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Greatest Guitarists of All Time


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Did anyone mention Fareed Haque and/or Curt Kirkwood yet?

 

I love Curt!

"Six-Gallon Pie"!

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"Best" is pretty subjective, you could put Eddie Van Halen in as a technical master but does that make him one of the greatest ever? I doubt it. What about genre etc. Jesse Cook is a master but he won't make any rock list.

 

Some of my favorites.. Nels Cline, Larry Campbell, Tony Rice, Neil Young, Ralph Towner, Bruce Cockburn, Richard Thompson, Mark Knopfler, Frank Zappa, Jack White, Robbie Robertson, Prince, Jonny Greenwood, Pat Metheny.

 

Damn, that's the first time I've ever seen a best-of list that I didn't write that has Bruce Cockburn and Frank Zappa on it! :cheers

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I don't think anyone's mentioned

 

J. Mascis

 

Doug Martsch

 

Notice how you never see the two of them together?

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Some great ones mentioned. I'll add a couple more to the mix:

 

Larry Carlton - Great tone, tasteful and melodic. His playing on Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne" is simply sublime.

Lindsey Buckingham - often overlooked, but a really great and versatile player.

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Some great ones mentioned. I'll add a couple more to the mix:

 

Larry Carlton - Great tone, tasteful and melodic. His playing on Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne" is simply sublime.

Lindsey Buckingham - often overlooked, but a really great and versatile player.

 

Kid Charlemagne is one of the greatest recorded solos of all time. What's amazing is his knowledge of theory and how he works the simplest pentatonic scales into his work. Room 335 is just scary.

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Kid Charlemagne is one of the greatest recorded solos of all time. What's amazing is his knowledge of theory and how he works the simplest pentatonic scales into his work. Room 335 is just scary.

Agreed, one of the greatest solos ever. I remember some guitar magazine had the TAB for that song way back when. I spent hours trying to master the solos. Not sure if I ever got it 100%, but I learned a great deal about note selection and what constitutes a perfect solo from studying it. And yes, Room 335 is excellent. I might have to pull out my old Carlton vinyl this weekend and refresh my ears.

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I think there is a lot of talk about how he lost it, or too much emphasis on all of those crappy albums he made/makes. I try to concentrate on these albums:

 

Wheels of Fire

Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

Live at the Fillmore

Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert

Blind Faith

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... So where did the "Clapton is God" thing start?

 

 

I'm betting it is a case of poor spelling...."Clapton is Good"

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I'm listening to my SRV collection:

 

Texas Flood

Couldn't Stand the Weather

Soul to Soul

Live Alive

In Step

The Sky Is Crying

 

There is nothing like that tone he gets on Texas Flood. It's so clean and yet just screams. The sound of a Fender cranked all the way up and big heavy strings on his strat. I love SRV.

 

[quote name='Crow Daddy Magnus

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leaving genre issues aside, there are several people who should be mentioned here:

 

Chet Atkins- a virutoso

Les Paul- an innovator

Maybelle Carter - simple but effective

Django Reinhardt - did it with two fingers on his left hand- how, i'll never know

 

keeping it under the rock and roll umbrella, Gary Louris has the unusual gift of writing a solo so melodic that it can be whistled.

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I'm sure this is already pretty well known but my understanding is someone was spray painting "Clapton is God" on walls in England and it became popular.

 

IIRC, Clapton has mentioned he has a framed copy of this photo:

clapton-is-god.jpg

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I'm surprised that Fripp and Belew have only been mentioned once or twice, and the same with Zappa and Thurston Moore. And of course, Nels is amazing. It it werent for Nels I dont think my husband would be a Wilco fan.

 

I've looked thru this thread -- no one has mentioned Clapton. I do not care for Clapton. So where did the "Clapton is God" thing start?

 

i can't believe i forgot about thurston moore. he's one of my favorites.

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So where did the "Clapton is God" thing start?

 

That was going on when he was playing with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (after the Yardbirds, but before Cream). Blues purists in England really loved him.

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I'm surprised that Fripp and Belew have only been mentioned once or twice, and the same with Zappa and Thurston Moore. And of course, Nels is amazing. It

 

was just listening to fripp's solo on peter gabriel's white shadow ... just mind-blowing ... one of my favorite solos ever

 

 

Glenn Mercer and Bill Million of the Feelies

 

agree

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There is nothing like that tone he gets on Texas Flood. It's so clean and yet just screams. The sound of a Fender cranked all the way up and big heavy strings on his strat. I love SRV.

 

 

 

I'm sure this is already pretty well known but my understanding is someone was spray painting "Clapton is God" on walls in England and it became popular.

 

... :dontgetit I was joking

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I realize no one listens to them anymore, but Marty Wilson Piper of The Church deserves to be in here. And has no one mentioned Neil Young or Carlos Santana yet?

 

My favs:

Thurston and Lee (Sonic Youth)

Pete Townshend

Lindsey Buckingham

Mississippi John Hurt

Django

Jerry Garcia

Neil Young

Carlos Santana

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This topic is so subjective as already stated. But judging from the names thus far, it seems to be a "rock" list. I like many of the listed players. But I need to add a few of my own.

 

Micheal Hedges

&

Leo Kotkke

 

Both men did/do things with an acoustic guitar that blow your mind.

 

Man, I miss Hedges...

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