Some underrated Guitarists. At least in my opinion.

[Bluzmann57]

Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Clapton, Duane Allman,etc. are rightfully ranked as some of the greats of all time. But there have been many others who have, and are, carrying on the craft. These are a few of mine. Please note that I am into Blues and good old Rock and Roll, so my choices will reflect that. And these are in no particular order. Just a few of my faves, in reality.
Frank Marino. Listen to him. Mahogany Rush.
Sonny Landreth. He should be famous soon.
Tommy Bolin. He would have been recognized as one of the greats if he wouldn't have "Post Toastee'd" like a lot of his friends did. RIP Tommy.
Billy Gibbons. Underrated big time. No less than Joe Satriani has admitted to being influenced by Gibbons.
Eric Gales. Hendrix influenced and from a Blues rockin' family. Can rap as well. More importantly, is one helluva guitar player.

Well there are a few of mine. Feel free to add some of your own. Or rip on mine if you choose. As I said, I am into the American art form known as "Da Blues", as well as Good old Rock and Roll. And I love it.

[LynneSin]

1. My favorite underrated guitarist - Queen's Brian May

The guy had some skills but with a lead singer like Freddie Mercury, he was overshadowed a bit.



And no - I have no desire to see that travesty with Paul Rodgers. Both May and drummer Roger Taylor could have done the tour with one of them doing vocals. I would have paid to see that

[maveric]

3. You and I are on the same track at the same time.

May is one of the best the biz has seen. And I do agree about him being overshadowed.

[driver8]

44. Brian May has such an amazing sound and is such a great player...

one of those guys who, as soon as you hear the guitar, you know who is playing it.

[entanglement]

68. Brian May - absolutely!

[maveric]

2. Brian May from Queen.

When guitar gods are spoken of, his name is rarely mentioned. The guy is talented, builds his own guitars and amps for his own unique sound.

You also dont hear much talk about Johnny Winter. As far as Blues-Rock guitarists go, he's one of the best.

[Bluzmann57]

6. Yeah! Johnny Winter!

He was a helluva guitarist and probably still is, but I saw him a few years ago and he was a mess. He could just barely lift his axe up, let alone play it. Very sad, imo. But all told, Johnny Winter used to kick ass.

[maveric]

9. He's better now and playing in Solana Beach CA, this Thursday.

I'm trying to get tix for that show. Its sold out but scalper tix are available online and on Craigslist.
I saw him in 1974 and it was a near religous experience for me, being a young guitarist at that time.

I read a review a few months ago about JW and he's regained his health and kicking ass again.

[bertha katzenengel]

4. I'm pretty damned underrated.

Of course, not many have heard me play. And I'm not that great. But for someone who just

FUCKING LOVES TO PLAY!

i'm pretty underrated.

;)

[Bluzmann57]

8. Rock on!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's all.

[DS1]

5. ROCKY GEORGE!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

7. Hughie Thomason and Billy Jones from the Outlaws

One of the best southern rock records ever made...the solos on Green Grass and High Tides were live!

[maveric]

11. I partied with The Outlaws in Tampa, 1976.

They are from Tampa and this little club I would frequent was where they got their start. A few weeks before, I saw them in Boston. My friends and I were in this club and regognized the faces. We asked the bartender if it was them and he said yes, introduced them to us.
We spent a few nights buying pitchers of beer for each other. They were amused by our strong Boston accents. Hughie even drew us a map to a great "mushroom" field outside of Tampa. Man-o-man we were fried for weeks!
That whole band was made up of good guys from humble beginnings. Its a shame that most of them are now in Rock n Roll heaven now.
I always liked the three guitar set-up that some southern rockers had, The Oytlaws "screamed"!

[mitchum]

13. The guitars on "Green Grass and High Tides" ARE incredible...

and I have always prefered it as a "Southern Rock epic" to (Heresy warning!) "Freebird" or any of the Allman Bros lengthy workouts

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

Me too...

[Zomby Woof]

16. Hughie!

HT was one of the few players who redeemed the 90's faux incarnation of Skynyrd. He quit a few years ago and re-formed the Outlaws, although I can't imagine the former glory being recaptured. Still, I love hearing "Green Grass and High Tides" whenever I have the chance.

[elshiva]

10. Rick Rosas who plays back up for Neil Young nowadays.

Johnny Winter, I third.

