Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

So many bastards, so little time.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

The willow is too close to the house.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Find someone who loves you the way trump and maga love traitors.

When we show up, we win.

This fight is for everything.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

You are here: Home / Music / Late Night Open Thread

Late Night Open Thread

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Shawn and I are debating the greatest rock and roll guitarists (note, I did not say classical guitar other genres, I said rock and roll), and we are trying to come up with a top five. Obviously there are Hendrix and SRV who are kind of like autopicks in any top five, and I threw in Mark Knopfler and Eddie Van Halen for my list, but I am stuck on #5. Not sure where I would go from there- it’s like everyone in my memory right now is so far inferior to those.

Duane Allman? Chuck Berry? Jerry? Frusciante? Jeff Beck? Trucks? Rhodes? Vai? Clapton?

It’s all so subjective.

Reader Interactions

255Comments

  6. 6.

    superfly

    Someone please delete all my dupes, the “Request Deletion” button isn’t showing, don’t know what happened, very sorry

  10. 10.

    Mnemosyne

    @superfly:

    Look, Keef Richards isn’t going to happen. Give it up.

    Also, too, no Pete Townshend? WTF? Did he lose his eligibility after the whole I accidentally downloaded child porn thing?

  15. 15.

    Anoniminous

    Eric Clapton should be on the list. Either the most or second most influential rock guitarist depending on how one places Chuck Barry.

  17. 17.

    Suffern ACE

    Chuck Berry. Billy Gibbons I’ve always liked. But not van Halen. He gave up playing the guitar in the 80s.

  19. 19.

    The Dangerman

    I’ll tweak it a bit; the Top 5 guitarists I’ve seen live (no order):

    Clapton
    B.B King
    Mike Campbell
    Vernon Reid (Living Colour might be the best concert I’ve ever seen)
    Kirk Hammett

    ETA: Can’t put Edge on the list; a musical genius, but as straight up guitarist? Can’t do it.

  20. 20.

    Betty Cracker

    I’ll second Eddie Van Halen. Not my favorite band in the world, but Eddie is a virtuoso.

  25. 25.

    Cain

    Man.. No love for Eric Johnson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Alex Lifeson, Nancy Wilson, Joe Satriani, Carlos Santana?

  26. 26.

    Anoniminous

    Let’s see:

    1. Eric Clapton/Chuck Barry — I cannot decide
    2. Jimi Hendricks
    3. Jeff Beck (and what WAS it about the Yardbirds?)
    4. Jimmy Page/Mark Knopfler — need to listen to Knopfler’s live recordings to hear why
    5. Carlos Santana

    Honorable Mention: Peter Townshend, Keith Richards, Alex Lifeson

  28. 28.

    max

    Duane Allman? Chuck Berry? Jerry? Frusciante? Jeff Beck? It’s all so subjective.

    Quite. Hendrix, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Harrison, van Halen, Vaughn, Townsend, Clapton, Knopfler, Iommi (dude gets no slack). If I were forced to do so, I’d swap Page for Harrison, and Gilmour for Iommi, maybe Santana for Diddley.

    max
    [‘Rock is dead, baby.’]

  35. 35.

    Hill Dweller

    I’m not sure if they’d be considered rock and roll guitarists, but Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton were pretty great.

  37. 37.

    Steeplejack

    Clapton, Hendrix, Santana, Duane Allman. Either Keith Richards or Pete Townsend for rhythm-y guitar.

    Youngsters to be named later for 6-10.

  38. 38.

    Steve in the ATL

    Steve Vai is technically amazing, but not very listenable. Unlike, say, Angus Young.

  39. 39.

    Commish

    Hendrix was head and shoulders above all the rest, as a performer and a pioneer. There are 20 who could lay legitimate claim to a spot between 2-5 but anyone whose top 5 doesn’t include Jimi needs to check him out again. One of my favorites on YouTube is his version of Like Rolling Stone at Monterey.

  40. 40.

    Amir Khalid

    I’ve always said that making up lists like this is a critics’ parlour game — good fun, sure, but ultimately too subjective to be meaningful. That said:
    In no particular order, my top five right now are Chuck Berry (not Barry), Keef, Nils Lofgren, Jimmy Page and John Fogerty. Ask me again this evening, it might be a different five.

  41. 41.

    Suffern ACE

    Probably should mention Bob Fuller of the Surfaris, because a lot of rock and roll would disappear if the Surfaris hadn’t existed.

  45. 45.

    JasonF

    It’s a damned shame that we’ve made it this far into the thread with no mention of George Harrison.

  46. 46.

    Omnes Omnibus

    If SRV gets play, BBK does. Beat this. I saw him live a couple years ago. He has adopted an almost impressionistic playing style. He plays just enough to evoke his style. But then, when you think he is just doing that, he rips into something and plays everything and more. At his age, he has only has a few perfect songs for a night. So he gives some damned good ones and then ends with OMYMYFUCKINGGODHE REALLYISTHATAMAZING,

  48. 48.

    KG

    No love for Joe Walsh?

    I’m also on board with Slash making the list. There’s just too many

  51. 51.

    Steve in the ATL

    It’s a damned shame that we’ve made it this far into the thread with no mention of George Harrison.

    Perhaps because he wasn’t even the best guitarist in his band?

  52. 52.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Clapton, Harrison, both need to be in there. Hendrix, of course.

    And Knopfler is amazing.

  55. 55.

