Your Top 5 Guitarists

we got into some listing on the trux v pavement thread and I thought hey I like to think about this kinda thing. if I'm being honest my 5 right now are Michael Schenker, Jeff Loomis, Jason Becker, Robin Trower, and Zappa, which is a top 5 that tells you p much exactly what I want out of guitarists rn even though it kills me to leave Denner & Shermann & Ty Taobr out. you?

I'd want two lists. One for acoustic and one electric. Neil Young would be in both

And Johnny Marr and Richard Thompson and Jimmy Page. weirdly or at least seemingly rare to have a guitarist good at both.

Well this is impossible THANKS JCLC

Although one thing I'd love is a hyperlink to a really good example of each guitarist in their prime of work

Richard Lloyd
Lou
Neil
Greg Sage?
Prince?

The first 5 coming to my mind:
Johnny Marr
Thurston Moore
Neil Young
Terry Bickers
Mark Robinson

Robert Smith
Alex Lifeson
Prince
Jack White
David Gilmour
J Mascis

Not thinking too long, otherwise there goes the rest of the day.

Too many to mention but two I've been listening to in the last week: Vini Reilly and Robbie Bash.

... Basho

Franco Luambo
Nic Jones
Ernest Ranglin
Brian McBride
Adam Wiltzie

off the top of my head

J Mascis
Larry Carlton
Prince
Dickie Betts
Robert Fripp

Jerry Garcia
Blixa Bargeld
Richard Thompson
Fred Frith
Guy Kyser/Roger kunkel
Omar Korshid
Rowkland S Howard
Will Sergeant
Ted falconi

David Gilmour
Robert Fripp
Richard Thompson
Neil Young
Jimmy Page

Andres Segovia - The Master!
Ali Farka Touré - Spirit, baby.
Peter Green - Clapton shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence.
Nick Drake - Invisible fretting fingers; never heard Nick slide on a string, not once.
Fredrik Thordendal - The Beast!

Shout outs also to Eddie Hazel, Kenny Burrell, Doc Watson, Manitas de Plata, Eliades Ochoa, Frank Zappa, Elmore James, Django Reinhart, Luis Bonfá, Bill Frissell...

(in no particular order)

Bo Diddley
Pete Townshend
Jimmy Nolen
Sonny Sharrock
Jimi Hendrix

Hendrix
Bruce Anderson
Page
Fripp
Buck Dharma

Billy Corgan
Elliott Smith
Bob Mould
Jimi Hendrix
Joni Mitchell

Wes Montgomery
Django Reinhardt
Kenny Burrell
Sonny Sharrock
Paco de Lucía

Prince
Joni
Neil
Alasdair MacLean
Sonny Sharrock

shoutouts to Link Wray, MacDemarco, Bryce Dessner, Keith

Baden Powell
Glenn Branca
Robbie Basho
Terry Callier
Omar Khorshid

no jj cale no credibility

PJ Harvey
Phil manzanera
George Harrison
Gilmour
Page

In no particular order etc

Neil Young
Bert Jansch
Keiji Haino
Jerry Garcia
Paul Brady

Neil Hagerty
Mayo Thompson
Lou Reed
Bo Diddley
Mark Robinson or Sam Jayne or S. Malkmus or some other indie r0xer of my choice

my top 5 criminally unknown/underrated:

Matt Papich
Jason DiEmilio
Dustin Wong
Sam Garrett
Asa Osborne

only video i will post itt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQQtThuTVE4

(Hon. mentions: Johnny Thunders, James Williamson, Page, Dylan...)

keith richards
ron wood
johnny thunders
mick ralphs
chuck berry

Alex Lifeson
Pat Metheny
Frank Zappa
Bill Frisell
Alex Chilton

peter buck
steve howe
prince
jimmy page
david gilmour

though i just saw sharon isbin & she rules.

Oh shit I forgot David Byrne... lol

Victor Wooten
Tosin Abasi
John McLaughlin
James Jamerson
Robert Johnson

Hendrix
Fripp
Richard Bishop
Pete Cosey
Tom Carter

There’s more than one way to be a great guitarist.