[maveric]

12. Dont forget Ronnie Montrose.

Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter, who played on Lou Reed's "Rock n Roll Animal", are good ones too.

[Oeditpus Rex]

22. I'll never forget Ronnie Montrose

He's my automatic answer to this question. :toast:

[Zomby Woof]

14. Ronnie Earl

I saw him live once, and he ripped my pancreas out, and shot it through my liver.

Also must say Warren Haynes too. My favorite of the past decade. He can play, write, and sing - a monster. Check out any Gov't Mule album or early 90's Allman Brothers.

[mitchum]

15. Doug Yule of The Velvet Underground...

although he was officially the bass player, most of the guitars on the "Loaded" album are played by Yule

[swag]

33. Misplaced post

sorry

[tarkus]

17. Robert Fripp- the amazing, if quirky, guitarist of King Crimson

And Johnny Smith, who is without a doubt one of the greatest musicians of the twentieth century.

[Floogeldy]

32. Glad to see someone mention Fripp.

:)

But I doubt if he is underrated by anybody who knows what the fuck they are talking about. ;)

[Twillig]

18. I always liked the playing of Pat Travers and his sidekick

Pat Thrall.

They used to open for everybody, it seemed.

[Maestro]

20. Blast from the past

I remember listening to the Pat Travers band back in the 80's. Good choice.

[maveric]

21. That was the only concert I ever walked out on.

I loved his studio stuff but live, Pat Travers was just BORING!
Maybe it was just a bad night for him but many in San Diego, where he played, complained about how boring the show as.

[Maestro]

23. The only concert I walked out on was a Cheap Trick

concert. Robin Zander was whacked out, angry at the audience, etc... He finally just walked off the stage and a mini-riot ensued.

[Maestro]

19. Eric Johnson

Steve Morse
Les Claypool (Incredible bassist who is well known in musician circles)
John Petrucci and John Myung (bassist) both from Dream Theater. Again, these guys are well known in musician circles but they need more exposure.
Kris Norris and Mike Schleibaum from Darkest Hour. These guys are very good thrash/metalcore guitarists BTW, the Darkest Hour are definitely some guys that make hardcore music but are not over-the-top about. They are almost comical. Check it out here.
Peter Lindgren from Opeth.
Ah heck, there are so many good and unknown axe slingers. I'll stop with this for now.

[Fenris]

Deniz Tek, Roger Clay, Robin Wills

And a host of other unjustly unknown guitarists.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

24. Buck Dharma.....

my perennial favorite.

[maveric]

28. You're gonna think that I'm bullshittin but I sat with him in a club.

The "Paradise" in Boston, 1976. My hometown friend's band was playing there and he was checking out the talent. The club was full and only one seat was open at a 2-seat table. This dude was sitting there and I asked him if the seat was taken. He said no and I sat there. At that time BOC was one of my favorites. Seen them several times live, he looked familiar, when I noticed it was Don Roeser (Dharma), I asked him if he was who I suspected. He nodded and made the "SSHHHHH" sign. It was him. A very nice guy too. Not arrogant or snobby but somewhat reserved.We talked in between acts, mostly about the guitar player, friend of mine. We exchanged rounds during the rest of the show. When it was over he shook my hand and split. Alone.

[Metta]

25. Johnnie Bassett, great bluesman from Detroit.

Ernie Hawkins, fabulous fingerstyle bluesman and *the* best conveyor of Rev. Gary Davis.

[ghostsofgiants]

26. I never hear anything about how awesome John Frusciante is.

He is quite awesome.

[mitchum]

27. Roy Montgomery (fantastic New Zealand guitar player)...

the late Roy Buchanan
Randy Bewley of Pylon
Brad Rice (Son Volt, Whiskeytown, Tift Merritt)
and of course, Hubert Sumlin, the late Robert Quine, and the late John Fahey can never be rated high enough

and me

[maveric]

29. What about Roy Clark?

Not a rocker but is capable of verstality. He backed up the J. Geils Band at show I saw in Boston during the 70's. He had the raucous crowd on their feet playing some mean blues, rock a billy, bluegrass and some old time rock n roll. The guy is FAST too!
That really surprised me, being my only exposure to him was from Hee Haw.

[Doctor_J]

31. Very good. So is Glen Campbell

[6000eliot]

52. Glen Campbell was a session guy in LA

He played on many famous records that came out of California, including many Beach Boys records.

[no name no slogan]

58. he also popularized the electric 12-string guitar, too

in the early 60s, before the Byrds ever hit.