    Steeplejack

    @JasonF:

    Coming back to this thread after doing some stuff, I was going to put in a word for Harrison. He played extremely well in all the phases that the Beatles traversed.

  61. 61.

    reality-based

    Robbie Robertson

    love the bit in “the last waltz” when Clapton’s guitar strap breaks (even God has bad luck occasionally – ) – and in 3 beats, Robertson has picked up his riff.

  64. 64.

    CB

    Petrucci, Timmons, Beck, Gilmour, and I’m gonna sneak Holdsworth in here and hope no one notices.

    But the real answer is Tommy Emmanuel.

  65. 65.

    hitchhiker

    Derek Trucks, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton

    Those four in no particular order. Others can shoot for #5.

  68. 68.

    srv

    Well, obviously I’m biased, and watching Stevie all the time on 6th St. changed my life too, but the older musicians were more influential. There would have been no SRV w/o them.

    Albert King, Albert Collins, T-Bone…

  69. 69.

    Mandalay

    @Suffern ACE:

    it is hard to get punk without the Surfaris and the ventures. Just try. It doesn’t work.

    This has been credited with being the first piece of punk music, but it wasn’t by the Surfaris or the Ventures.

    Google “first punk song” “seven and seven is” for support for that view.

  70. 70.

    CB

    And Harrison might be the most overlooked guitarist in history, if you look past the whole “most famous band in history” thing. Transcendent is the perfect word to describe him

  73. 73.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Mandalay: Oh my god, you really are an idiot on virtually every subject, aren’t you? Do you really think that googling “first punk song” will ever yield anything but an argument?

  75. 75.

    Suffern ACE

    @Mandalay: really, you don’t hear “wipe out” & “walk don’t run?” If you go rid of the vocals, you’d have a surf rock song.

  78. 78.

    Mandalay

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Oh my god, you really are an idiot on virtually every subject, aren’t you? Do you really think that googling “first punk song” will ever yield anything but an argument?

    WTF? Are you drunk?

    You certainly seem to want an argument. I just made that comment to show that it wasn’t just something I made up on the spot.

    I see you having little tantrums on BJ all the time when some poster’s comment doesn’t meet your precious approval. Take your fucking schoolmaster thread monitoring somewhere else you asshole.

  79. 79.

    ? Martin

    No need to rank, and no need to limit to 5.

    Personally, the question I would ask is ‘who most changed music’ vs ‘who was most gifted within an established genre’. To me, that puts guys like Greenwood and Hendrix well ahead of someone like Van Halen. He’s gifted on a guitar no question, but I don’t think of him as having expanded the envelope of music in a significant way. I think greats need to do both. That’s why I wouldn’t include Knopfler either. I’d be more inclined to Dick Dale in there. Vaughn definitely did both as well as did Allman. And it’s always tempting to go with the guys from the most successful bands. I notice only one person has mentioned Ry Cooder until now, but he seriously expanded the envelope and is hugely gifted. But not many people know his name.

    And you have to exclude anyone clearly a blues guitarist, because, shit, you’re just in a whole other world of greats there. So I have to exclude BB King, because if you add him in, you also need to get into guys like Bo Diddley, Robert Johnson, Freddy King, Buddy Guy. You don’t want to go there.

  80. 80.

    Baron Elmo

    A few no one else thought to mention (at least before I started cobbling this list together…): Fred Frith, Lou Reed, Robert Fripp, Dick Dale, John McLaughlin, Greg Ginn, Wayne Rogers, Andy Gill, Sonny Sharrock, Karl Blake, Richard Thompson, Randall Bewley, D. Boon, Frank Zappa, Dick Taylor, Eddie Hazel, Paul Kossoff, Richard Pinhas, Henry Kaiser, Eugene Chadbourne, and — heh heh — Arto Lindsay.

    I have too many records.

  81. 81.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Mandalay: Look, sport, will googling “first punk song” yield anything other than an argument?

    As for the rest, you seem to me to be a very silly person and I have told you so before. I do blame myself for responding to anything you say. It really was my mistake.

  85. 85.

    Amir Khalid

    Steve Howe, David Gilmour, that 14-year-old French girl whose YouTube video of her perfect performance of an Eddie Van Halen solo went viral …

  86. 86.

    ? Martin

    @Mandalay: I’m just trying to think of a time when YouTube comments were cited as an authority on anything. I think you might be the first.

  87. 87.

    Kris Collins

    I’m sad to see the brilliant Steven Stills hasn’t been mentioned. And the category is rock and roll, not blues, so I’m not sure I would include greats like BB or even Stevie. I love Harrison, but he was not a great player like Jimmy Page, Clapton, Hendrix, Santana. As for Slash, even my husband, not a rock fan (a jazz man) saw him on some awards show last year (Hall of Fame concert, I think) and asked me, “Who the hell is that guy, he’s pretty good, isn’t he?”

  91. 91.

    Amir Khalid

    I don’t know how famous Hank Marvin of the Shadows is in the US. Is he well-known enough over there to feature among the greats?

  93. 93.

    Goblue72

    Duane Allman? Eddie Hazel? John Fahey? Link Wray? Robert Fripp? King Sunny Ade? Ry Cooder? J Mascis?

    Lots of choices.

  96. 96.

    rda909

    Rock n roll? You just gotta have Brian May on there. Probably one of the best combinations of rockin ability with melodic sensibility. Few licks are as famous as many of his with Queen. Great example here in the “20 Minutes That Changed Music”:
    youtube.com/watch?v=eQsM6u0a038

  99. 99.

