oopsie Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I won't pledge for U2 here - used to be a bigger fan than i am now - but his playing (as well as his sound) had QUITE an impact (on coldplay for instance) cheerio
I agree. This is not directed at SciForums members specifically, but there are many people who seem to think that if your hands aren't moving at the speed of light when you play, then you really aren't playing anything noteworthy.
I still think those of you who think Clapton is soooo great are wrong. That is my opinion. I too have played guitar for a number of years, I believe 13 now, and also play some drums, keyboards, congas, sing, blah, blah, like it makes a difference... How much of Steve Vai have you listened too? His solo albums? His work with Whitesnake? How about his work with Frank Zappa? The man can play most anything, his style is certainly not limited. As for innovation, don't lump Clapton in with the likes of Hendrix, there is no comparison, Clapton simply emulated what early bluesmen had done, Hendrix rewrote the work of guitar... Clapton himself was in awe of Hendrix. Clapton was also in awe of SRV's pure power and emotion driven music... SRV far surpassed Clapton in emotional music. Some guitarists no one seems to note are many, many jazz guitarists... John Scoffield, Lee Ritnour and a bunch I can't think of right now. How about John Petrucci of Dream Theater? Give a listen. For blues, listen to the old masters like Albert King, B.B. King, Albert Collins, Son House, Robert Johnson and you will know that what Clapton did was copycat for the most part and speed up THEIR licks. Also, another great guitarist who went from playing heavy metal and rock to the blues... Gary Moore. Robin Trower did a few good songs worth listening to. There are just so many great guitarists for each genre. If you want to find the greatest of all time, it depends on what type of music you like. If you like country you will say Chet Atkins, for example. Or maybe Junior Brown, the man is surely talented! Probably the most noted for his impact of the music we listen to today, would have to be Jimi Hendrix. In the short time he made records he was probably the most influential guitarist in history. Even the beloved Clapton stared in awe at a concert and tried to figure out what he was playing. He influenced most of the people who influenced todays guitarists to play. No doubt about it.
Toadster - Have you given a listen to Robert Randolph before? Check out both his work with Robert Randolph and the Family Band as well as a band called The Word. Word is Randolph along with the greatest organ player/pianist in music today - John Medeski. Brilliant, brilliant Louissiana based Jazz and Blues. And believe me man, there are a few of us who still remember Scofield! A-Go-Go was a great album with Scofield playing with his (and my) favourite musicians as backing - John Medeski, Billy Martin and Chris Wood. Great tunes. As great as Hendrix was, by the way, I still think if you want to talk about influence you cannot stay away from mentioning Page. As a guitarist myself and having played with a decent number of other musicians around my own age (14-22), I can safely say I've heard more people obsess over and try and imitate Page than Clapton. Besides that, it's my experience that Page is far, far, far better at improvisation than Clapton. I've seen Clapton live and his playing was nothing unbelievable compared to the recorded versions. Page, on the other hand - as we can all see now on the DVD's or in How The West - was simply spectacular. Listen to something like Since I've Been Lovin' You and you've got pure improvised genius. Come on... Did Clapton ever do a 25 minute version - including a 14 minute guitar solo - of Layla? Hell no. Turn to disc three of How The West and listen to Whole Lotta Love and you'll see great improvisation.
Hendrix and Clapton are overrated; Hendrix was probably the better player, Clapton the better songwriter (Hendrix was best doing covers). But none of them touch Segovia or Bream or Williams. I'd second a vote for the Edge - he contributed a good deal of style to the coming decades, and wrote great songs. I'd also say Christian Vikernes for most inventive blending of styles.
Tyler, I agree, quite a bit, with you about Page... Stairway To Heaven was the first song I learned on guitar... great to stretch those fingers and learn a slew of chords! Page was definitely an improvisation wizard. Some of these names thrown out here... I'm gonna have to do some searches and have a listen. It's been a long time since I have gone looking for new music to enjoy. Thanks to everyone who has thrown some names in here.... Christian, I also agree with you about the classical and flamenco guitarists, they are untouchable... most folks don't really care for the style (at least most younger folks) but they are truly amazing to watch and hear! I try to play some of it but fall well short.... Guess I will have to stick to the blues....
One last name to throw in the ring.... Leo Kottke Toadster; Stairway is a wicked song to learn when you're starting out. Nothing quite like being able to play that first little riff for the first time. Plus - it always impressed the chicks!
