Books, Movies, Music & Entertainment - My top ten list - guitar players

In no particular order... and this list could be so much bigger.

Doc Watson... he passed away today at the age of 89 and was an extraordinary flat picker who adopted the style of Merle Travis. Modern speed metal freaks could take a lesson from Doc and Merle.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VAbrnjdtYw

Merle Travis... when you invent a playing style that influenced the likes of Doc and Chet you belong on this list and one can only imagine if he used more than two fingers on his right hand. :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8vOTKMqzw4

Chet Atkins... he took things far and beyond and that fellow he is playing with might be a little under-rated.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni8KBhnebwE

Les Paul... electrifying the world.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TjdmQRRdvg&feature=related

Leo Kotke... don't try this at home.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJNq5YqZ3EI

Carrying on... and getting electric.

Hendrix...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elqJBWU4dOc&feature=fvst

Stevie Ray Vaughn...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keQaz5iYeV4

Brian May... he and his father built his guitar from scrap wood from a mantle and even wrapped their own pickups.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYabmM-uxdE

BB King... and his best girl Lucille.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y8QxOjuYHg&feature=related

Perhaps I do have a favourite player who has yet to receive the recognition he deserved... BB King called him the best player he had ever heard who was also one of the finest jazz players of the 20th century.

Jeff Healey...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIkOaTVu8uM&feature=related

And a gem I re-discovered last night... SRV and Jeff Healey in his first televised appearance.

SRV was blown away.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdLCJvoLYe0&feature=fvwrel

Let the debate begin... :)

You might want to widen your net.

There are some really nice guitarists, Django Reinhardt comes to mind in other types of music. The bass is also a guitar, and there have been some bass magicians.

Great link 65er...

You might want to widen your net.

There are some really nice guitarists, Django Reinhardt comes to mind in other types of music. The bass is also a guitar, and there have been some bass magicians.

Like I said... the list could be much bigger so feel free to add more of your own.

Robert Johnson... nobody knows exactly how he managed to make his guitar sound as it did and Clapton said it was one of his lifetime goals to discover the secret that Johnson took to the grave.

We could also break this down into categories of music as within each there are some true masters.

Most of the pickers I listed would claim that they were influenced by Mississippi John Hurt... his talent was extraordinary.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CzGHSVnhTk&feature=related

Cannot forget the ladies... and there are so many more.

Elizabeth Cotten... a musical genius who developed an entirely new style of playing.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUK8emiWabU&feature=related

Bonnie Rait... this should put the hair up on the back of one's neck.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mylo0piAgc

Ana Vidovic...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4YngQ49dSw

Another Canadian favourite...

Jesse Cook.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcIYyIbpMt4

Colin James is a national treasure... if one ever gets the chance to see him play live do not pass this up.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5jtrQofIcM&feature=related


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

A rare clip of Colin James and Jeff Healey... back when they were kids and who are now legends.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-a0U0cfh3A

Another gem from Healey...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_D3NiTK324&feature=related

"Any idiot can play fast." Robert Fripp

What all the guitarists previously mentioned have in common (no matter how talented) is a handful of basic blues licks, elaborated ad infinitum.

Fripp has managed to re-imagine what is possible on the electric guitar:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TcdEMWbObA

"Any idiot can play fast." Robert Fripp

What all the guitarists previously mentioned have in common (no matter how talented) is a handful of basic blues licks, elaborated ad infinitum.

Fripp has managed to re-imagine what is possible on the electric guitar:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TcdEMWbObA

Fripp's work is heavily influenced by classical and folk music and think I provided some excellent examples of that as well as Blues and Rock.

Hendrix did things to a Strat that few have ever been able to match and having seen Jeff Healey perform live and up close can only say that I have never experienced anything like it.

I do agree that almost any idiot can play fast and too often it just sounds like noise... hence the lack of speed metal in my selections and Bluegrass is a different thing altogether.

And then there is Fleck and Wooten... said the list should be bigger.


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

Nobody looks cooler playing a guitar on stage than Joe Perry . . .


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00JEkt4OBgE&feature=related

I've been doing a lot of listening to Al DiMeola lately. Sure some of his stuff is fluff
but listen to his classical/flamenco based stuff... wow.

Sorely missing from most people's list is Ry Cooder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIwYGZlBw9Y&feature=player_detailpage

I've been doing a lot of listening to Al DiMeola lately. Sure some of his stuff is fluff
but listen to his classical/flamenco based stuff... wow.

