Greatest Guitar Player Ever

[Neuralpath]

For jazz, in rough historical order:

Charlie Christian
Django Reinhard 
Wes Montgomery
Tal Farlow
Jimmy Raney
Jim Hall
John Abercombie
Bill Frisell
Derek Bailey
Fred Frith

[Dave O)))]

While we're on the subjects of favourites, this solo from one if my favourite guitarists, Tommy Vetterli. Still gives me chills 25 years later! Tommy could shred with the best of them but the later albums by Coroner his style became truly tasteful.

 

[tigger]

2 hours ago, cfc1016 said:

I was gonna be mortified if I was the only one to say Jerry...

I'm under no illusion that he was the "greatest," but he was incredibly talented, and no musician is closer to my heart.

Side note: I got to see/hear Hunter play at the Newport Folk Festival a few years ago...hadn't seen him since some time in the early 90's. 

I unashamedly shed a couple of happy tears.

[mbflash80]

35 minutes ago, Dave O))) said:

While we're on the subjects of favourites, this solo from one if my favourite guitarists, Tommy Vetterli. Still gives me chills 25 years later! Tommy could shred with the best of them but the later albums by Coroner his style became truly tasteful.

 

Im listening to Grin right now because of this post...its literally been 10+ years since Ive spun this album...what a great underrated band...thanks bro for the reminder here.

[gweilgi]

5 hours ago, bundwallah said:

I'm a big fan of guitar based music, hard rock & metal mainly.  Every time I see a "best guitarist" list I cringe a bit.  Each list tends to bring up the same, "tired" players.  "Tired" as in their names come up all the time and IMO, haven't really done much (EVH, many more), are dead (sorry Jimi, SRV, Randy), and are generally overrated (Clapton, John Mayer?!).  With that said, I respect a lot of these players and their accomplishments, but many don't wow me. 

Excellent point.  What exactly do we mean by "greatest"?  Do we sort it by genre?  Do we mean technical brilliance?  The best live impact?  The greatest riffs?  Or perhaps the greatest in terms of influence?  

That is really why I did not mention either Prince or Frank Zappa: both are truly outstanding guitarists, but IMHO they were far more important as overall musical geniuses.  They were composers, arrangers, pushers of boundaries, musical polymaths who also happened to be damn good on a guitar.  

 

[ayepatz]

41 minutes ago, gweilgi said:

Excellent point.  What exactly do we mean by "greatest"?  Do we sort it by genre?  Do we mean technical brilliance?  The best live impact?  The greatest riffs?  Or perhaps the greatest in terms of influence?  

That is really why I did not mention either Prince or Frank Zappa: both are truly outstanding guitarists, but IMHO they were far more important as overall musical geniuses.  They were composers, arrangers, pushers of boundaries, musical polymaths who also happened to be damn good on a guitar.  

 

Well, if we were getting real here, the best guitarists in the world are classical guitarists. Guys you’ve never heard of, who live in a world of music that the vast majority of people never listen to, who practice 8 hours a day to rise to the very top of a profession where the pay is rubbish, the hours are shit, and where critics who couldn’t do a fraction of what they can do look down their noses and denigrate their virtuosity.

So, if you really want to know who the best are, go look up Andrés Segovia, John Williams and Julian Bream.

You won’t know the names, or even the tunes, but they will technically outstrip every guitarist you have ever heard of, without breaking sweat.

[gweilgi]

9 minutes ago, ayepatz said:

Well, if we were getting real here, the best guitarists in the world are classical guitarists. Guys you’ve never heard of, who live in a world of music that the vast majority of people never listen to, who practice 8 hours a day to rise to the very top of a profession where the pay is rubbish, the hours are shit, and where critics who couldn’t do a fraction of what they can do look down their noses and denigrate their virtuosity.

So, if you really want to know who the best are, go look up Andrés Segovia, John Williams and Julian Bream.

You won’t know the names, or even the tunes, but they will technically outstrip every guitarist you have ever heard of, without breaking sweat.

Who's this "you", eh?

I am listening to Williams playing the Aranjuez Concerto right now, as it happens....

 

[Hammer Smokin']

7 hours ago, dominattorney said:

Kind of a silly question that pops up from time to time in musician's circles.  Silly because it's entirely subjective, within reason.  Many things have been done and re-done as new over the last 60 years that I'm aware of, and most likely done prior to that in some other form.  In creating a short-list of best guitar players, it might help to define criteria.  Is the person more creative, faster, possessing a unique sound, a better interpreter of other people's music, a better original composer?  These things lead one to different conclusions.  SRV is mentioned a lot, and he's quite good IMO, but he's strictly a blues player.  I'd say the same about Jimi Hendrix.  Pat Metheney is excellent, and more versatile, but still fairly grounded in the jazz genre--not for everyone. 

My favorite guitarist of all time would have to be Jerry Garcia--certainly the most versatile player I've ever heard, ranging from bluegrass to jazz to rock to country and beyond.  He was also an innovator, having contributed to the invention of the on board effects loop along with one of his guitar makers.  Prolific as hell too, probably my vote for the best interpreter of Bob Dylan's music, among other classic songwriters, and not too shabby himself when it came to writing music.  So at this point do we, what, take a dump on Bob Weir--not to mention other contemporaries of Jerry?  Of course not.

Notice you have to say favorite, and not best.  I'm not going to argue with anyone who prefers Jimi or SRV or pretty much anybody who's been mentioned here, but for the reasons referenced above I'd have to say Jerry stands a league apart in my mind. 

