Saturday Question #20: How would you redo Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists list?
Written on June 27, 2009 in Saturday Questions & with 44 responses
Tags: guitar, guitarists, lists, saturday question
Welcome to the 20th edition of Saturday questions. This week was supposed to be the first guest question week, but that'll be done next week instead, as this suddenly popped up.
Many of you probably were around and into all this when the eminent Rolling Stone magazine published their 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time list (if navigation, for any reason, doesn't work over there, click here for text-only view of the list). Now, many people also disagreed with the placement of their favourite guitarists or, even worse, some of them being completely left out of this list.
So, if you had to make this list of greatest guitarists of all the time, what would it look like? You don't have to put 100 of them there, by any means, but if you're planning to make a list longer that 25 items, please use Pastebin and put a link to the list in your comment. If you have a blog or anything like that, you can make a post on it too and "ping" this post.
For previous Saturday questions, click here.
44 Reactions to Saturday Question #20: How would you redo Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists list?
Pravila za komentarisanje:
1. robert johnson, hendrix is a composer ( frusciante too ). johnson plays a million interweaving rythems that make one whole with his voice ( as it is a guitar magazine ).
The technician spaketh.
oh yeah, i was doubting, it isn't a guitar magazine.
the editor spitteth.
And spaketh and spitteth are...?
ancient superhero adjectives.
, old english: "has said" & mould dunggliss : "has spat"
no
( sorry four Epost )
If I had been given the chance to create such a list, then I would have definitely come up with the following top 15:
1. Jimi Hendrix
2. John Frusciante
3.Marty Friedman
4. Joe Satriani
5.Kirk Hammet
6. Dave Mustaine
7. John Petrucci
8.Rhandy Rhoads
9. Eddy Van Halen
10.Tommy Lommi
11. James Heitfeld
12. Jimmy Page
13. Jack White
14.Slash
15. Jonny Greenwood
my top ten would be...
10. Angus Young
9. Eric Clapton
8. Eric Johnson
7. Tom Morrello
6. Kirk Hammet
5. BB King
4. Joe Satriani
3. Robert Johnson
2. Jimi Hendrix
1. John Frusciante (I put John ahead of Hendrix because I believe that John has a better range of styles as well as being more technically accurate and in my opinion in the future he could become just as influential as Hendrix is.
Top 10:
1) Jimi Hendrix - Simply the best.
Duane Allman
2) SRV - Just beats JF. On another day I would probably have a different opinion.
3) John Frusciante - I think that he is a better muscian than guitar player, though one of the best nonetheless.
4) Buddy Guy - Really enjoy his stuff.
5) Jorma Kaukonen
6) Frank Zappa
7) B. B. King
9) Chuck Berry
10) Jimmy Page
No doubt the list would be very different on another day.
1. Hendrix
2. JF
3. Eric Clapton
4. Jimmy Page
5. Jeff Beck
6. Van Halen
7. Robert Johnson
8. Randy Rhodes
9. SRV
10. Duane Allman
11. Derek Trucks
12. Jack White
13. George Harrison
14. J Mascis
15. Pete Townsend
Finally a mention J Mascis.....I've spent the last half hour reading responses to the top 100 list on a variety of websites and no mention of J Mascis. OK, I wouldn't put him above Hendrix, but I just might put him at #2. He pulls off 2 (sometimes 3 or 4) solos in just about every song that most guys on the list would consider the best thing they ever played. And he does it song after song after song. Listen to Dino Jr's newest Farm for the latest evidence.
Also criminally missing from the list is Prince. I don't like all of his music, but when he plays its effortless and spectacular at the same time! Check out his solo on My Guitar Gently Weeps at the Rock and Roll induction ceremony.
1. Jimmy Page
2. Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead
3. Jimi Hendrix
4. John Frusciante
5. Eric Clapton
6. David Gilmour
7. SRV
8. Buddy Guy
9. BB King
10. Robert Johnson
1. Jimi Hendrix
2. David Gilmour
3. Jimmy Page
4. John Frusciante
5. Slash
6. Tony Iommi
7. SRV
8. EVH
9. Johnny Greenwood
10. Eric Clapton
1.Jimi Hendrix
2.John Frusciante
3.Brian May
4.Jimmy Page
5.David Gilmour
6.Joe Satriani
7.John Petrucci
8.Ed Hazel
9.Eric Clapton
10.Marc Knopfler
1. John Fruciante
2. Hillel Slovak
3. Steve Ray Vaughn
4. Jimi Hendrix
5. Eric Clapton
6. B.B. King
7. Santana
8. Pete Townshend
9. Johnny Winters
10. Kurt Cobain
I'd put these guys in the top 10 for sure.