Sorely missing from most people's list is Ry Cooder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIwYGZlBw9Y&feature=player_detailpage

Was going to post a few from Cooder who is the best slide player this planet has ever seen...

ry cooder is always welcome. a guitarist that has been sorely overlooked is steve howe from yes.

Agree on Howe 100%.
can we talk about Robin Trower

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tLsFsGxLmE
Larry Coryell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH0XVEG-kGE
and these 3 guys, they're okay.

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

Roy Buchannan
Albert Collins
Mark Knopfler

ry cooder is always welcome. a guitarist that has been sorely overlooked is steve howe from yes.

Agreed! I have a friend that was named after him that has become a phenomenal guitarist as well. He's in a death metal band so the music is hard to listen to if you're not into it, but he's amazing. He could make anyone fall in love with classical music, which is what he studied in college. http://www.purevolume.com/Fallofeden

To add to the list, Eric Clapton for sure,Flea from RHCP,(bass) Dave Mustaine,(royal a-hole, amazing guitarist,) Joe Walsh, and Santana.

Sorry, but no list of guitar masters can possibly be complete without Christopher Parkening and Andrés Segovia

Lots of great players in this thread. My personal favorite guitarist is Ty Tabor. I named my son after him.

Among the most underrated guitarists in the last 25 years. He's got chops, but what I love about him is how much emotion he can squeeze out of every note.

Getting better all the time: Joe Bonamassa

I saw the great Flamenco great Carlos Montoya live a true master of the guitar. He normally played alone on stage and never wrote a note down as he felt that music was inspiration and could not be contained and should flow from the spirit in the moment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko-pTH3xwno

solo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv2Fyjk0GGM&feature=related

Probably shouldn't be in the top ten, but I feel Pete Frampton deserves an honorable mention

there are too many styles and too many virtuoso players. hell...everyone is an honorable mention. can any of us really make a case that any of the previously mentioned (and those not mentioned yet) are better than another? i mean how do you slot john mclaughlin ahead/behind of reinhardt or ry cooder or jimmy page?
how many of us can claim to have heard a significant portion of each player's output? too many greats...not enuff listening (or playing) time in this mortal life.

Didn't see Phil Keaggy anywhere in this thread. He needs to be included among the greats.

David Gilmour. Come on.... The man is a master of phrasing.

I've been playing for 30 years now and, though I listen to a pretty wide variety of players, David Gilmour and Mark Knopfler would probably get my vote for the most enviable guitarists overall.

Lately I've really been liking Adam Levy who is mostly known for playing with Norah Jones. He feels kind of rigid in the studio and a lot more 'loose' live, but he has great phrasing and dynamics and can really build up tension and emotion. Definitely an under-rated player in my opinion.

And as a guitarist, the one guy that constantly has blown me away is Django. Even the most simple of bits is quite challenging to play at full speed. I play a less Gypsied-up version of Minor Swing and have been able to play it my way for probably 15 years but I STILL can't play along with the original recording note for note.

Lots of great players though.

Just 'cuz I like lists, here's my ten favorites in noo particular order:

Bill Frisell
David Torn
Adrian Belew
Wes Montgomery
Pat Martino
Allan Holdsworth
Steve Howe
John McLaughlin
Marc Ducret
...uh...one more to be named at a later date

adrian belew...how did i forget about him? def my bad...and michael brook.

Wow... agree with everybody on this list.
How about Eric Johnson, he can play just about any style.
John Cipollina did some excellent work.
Neil Young, not real fancy but a great improv player.
Sometimes just a guy who can play behind a vocal, Johnny Marr or even Edge.
I wish I could play as well as the least of these!

Part of my list:

Roy Buchanan - Telecaster
Frank Zappa - Gibson SG
Leo Kottke - 12 string
Ry Kotter - Acoustic slide
Duane Allman - electric slide
Doc Watson - Flat pickin'
Wes Montgomery - Best "Thumb"
Larry Carlton - Mr. Studio

I need to vote for Al Di Meola

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuY0_JCHaF4

Here he is with a couple other greats

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cadbYIzhqQ

I am a huge fan of Jimmie Vaughan. Other guitarists working in his neighborhood of tone and concision include Richard Thompson and Eric Ambel. RT of course works in a lot of other neighborhoods too...

Mick Mars.

Eric Johnson


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15eu7ar5EKM

Favourite jazz guitarist, Joe Pass.

Favourite blues guitarist, the inimitable Otis Rush (also a great singer).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQwtTwSwR-0

Favourite blues guitarist, the inimitable Otis Rush (also a great singer).


+1

Lots of folks have mastered the guitar - but mastering the guitar upside-down and backwards transcends greatness.

:D