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re: Greatest Rock Guitarist of All Time?

Posted on 2/5/18 at 10:18 am to
Posted by Agforlife
Somewhere in the Brazos Valley
Member since Nov 2012
20102 posts
Posted on 2/5/18 at 10:18 am to
Doyle Bramhall II
Posted by RECConspiracy
Birmingham, AL
Member since Dec 2013
2072 posts
Posted on 2/5/18 at 3:01 pm to
quote:

Steve Howe deserves mention as well. Hard to name another rock guitarist with a more unique approach.


Fantastic guitarist. He got often overshadowed by Squire but is certainly one of the greatest ever.
Posted by Hooligan's Ghost
Member since Jul 2013
5184 posts
Posted on 2/5/18 at 4:53 pm to
Steve Howe
Eric Johnson
Steve Morse

all 5 time guitar player of the year winners in Guitar Player Magazine

Albert Lee 5 time winner country and western guitar player
Posted by Barnacle Bill
Dallas
Member since Jan 2016
397 posts
Posted on 2/10/18 at 10:37 pm to
Frank Zappa
Posted by Don Johnson
Member since Dec 2010
520 posts
Posted on 2/11/18 at 10:22 pm to
Mike McCready.
Posted by DannyB
Bagram, Afghanistan
Member since Aug 2010
6141 posts
Posted on 2/12/18 at 6:27 am to
Walter Becker
Posted by Jazzbo Depew
Bug Tussle
Member since Dec 2017
1765 posts
Posted on 2/12/18 at 5:06 pm to
quote:

Chet Atkins is one of the dudes that got me into playing guitar.



For me it was Joe Walsh. I've only ever seen him on dvd !

Posted by KiwiHead
Auckland, NZ
Member since Jul 2014
27374 posts
Posted on 2/14/18 at 12:05 pm to
quote:

like Mark Knopfler the best,


Technically, Knopfler may be one of the best, but his creativity at times was wanting
Posted by KiwiHead
Auckland, NZ
Member since Jul 2014
27374 posts
Posted on 2/14/18 at 12:09 pm to
quote:

Eric Clapton says Prince was. I'll defer to EC's judgement.


Prince was something of a virtuoso on the guitar , I remember seeing a clip of him doing "As My Guitar Gently Weeps" for his Rock n Roll Hall of Fame induction. He took the solo and went places with it that would blow you away.
Posted by KiwiHead
Auckland, NZ
Member since Jul 2014
27374 posts
Posted on 2/14/18 at 12:30 pm to
I know there are some that will argue, but Chuck Berry was a helluva guitar player

Albert King was great as well

In my opinion blues and rock go hand in hand
Posted by Tiger Ree
Houston
Member since Jun 2004
24543 posts
Posted on 2/16/18 at 8:04 am to
quote:

know there are some that will argue, but Chuck Berry was a helluva guitar player


Funny that I would come to post something and you had posted Chuck Berry.

This person influenced Chuck Berry. Not only that but was a huge influence on Elvis Presley. This person doesn't get any credit for being one of the most influential people in music history, BUT SHE IS.

"Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard all came THRU Rosetta Tharpe"

This video starts with a 1964 performance of hers on live British television from Manchester from a railway station. Her guitar playing is exactly like Chuck's.

The Godmother of Rock’n’Roll – Sister Rosetta Tharpe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKK_EQ4pj9A



From Wikipedia:

"Sister Rosetta Tharpe (March 20, 1915 – October 9, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and recording artist. As a pioneer of mid-20th-century music, she attained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and rhythmic accompaniment that was a precursor of rock and roll. She was the first great recording star of gospel music and among the first gospel musicians to appeal to rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll audiences, later being referred to as "the original soul sister" and "the Godmother of rock and roll".[1][3][4][5][6] She influenced early rock-and-roll musicians, including Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis.[7][8][9]

Tharpe was a pioneer in her guitar technique; she was among the first popular recording artists to use heavy distortion on her electric guitar, presaging the rise of electric blues. Her guitar playing technique had a profound influence on the development of British blues in the 1960s; in particular a European tour with Muddy Waters in 1963 with a stop in Manchester is cited by prominent British guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Keith Richards.[10]"
This post was edited on 2/17/18 at 10:30 am
Posted by Stan Switek
Member since Apr 2017
361 posts
Posted on 2/16/18 at 10:21 am to
I'm gonna state the obvious and go with Hendrix. No other guitarist I can think of has had such an influence on the variety of great guitarists that Hendrix has -- SRV, Frusciante, Vai, Prince, Mayer, The Edge, and countless others. This influence spanned not just rock but blues, alternative, grunch, metal, soul, and even rap.

