real guitar player. Kurt Cobain should never be on any of these lists, love him or hate him he wasn't much of a guitar player and I would dare to say that his guitar playing also wasn't influential. His songwriting maybe, but not his guitar playing. No Chet Atkins or Tommy Emmanuel and then Angus Young barely making the list or some of the things that stand out to me. No Chet Atkins, seriously? The thing I hate about these lists is that they don't even try to be objective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chad Posted February 1, 2012 Members Share Posted February 1, 2012 The thing that goes through my head is that there is no shortage of stupid people on this planet. That includes writers for Rolling Stone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dr. Scottie C Posted February 1, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 1, 2012 85 Randy Rhoads96 Angus Young of AC/DC People who are misplaced are in italics, people who shouldn't even be on it are in bold. People whom i've never heard of are underlined. People i have no opinion on are left blank. Sorry to hike my leg in your lucky charms broomstick cowboy..... but Randy Rhoads and Angus Young both belong on anyone's top 100 list if influence is even a considered category. Those two alone have probably inspired 15% of the worlds guitar playing population. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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