10. Frusciante
9. Lenny Kravitz
8. Tom Petty
7. Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains)
6. Patrick Stump (Fall out Boy)
5. Deryck Whibley (Sum 41)
4. Rivers Cuomo (Weezer)
3. Billy Joe Armstrong (Green Day)
2. Dave Navarro
1. Nathan Connolly (snow patrol)
You're joking right?
I dont think you can really make a list, its impossible and alway opinionated.
But i would definetly include Hendrix, Frusciante, Paul Gilbert, Joe Satriani, SRV, Steve Vai. and some others theres so many!
mate? snow patrol? the best guitar player of all time plays for snow patrol does he? hell no, and i wont even mention fall out boy
FINALLY! A few people call out the list! I was wondering if people even read others posts
this was definitely not a real list - thanks for calling it out!!
ohhhhhhhhhhh thank god, i didnt think anyone could be this deaf when it came to guitarists
dude. wtfffff??? sum 41 snow patrol? fall out boy? go to a record shop for a few minutes bro .
1) John Frusciante
Eric Clapton
2) Jimi Hendrix
3) Eddie Hazel
4) Mick Ronson
5) Jimmy Page
6) Ron Ashton
7) Hillel Slovak
9) Chuck Berry
10) Brian May
this is an awesome idea. for me it would be...
1. Omar Rodriguez Lopez (stacks better than anyone)
2. Jimi Hendrix
3. John Frusciante (best musician in the world, but not the best guitarist)
4. Graham Coxon (Blur)
5. Jonny Greenwood (Radio_Head)
6. Bernard Sumner (Joy Division)
7. Eric Clapton (don't like him at all but he's ok)
8. Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine)
9. Kurt Cobain
10. Mike McCready (Pearl Jam)
As you can see i'm a bit of a 90's nut.
my favorites. rolling stone had it pretty accurate based on influencial guitarists.
these are my favorites though.
1. george harrison
2.frank zappa
3.john f
4.robert johnson
5.john gourley (portugal. the man)
6. omar rodriguez lopez
7.keith richards
8.jimi hendrix (sorry, he should have been higher. I forgot.)
9.johnny "guitar" watson
10.john mclaughlin
this is really tough. cause the only real way to measure any sort of talent a guitar player has, is how fast he can play, which doesn't necessarily say much, other than the fact that he is athletic. but i understand what the point of this was. and i had a good time figuring my favorites out ha ha.
Iva, would you please participate in the saturday questions of yours?...it would be interesting to know your favourites as well.
No, sorry. I think people would dwell on my (really humble) opinion too much for no reason. You guys know who my number one on the list would be, that's probably enough.
1 - John Frusciante
2 - Jimi Hendrix
3 - Marc Knopfler
4 - Ronnie Wood
5 - Keith Richards
6 - Jimmy page
7 - Joe Satriani
8 - David Gilmour
9 - Bo diddley
10 - Angus Young
1. John Frusciante
2. Omar Rodriguez Lopez (The Mars Volta)
3. Jack White (White Stripes)
4. Robert Fripp (King Crimson)
5. John Reis (Drive like Jehu)
6. Nicholas McCarthy (Franz Ferdinand)
this list would change on a day to day basis. these are also just my favorites, on a researched list they would probably be alot lower.
1.Jimi Hendrix
2.Felicia Michelle Collins
3. Lenny Breau
4.John Mayer
5. Marnie Stern
6. JF ( tied with) Frank Zappa (almost more as composers)
7.Omar Rodriguez Lopez
8. David Gilmour
9. Jimmy Page
10. James Williamson
11. J Mascis
12. Adam Jones
13. Slash
14. PRince (tied with Lenny Kravitz)
15.JAck WHite
1. JF
2. Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead)
3. Adrian Utley (Portishead)
4. Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth)
5. Graham Coxon (Blur)
6. Ian MacKaye (Fugazi)
7. Guy Piccoto (Fugazi)
8. Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth)
9. Robert Smith (The Cure)
10. Ed O'Brien (Radiohead)
11. Omar Rodriguez Lopez (Mars Volta)
12. Porl Thompson (The Cure)
13. Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)
14. Mick Jones (The Clash)
15. Steve Jones (Sex Pistols)
1. John Frusciante
2. Slash
3. Hendrix
4.David Gilmour
5. Tom Morello
6. Jimmy Page
7. Pete Townshend
8. Kirk Hammet
9. Eric Clapton
10. Van Halen
1. Matthew Bellamy (MUSE) (very good and underrated musician)
2. John Frusciante
3. Jimi Hendrix
4. Buckethead
5. Jack White
6. Mark Knopfler
7. Kurt Cobain
8.Mick Mars
9. John Mayer
10. Tom Morello
1st. John Frusciante
2nd. Jimi Hendrix
3rd. Eric Clapton
4. Jimmy Page
5. Slash
6. Kirk Hammet
7. Jack White
8. Brian May
9. John Mayer
10. Stevie Ray Vaughn
That is pretty accurate, all in all this list is not reflecting them as musicians but as guitarists.