Some good choices here. I can't not pick just three, I am sorry. My faves go as following: Jason Becker Steve Vai (The man quite possibly, is the most talented guitar players ever) Buckethead Ron Thal (If you haven't heard him, I highly suggest checking him out) Mattias IA Eklundh (If you haven't heard him, I highly suggest checking him out) Stanley Jordan Eddie Van Halen (For his inovations on the guitar) Dave Celantano (CHECK HIM OUT!!!) Michael Fath Michael Angelo Batio Yngwie Malmsteen (Some people said he is the most natuarlly talented guitar player out there, he is not.) Danny Gatton (I can't believe nobody mentioned his name!!!) Alex Skolnik Greg Howe (He is up there with Vai for most raw talent) Guitarplayers I do no like or I think are overated: Kirk Hammet: The man sucks, plain and simple. Sour notes galore, hides behind a wah pedal, shitty tone and rehashed pentatonic licks. Carlos Santana: If I here one more Santana song on the radio, I am going to snap. He is soooooooo sour! Eric Clapton: If you want to hear a fine blues guitarist in action, he is not that fine blues guitarist. There are so many blues/rock guitarist that give clapton a run for his money. He is just a name, IMO Tom Morello: Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I really can't stand him, don't know why, just can't. He couldn't hang with big boys, check out: "Guitars in the round" Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! As far as his "scratching" goes. Listen to Buckethead heads early stuff. He was doing it long before Morello and much much better. Randy Rhodes: When I first started playing I was a huge RR fan but as I have gotten older and progressed on the guitar I have come to the conclusion, he wasn't that great, techincally speaking. His guitar tone was wretched and he was constantly out of tune. I will give credit were credit is due, he did influence a major part of heavy metal. I do take into consideration the time when was doing this but compared to todays standerds he is fairly weak. Check out Malmsteens first album for Neo-Classical at its best. Jimmy Page: I can't stand him.
It's inspiring for me to have something to shoot for, even if it is personified by a squat, fat and blown-out old guy like Andres Segovia!
Classical vs. rock The difference between Andres Segovia and David Gilmour (just mentioned him because I don't notice that anyone else has and Pink Floyd seems to be one of SciForums' favorite bands, although I could be wrong) is the same as the difference between Itzhak Perlman and Jean-Luc Ponty. Classical musicians have impressive speed, discipline, accuracy, and versatility. Rock and other jazz musicians can improvise. It's not fair to compare the two. They measure up to different standards. Most classical performers are trained to play the notes as they are written and don't get much practice improvising. A good many rock stars can't even read music, certainly not "sight read," i.e. in real time. What we like about the greatest rock guitarists is their ability to create a new version of a song every time they play it, and for each version to be as good or better than the last. What we like about Segovia is that he plays every song exactly the same way every time and brings out exactly what the composer was trying to express. Yeah I know that there is room for interpretation in playing a classical piece and I don't mean to demean the skill of the musicians. But the difference between two performances, or even two conductors, is so subtle that most rock fans wouldn't even detect it. If we want to rate both classical and popular guitarists let's go for it, but I think we should keep them in separate lists.
1. Jimmy Hendrix (if you were to poll ALL guitar players, especially all the ones who have been mentioned in this poll- he would be the hands-down winner.) 2. Stevie Ray Vaughan 3. I'm going blank....too hard to tell from here. I'm really surprised at all of the neo-classical metal guys and speed solo freaks being mentioned... Brandon
y'know..Page always seemed to be having a blast onstage and in the studio. His guitar works has a sense of humor along with some deep blues feeling. He never got bogged down and tired sounding like Hendrix in his "Band of Gypses" period or Jeff Beck in the "Bedck,Bogart,Appice" group. Thumbs up to Jimmy Page.
Page is indeed a funny guitarist! Now perhaps it was just the multitude of various drugs in my system at the time - but ever since one night I have found the guitar solo to Heartbreaker on How The West as absolutely hilarious. He's a comedian with the instrument, and I fully respect that. Like everything from acting, to politics, from philosophy to economics - I believe the greatest and most respectable are those who can have fun with what they do. And Page just always seemed to light hearted about it. Hendrix always looked and sounded dead serious (hm, maybe the multitude of drugs thing), and so did Clapton. And Clapton DEFINETLY was melodramatically serious on stage. Page just looks like a guy with a guitar having some fun with his buddies!
Danny Gatton was like that on a good night..he would try any wild guitar lick that would pop into his head. Like the "Woody WoodPecker" theme song... Bill Kirchen is another fearless guitar player...check out the live version of "Hot Rod Lincon". Great sense of humor...
from readin all these responses it seems like most of these are either the guitar player from the posters current favorite bands or the guitar players that people think they are supposed to name. i make this assessment based ont he number that dont belong anywhere near this list like say, the guitar player for muse (i like thier music, but come on or lindsay buckingham? be serious) or all this clapton page talk. page was a astudio wizard to be sure, but no guitar god. clapton is techinically good but got no real soul, not to compare with real guitar greats anyway. same with SRV. good technical ability, but only half the soul of a real blues-man or guitar legend. here's my list: django reinhardt robert johnson jimi hendrix runners up: grant green randy rhodes jeff beck eddie van halen (for his unique sound) muddy waters those not on the list which have above mentioned technical proficiency but no real soul which is necessary for a real guitar god. NO PLACE ON A LIST OF THE BEST: vai (fast is not the same thing as good) satriani SRV clapton page lifeson morello adam jones eric johnson (fast is not the same thing as good) al dimeola (fast is not the same thing as good) metheny mustaine kreiger i think zappa was a brilliant musician, but not so much on guitar as in overall.
GuitarToadster Read your long post above... I agree with many of the things you are saying. There's a difference between showmanship and musicianship, many people don't see that or it's not important. The showman or technician focuses on the mechanics of playing an instrument, while the real artist uses that particular instrument as a medium to communicate. Lets face it, Hendrix had some damned interesting things to communicate, not so sure about some of the others mentioned here. Technicians quickly become boring to me...
Randy Rhodes? I was listening to that distorto muck when he was alive and felt no "soul" and after he died nothing changed.
