In Search of the 100 Best
Guitarists
Who is the Greatest Guitar Player?
Not an easy task. Narrowing down the
list of folks who've played the guitar to the 100 best
guitarists is, well, challenging. So many people have played
the axe that it's near impossible to come up with a list of
the very "best." It is difficult to come up with a set of
criteria, to boot!
To Narrow the List
So where do we start? How about with
the dawn of the instrument's impact on the American music
and cultural scene. We have to go back all the way to Robert
Johnson, probably considered the first guitar hero. Does
that earn him a spot on the list of the 100 best guitarists?
In my mind it does - originality counts for a lot, and no
one was more original than Robert Johnson.
He was one of the original Delta
Bluesmen. The "Delta," of course, is the Mississippi River
Delta, which empties out into the Gulf of Mexico after
traveling through New Orleans. You could say the Big Easy is
the spiritual home of blues and jazz music, and therefore
the spiritual home of the guitar - at least as it's known in
America.
The list of Delta Bluesmen that
Johnson influenced could in itself be the list of the 100
best guitarists. Muddy Waters. BB King. Howlin' Wolf. Bo
Diddley. And on and on and on.
What's great about that is you can see
the influence that Johnson had still in evidence today.
Muddy Waters was the favorite bluesman of Jimmy Page and
Jeff Beck, both members of the British Invasion (through the
Yardbirds, the Jeff Beck group and, of course, Led Zeppelin)
of the 1960s and both surefire members of the list of 100
best guitarists.
The Famous Dave Grohl 0n the
100
Moving further down the road we have
someone like Dave Grohl, an accomplished singer, songwriter,
drummer and guitarist with Nirvana and Foo Fighters, who
lists Jimmy Page as his biggest influence.
Does Grohl belong on the list of the
100 best guitarists? Probably not, but it's a matter of
personal taste. What is important, though, is that you can
draw a straight line from Johnson, to Waters, to Page, to
Grohl - who's still making chart-topping music
today.
Back several decades ago, Johnson was
referred to as "the Granddaddy of Rock and Roll," and it was
fitting since, his heirs, Page, Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimi
Hendrix et al would be his grandsons.
In the 21st century he might better be
referred to as "The Great Granddaddy of Rock and Roll."
Either way, he's your starting point for figuring the 100
best guitarists of all time. See if you can put your
favorite guitar player somewhere on the list.
Going Forward in Ranking the 100
Greatest Guitarists
When naming the 100 greatest
guitarists, most folks would suggest you start with Jimi
Hendrix and just go from there. Hendrix was so good, so
distinct, so incendiary that most people - critics, other
guitarists, etc. etc. - have a hard time imagining ranking
anyone higher than Jimi.
About Guitar Player
Competitions
But Hendrix wouldn't feel that way,
because he seemed to get it: Music is not competition. How
can you rank people that aren't competing with each other?
Sure, you may like Jimmy Page better than Eric Clapton, but
that doesn't make the Clapton fan incorrect. It's all just a
matter of opinion.
The Who?
So then, the idea of constructing a
list of the 100 greatest guitarists is kind of a nonstarter.
Everyone has their favorites, everyone has those guitarists
they dislike. Plus how do you work with someone like Pete
Townsend? Townsend was without question an absolute master
of the instrument, and an even better songwriter.
But then something happened in the
'80s. Maybe he just got too old, maybe the drugs went to his
head a little bit, maybe it was the alcohol - "Who Are You"
for example, is a song he wrote about waking up on a
doorstep in the Bowery after a night of hedonistic excess.
Well, Townsend was unquestionably
great. But then, seemingly overnight, he became a parody of
himself, someone who wouldn't be in shouting distance of the
100 greatest guitarists ever. Which Townsend do you
rate?
A New Wave for the Best
Guitarists
Another problem is rating the "new"
guitarists. Jack White is the real standout, and his body of
work is reaching sufficient size to say "yeah, he belongs on
the list." But what of the guitarist from "Muse", who've
released two amazing albums but might not produce a third?
Is that enough work to guarantee him a
spot on the list? Is the list of the 100 best guitarists
supposed to be based upon talent alone, or does productivity
come into play?
The 100 Best Guitarists - Who are
They?
This is absolutely a common and fun
subject for music lovers to discuss. Everybody gets to have
an opinion on it, and since it's all subjective, everyone
gets to be correct!
Favorite Vs. Best Guitar
Player
Personally my favorite guitarist of
all time is David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. Others might turn
their noses up a bit at that, but Gilmour's solos and fills
move me in a way that others haven't.
Notice, though, I said "my favorite"
instead of "the greatest." You've gotta realize that
subjectivity is the issue here. But remember, your list of
the 100 greatest guitarists is YOUR favorite list, not
anyone else's. It's a personal thing. Let's stop talking and
start playing.
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