I really do put John above Jimi, and I prefer Slash over Clapton & Page but I mean all in all Clapton & Page are most likely better...
10. Matthew Followill- much prefer his scuffier work on the 1sr 2 KOL albums but has a lot of potential.
9. Angus Young- possibly the best riff writer ever?
9. Mike Mcready- great bloody solo's, especially on 'Alive'.
8. Tom Morello-groundbreaking style that no one had really heard before.
7. Ritchie Blackmore- very fast, and decent riffs.
6. Pete Townsend- great showman, and brilliant style when it comes to chords.
5. Jeff Beck- watching him play live is immense.
4. Jimmy Page- some of the best riffs ever, and the darker side of him (those wierd violin bow solos) created a great mystery around zep.
3. Slash- what a persona, and his playing brought decent music back into the charts.
2. Jimi Hendrix- without him you wouldnt have any of these guys.
1. John Frusciante- no player creates such emotion in my opinion, (eg Dosed, Scar Tissue), and his wah wah shredding is fucking awesome as well (06-07 live versions of Give it Away, Turn it Again, 21st Century), his playing makes me go mad.
A list of my ten favourites, the order is really unimportant...
1.Jimi Hendrix
2.Jimmy Page
3.John Frusciante
4.Eric Clapton
5.Jeff Beck
6.SRV
7.Buddy Guy
8.Derek Trucks
9. John Mclaughlin
10. John Mayer
1. Jimi Hendrix
2. John Frusciante
3. Jimmy Page
4. Trey Anastasio
5. Duane Allman
6. Eric Clapton
7. George Harrison
8. John Fogerty
9. Dicky Betts
10. Keith Richards
!0)Carlos Santana - I really think he is great, so smooth
Derek Trucks - simply amazing guitar player, slide skills are best in the world today
9) Jack White - Really respect jacks playing, hes got amazing blues feel and completely does his own thing with it
7) Robert Johnson - made playing the blues sound simple when it was very far from it
6) John Frusciante - Best overall musician and songwriter, a true throwback to the greats. plays with so much emotion
5) Eric Clapton - Started the hard rock fuzzed out crazy sound, brought the blues into the new era
4) SRV - Had hands made out of pure steel, come on the guy played with 13s on his guitar and played so hard i swear i would see steam coming off the fretboard
3) Jimmy Page - every lick he ever wrote was genius
2) Duane Allman - One of the Thickest tones ive ever from a guitar
1) Jimi Hendrix - had the biggest and most lasting effect on the electric guitar since it was actually invented
1. John Frusciante
DDD
2. Jimi Hendrix
3. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
4. Steve Ray Vaughan
5. Jack White
6. Tom Morello
7. Mike McCready
8. The Edge
9. John Mayer
10. and Me
Jimi Hendrix
Matthew Bellamy
John Frusciante
Jimmy Page
John Butler
Ani Di Franco
Johnny Greenwood
Jeff Buckley
Tom Morello
Munch Wilkinson
15.George Harrison
14 Carlos Santana
13 Keith Richards
12 Ritchie Blackmore
11 Eddie Van Halen
10 Steve Vai
9 Randy Rhoads
8 Joe Satriani
7 Duane Allman
6 Stevie Ray Vaughn
5. Jeff Beck
4. Jimmy Page
3. BB King
2. Eric Clapton
1. Jimi Hendrix
JF is not
THAT good
1. John Frusciante
2. Jimi Hendrix
3. The Edge
4. Slash
5. Jimmy Page
6. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
7. Hillel Slovak(only dead, does he counts?)
8. Eric Clapton
9. Eddy Van Halen
10.Chris Shafler(the guy from the Foo Fighters)
And many more to follow. I actually think John is one of the best guitarplayers ever, cause if you listen his own albums, the guy is like... God of Guitar
Jimi Hendrix isn't dead?
True. But then again, it's not like you're really a freezer. Truth is relative.
1. John Frusciante - No words
2. Buckethead - His emotional, soft stuff is awesome!
3. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez - Also a good dancer.
4. J Mascis - Listen to any Dinosaur Jr record and listen for proof.
5. Eddie Hazel - Maggot Brain...
JIMI