I love Pat Metheny. Seen him a dozen times or more. Seen McLaughlin a bunch. Paco De Lucia as well. Seen Al Di Meloa, seen John Scofield, even caught Pat Martino once or twice.

Seen Trey Anastasio and seen John Mayer. Can't forget Herring and Haynes.

But I'd give it all up, each and every one, to see Jerry Garcia again...

 

[ayepatz]

2 minutes ago, gweilgi said:

Who's this "you", eh?

I am listening to Williams playing the Aranjuez Concerto right now, as it happens....

 

Apologies. I, of course, meant “one”, not you specifically. Just didn’t want to sound as pompous as I actually am. ?

[gweilgi]

1 minute ago, ayepatz said:

Apologies. I, of course, meant “one”, not you specifically. Just didn’t want to sound as pompous as I actually am. ?

Hey, pomp depends on the circumstance....

[Jimmy_jack]

18 hours ago, crking3 said:

Jimi or jimmy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This

[ayepatz]

Just now, gweilgi said:

Hey, pomp depends on the circumstance....

I think we’re marching to a similar tune...

?

[grizzlee]

As with most perspectives or opinions, consume with a grain of salt and take-away what applies.

Rolling Stone magazine gathered votes from players and compiled their list. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-guitarists-20111123 I don't agree with their entire list, but top 5 are pretty solid. One of the luxuries of being of the age I am, I got to see all but Hendrix live and in person.

Top 5 in their order of votes:

1. Hendrix
2. Clapton
3. Page
4. Richards
5. Beck

 

[Hammer Smokin']

Seen 2 through 5 as well.

All solid players. Well, maybe not #4, but it is Rolling Stone Mag.

[Grateful13]

I'm kind of surprised Tony Rice has not been mentioned yet.  Not doubt the greatest bluegrass flat picker and, really, flat top acoustic player ever.  Its too bad he cant play anymore.

[canadianbeaver]

Joe Walsh

Ry Cooder 

Duane Allman 

Les Paul

George Harrison.

And here’s an interesting thing? I live in this tiny town. So many guys are great guitar players. They talk of who influenced them. Live mike in every bar each night and they play every night.

Passion.

CB

[Fuzz]

No love for Hank Marvin?

 

[Hammer Smokin']

11 minutes ago, canadianbeaver said:

Joe Walsh

Ry Cooder 

Duane Allman 

Les Paul

George Harrison.

And here’s an interesting thing? I live in this tiny town. So many guys are great guitar players. They talk of who influenced them. Live mike in every bar each night and they play every night.

Passion.

CB

 

Spent many an evening at the Local listening to good music. Might have even seen ya there

[SigmundChurchill]

1 hour ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

I love Pat Metheny. Seen him a dozen times or more. Seen McLaughlin a bunch. Paco De Lucia as well. Seen Al Di Meloa, seen John Scofield, even caught Pat Martino once or twice.

Seen Trey Anastasio and seen John Mayer. Can't forget Herring and Haynes.

But I'd give it all up, each and every one, to see Jerry Garcia again...

 

Agree 100%.  In the late 80s and early 90s, I lived in Mill Valley, CA. And between the Grateful Dead and the Jerry Garcia Band, I have seen him play over 100 times, and it still wasn’t enough.  I once saw him play at a little bar in town, in what was the oddest trio I could imagine, of Garcia, Sammy Hagar, and Elvis Costello, but it worked.  He was so versatile, he could play with anyone.  All those JGB shows at the Warfield were some of the greatest times of my life. He played Dylan, The Band, gospel, folk music, bluegrass, R and B, etc, etc, etc.  He would take the most eclectic list of songs and make them his own.  And I think some of his best work was when he was playing bluegrass with David Grisman.

[Hammer Smokin']

Holy crap. Wow.

I'm from Hamilton, so I saw them come through twice in the early 90's. I was only a young teenager and didn't appreciate what I was witnessing.

But I'm glad I was taken to the shows, as they formed a foundation of music appreciation that led me to the artists I quoted above.

Costello and Garcia together in a bar. Ya, that wouldn't suck, not one bit.

[SigmundChurchill]

3 minutes ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

Holy crap. Wow.

I'm from Hamilton, so I saw them come through twice in the early 90's. I was only a young teenager and didn't appreciate what I was witnessing.

But I'm glad I was taken to the shows, as they formed a foundation of music appreciation that led me to the artists I quoted above.

Costello and Garcia together in a bar. Ya, that wouldn't suck, not one bit.

Yeah, that was pretty cool.  That small bar saw a lot of great musicians come through it.  I saw Weir play there, Santana too.  Amazingly, they managed to fit all those percussion instruments on a tiny little stage that couldnt have been more than 20X20 and only 1 foot high.  Santana’s wife walked around and gave everyone a back stage pass, which was a joke because there was no back stage.  The musicians go to the bar for drinks in between sets.  It was called Sweetwater.  Some time after I moved back to the East Coast, they closed and opened up Sweetwater Music Hall in another part of town.

I have been meaning to search YouTube for some of the shows I saw there.  It was before smart phones, but Im sure someone must have some footage.

[Hammer Smokin']

Damn. You got to see this live.

Also

Garcia and Grisman at the Sweetwater

[SigmundChurchill]

2 minutes ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

Damn. You got to see this live.

Yes.  That’s it.  Where did you find that?

[Hammer Smokin']

The internet my friend.

The internet

[SigmundChurchill]

2 minutes ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

The internet my friend.

The internet

Dont mind me.  Im old.