Great guitarists that had the good fortune to play on great records:
Jimmy Page
Lyndsey Buckingham
Jimi Hendrix
Robert Fripp
David Gilmour

Great guitarists that redefined the possibilities of the instrument:
Allan Holdsworth
Lenny Breau
John McLaughlin
Julian Lage
Jeff Beck

what on earth is hendrix doing in that first list and not the second

D Boon
Robert Fripp
Sonny Sharrock
Nels Cline
Frank Zappa

Xpost flappybird, of course some people could be on both lists. But you’d rather be on this first wouldn’t you?

might agree with you if not for Band of Gypsys, specifically "Machine Gun."

Daniel Fichelscher
Keith Rowe
Jimi Hendrix
Buck Dharma
Michio Kurihara

Machine Gun redefined the guitar, no question. Mainly trying to get at the idea that there are guitarists that make great records and there are guitarists that are only(?) are great at playing the guitar and ranking them in the same list is jarring to me.

Sterling Morrison
Nels Cline
Dave Rawlings
Matt & Bubba Kadane
Prince

xpost
I thought the idea here was more listing “favorites” than ranking “best/greatest/etc.” (may be wrong tho)

Dave Rawlings
Slash
David Gilmour
Jimi Hendrix
And since “Ball and Biscuit” popped up on shuffle today, Jack White

But do people really think their favorites aren’t the greatest? Why else would they be your favourites?

proustian association with favored memories

Which is a perfectly good definition of great in my book.

Tuca
John McGeoch
Robin Guthrie
Jimi Hendrix
Martyn Bates
Geordie Walker

your memories are yours, my memories are mine. "greatest" seems like the wrong word. xp

Sure, great is subjective, of course it is.

Well, for example, I wouldn’t try argue that someone like Mayo T. is a “great” gtrist in any conventional sense... but I love his playing style so much! Meanwhile, there are many “great” players whose playing style and music don’t connect with me... I guess that’s the distinction.

Sure. There’s more than one way to be great.

Just off the top. . .

Robert Smith
John Martyn
Vini Reilly
Steve Tibbetts
Archy Marshall

First 5 that come to mind:

Bill Harkleroad
Blind Lemon Jefferson
Hubert Sumlin
Leonid Soybelman
Maybelle Carter

Ritchie Blackmore
Jimi Hendrix
John McLaughlin
Eddie Van Halen
Vinnie Vincent

Richard Thompson
Scotty Moore
John Fahey
Robert Quine
Peter Buck

Ricky Wilson
Tom Verlaine
Richard Thompson
Robert Fripp
Richard Pinhas

Kinda surprised no Iommis or Hammetts!

I think Shakey said Iommi in the thread that prompted this thread. and I'd pick Hetfield over Hammett.

David Gilmour
Robert Fripp
Graham Coxon
Nile Rogers
Peter Buck

*Rodgers

Shocked at how often Gilmour is mentioned.

he's great but I'm shocked he's one of the most listed guitarists here, if not the most listed?

Forcing myself to a strict "no dead people" list:

Mary Halvorson
Vernon Reid
Bill Orcutt
Mike Scheidt
Steffen Basho-Junghans

List subject to change on an hourly basis. I met the future of guitar recently, but she's not there yet so will brag at the proper moment.

sam mcgee
riley puckett
maybelle carter
elizabeth cotten
mississippi john hurt

5 not yet mentioned

sabicas
blind blake
blind willie johnson
hans reichel
charlie patton

Damn, Ricky Wilson (B-52s) such a good choice

from the Blues era I think Mississippi Fred McDowell has to be mentioned on this thread.

Honestly this thread bums me out. Even choosing 5 I was well aware I left out Mississippi John hurt, Guthrie, dude from melt banana etc

JIm Duckworth
Kaiji Haino
D.O. Misiani
Mike Wilhelm
Ron Asheton
Jorma Kaukonen
Bert Jansch
John Renbourn
Davy Graham

Christ I dunno, howsabout...