    MikeJ

    Steve Cropper was a good, but not great technical player. He was a much, much better player than many great technicians though.

  104. 104.

    rda909

    @John Cole: I was at SRV’s last show. Even heard the crash as we were hanging out waiting to leave, although we didn’t know what that sound was until the next day. Horrible day, that was.

  105. 105.

    rda909

    @nellcote: Fantastic guitar player, but can’t go top 5. Now talking about top 5 overall performers of all time…hell yeah Prince is on that! Too bad he went full Jehovah Witness in recent years.

  108. 108.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    Funkadelic (Eddie Hazel) Maggot Brain

    Fell through the cracks. No one knew how to market Funkadelic while Hazel was at the top of his form.

  111. 111.

    patrick II

    My own list:

    1.Jimi Hendrix
    .
    .
    .
    2. Clapton
    3. SRV
    4. Santana
    5. 20 way tie.

    My experience was that I was overseas for much of the late 60’s. Unlike now, with internet and skype and youtube, we were personally isolated from much of what was going on in this country. So I came home and everything had changed. I went to see “Woodstock” with about a thousand other people at the Chicago theatre in downtown Chicago. The movie ended with a standing O by the audience. Only time I have ever seen that. Anyhow, they music was like it was from another planet compared to the music when I left. The artists were all great, but as far as guitar goes, Santana was crazy good, and Hendrix ended the show with the greatest cover of any song ever recorded. My mind was blown. I could live another hundred years and I will never be as shocked and stunned as I was by the music that day. For me, Hendrix will always be number one by a mile and Santana will always stay in that top five.

  112. 112.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    And there’s where you’re not getting it. Funkadelic- before Clinton merged Parliament and Funkadelic- was not what you think it was.

  115. 115.

    Seanly

    Some of my favorites are Jimmy Page, Hendrix, David Gilmour (check out his self-titled solo album & About Face), Robert Fripp. For my fifth I’ll throw in Kristin Hersh.

    The Who are my favorite bands, but Townsend doesn’t make the Top 5. He’s a great songwriter and a decent guitarist.

    However, this is like asking what’s the best pizza topping or soda.

  116. 116.

    NotMax

    Seanly<blockquotethis is like asking what’s the best pizza topping or sodaMushrooms.

    Sarsaparilla.

    There are others? :)

  119. 119.

    kmeyerthelurker

    listen to Wish You Were Here and then tell me with a straight face it ain’t David Gilmour.

  121. 121.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Tell me that this is about the bass. I dare you.

    Those first three albums- Funkadelic (1970), Free Your Mind…And Your Ass Will Follow (1970) and Maggot Brain (1971) were guitar-driven albums. Hazel left for a while after the third album, came back and the band had changed it’s sound. Originally the band had a whole lot more in common with Pink Floyd than with any other band.

  122. 122.

    Steeplejack

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    An excellent choice.

    As usual, this Balloon Juice music thread has sent me down the rabbit hole at YouTube, looking up memorable guitar solos—or not even that, just memorable guitar work. As I have thought about this topic tonight, I realize that I am a little uncomfortable with “best” or “greatest,” especially in rock music, which is a mongrel art form at heart. What other art form prizes so highly the “one-hit wonder”? Some of my most favorite songs or albums are by people who were never heard from again. And even the gods like Clapton and Hendrix have had their share of clunkers. Eh.

    Anyway, some artifacts:

    Santana, “Treat”: This is the quintessential Carlos Santana solo to me. (It starts at 2:00.) I spent months learning this on the guitar back in the day, and I never fully got it. It captures Santana’s genius: he never falls into pointless noodling, which is the pitfall of speedy, nimble-fingered guitarists. Everything he does is lyrical and structured, and it fits the song perfectly.

    The Electric Flag, “Another Country”: Michael Bloomfield on guitar (the solo starts at 3:55). Listeners may skip over the historically necessary but possibly off-putting chaotic bit from 2:25 to 3:55. Another great solo that slides seamlessly from sweet to tart.

  125. 125.

    Steeplejack

    Stephen Stills, “Old Times, Good Times”: Hendrix sits in with Stephen Stills! (Solo starts at about 1:35.) I found out a few years ago that Stills “studied” guitar with Hendrix. Go figure. Anyway, a nice bit of Hendrixiana. And, on another note, I know there are styles in rock music that come and go, but I really miss that big organ sound that follows the guitar solo. How come the yoots don’t use that any more? And steel guitar. Where did (pedal) steel guitar go? But I digress.

    Jim Hendrix, Woodstock improvisation: The end of Hendrix’s set at Woodstock. I have always loved this piece, because it seemed to point toward directions he could have explored if he hadn’t died.

    The Raspberries, “Go All the Way”: Not quite a one-hit wonder, but excellent guitar work not from a guitar god. My heart always jumps at 1:40 in this song. Crunchy goodness.

  126. 126.

    Jewish Steel

    Dave Wakeling is my spirit animal. My other favorite guitarist is me. How could I have endured listening to myself every day since 1985 otherwise?

  127. 127.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Jewish Steel:
    Dangerous, she’s like damp dynamite
    Oh boy, enjoy, have a nice night
    Won’t you promise to write me whenever you can?
    Make sure that you warn me if you’re coming to Birmingham

  128. 128.

