Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists in the Universe

[Enraged_Ape]

I see that one of my all-time heroes, Mr. David Gilmour of Pink Floyd (who, not too long ago, sold six of his mansions and donated the ENTIRE proceeds to homeless causes), ranked at 82 out of 100, fully 30 points behind that other guitar god, Lou Reed, and 10 points behind Joni Mitchell, who I know I always dream of when I think of guitar excellence.

And we wonder how a fucking idiot like George Bush gets "elected" President in this country.

(Before any of you get too steamed, I actually like Lou Reed and Joni Mitchell, but among the 100 greatest guitarists of all time? And better than Dave Gilmour? Give me a fucking break.)

http://www.rollingstone.com/features/coverstory/featuregen.asp?pid=1917

[Kenneth ken]

1. this was up

a week or so ago - pretty much every response was similar to yours, with different names inserted for Gilmour, Reed and Joni.

So if you don't get a lot of replies, it's just that it was beaten to death before.

[democracyindanger]

2. CLAPTON IS GOD

eom

[Kenneth ken]

5. but Jeff plays better

(Beck)

[mitchum]

14. yes he does...

I remember as a kid, the greats were Hendrix and the three Yardbirds alumni, but unfortunately Beck has now fallen out of the mass consciousness. I think this is due to the fact that there is not a Beck song in "classic rock heavy rotation airplay" Hey, it's the audience's loss. I imagine that Beck could care less (he knows how good he is)

[Kenneth ken]

16. Wild Thing

at the end of that song he does a comical rant...

"if that isn't number-fucking-one - if THAT bastard doesn't go, I'll, I'll fucking retire!"

it didn't go #1 anywhere AFAIK, but he's still cranking out great stuff - JEFF (the newest) is tremendous!

[xJlM]

9. Jimmy Page is God

At least that's what it said on the overpass twenty-five years ago.

[Nevernose]

3. Jerry Garcia

Ranks behind Kirk Hammett and Kurt Cobain? Recount! Recount!
:hippie:

[Catch22Dem]

4. George Harrison = 21

BULLFUCKINGSHIT. Also, The Edge blows Cobain away.

ON EDIT: and "Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac" WTF????? Has anyone here seen LIVE what Lindsey Buckingham can do with a guitar? However, I must admit, Jimi and Duane...pretty badass!

[maveric]

6. Keith Richards @ #10!!!!???? You've gotta be shittin me!

Over Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck and Carlos Santana!??
He's a decent rhythym player at best and was never the best guitarist the Stones ever had. Mick Taylor takes that one.
I'd rate him at #102 maybe.
Who rated this anyway?

[NashVegas]

28. Technique Isn't Everything

on edit:

On second thought ...

Now that I've actually looked at the list, I have to wonder.

Example: Richard Thompson, one of my heroes, is at 19 while Pete Townshend is at 50.

I love RT to death and don't really argue with his position on the chart, but his technical wizardry (especially in an acoustic setting) does not top out the emotional intensity of Townshend's playing.

Townshend should be much higher on that list.

And Jack White? Well, I guess they want to sell magazines.

[enki23]

7. they probably don't have *any* of the most skilled 100 on the list

should have been obvious before you even read it that this was a "100 most popular guitar-associated musicians" list, with all the authority of rolling stone magazine to back it up. yay.

[ixion]

8. yeah, I don't really think the ranking is accurate either....

some discrepancies (IMHO)

12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
13 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead

Cobain was a good song writer, but there's no way he could play a better guitar than JG.

24 The Edge of U2

27 Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits

Knopfler is one of the greatest ever. I think he deserves to be in the top 10... and how is the Edge ahead of him? The Edge is good, but c'mon...


66 Vernon Reid of Living Colour

Uh, better than Gilmour, Joni Mitchell, Edgar Winter, etc? I don't think so.

87 Joan Jett
*snicker* uh, how did Joan get on this list at all?

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

10. After it all dies down and the smoke clears...

Jeff Beck will quietly release another album that sends everyone back to the woodshed, scratching their heads all the way.

[Catch22Dem]

11. No shit

Probably

[Catch22Dem]

12. Where the hell is Vai?

That dude can tear shit up too? Let's see, we have Joni Mitchel but no Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, or Lindsey Buckingham. Man, I love the way Joe Walsh plays too. Actually Walsh and Felder are both far better than 75% of this bullshit list.

