POLL: SPIN's Greatest Guitarists of All Time

http://www.spin.com/#articles/spins-100-greatest-guitarists-all-time?page=0

which weirdo at SPIN was pushing for Jam Master Jay as the 10th greatest guitarist of all time?

just kidding.. placing him as a better guitar player than The Edge was a good call.

not to get all Rolling Stone on you kids but that dude who wrote "Little Wing" wasn't bad

Guy who covered it a little bit later wasn't too bad either.

I have some quibbles with certain exclusions from the list, but all is forgiven when reading the comments section. When these Guitar Center dopes get worked up into a lather over their gods being disrespected, it's the funnest shit in the world.

I mean, I get it.. It's refreshing to see names like D.Boon and Greg Ginn and J Mascis getting some heavy recognition for once in place of boring technical masturbation dudes like Yngvie or Steve Vai or like the dude who played on "Free Bird" or whatever.. but if it's at the cost of placing dudes who don't play the guitar over Jimi Hendrix then I don't really know if I want to care. I think SPIN used to love Jimi Hendrix; what happened?

Voted Eddie Hazel

kinda appreciate the diversity of this list (kristin hersh!) even if leaving off hendrix altogether is some pathetic challopsy bullshit.

Johnny Marr

someone should poll those comments
holy shit

and Jimmy Page doesn't make the Top 50?

I mean, I get it.. It's refreshing to see names like D.Boon and Greg Ginn and J Mascis getting some heavy recognition for once in place of boring technical masturbation dudes like Yngvie or Steve Vai or like the dude who played on "Free Bird" or whatever.. but if it's at the cost of placing dudes who don't play the guitar over Jimi Hendrix then I don't really know if I want to care. I think SPIN used to love Jimi Hendrix; what happened?

― billstevejim, Saturday, May 19, 2012 3:11 AM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark

damn, yeah, finally i can hear about how great greg ginn is. at long last

skrillex... the master troll WGW's career has been buildiung up to

xp maybe I'm alone on this but I legit love the guitar on "The Process Of Weeding Out"

I was a little surprised at how canonical and safe the list feels, even as I love everything on it. like the more challenging - but also timely/real - gesture at this point be to mix your Robin Guthries with your Jimmy Pages

*would

Where is Kristin Hersch because I would totally vote for her.

I'm kinda 0_0 that they managed to find a whole 2 women for the top 50, like this is actually progress compared to your usual... 0. But I want to vote for Hersch and I don't see her.

cock

kristin didn't crack the top 50, she's at 82. the bottom 50's more interesting, predictably enough.

haha i just realized viv albertine from the slits made it too, at 92. kinda funny since they're one of those bands who basically expose the whole idea of rock as something defined by 'great guitarists' as total bs.

yeah, I saw nearly half a dozen people I'd vote for in the bottom 20. ;_;

I think I'm going to avoid the Kevin Shields v Robin Guthrie quandary (oh, is Jonny Greenwood in there, too? didn't see him the first time, but I think his best work is not on guitar, actually) by voting for Eddie Hazel.

hurrah

Yes, that is your fault. :-P

I could always dust off a couple of socks, though?

If only I could split the difference between Shields and Guthrie and vote for Benjamin Curtis.

Jonny Greenwood I would totally vote for as a theremin/ondes martenot/modular synth/laptop/melodica/banjo/singing saw player, but as a guitar player? nah.

love the '&' entries, bet Lou is annoyed.

Seth Copeland13 days ago
This is beyond terrible. Spin is officially what's wrong with the world. Spin watches E! and forces its daughters to enter beauty pageants for seven year-olds. Spin has a Rick Santorum bumper sticker. Spin is an alcoholic mother who sends her kid to rehab for pot. Spin watches Dancing with the Stars and doesn't think Community is funny. Spin didn't realize Anakin was going to be Darth Vader until Revenge of the Sith. Spin tells the person in front of them at the concert to sit down because they can't see. Spin bombs abortion clinics. Spin is that middle-aged woman in a college class who wastes everyone's time. Spin is that cow that panics and runs out into the road when you drive by, denting your grill. Spin is your neighbor's chihuahua that won't stop barking at you.