Ali Farka Toure
Steffen Basho Junghans
Curt Kirkwood
Rick Bishop
Michio Kurihara

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c7/c4/2f/c7c42f7cb66cbebdb5dff0a80452b27e.jpg

oh my god RICKY WILSON mea culpa

I enjoy

Ernest Ranglin
Larry Coryell
Marc Ribot
Jeff Parker
Franco
Dr Nico
Phil Upchurch

Some more: Richard Thompson, Tom Verlaine, Phil Manzanera, Martin Carthy, Daniel Fichelscher...

... Keith Rowe, Syd Barrett, Eddie Hazel...

Bernard Sumner
Tony Iommi
Matt Pike
Kurt Cobain
Sir Richard Bishop

Josh Homme
Kim Thayil
Greg Ginn
Randy Rhoads
Joe Perry

David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Gilmour

mostly ppl i try to emulate playing guitar

jorge ben
nile rodgers
john fahey
kevin shields
joao gilberto

my man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb9dg1R1oPA

Johnny Marr
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Kevin Shields
Anna Calvi
Dave Longstreth

Feel it's pertinent to say that I do play guitar myself.

I'm glad there's already a little bit of Ricky Wilson love in this thread.

Ricky Wilson
Ty Tabor
EVH
Ernie Isley
The Edge (1979-89 primarily)

Oh shit, I forgot Pops Staples!!

i love some of the textures that the edge creates but i'm still lolling internally and eternally about that video of him teaching jimmy page how to play i will follow

Oscar Moore
Sterling Morrison
John Cipollina
Don Rich
Clarence White
Berkely “Ike” Jones

XP The Edge is certainly a cartoon now, but he mesmerized young me.

Another big favourite of mine, Stacy Sutherland. And Tom Herman.

Derek Bailey
Sonny Sharrock
J Mascis
Jerry Garcia
John McLaughlin

Noodle: GREAT call on Nic Jones.

Nic Jones
Jimi Hendrix
Joni Mitchell
Nile Rodgers
Richard Thompson

But Gilberto, Buck, Marr, and Prince ought to be in there too

about time Bailey made the list as well, there has been a shortage of tocks turning into ticks on this thread so far!

Still waiting for someone to mention Brian May.

another set:
John McGeoch
King Sunny Adé
Michael Rother
Andy Gill
David Kilgour

it's just personal feelings YMP but i find him mesmerizing, the car accident that stopped him playing deprived the world of a great

Some as yet unmentioned folks who deserve love:

Doug Martsch
Billy Zoom
William Tyler
Les Paul
Kurt Ballou

Another five:

Steve Albini
Angus Young
Neil Michael Hagerty
Sonic Boom
Billy Gibbons

5 more not mentioned:

Joey Santiago
Ronald Jones
Robby Krieger
James Blood Ulmer
Steve Howe

& 5 more:

Curtis Mayfield
Derek Bailey
Bobby Stinson
John McLaughlin
Paul Osby

Osby (Otto’s Chemical Lounge, Blue Hippos) obscure, but some of the best playing I’ve ever experienced. Was at a show maybe 10 years ago and had it in my head that I should yell out “Paul is god” a la Clapton and moments later the guy standing next to me actually did!

curt kirkwood
tom verlaine
alex lifeson
martin barre
robyn hitchcock

xpost i remember a live blue hippos video i saw on video treats when i was in high school that totally slayed

this is impossible, I can't do five, so I'm just going to name some others who mean a lot to me and are lacking here:

Robin Guthrie
Big Joe Williams (nine-string drone blues)
John Fahey
Skip James
Charley Patton
Caspar Brötzmann
Greg Ginn (yeah, despite being Greg Ginn)
Pat Smear ('Richie Dagger's Crime' alone warrants inclusion)
GREG SAGE!!!
Fred 'Sonic' Smith

meant to put a space between the first five, apologies

Ugh, I forgot Fahey. I'd probably replace Zappa on my list with him.

Bill Harkleroad

Few more:
Marc Ribot
Nels Cline
Mike McCready

Jim O rourke!!!!

Been waiting for Ginn & Smear to show up...