[Doctor_J]

30. Albert Lee, David Hidalgo (Los Lobos),

Herschel Yatovitz (Chris Isaak), John Jorgensen. I prefer r&r to r&b, so my selections are skewed that way.

[swag]

34. Some

Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols
Bob Mothersbaugh of DEVO
Billy Zoom of X

[driver8]

I love to watch Billy Zoom play! Not only does he look like he is

having fun, but that man can play!

[driver8]

46. Steve Jones does a radio show on the local "alternative station" here

in Los Angeles. He keeps a guitar in the studio with him and is always making up songs while he is on the air. He is very, very funny. He also frequently mentions who he stole equipment from when he was young...his stories are great.

[proud2BlibKansan]

35. Garry Moore

blues guitarist

[Oeditpus Rex]

48. I have his 'Corridors of Power'

Not a very good album, but the boy can play.

[proud2BlibKansan]

53. "Still Got the Blues For You"

has one of THE BEST guitar solos ever. I don't remember the name of the album. It was a late 80s release I believe.

[borlis]

36. Rik Emmett

I saw him with Triumph a few times years ago. Also saw him solo 2 years in a row at the house of blues. He is simply AMAZING!! The voice is still great too.

[Oeditpus Rex]

51. Emmett is underrated?

Triumph had a pretty good run in the '80s, so I'd imagine he was pretty well-known.

But, yeah — that dude is outSTANDing. Burn your pants with solos like on "Nature's Child," then make me damned near cry with "Suitcase Blues."

[BrewerJohn]

37. I thought Sonny Landreth was going to be "famous soon"

in the early nineties.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

38. I heard this band one time called Fingers. This guy on

keyboards and rhythm guitar played really well but jeez what a bozo! Just goes to show that a pathetic guy like that can do well I guess anybody can ....

:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

[Floogeldy]

41. Good point!

And definitely underrated! ;)

[Redstone]

39. Django Reinhart. He did it with two fingers and a thumb.

Redstone

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

40. I love the blues and worshipped Jimi Hendrix when I was a kid in the 1960s

I saw Hendrix and the Experience 3 times in concert and still worship at the shrine of his genius. I can still picture him in my mind on stage in Atlanta in the summer of 1968, setting aside his Stratocaster and picking up a red Gibson Les Paul and cranking up a gut-wrenching version of 'Red House'.

But for anyone who wants to experience some of the full range of guitar genius, I highly recommend they get some records or DVDs of the late great Lenny Breau. What a guitar player. He was a fingerstyle jazz player and did things with his guitar that every guitar player needs to be exposed to, in my opinion. The guy was murdered in his prime and I don't think they ever found who killed him. What a loss and the fact that only jazz players tend to know what a giant he was is also very sad.

[driver8]

42. When I was in hight school, I got so many of my friends into Mahogany

Rush. Frank Marino is definitely underrated -- he is incredible.

[opiate69]

43. A couple international candidates..

Hideto Matsumoto and Tomoaki Ishizuka (Pata) of X Japan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Japan

[Robeson]

45. Martin Barre...

...of Jethro Tull. Very underrated.

[enigmatic]

47. Tom Verlaine and Glen Mercer

Glen Mercer of The Feelies



Tom Verlaine of Television

[Skittles]

49. Alvin Lee

yes INDEED

[michreject]

61. He gets my vote

Saw him a couple of dozen times and have all his albums. Wore them out and the replacments as well.

"Good morning little schoolgirl".

[6000eliot]

50. All the guitarists from Fleetwood Mac

but especially Bob Welsh, Hunter and Wagner from Lou Reed and Alice Cooper, Davey
Johnston from Elton John, and I also agree about Tommy Bolin. He rocked the James Gang and deep Purple, and those were two tough guitarists to follow. On edit, Bill Nelson from Be Bop Deluxe.

[driver8]

101. Peter Green is my favorite from that band. I love his playing. n/t

[MissMillie]

54. Well, Wikipedia gets it right

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitarist

[kwassa]

66. Albert "Iceman" Collins, Ry Cooder, Elmore James

[tigereye]

87. Albert Collins!

one of my favorite blues shows ever. He went and played outside in the snow. He was smokin!

[Jade Fox]

55. Ernie Isley of the Isley Brothers n/t

[SteppingRazor]

56. Mark Knopler, believe it or not...

One of the few great finger-picking guitarists in rock.