    Steeplejack

    Dylan anniversary concert, “My Back Pages”: Technical interview question. You’re playing in an all-star jam at Madison Square Garden. Eric Clapton has just done an incredible solo (at 2:05). Then some asshole says you should do one too. WTF?! Neil Young answers the call—you go against the grain. (Solo at 4:10.)

  129. 129.

    Jewish Steel

    @Omnes Omnibus: I can do that palm muted, single coil, sinuous reggae rhythm guitar thing all night. Renaissance style “divisions” too. Those are my two improvising strengths. Not much call for it in Central IL though.

  130. 130.

    Steeplejack

    Les Dudek, “Old Judge Jones”: A personal favorite from the one-hit wonder files. Please don’t call it Allman Brothers lite. Great lyrics, too. And those chicks who seemingly backed up everybody from Boz Scaggs to, eh, I can’t remember. But they were everywhere.

    You can’t hate a man for what he must do
    but if his cause ain’t just and his word untrue
    that man’s a rogue, a devil in disguise
    the bailiff’s books are filled with lies

    Okay, I’m going Southern rock. The Atlanta Rhythm Section, “Spooky.” Solos at 1:30 and 2:40.

    ETA: Come for the guitar, stay for the Fender Rhodes piano at 3:30.

    ETFA: Bonus guitar solo at 4:05!

  132. 132.

    Steeplejack

    I was just thinking that Raven is going to kick himself “tomorrow” morning when he sees this thread, but if I wait another 10-15 minutes he’ll be up anyway. WTF.

  135. 135.

    Sourmash

    Mick Taylor. Sure the rest of the band hates him but the rest of the band all hates the rest of the band. “moonlight mile”, “can’t you hear me knockin'” alone would qualify him.

  136. 136.

    Another Holocene Human

    Not one mention of #cancelcolbert? His too-cute attempt at trolling the other night just backfired bigtime.

    Me, I’m getting my anger on at cis-non-allies so-called progressives who are attacking Colbert for being ignorant about trans* people. Fuck off, dickbags. It’s called engagement and education. I don’t need your “help”. You see, they’re piling on because Comedy Central just pissed off another community so they think they can (again) use me and my body as a bludgeon in their Colbert hatefest. HANDS OFFA ME!!

  141. 141.

    raven

    I saw PG&E open for Jeff Beck in 1967. Schwartz gave the greatest performance on lead I have ever seen and heard.

    Glenn Schwartz (born 1941) first came to the attention of rock music audiences as the guitarist for The James Gang, based in Cleveland.[1]
    He left the James Gang in late December 1967 when he moved to California. He later joined the Los Angeles based Blues band Pacific Gas & Electric and, in 1970, scored a national top 20 hit with the song “Are You Ready?”.[2]
    Tired of the rock and roll life, he left PG&E to join a pioneering Gospel rock group The All Saved Freak Band, which was the musical evangelistic arm of an Ohio religious group-turned-cult, the Church of the Risen Christ, headed by Larry Hill.
    Schwartz recorded four albums with the Freak Band before leaving it in 1980.

  147. 147.

    Steeplejack

    @raven:

    I remember seeing it when it was an HBO special. Awesome. And I have the two-CD audio set somewhere. A great concert from start to finish.

  148. 148.

    Lavocat

    That you did NOT automatically pick Slowhand tells me everything I need to know about you, Cole.

    For shame.

  150. 150.

    eric

    no santana, blackmore, or gary moore?

    it all depends on how you define rock….Vai’s Lotus Feet and Love of God are genius and i am not the biggest Vai fan. If you include Holdsworth, then it is easy. Same For Michael Landau. Same for Steve Morse, since he has been playing with Deep Purple. Among players, Uli John Roth is a demi-god.

    Eric Johnson’s When the Sun Meets the Sky (live) visit you tube is also genius.

    Eddie’s star has darkened, but you cannot discount his playing on the first two albums….there was never anyone like that before.

    Jeff Beck is the best player of the Clapton Page triplet because his paying was so much more expansive. That does not make him a better song writer than the great Jimmy Page……oh wait.

    And no one, and i mean no one, has written more “memorable” or “hummable” guitar riffs than Angus Young. His solos are forgettable, but not his riffs.

    Duane Allman on slide is incredible, but if we get to include Allan Hinds….

    and do yourself a favor and google Carl Verheyen….”Constant as the Wind” or “Fusioneers Disease.”

    Oh, and Brett Garsed is a personal favorite, particularly the Big Sky album. And Lyle Workman’s Tabula Rasa is another favorite.

    So, my top five players….Holdsworth, Scott Henderson, Landau, Hinds, and then the last one is more fusion…Wayne Krantz with Mike Stern and Scofield honorable mention.

  151. 151.

    Steeplejack

    @raven:

    Cool.

    And I’m finally off to bed. I have no idea why I stayed up all night, but it’s good to know I’ve safely handed off the blog to the early morning shift. Raven, go yell at Joe and Mika!

  152. 152.

    Breth

    Zappa surely deserves mention. And I am still looking for my jaw after seeing Danny Gatton play.

  153. 153.