A little surprised to see Buckingham named only once (so far)

Buck, Buckingham, Buckethead

(those aren't my 3, lol)

Liz Buckingham (Electric Wizard)
Joni Mitchell
Ry Cooder
Kaki King
Marissa Paternoster

MOAR metal:

Iommi
Bruce Franklin
Chuck Schuldiner
Trey Azagthoth
Dave Murray

I want to say Josh Homme for his Kyuss days but it's making me feel grubby.

Libba Cotten
Michael Karoli
Seiichi Yamamoto
Brian McMahon
Manuel Göttsching

Teenie Hodges
Phil Manzanera
Kristin Hersh
Eddie Hazel
Stephen Malkmus

Brian McMahon

Brian McMahan

teenie hodges
paul jackson jr
nile rodgers
maurice deebank
hendrix

As a "what have your done for me lately" listener:

Marisa Anderson
Steven R. Smith
Shana Cleveland
Matt Pike
Sir Richard Bishop

Buckingham’s absolutely one of my favs

Shout out to the poster who mentioned josh homme

A really great guitarist not mentioned so far, Jerry Miller of Moby Grape.

Buckingham's fingerstyle technique still boggles my mind. Something like "Never Going Back Again," yeah sure, makes total sense - but how the fuck did he play those soaring & piercing leads all over the classic Fmac records without a pick?

i'll do a second five, if that's allowed. i'm ashamed i left lindsay off my original list

lindsay buckingham
mick ronson
billy gibbons
eddie hazel
andy summers

... and Randy California.

Aram Bajakian is an amazing player, worked with all sorts of ppl from Lou Reed, Kanye, to Frank London's austro-hungarian jewish music project. His solo Music Inspired By the Color of Pomegranates was ace, and show he is much more than a virtuoso for hire.

Jerry Reed, you guys.

> Music Inspired By the Color of Pomegranates

Appreciating this tip!

Having a hard time picking top 5, so I'll give you my top 5 not yet mentioned ITT:

Jim Hall
Reverend Gary Davis
Ian MacKaye
Elizabeth Cotten
Diblo Dibala

Richard Thompson
Nile Rodgers
Lindsey Buckingham
Jeff Beck
Bert Jansch

Don't want to flood the thread with YT embeds, but this is too good not to share.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLypHd3hJdU

pffff I don't fucking know

Denis d'Amour - far ahead of his time and massively influential
Mick Barr - inscrutable microshred morphing into emotional melodies
Mike Johnson - Fripp interpreted by alien spiders
Carl-Michael Eide - can't think of a stupid description
Don Anderson - sweet licks bro

Rhythm five:
Ricky Wilson
Malcolm Young
Sterling Morrison
John Reis
Josh Homme

another one I haven't seen mentioned yet: Ian Williams

roger mcguinn needs more love, both for his sound and for his playing

Not to forget Leo Kottke, one of the most amazing fingerpicking guitar players out there.
Has Larry Coryell been mentioned? Or Al di Meola? Or Paco de Lucia, the flamenco guitar god? A great German guitar player: Michael Sagmeister. And the Frankfurter Gitarrenduo Kolbe/Illenberger.

Marc Maron
Guitar Center dad
Tonight show band leader
Blues Cat
Non will ferrel chili pepper

Jerry Reed, you guys.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, June 4, 2018 11:16 AM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

and Chet!

xpost LOL

this is impossible, but other good ones: Adrian Belew, Blake Mills, Grant Green (some posters hate him iirc)

Joe Bonamassa guys!!!!!!!!!!

hating Grant Green is bad not good.

Jerry Reed, you guys.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, June 4, 2018 11:16 AM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

and Chet!

― Tapes 'n Tapes of Osho (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, June 4, 2018 5:45 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

and Merle Travis!

I firmly believe that if you "hate" Grant Green, you "hate" music in general.