[mitchum]

13. I think that Mitchell, Gilmour, and Reed all belonged in that list, but...

many didn't.
Ultimately the whole thing was typical Wenneresque bullshit.

[radiclib]

15. Notice how there's no debate about #1??

I've never been a Hendrix fan, but who can argue?
These lists are just a gimmick to draw attention and spark controversy. Having said that....Why the HELL isn't Richard Thompson in the top 10, and where the HELL is Bruce Cockburn?? HAH???

[Michael Daniels]

31. Actually, I think Thompson was placed about right

Really, it should have been 4 spots higher with him ahead of Cobain, White, Ramone and the guy from the Chili Peppers.

Beyond that I was pleasantly surprised to see him up that high given that a lot of the others in the top 20 are pretty well known names to the general public.

[maveric]

17. Where's Leo Kotke??

One of the all time best and not even listed?

[Owl]

25. Yes, where is Leo Keottke?

And Robin Trower, Eric Johnson even, and many others.

[ProfessorGAC]

27. And, As I Said Last Week. . .

. . .any list that fails to include Joe Satriani is one that belongs on the trash heap. He taught #7 eveything he knows, but Kirk doesn't know everything Joe knows! He's simply the most musically adventerous and highly skilled guitarist in rock history, and doesn't even make the top 100? That's preposterous.
The Professor

[NashVegas]

30. Another Amazing Omition

No Chris Whitley

[LibertyorDeath]

18. He is brilliant !

Hi Enraged_Ape Gilmour is a gem i've seen him twice in concert
His first solo albun titled David Gilmour is a must have.

Oh yeah the late great Randy Rhoads better be on that list!

[Enraged_Ape]

21. Gilmour has a great "unplugged" DVD out now

He does an acoustic version of Comfortably Numb that will bring tears to your eyes; as if the original doesn't already.

:hi:

[King_Crimson]

36. Enraged_Ape...

I too am a Gilmour fan...have been for thirty years. Seen him and The Floyd live 3 times. If you wanna see some up close-up action of this genius at work you should obtain the "Live at Pompeii" video released in 1971, as well as the "Pulse" video which was released just after Floyd's final tour in 1994.
What puts Gilmour head and chest above the rest is the fact that he never was a glamour boy or showoff...just the basic in your face style. My personal belief, and this is not to show any disrespect for Page, Townshend, Beck, Clapton, Hendrix and several others, but that number 1 slot belongs to this man!

[King_Crimson]

37. Enraged_Ape...

I too am a Gilmour fan...have been for thirty years. Seen him and The Floyd live 3 times. If you wanna see some up close-up action of this genius at work you should obtain the "Live at Pompeii" video released in 1971, as well as the "Pulse" video which was released just after Floyd's final tour in 1994.
What puts Gilmour head and chest above the rest is the fact that he never was a glamour boy or showoff...just the basic in your face style. My personal belief, and this is not to show any disrespect for Page, Townshend, Beck, Clapton, Hendrix and several others, but that number 1 slot belongs to this man!

[moondust]

19. Alvin Lee? Lindsay Buckingham?

Needs more work.

[Blue_State_Elitist]

20. Good to see Robert Fripp

Long live King Crimson!

[Spirochete]

22. Also missing

Slash
Malmstein
Lita Ford
Bonnie Raitt

[DemBones DemBones]

23. Is Jack White of the White Stripes really that good -- to be # 17?

I've never listened to him, really, but with George Harrison at # 21, inquiring minds want to know!

Johnny Winter is way down at # 74 -- that's wrong!

[DemBones DemBones]

24. And if Les Paul is on there, it's not a rock guitarist list, so where

is Joe Pass? Carlos Montoya? Django Reinhardt?


:wtf:

[ProfessorGAC]

29. Or Tal Farlow?!?!?

He and Pass are probably the most inventive ever, along with Wes Montgomery and Eric Gale in the next tier down.
The Professor

[FlashHarry]

26. Why such a narrow subject?

How about "100 Greatest Carbon-Based Lifeforms in the Universe!"

Lists like this are useless. How do you define 'great?' Innovation? Technique? Songwriting? Fellow DUers, don't get your collective knickers in a twist. This is simply a case of Rolling Stone being lazy. This once-proud magazine is going down the tubes fast--witness their last issue, which featured, gulp, the Olsen Twins. Ugh.