    Graham

    Fucking Duane Allman, both for his tone and for his heart. Was listening to Duane Allman Anthology last night and he’s killing it on The Weight with Aretha, then Hey Jude with Wilson Pickett which pretty much kick started the whole southern music scene, then this great Clarence Carter song where as Duane starts his slide solo, poor Clarence just loses it and screams ‘I like what I am hearing right now’ then 14 minutes of Loan Me A Dime with Boz Scaggs (OMG the solos on that…), and there are even some Duane solo numbers like Going Down Slow where the playing is so emotional and real it’s unbelievable. He’s at the top of a very short list of players who could solo for 15 minutes and just never repeat phrases, and play it with so much heart that it will make you cry. He was 24 when he left us and had been recording for about 3 years. Rolling Stone got it right with Jimi and Duane as 1 and 2…doesn’t matter after that…also just finished the new biography of Duane by his daughter, Galadrielle and it is probably the best rock bio I have ever read, highly recommended. It’s called Please Be With Me.

  155. 155.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    Geez, not even a mention for Don Roeser or Tomoyasu Hotei? Which reminds me, I’m overdue for another listen to Electric Samurai.

  161. 161.

    CnyOrange

    Oh come on this is easy :-) 1. Hendrix, 2. Duane Allman, 3. SRV, 4. Jeff Beck, 5. Clapton.

  162. 162.

    cleek

    jimi, srv, evh, gilmour, allman

    but if the list is people who have inspired me:
    jimi, adrian belew (King Crimson, Zappa, Talking Heads, etc), robert smith (Cure), lee ranaldo (Sonic Youth), sam prekop (Sea And Cake)

  165. 165.

    Graham

    @raven: How I envy you! I will also mention here that Dickey Betts is one of the greatest rock guitarists ever, overshadowed by Duane, but the man was a beast. One of Dickey’s first bands was called The Jokers, famously name checked by Rick Derringer (another one for this list of great rock guitarists) in Rock and Roll Hoochie Coo.

  166. 166.

    different-church-lady

    note, I did not say classical guitar other genres, I said rock and roll)

    …and SRV …

    Try to reconcile those two statements. I dare you.

  169. 169.

    raven

    @Graham: And that reminds me of Johnny Winter. Rick Derringer was part of the “AND” in Johnny Winter And. And was the McCoys.

  171. 171.

    raven

    @Graham: I have the recording of one of those shows.

    “The fifth album issued by the Allman Brothers Band Recording Company returns to the Duane Allman-led outfit in a moment of triumph. The group’s outdoor appearance in Boston occurred six weeks after the release of their breakthrough album, At Fillmore East, and ten weeks before Allman’s death. The song selection doesn’t just repeat the tunes from the Fillmore East disc, the band opting instead for a few songs not heard on it, ‘Trouble No More'(from the 1969 debut album The Allman Brothers Band) and ‘Don’t Keep Me Wondering’ and ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’ (from the 1970 second album Idlewild South), the last as usual boasting a raucous vocal by Oakley. The standout performance is ‘You Don’t Love Me'(introduced on At Fillmore East), which stretches to 26 minutes and includes some powerful and unusually driving guitar soloing by Allman. Annotator John Lynskey documents the warm appreciation accorded the southern Allmans in Boston throughout their career, a good example of their ability to transcend their regional base to become a nationally successful act. This is an album for the faithful, and it will not disappoint them. -“

  172. 172.

    Manyakitty

    Seriously? No love for YES? Steve Howe plays with virtuosity, heart, and blistering speed (when he wants.)

    So, in no particular order: SRV (saw him with the Fabulous T-birds at Blossom Music Center. BEST SHOW OF MY LIFE); Jimmy Page; Steve Howe; Brian May (has anyone tried to play that Queen stuff? Dang!); then a tie between Alex Lifeson, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton (the “local guitar player” from Top Gear), Jeff Beck, and Al DiMeola, but he’s more jazz than rock.

    ETA: Jorma. duh.

  175. 175.

    Mike E

    Prince fucking shreds, people.

    I saw Clapton play with Roger Waters on his Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking tour, nearly burned the place down.

    George was great, unique, and just out of the top 5. Ringo is one of the greatest of all times, a drummer’s drummer and John positively adored his playing, haterz. Let it go.

    Beck, Howe, Santana are in. Too.

  176. 176.

    Cervantes

    note, I did not say classical guitar other genres, I said rock and roll

    Funny, because you also said “Open Thread”!

  177. 177.

    Manyakitty

    @raven: Really? What are they, then? Do you also disqualify Jethro Tull, ELP, King Crimson, and the other prog rockers of the 60s/70s/80s?

  182. 182.

    miserybob

    I saw SRV’s last show – with Clapton and Robert Cray. SRV just blew the place up. Jaw-dropping.

    That said, Clapton’s solo from Cream’s ‘Crossroad’ may be the greatest blues solo of all time. youtube.com/watch?v=PE9HvSdcaL4&feature=kp Completely insane – and live. See also ‘Key to the Highway’ for some stellar guitar work from Clapton and Duane Allman – when you get a “Wooo!” from Eric Clapton, you know you’re having a good set… youtube.com/watch?v=f3dW5F6GKTs

    Also love for John Lee Hooker and Robert Johnson. There were better guitarists to follow, but Johnson was ‘in on the ground floor’, as it were.

  185. 185.

    MCA1

    I’m with Martin in terms of what “greatest” was probably intended to mean here – some combination of technically excellent, musically interesting, influential to other guitarists, and at least somewhat commercially successful. I see a lot of people here have just said “screw it, I’m going with 5 most criminally underrated” or whatever, but that’s a different thread. There is just no way that any list limited to 5 based on that could not include Hendrix, Clapton and Allman. Hendrix exploded the ideas of what a guitar could do. Clapton appropriated but also performed true alchemy to blend early pop rock with classic blues guitar, and then threw in an ability to create a simple lick and then build a mansion around it over a 7 minute solo. Allman was simply mindblowing and could make you melt with his unique tone, the longing he got from his guitar, and his ability to play forever without being repetitive. Anything beyond them is totally up for grabs in my mind and you could probably make cases for a dozen or more to take the last two slots. I’d leave Stevie Ray out just because I categorize him as blues more than rock.