Because, honestly, what the hell?

hate is probably strong. Believe they didn't love Green's sparse lead style and relative lack of comping on some major releases.

another one I haven't seen mentioned yet: Ian Williams

― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Monday, June 4, 2018 5:24 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

whoops thought i did

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez

I'd have to admit I like Jonny Greenwood's playing too, Thom Yorke's as well, for that matter.

derek bailey
keiji haino
arto lindsay
joe morris
frank zappa

Shelagh McDonald
Darby Slick
Lee Underwood
Peter Walker
Pete Cosey
Reggie Lucas
George Benson
Blixa Bargeld
D.Boon
John Fogerty
John Martyn

hate is probably strong. Believe they didn't love Green's sparse lead style and relative lack of comping on some major releases.

In general, I call bullshit on those criticisms, but that's fine, agree to disagree or whatever.

Anybody who really has those discrepancies with his playing clearly hasn't heard Green Street anyway, so I'm not sure I would take them all that seriously in the first place.

Link Wray
Roy Buchanan
Duane Allman

xp I think this is the post that has stuck with me for some time:

Mixed feelings about him -- he had great sound, tone, confidence, was awesome over a simple funky break with a few chords, but was pretty limited and unimaginative harmonically. Few guitarists *sound* better. But Wes Montgomery, who had a similarly fat sound, was like 5x the musician Grant was.

― james franco tur(oll)ing test (Hurting 2), Monday, 24 March 2014 17:51 (four years ago) Permalink

people i love who aren't tony iommi, adrian gurvitz, tony mcphee, jimmy page, martin pugh, jeff beck in the yardbirds, chris spedding, and mick ralphs:

the guy in gang of four

the guy in monochrome set

the guy in felt

the guy in bow wow wow

shelley/diggle

shelley/diggle being one two-headed guitarist to me. a la mercer/million and reed/morrison. add those guys too while i'm at it.

kyser/kunkel, in that vein

kinda embarrassed i can't think of many guitarists i love beyond an arbitrary number of jazz guitarists and, like, joe perry (whose playing on the early aerosmith records fascinates me but i can't say exactly why). i tend to gush more about drummers

All time classic:

Neil Young
James Hetfield
Tony Iommi
Prince
Greg Ginn

Duos where I kind of can't separate them: Garcia & Weir, Verlaine & Lloyd, Reed & Morrison, Mackaye & Piccioto, Tucker & Brownstein, Reis & Froberg, Butcher & Shields

Others: Issac Brock, Joey Santiago, Trey Anastasio, Frank Zappa, Robert Quine, Doug Martsch, Stephen Malkmus, Dean Ween, Pete Anderson, Brad Paisley, Ed Crawford, Ron Asheton, James Williamston, Hendrix, Andy Gill, Matt Pike, Mick Ronson, Bob Mould, Peter Buck, George Harrison, Johnny Ramone, Steve Albini, Johnny Marr, Kim Thayil, David Byrne, Nels Cline, Jeff Tweedy

Oh yeah and East Bay Ray

John Fahey
Jerry Garcia
Nick Drake
Kevin Shields
Lou Reed

I don't really have favourite guitarists as such but I was thinking about it earlier and East Bay Ray did come to mind. Also on the same track Nicky Garratt (UK Subs) which might seem unlikely but I really like his guitar sound

really sucks how few women are named itt

not surprising, really. the industry that lionized guitar playing p much excluded women de facto. no one's mentioned Joni Mitchell yet?

oh a bunch have, good

This is kind of a strange excercise for me because I tend to think in terms of "songs with guitar parts that I like", rather than "guitarists whose style of playing I like". In many cases, I'm not even sure the guitarist wrote the part I liked. But I'll bite:

Nile Rodgers
Johnny Marr
Johnny Ramone
Joey Santiago
Robin Guthrie

yeah, i wasn’t calling out people for not posting more women itt, the pool of women to draw from is obviously vastly smaller than men

it just... sucks that this is still the case and this thread really makes the disparity obvious

Courtney Barnett's great and I like her playing a lot but she hasn't really done enough to be "all time great" for me (yet)

my metal guitarist list would be another thing altogether. but i don't feel like making one. i don't have a ton of FAVE jazz guitarists. i like a lot of them. but i can't think of a jazz guitarist that i am a superfan of. there are so many good ones. maybe kenny burrell. i do love eddie lang. i like charlie christian when i hear him but i don't go nuts or anything. i really love tal farlow with red norvo and mingus. its like math rock. there are so many euro jazz/fusion/free guitarists who are totally cool but i know nothing about them. guitar is just not what i necessarily look for in my jazz. though when its a funkyjazz souljazz jazzrock fusionfree hybrid from the '70s i do appreciate it a lot there.

other than iommi, eddie hazel might have excited and inspired me the most in my life. more than hendrix. just cuz those early funkadelic records have meant more to me than hendrix records. i feel like i appreciate hendrix more as a songwriter actually. his music/melodies so good. not talking about lyrics. though his guitar will always sound supercool.