Read Mojo instead. You'll be much, much happier.

[XNASA]

32. Ranking Git-Pickers is ridiculous.

What is the criteria?

I've been playing a long, long time. Should my opinion count more than somebody else's? Probably not. So why should Rolling Stone's opinion count for anything either. I mean, who are these people?


Besides, any list that would put a milquetoast hack like EC at #4 is obviously out of touch. That guy jumped the shark when he was in Cream.

:nopity:

:donut:

[zekeson]

33. Muddy Fucking Waters

I bitched about it last time, I'll do it again. Where the hell is the man who established the instrument as a standard for Blues and rock?

[dutchdemocrat]

34. Joe Bonamassa didn't make the list...?

No Joe Bonamassa?

Joe’s astounding ability to play the guitar was evident when he first picked up the instrument at the age of four. By the time he was 12 years old, Joe was gigging around upstate New York with a band of adult sidemen and had opened for B.B. King at a show in Rochester, NY.

King was so impressed that he invited young Bonamassa onstage with him. “Joe’s potential is so great that he hasn’t begun to scratch the surface,” King later told an interviewer. “He’s young, with great ideas. He’s one of a kind, a legend before his time.”

Bonamassa made his national recording debut as the lead guitarist for Bloodline, a band made up — aside from Joe — of the offspring of famous musicians. Waylon Krieger was the son of Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger; drummer Erin Davis was the son of jazz giant Miles Davis; and bassist Berry Oakley Jr.’s father, Berry Sr., had been a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band. Joe co-wrote much of the original material on Bloodline’s self-titled album, released in 1995.

Developing vocal skills to match his blistering guitar work, Bonamassa released his solo debut, A New Day Yesterday in 2000. The record, produced by Dowd, featured guest appearances by Mountain’s Leslie West, guitarist Rick Derringer and guitarist/vocalist Greg Allman. Guitar World awarded the record four out of four stars, and Billboard raved “ smokes like a cannon... Bonamassa is a bold talent.”


Joe Has Been Selected as One of Guitar One's "New Guitar Heroes"

"With the blistering A New Day Yesterday, a live album, and the new So, It's Like That (Medalist Entertainment), Bonamassa is ready to roll into a future of intriguing possibilities."

**** FOUR STARS **** Check out this amazing new review from Guitar World

"Bonamassa's breathless So, It's Like That proves that the idiomatic shackles of the blues can be broken by a strong musical personality. At 25, the Utica, New York native has indisputably found himself as an artist. His pop-conscious arrangements build a gilded frame for his rich, throaty voice blending acoustic and electric textures for tracks like "My Mistake" and "The Hard Way" rock-radio-ready songs that don't sacrifice the spirit or edges of the blues."

The Washington Post loves Joe's rocking new album - check out the review right here

"If 25-year-old guitar phenom Joe Bonamassa wants to land a tune on a blockbuster film soundtrack in the near future -- say, something with producer Jerry Bruckheimer's name stamped all over it -- he should use "So, It's Like That" as a calling card. After all, it's not hard to imagine "My Mistake," "Mountain Time" and "The Hard Way" sitting right alongside a widescreen-tailored anthem by Aerosmith."


Check out Billboard's amazing review of Joe's new album So, It's Like That from their August 2 Edition

"The fact that blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa is hitting the road with BB King this month is a testament to this guy's old-school, old-soul virtuosity. There's so much passion and sweat slung about his sophomore outing, So, It's Like That, that just listening to it feels like an interactive outing....."

The San Antonio Express just featured this amazing article about Joe & his new album

"Several years ago guitar ace Eric Johnson, in discussing the relative merits of six string slingers, made a prophetic statement. Johnson said there's an 18-year old kid somewhere in the Midwest who's locked up in his bedroom practicing eight or ten hours a day with his sights set on being the best. Johnson was right and wrong. One of those kids about whom he might have been speaking, Joe Bonamassa, was considerably younger than 18. And he hails from Utica, NY."

[MissMillie]

35. Steve Howe at 69???

Behind Richards and George Harrison....

Guitar Magazine picked Howe as #1 for years (even ahead of Clapton, Page, Stevie Ray Vauhn).

Someone dropped the ball.