I agree about Billy Gibbons. Not only did Satriani cite him as an influence -- Jimi Hendrix stated that Gibbons was his favorite guitarist.

[driver8]

102. I take guitar lessons and one of my teacher's favorite guitarists

is Billy Gibbons. I guess I need to buy some early ZZ Top!

[no name no slogan]

57. John McGeoch (Magazine, Siouxsie & the Banshees, PiL)

The man practically invented post-punk guitar:


Also, the underrated and vastly underheard Steve Fellows of Comsat Angels, who was very influential on a young Dave Evans (aka "The Edge") of U2. He now manages britpoppers Gomez:


And finally, Ron Asheton of the original Stooges line-up ("The Stooges", "Fun House"). Arguably the father of punk-rock guitar:



Not to mention a flock of flamenco guitarists who I also rate highly: Tomatito, Paco de Lucia, Vicente Amigo among them.

[Beware the Beast Man]

59. Syd Barrett.

Not a virtuoso by definition, but the way he used the guitar to create noises and sounds. He often dropped metal ball bearings on the strings, and used slides beyond their normal function.

[Richardo]

60. Terry Kath.

Listen to early Chicago. He was definitely the testosterone in that band. Hendrix reportedly loved his guitar playing.

[Elidor]

62. Just off the top of my head

[SmileyBoy]

63. Zakk Wylde.

"That man knows his way around 5 strings." -Master Shake

[blindpig]

64. Larry Coryell

Pretty laid back nowadays from what I understand but if you ever saw the Eleventh House back in the day it was burned in your mind.

[edbermac]

65. Frank Zappa...

[DBoon]

79. yes!

nt

[jmowreader]

81. Zappa's problem....

is that it's impossible to really state just how good he was. Frank Zappa was the compleat musician, hampered by the fact that he specialized in playing weird shit.

[hobo_baggins]

89. I don't think that hampered him, i think thats what made him so great

he wasn't afraid to push the boundaries

[jmowreader]

107. It hampered him in that it limited his audience

People who would really have enjoyed Frank's playing tended to shy away from him because he was the guy who sang about not eating yellow snow and about the devil stealing his girlfriend--AND his beer!

By the time "Jazz from Hell" and "Shut Up 'n' Play Your Guitar" dropped, Frank was the guy who sang the weird shit.

Oh, better: In the 1980s when the record stickering started, Fred Meyer stores in the Northwest put Frank's Jazz from Hell album on their "obscene albums" list. When asked why, the buyers first said it was because of the lyrics (the album is Frank playing jazz music on his Synclavier and has no lyrics at all), then said it was because of the cover (the cover is Frank Zappa dressed in a suit, just sitting there with his hands in his lap). Turns out it was just because the word "hell" was on the cover and they figured there HAD to be some evil shit on there.

[warrens]

67. Sterling Morrison of the Velvets

He was pretty subtle (Reed played most of the real noisemongering)but he was terrific. I saw them live at the very end, and they were basically playing 20 minute versions of their hits, and his solos were out of this world.

[HughBeaumont]

69. Matt Pike from High on Fire

Alexi Lahlo from Children of Bodom
Ben Weinman from Dillinger Escape Plan
Brent Hinds from Mastodon

[entanglement]

70. Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains)

:headbang:

[maveric]

71. Mick Taylor

IMHO the best guitarist the Rolling Stones ever had.
Richards, Jones and Wood have nothing on Mick. I just dont think he was too bright, just walking away from the fucking Rolling Stones!

[derby378]

72. Prince Rogers Nelson

That's right, the Motor City king of Paisley Park and hero of The Revolution. I am in awe every time he picks up a guitar and cuts loose.

[Nailzberg]

73. Mike McCready

Most people are familiar with the radio hits, but there are many lesser known cuts on Pearl Jam albums that he completely owns. And his live performance is incredible - Cameron Crowe had him recorded the guitar tracks played by Billy Crudup's character in "Almost Famous" <>

[driver8]

103. Oh yeah -- McCready can rock! I saw Pearl Jam play a benefit

in Seattle a couple of years ago and I think I watched McCready 90% of the time. He is a great guitar player.

[Beaverhausen]

74. Richard Thompson, Bruce Cockburn and Patty Larkin

[B3Nut]

77. +1 on Bruce Cockburn!!!

I saw him do a solo acoustic show...my GOODNESS that guy can play! One of the best guitarists I've ever heard perform. Superlative songwriter, too.