You could have perfect guitar hero gender equality in 2018 but it wouldn’t change the fact that most of the names here are from the 70s.

the guy in monochrome set

Good one. I love Hank Marvin btw.

Page
Van Halen
Iommi
Blackmore
Keef R

The guy from Deerhoof

yeah, i don't have a lot of new favorite guitarists. guitars aren't very cool anymore. rock bands not very cool either. and most new rock band music (indie, punk, etc) that people like don't take much guitar genius to make.

a lot of women in the old days didn't get much of a chance to shine. some exceptions. june millington. ellen mcilwaine. rory block. and i can't say i listen to them a ton.

i LOVE suzi ghezzi on the first Isis album. she was amazing but that was the only record she was ever on! nobody offered to form a cool-ass band around her after that. the world's loss.

i love my pal wednesday in the band Pigeons. she is definitely a guitar god to me.

and i love people like kristen hersh but i love her more as a vocalist/songwriter. though her guitar sound obviously a big part of what made throwing muses so cool.

kaki king is playing two doors down from me at the end of the month was thinking of going to that. i don't know her music well though.

xxxxps

no shame in not being as talented as Wes Montgomery, and Green makes up for it by being heavily sampled by 80's rappers! There is a fine GG live set from '75 that has been released recently - Slick! Live at Oil Can Harry's. Just like Montgomery, he died way too soon.

Green's live albums - Alive, At The Lighthouse, and At the Cafe Mozambique, are all incredible. No one who likes jazz guitar should hate him for any reason

otm and I just noticed it was Green's cover of Montgomery's Down Here on the Ground that A Tribe Called Quest/Cypress Hill/Pete Rock all sampled, not the og version!

Alasdair Maclean
Glenn Jones
Steve Gunn
Matthew Mullane
Ash Bowie

James Kirk

I am surprised that Neil Hagerty has only been mentioned twice (plus Shakey's mention on the Trux/Pavement thread, which kicked this off) -- especially given the high degree of Trux/NMH interest on that other thread. My favorite musical moments have been seeing Hag play -- his style "triggers" something in my dopamine receptors, I can't explain it, but nothing else (consistently) affects me like his playing (and it's pretty awesome on record, as well). And yet he is not more highly rated even in a survey like this...

Though I once brought a guitar-playing friend to a Hex show, and he left after a few songs ("This isn't my thing, man.") I thought he'd love it!

Fav lady guitarist that hasn't been mentioned yet: Poison Ivy. One of the great learn-on-the-job punks.

That's pretty mean of him.

xp

Yeah, "friend" is maybe strong... younger family friend.

you have no idea how many times i've gone back to youtube since that pavement-vs-royal trux thread started. still can't hang. it's a conundrum to me. i guess they are supposed to be hard to listen to though. vocally they sound like junkie muppets which is really my biggest stumbling block. i kept waiting for a guitar part that i could love. but i never say never. maybe on my deathbed they will make sense. and i totally get an A for effort for trying so hard.

hah! harsh but fair I reckon.

in no order:

Prince
Eddie Van Halen
Jimi Hendrix
David Gilmour
Robert Johnson

Liz Harris (Grouper) deserves to be mentioned, though I can't tell where her voice, guitar, and Wurlitzer begin and end. in terms of expanding the boundaries of the instrument she's up there.

not really thinking of her acoustic playing, more like the work on A|A and her recent live shows.

And no mention of the woman I would consider to be the most celebrated guitarist in indie music of the last decade, justly or otherwise. I didn’t list her either so I’m not being all superior, but I am surprised.