While his lead work was transformational and compositionally brilliant (see All Along The Watchtower and Bold As Love as examples), perhaps the greatest aspect of his playing was his rhythm work. Songs like Castles Made of Sand and Little Wing are examples of his chordal rhythm work, while the live version of Killing Floor showed a hard fast blues he was capable of. While steeped in the blues, he stretched the limits of what a guitar could do in the context of rock music, embracing sounds like the Octavia and studio sounds when other guitarists ran from them.

He is not only credited with being the first "rock" star, as music shifted from rock & roll to something heaver, he's often credited with inventing heavy metal, and even having a hand in forming rap (the first to "scratch" ever recorded was on Are You Experienced).

Hendrix was not afraid to let his freak flag fly. His image showed other guitarists (and musicians as well) that it was OK to be yourself, even if you were a little bit different.

All that in only 4 years. Who knows what he could have done had he lived.
Posted by CCTider
Member since Dec 2014
24112 posts
Posted on 2/17/18 at 10:22 am to
quote:

Chet Atkins is one of the dudes that got me into playing guitar. His fingerstyle stuff is incredible.


Chet Atkins is fantastic. Glad to see someone bring him up.

And since we're going that way, away from just rock, I'll bring up Doc and Merle Watson. Though Tommy Emmanuel might be the greatest guitar player of any genre, ever.
Posted by Prof
Member since Jun 2013
42620 posts
Posted on 2/17/18 at 11:25 pm to
quote:

I like Mark Knopfler the best, but talent and creativity wise it’s Keith Richards and it’s not even close.



In fairness, Keith would tell you he's not a rock guitarist at all. He's a blues guitarist. And he's right, ya know.
Posted by Prof
Member since Jun 2013
42620 posts
Posted on 2/17/18 at 11:34 pm to
quote:

Many a guitarist has been befuddled over the intro to “When Doves Cry.” Give it a listen if it’s been awhile.

I’ve been a fan of Prince since I was about 12 and I’m primarily a metalhead.


Prince was an amazing guitarist and truly the most underrated of all guitarists. I think that's because when you listen to Prince, especially in the early years, you have this beautiful guitar intro in songs but then you have Prince's voice and Sheila E.'s drums taking over.

Composition wise you have several songs set up where the rest of the song is basically two instruments: Prince's voice and Shiela's drums. And her drumming is effing incredible from both a sound perspective and technical perspective.

Posted by Kcprogguitar
Kansas City
Member since Oct 2014
887 posts
Posted on 2/18/18 at 9:24 pm to
If you’re going to stray from rock, ask the greats who the greatest is and you’ll hear a chorus.

Alan Holdsworth
Posted by Gatorbait2008
Member since Aug 2015
22953 posts
Posted on 2/19/18 at 1:13 am to
It's Jimmy or Clapton.

In terms of talent, influence, etc. Hands down, no question. Others may be more "skilled", but greatest adds more than just technical talent to the frey.

Clapton
Jimmy
Paige
Richards
Stevie Ray

Would be my choices. Based on sales, talent, impact, etc.
Posted by Prof
Member since Jun 2013
42620 posts
Posted on 2/19/18 at 2:34 am to
It's proto-rock aka the blues but the greatest guitar player ever was Robert Johnson.
Posted by Jazzbo Depew
Bug Tussle
Member since Dec 2017
1765 posts
Posted on 2/19/18 at 1:43 pm to
quote:

Stevie Ray



No
Posted by dirtbag lsu
Not in Texas anymore ...dammit
Member since Feb 2005
2884 posts
Posted on 2/19/18 at 4:21 pm to
Its Eddie Van Halen...........and not really close.

Everyone mentioned wishes they could do what he does.

Pull up any of his live Guitar Solos...........no one can touch him.
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