    Not in my top 5 because not many younger musicians are trying to emulate his “sound” but I’ll echo the thoughts for Prince. That dude can f’ing tear it up. He’s versatile and can play any style he needs to in service to the tune, and is incredibly nimble. He just hasn’t concentrated his efforts on guitar leading his songs, as much as the groove and rhythm, his unique vocal style, etc., so he doesn’t have the vast catalog of amazing riffs that someone like Clapton does, and therefore can’t be in my “greatest” list. But good god, he can play. Pyrotechnics, angularity, sensuality. youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y

  189. 189.

    p.a.

    Very late to this party, so I’ll throw some in from left field. Bob Mould. Robert Quine. (Spellcheck changed it to Equine). Richard Lloyd. Saw SRV 4 times at small venues (he would play 2,000 seat venue in Providence then go to Lupo’s and sit in with Roomful of Blues). 10 feet away, just awesome. But if the list is for rock, I think I would file him under blues. Although artists of his talent are often sui generis.

  190. 190.

    Mark

    I’d move Ed to the top and add David Gilmour to the list.

    I don’t get the George Harrison nods. He’s a wonderful slide player but lots of his Beatles stuff sounds really stiff and out of tune.

  191. 191.

    MazeDancer

    Brian May – as others noted. Emotionally and technically astonishing still. Duets with his singer in such remarkable ways.

    Queen is touring North America this summer. Big arenas. First 19 shows sold out almost instantly. They added 5 more. (Search YouTube for Queen+Adam Lambert and you’ll know why.) Can’t wait.

  192. 192.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    It’s all so subjective.

    Well, no, it isn’t. It has to be someone over 65 because boomer music = objectively the best.

  198. 198.

    Peter VE

    @half glass fool: Richard Thompson has to be on the list. Watching him solo, the person next to me asks: “Where’s the second guitarist?”. Sometimes his noodling in the RT Band can go a little too long, but when he has to carry the load alone, he’s impeccable.

  199. 199.

    Peter VE

    @half glass fool: Richard Thompson has to be on the list. Watching him solo, the person next to me asks: “Where’s the second guitarist?”. Sometimes his noodling in the RT Band can go a little too long, but when he has to carry the load alone, he’s impeccable.

  200. 200.

    cleek

    Tony Iommi needs to be in the top ten, at least. he’s one of the most influential, ever – dude essentially invented a genre.

  204. 204.

    Scout

    I’m sorry. I’m calling it. It needs to be a top 10 list.

    Don’t forget Lindsey Buckingham.

  205. 205.

    Manyakitty

    @raven: Whatever. Did you at least watch the video? Have you ever actually LISTENED to Yes? If so, I can’t see how you could persist in saying they’re not rock. And then you assert that Jethro Tull is rock? What’s your rationale?

  206. 206.

    Manyakitty

    @Scout: Agreed about LB. He’s got the technical chops and a unique sound.

    ETA: Also, Prince, but he’s arguably funk/r&b.

  209. 209.

    Graham

    @raven: I have that one, Raven. I bet it was mindblowing for you when they released it. I have some bootlegs of Duane era ABB and one that stands out is the Sept 16 71 show from the (legendary) Warehouse in New Orleans. Lord a mercy was that band on fire that night. One of the first performances of Blue Sky too. Pretty sure that Boston show has a Blue Sky too.

  210. 210.

    john fremont

    Chuck Berry, James Burton, Cliff Gallup, and , Lonnie Mack all wrote the source code for early rock and roll. Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page broadened it.

    Some other favorite rockers: Steve Howe and Robert Fripp. Tony Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore and Eddy Van Halen will be greats as the fathers of heavy metal.

    Stephen Stills, Jerry Garcia, Randy California and Lindsey Buckingham are all underrated American rockers.

  212. 212.

    columbusqueen

    @Peter VE: No kidding, and the amazing thing is his mastery covers both electric & acoustic. Find me anybody else who can play the guitar line from “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” & I’ll show you a miracle. As long as he’s playing, Clapton is not God.

    (Have heard him live 5-6 times–am a MAJOR fan.)

  214. 214.

    jomike

    1. Hendrix
    2. SRV
    2(t) Duane Allman
    4. Clapton
    5. Brian May

    Big fat 1 to whoever mentioned Dick Dale upthread. Not top 5, but definitely top 10 along with EVH, Knopfler, Jeff Beck.

  216. 216.

    kwAwk

    I think to add some younger names you’d have to take a look at Kurt Cobain and Billy Corgan for the list.

  219. 219.

    Jamus4

    Come on Cole, put Jerry on your list at 5. You owe him. He was incredibly inconsistent, but delivered at least one transcendent solo at almost every Dead show.

    And compare Jerry’s solo on After Midnight in Live at the Keystone w/Saunders/Garcia/Kahn/Vitt with any Clapton version. I say this as a Clapton fanatic, but there is just no comparison.

  220. 220.

    suitcasesimpson

    200+ comments and no one trolls JC by nominating Trey Anastasio? Years of lurking and this is what brings me out… I’m so ashamed. But it must be done.