Mitski?

Marnie Stern?

st v!

No to both but yeah they’re both good.

Xpost. Yes

oh yeah duh

I was trying to remember Marnie Stern's name. Whatever happened to her?

ILM full of canonist dullards? I mean who knew

Mind you I still can't answer this

ooh speaking of canon, syd barrett. i love his guitar playing. up there with jimmy page as far as someone i love both electric/acoustic.

I was trying to remember Marnie Stern's name. Whatever happened to her?

she's playing in one of the late-night bands iirc

"Mind you I still can't answer this"

you can just name people you like. nobody gives a shit what happens here. its a thread about guitarists on the internet.

this is actually good post-tom-ewing-in-the-guardian clickbait. get some new recruits to talk about pavement so that the olds can go shuffle off into the sunset.

I've gotten as far as Hendrix and Kevin Shields but then I'd need to depart the canon and think about it a bit for the other three

off the top of the dome

pete cosey
steve bartek
prince
marc ribot
steve howe

Larry Coryell
Grant Green
Pete Cosey
Sonny Sharrock
Michael Karoli

boy do i not listen to any new music... oh well

ah kurt - respeck

xxxxp
I don't think there can be a good iteration of that ghastly thing you just described, Scott!

probably just pick up a few more olds anyway.

I am surprised that Neil Hagerty has only been mentioned twice (plus Shakey's mention on the Trux/Pavement thread, which kicked this off)

acquired taste, maybe idk. For me the appeal of Hagerty (and he is fantastic to watch play live) is that combination of having bags of riffs and v melodic turns of phrase, combined with a really deeply ingrained unpredictability. He's that rare thing in indie rock in that he actually has chops/is capable of playing a wide variety of really complex stuff, but his parts often don't go where you would expect them to, he is full of surprises.

I mean I don't really have top 5 guitarists more than I have a top 5 of anything. I probably have 25 or so guitarists that mean A LOT to me.

And some really benefitted from the groups they were in.

fav p funk guitar players

eddie hazel
blackbyrd mcknight (on tour with them now!)
michael hampton
ricky rouse
tawl ross

Ray Russell
Mick Ronosn
Dick Taylor
Skip James
Glen Ross Campbell
Tony Hill
Curtis Mayfield
Steve marriott
Paul Rudolph
Gary Quackenbush
Lawrence Hammond
Bruce Licher

i was really impressed with steve gunn when he played around the corner a couple of months ago! and he was solo too. and me being impressed by a guy playing solo acoustic guitar indie rock songs that i've never heard is as rare as rare can be. so, that's someone kinda new. he is doing his duo thing at the bar this summer. along with body/head. will go see the duo.

fav p funk guitar players

lol yeah this is its own list for me as well

shit i can't believe I didn't grab Michael Hampton or Curtis!

Kaki King, Ani DiFranco, and Michael Hedges (R.I.P.) are all great examples of that percussive style of playing where the guitar is as much of a drum as a guitar.

Hedges also did a lot of "mood" stuff too.

daniel ash goes in my electric/acoustic hall of fame too. along with jimmy page and syd.

i like larry coryell when he shreds electric but he bores the hell out of me on acoustic. same with his pals like philip catherine. its like trying to listen to a pierre bensusan album. zzzzz...

Younger me used to love Adrian Legg's ability to fuck around with his tuning pegs while playing, but now I just hear it as an annoying gimmick (though one that requires talent).

i always try to keep an ear out for more modern bands with guitars as cool as all the post-punk guitar bands i love (siouxsie, killing joke, wire, bauhaus, section 25, etc) and i have only found the a frames so far. but i'll keep looking! (meanwhile, the a frames broke up like 15 years ago...)