Todd in Beerbratistan

[Beaverhausen]

80. I saw him solo recently too

At tiny McCabes in Santa Monica, CA. He blew me away...as I knew he would. And his politics are right on!

[driver8]

104. I am so jealous...I wish I knew that he was playing there.

What a great place to see a show.

[egadsbrain]

75. Johnny Thunders

when he wasn't too too out if it!
:rofl:

[Saphire]

76. Henry Garza

[DBoon]

78. Billy Zoom

nt

[Tikki]

92. My choice, also.......

nt

[China_cat]

82. Django Rhinehardt

[mulsh]

84. Joseph Reniehardt

Django's brother. he played rhythm guitar or lots of Djano's recordings. so if you've heard Django chances are you've heard his brother.
Djano was an awsome lead player but Joseph is equally awesome holding down the rhythm.

[China_cat]

90. But Joseph wasn't doing it

with only 2 fingers on his left hand.

[GumboYaYa]

83. Leo Nocentelli..funkiest guitarist alive..

He wrote and performed the funk classics, "Fire on the Bayou" and "Hey Pocky Way" with The Meters along with hundreds of songs recorded by other artists.

Leo may be the fastest fingered funk guitarists around.

[cedahlia]

85. Kim Thayil of Soundgarden

How anyone could dare underrate the lead guitarist on such badass tracks as Rusty Cage and Jesus Christ Pose, is beyond me!

Love ya, Kim!! :headbang:

[entanglement]

97. Yeah, he's a good one too

:headbang:

[Rob H.]

86. Deke Dickerson

The greatest rockabilly/old-school rock and roll/country guitarist most people have never heard of.

[tigereye]

88. Richard Thompson - phenomenal

Robyn Hitchcock
Bruce Cockburn
Billy Zoom
Tom Rush and whomever played pedal steel for him
Bonnie Raitt
Joan Armatrading - she's actually really good live - funny and a great player
the guy who played with Lou Reed for years... forget his name.
Prince ain't too bad, either


Albert Collins!

[driver8]

105. Robert Quine played with Lou Reed for years...he is one of my

favorite players. I saw Lou Reed in 1984 on his New Sensations tour and Robert Quine was playing with him. I didn't know anything about him at the time. Holy shit could that guy play!! If you like his playing, he is all over Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend" album.

Sadly, Robert Quine committed suicide a couple of years ago.

A little info on Robert Quine.

www.thehighhat.com/ Potlatch/004/quine.html

[tigereye]

110. yeah, was too lazy to look up his name

I saw that tour, too! He was great.


It really pisses me off when talented people off themselves, no matter the reason.

I like Sweet, my band was once compared to him by someone with whom we recorded.

[ET Awful]

91. Maury Muehliesen - played with Jim Croce, all the lead guitar you hear

was him, Jim played mostly rhythm.

Another of those who left us way too soon.

Another that most here have probably never heard of but can play damn near any stringed instrument well . . . Martin Simpson. The guy is phenomenal

[speedoo]

93. The late, great, Roy Buchanan.

[maveric]

98. He was a great one IMHO. But such a tortured soul.

Was arrested for drunkeness and hung himself in jail at a very young age.

[greendog]

94. Anyone heard of Martin Carthy?

No "flash" at all. Isn't much into playing solos. No "intricate" fingerstyle. Doesn't play a lot of notes. Mostly just backs his own vocals.

One of the best.

[liberaltrucker]

95. I can't BELIEVE nobody mentioned B.B. King

or Bo Diddley.

Or for that matter Tommy Shaw and (looking beyond politics),
and I HATE to say----Ted Nugent. Flame away, but he is a very
talented guitarist.

[maveric]

100. Is BB King "underrated"?

I've never heard that before.

[alfredo]

96. Lonnie Mack, James Taylor, Les Paul, John Mayer, Keith Richards

James Taylor relies more on his vocal skills, but his licks are very clean.

Charlie Hunter kicks ass. So does Tony Rice and Ricky Skaggs Ali Fakar Toure

[maveric]

99. Here's one. Rory Gallagher!

A little Irish blueswork.

[speedoo]

106. How about Buddy Guy?

Pretty well known, but as great as he is, I'd say he's under rated.

[Buck_Fush93]

108. ya so

Im new here

[maveric]

109. What about Leo Kotke?

Just dont let him sing.