    TREY ANASTASIO!

  223. 223.

    virag

    robert cray. like clapton, but good. i kid, but not really. robert cray.

    ira kaplan.

    thurston moore and lee ranaldo.

    the 27 guys who play guitar at the same time in bad religion AND add the oohsnahhs.

    who cares about wanky virtuosity if the music blows dog. someone above mentioned that in regards to steve vai. same deal with eddy van halen when he was alive. highly technical playing and awful, awful music.

    i’ll take lou barlow’s guitar playing or jon langford, tom greenhalgh, lu edmonds, and rico bell rockin’ out over masturbatory noodling any day.

  224. 224.

    joel hanes

    I’m not ranking anything, and most of the nominees above are Worthy.

    I’m just saying that if you’ve never heard Al DiMeola’s “Elegant Gypsy” (the entire album), you should rectify that situation immediately.

    And yes, the guitar solo in “Badge” gives me goosebumps, but what I love most about the song is that it hints at setting up for a second solo that never arrives, so the listener’s mind has to fill that in. Of the three parts of pleasure — anticipation, experience, and remembrance — anticipation is by far the keenest.

  226. 226.

    eric

    I should be ashamed. Steve Lukather is a monster

    (frank gamable is other worldly)

    Doug Aldrich’s Midnight Sun is a favorite of mine as well

  228. 228.

    Jewish Steel

    @raven:

    yes is not rock and roll

    Gonna have to rule in favor of raven here. I like Yes, particularly Fragile. But they rock negligibly.

  229. 229.

    joel hanes

    @eric:

    And it depends on how you classify Romantic Warrior

    Standing right next to “Light As A Feather” puts it on my jazz shelf. The criterion for that is simple: if I put it on, and my friend The Mango immediately says “Oh, fuck, not more jazz”, it goes on the jazz shelf. (He is conflicted about the classification of Manhattan Transfr)

  231. 231.

    sxjames

    Ah what the hell…

    1. Hendrix (absolutely unique at the time….expanded the possibility of what rock/pop/blues guitar could sound like)
    2. Clapton (mostly for the lead work)
    3. Duane Allman (again, for the lead work. Who else could go 20+ minutes on a solo and not get boring)
    4. Page (for the rifts and overall masterly, although the solo on ‘Since I’ve been Loving You’ is a personal favorite)
    5. the big list of the usual suspects

    I am really, really surprised that no one has mentioned John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service. Classic 60’s San Francisco sound. Here is a taste: youtube.com/watch?v=oGOOF_QnhwQ

    Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash is also a favorite. Check out the Argus album, especially the last track. The recording engineer mixed in two separate lead takes, so the listener gets both interpretations….absolutely magical.

    Oh, and thanks for introducing me onto Eddie Hazel. Never heard Maggot Brain before (yeah, I’ve been culturally deprived :)). I know how I’m going to spend my next few evenings….

  233. 233.

    Jesus California

    Come on people…we’re talking about ROCK N’ ROLL now. Angus Young??? “Shoot to Thrill”? “Whole Lotta Rosie”? “Thunderstruck”? That’s what I’m talkin about.

  234. 234.

    Paul in KY

    @Manyakitty: I would say Yes is mostly a prog-pop band. They do have a song or two that would be a rock song, but mostly (to me) they are a form of pop.

  235. 235.

    Quaker in a Basement

    Glad to see Richard Thompson getting some love on this thread. Ever hear the extended live version of “Hard On Me”? It’s killer.

    Also too: Skunk Baxter’s solo on Steely Dan’s “Bodhisattva.”

  236. 236.

    Jamus4

    Any Knopfler recommendations? I loved the Dire Straits first album, but don’t have any of his solo stuff.

  237. 237.

    Manyakitty

    @Paul in KY: Interesting. I’ll think about that, but I’m not sure I buy it. To me, they’re solidly prog rock, but I can see prog/art rock, too. Never thought of them as pop–too many complex rhythms, etc.

    People go on about Pink Floyd, but have you listened to the first couple of albums? “Bike” is a fun song, but it’s not stereotypical 4/4 rock.

    Also, as far as foundational metal guitarists, gotta shout out to Randy Rhoads.

    @Jamus4: Not too familiar with his solo stuff, but Dire Straits’ Making Movies is an all-time favorite of mine.

  239. 239.

    smintheus

    Rory Gallagher and Carlos Santana belong in the top five if anyone does. Both are sui generis and colossal instrumentalists.

  240. 240.

    les

    Well, this is way late, but two great tastes that go great together were mentioned above–Roy Buchanan and the Peter Gunn theme. If you haven’t heard Roy, catch it.

  241. 241.

    MCA1

    @Jamus4: I only have Sailing to Philadelphia in his solo repertoire. It’s OK, but kind of all over the map and every song seems like it’s a different genre. That said, Speedway at Nazareth is a great showcase for Knopfler’s talents, and I like Silvertown Blues, which has a nice solo, too. The title track, which is a duet with James Taylor singing as Mason and Dixon, is a solid tune, though more like a James Taylor song than a Dire Straits song.

    As for later Dire Straits stuff, I wore out Brothers in Arms as a teen, but probably haven’t listened to it in 20 years so don’t have a critical view on it. I kind of look back on them as a band that had a couple decent songs and a great guitarist, but don’t feel like I’m missing much by hearing Sultans of Swing on the radio once in a blue moon and that’s the extent of it. When he finds a tune where that signature little quick pickup from behind the beat, leading into a tasty arpeggio thing fits in, it’s all good. He’s really talented at using space and silences, but didn’t always have the material to fit his style. They were probably a better live band.