(most of the stuff that tries to ape old post-punk sounds sound pretty anemic to me...they would have a long way to go to approach the coolness of even haircut 100 guitar sounds..which were really cool sounds!)

top 5 post punk gtr

pat place
d boon
john waddington
ricky wilson
glenn branca

xposts
agreed that coryell is best electric. I'd rather listen to him than McLaughlin just about any day (unless JM is with Miles)

speaking of post punk/no wave era, david first is someone who really excites me whenever i listen to him. so amazing to me. and i really wish more people knew how great the later 21st century notekillers stuff is. its all on a very high level. this is a later thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HDKxHizdbc

aww yeah Notekillers rule! i didn't even know they had new stuff!!!!!

this is the last thing and its soooooo good. they put out stuff themselves so if you didn't know that you would probably never know that. you know?

https://www.discogs.com/Notekillers-Songs-and-Jams-vol-1/release/8910941

ILM full of canonist dullards? I mean who knew

Cool take, please enlighten us, oh shaman of the future sound

for 21st century post-punk guitar sound, the Sex Church album Growing Over from back in 2011 rates as well as the A-Frames, imo. Birthday Party'ish, but better than all the BP'ish stuff that came out on Sacred Bones at the time.

i loved this album. and especially the nu-goth guitar tone and production. (also, like, ancient though and they broke up a million years ago)

https://www.discogs.com/Clockcleaner-Babylon-Rules/master/56694

will seek out sex church.

Completely off-topic, this board has been fairly quiet today... can I assume it's because of the Beatles thread that's been sitting at #1 with 680(!) new answers?

Kill ILM.

It's forcing me to, like, actually focus on my work and stuff... >:|

mick turner
taku sugimoto
loren connors
david grubbs
nels cline

Jerry Garcia
John Fahey
Joe Walsh
Sonny Sharrock
Chuck Schuldiner

Big & Rich
Big Kenny
John Rich
Big
Rich

Ctrl+F Clapton LOL. Tough being a fallen god.

if only he'd had the decency to die in 1970 this thread could have looked very different

Jimi Hendrix
Pete Townshend
Phil Manzanera
Marc Bolan
Keith Richards

Clapton was always pretty unremarkable, though. He was only good when he was in the company of good musicians.

i want to add Syd Barrett to my list. truly one of a kind as a songwriter and as a lead/rhythm guitarist. "Interstellar Overdrive" is a voyage and i have always deeply loved the spy surf lead in "Lucifer Sam" as well.

his solo albums really highlight his unique guitar. "Long Gone" has a really nice descending waltz thing going on (with a Floydian "I stood very still by the window sill" line not far from DSOTM).

recently discovering the early PF track "Walk With Me Sydney" was a lot of fun. it's this silly rock n roll pop song about a character who is like a teenage idol but there is something wrong w him. the rhythm guitar alternate between a Merseybeat/60s pop swing and Syd's unique bizarrely twangy solos that seem to twist into existence like a stretched spring. despite being mad or otherwise mentally impaired he has incredible mastery over his instrument, bending notes with precision, slinking up and down the fretboard like a snake or possibly a strange fod.

fog

love walk with me sydney!

syd was an incredibly original guitarist whether acoustic or electric. if only there were more recordings of him taking off live.

Boring and off the top of my head:

D Boon
Robbie Basho
Sonny Sharrock
Daniel Fichelscher
Neil Young

post-punk division since someone else did it and it's interesting:

d boon
curt kirkwood
craig scanlon
andy from the ex and dog faced hermans
richard bishop

Craig Scanlon! <3

James Honeyman-Scott. One of the saddest rock casualties, died at 25 after making two (incredible) records with the Pretenders. that first LP is just fucking perfect, and his guitar work is a big part of it.

syd was an incredibly original guitarist whether acoustic or electric.

Wolfpack ftw

Still waiting on imago to come back with some guy who plays a microtonal 33 string electric lute.

Mick Taylor was damn good on his Stones run, especially on “knockin” obviously and “time waits”

and with Mayall. Blues from Laurel Canyon is all-time.

Wata
Carrie Brownstein
PJ Harvey
Cat Power*
Michael and/or John Gibbons**

* I guess more for a songwriting standpoint -- her songs aren't complex but man they sound so good.
** I don't know which one does what on Bardo records.

Not a top 5 but I'd add:

Mike Bloomfield
Terje Rypdal
Ralph Towner
Julian Bream
John Abercrombie