  242. 242.

    pablo

    Mick Taylor.
    Raised the Stones to a level they have never been able to replicate.
    In spite of Keith’s jealousy!

    Also… John Meyer (on guitar) is the current champ.
    Vince Gill also, too.

  243. 243.

    les

    No way it’s rock, but Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins’ duet album is some mighty pretty git-pickin’.

  244. 244.

    PaulS

    Jimi
    _
    _
    _
    Lonnie Mack (took until comment #201 for his name to appear. That’s pathetic, people.)
    Richard Thomson
    Carlos Santana
    Clapton, Rory Gallagher, Jerry, Bloomfield, Gilmour, Duane Allman, Ry Cooder, Mark Knopfler, Buck Dharma, et al.

  245. 245.

    MomSense

    Fuck it. I’m late to this thread but the top five are:
    1. CHUCK BERRY

    Jimi Hendrix I recently played his national anthem for my Mom and she just broke down and cried. It really is the most heart wrenching, honest musical expression ever.

    Eric Clapton

    Keith Richards (we are talking fucking rock n roll not virtuoso guitar) You cannot make any list about rock n roll without Keith Richards. C’mon.

    Scotty Moore or Mike Bloomfield

    Jimmy Page and Carlos Santana honorable mentions

    I do love SRV especially since I had lunch with him and his band and we just talked and talked for a couple of hours and he was one of the coolest, nicest people I have ever met but I don’t think he is in the top 5.

  246. 246.

    Graham

    @Quaker in a Basement: The main solo on Bodhisattva is by Denny Dias, and yes, it is one of the best solos I ever heard. The turnaround on it is so far over the top I almost wreck my car if I hear it while driving. Skunk does that outro solo, but to me, that main solo is the true shit. I love me some Skunk Baxter though….I think I’l listen to it now.

  249. 249.

    Chasm

    Seriously? There is no greater ROCK and ROLL guitarist than Townsend, though he is not my favorite. Those would be: Hendrix, Fripp (see ‘Larks Tongue’ on “USA”), Garcia, Page and Gilmore. I don’t listen to guitarists who can’t make me cry, so Clapton, Anastasio, SRV and Beck don’t make the list. Don’t even waste my time asking what I think of Knopfler. Special mention runner ups: Diddley, May, Zappa and Belew.

  250. 250.

    wasabi gasp

    I didn’t read this whole thread because I find guitar centric music to be snoozers and seeing the names of all these wankers in one pile is like having 50 years of Guitar Player Magazine puked on my shoes. Makes me a little nauseous. But there’s one dude that was mentioned that I (still) really enjoy listening to and that’s Neil Young. Love his quirky, sloppy style. He’s got a lot of personality in his fingers. Hendrix has huge personality, too, but I’d rather listen to Young.

    Another dude who’s got big quirky personality in his fingers, but who wasn’t yet mentioned, is Marc Ribot. When he sits in on an album, you’ve got something special. He adds a sound that is truly unique. His shoes are unfillable.

  251. 251.

    john fremont

    @MomSense: Stevie Ray was an exciting guitarist but a lot of his music was showcasing Jimi Hendrix, Albert King, Buddy Guy , Lonnie Mack, and jazz guitar legend Kenny Burrell. I liked SRV but his style is not indispensable to the sound of modern rock music, so I don’t rank him in the Top Twenty.

  252. 252.

    john fremont

    Favorite guitar songs:

    Chuck Berry , Thirty Days
    Gene Vincent with Cliff Gallup , Double Talkin Jive
    Lonnie Mack, Wham!
    Link Wray: Rumble
    Rolling Stones: Last Time
    Yardbirds: I’m a Man
    Jimi Hendrix: Third Stone From the Sun
    Cream: Spoonful
    Ten Years After: Goin Home
    Deep Purple: Wring That Neck (Live)
    Jeff Beck Group: Definitely Maybe
    Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused
    Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe
    Yes; Starship Troopers
    Spirit: Taurus
    Van Halen: Eruption/ You Really Got Me
    U2: Wire
    Van Halen: Mean Streets
    PanterapPaPan

  253. 253.

    john fremont

    Favorite guitar songs:

    Chuck Berry , Thirty Days
    Gene Vincent with Cliff Gallup , Double Talkin Jive
    Lonnie Mack, Wham!
    Link Wray: Rumble
    Rolling Stones: Last Time
    Yardbirds: I’m a Man
    Jimi Hendrix: Third Stone From the Sun
    Cream: Spoonful
    Ten Years After: Goin Home
    Deep Purple: Wring That Neck (Live)
    Jeff Beck Group: Definitely Maybe
    Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused
    Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe
    Yes; Starship Troopers
    Spirit: Taurus
    Van Halen: Eruption/ You Really Got Me
    U2: Wire
    Van Halen: Mean Streets
    Pantera; Cemetery Gates

  255. 255.

    Donut

    There are only two people in this thread who seem to know anything about quality guitar playing, and that’s this person:

    @half glass fool:

    And especially this person:

    @wasabi gasp:

    Some of these wankers you people mention were influential, but that doesn’t make them truly great or unique. Hendrix, John Lennon, George Harrison, Josh Homme and Lou Reed, and an honorable mention for both proto-punks
    Gary Burton and Ron Asheton round out the top tier for me, at least today.

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