Mark Dannels15 days ago
This list makes me want to vomit! Leave it to Spin to come up with such a bull shit concoction of drivel just to prove that they are the anti Rolling Stone. This pretentious as fuck list is trying WAY to hard to cater to some holier than thou hip crowd yet only succeed in alienating their magazine as a "We're cool cuz were different" crap rag. I will admit that I love the fact that they give a nod to Nells Cline, J. Mascis and rate Prince so high. But the fact that they leave out Jimmi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Clapton all together is utter bull shit! I understand that singing their praises can be monotonous but there is good reason for it. And then, to put Skrillix on a list of guitar players is the biggest joke I believe I may have ever heard in all of my born days! They might as well have said that shrimp flavored ramen noodles are one of the best guitar players of all time, cuz guess what? Shrimp flavored ramen noodles dont play the fucking guitar, and neither does Skrillex!!!!!!!!!!!!! And then, no offence to RUN DMC, but they put Jam Master J, a fucking DJ in the top 10?!?!?!?!?! I'm sorry but this is a list of guitar players, Spin magazine completely lost every ounce of credit they may have ever had by creating this joke of a list (complete with people that may, or may not, have never played a fucking guitar in their life)! After holding back my urge to regurgitate my late night tamales all over my laptop, I finally get to the end of the list, holding onto hope that I may be delighted with their #1 choice... Sonic Youth. Spin magazine, GO FUCK ­YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!!

I was a little surprised at how canonical and safe the list feels

To you and me, maybe. But I watched reactions to this list unfold at a couple dipshit guitarist comments sections and one of the most common complaints was "I don't even know who any of these guys are!" It was really eye-opening to me how narrow so many people's field of music is. For some folks it really does go Eric Clapton->Jimi Hendrix->Jimmy Page->Eddie Van Halen->Randy Rhodes->Steve Vai->Zakk Wylde and that's all they need to know.

But I want to vote for Hersch and I don't see her.

Absolutely.

fuck, I forgot Stevie Ray Vaughn and Darrell Abbott in my list.

Alan Vorse15 days ago
While some of the choices are questionable, and I would put Nels Cline at number 1, I think this list is great! Come on! The usual lists are always 1.Hendrix 2.Clapton 3.Van Halen...etc. Lets get some fresh blood in there! Any list that has Vernon Reid, Fripp and Belew, John McLaughlin, Zappa, Sonny Sharrock, Blood Ulmer, Robin Guthrie is awesome!
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Scott Burnett15 days ago
There's a reason Hendrix, Clapton & Van Halen are usually first... if you're not sure why, enjoy reading SPIN.
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stoner dude14 days ago
Enjoy your classic rock radio stations.

I am glad to see a list break free from the calcified shackles that most lists suffer from...Eric Clapton is the most overrated musician to ever do a line of coke.
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andrew jackson11 days ago
Agreed. Clapton is so overrated its not even funny. He played a little fuzzier than some of his contemporaries, and played some cool guitar solos in Cream, a band whose roaring engine was Jack Bruce. He then became an adult contemporary artist and master of the clean tone elevator music guitar solo. His music is the audio equivalent of a polo shirt tucked into jean shorts accompanying black socks and sandals. Nothing about Eric Clapton has rocked in about 40 years.

guitar whites

Randy Peterson15 days ago
Is this some sort of joke or what ?
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Randy Peterson15 days ago
Is this some sort of joke ? WTF ?

voted for Nile Rodgers.

Would honestly put Curt Kirkwood ahead of all of the other SST band dudes. Rick Bishop should've made the list as well. Out of this bunch it's either Fripp or Bailey or Fahey.

love the '&' entries, bet Lou is annoyed.

Zoot Horn Rollo & Antennae Jimmy Siemens would have got my vote

damn, yeah, finally i can hear about how great greg ginn is. at long last
^this

love the '&' entries, bet Lou is annoyed.
and ^this

Say what you want about elevator music, Spin commentator, but Derek & the Dominos is a perpetual Untuck Your Polo Shirt Free card.

Did Richard Thompson make the long list?

Jesus, that's a criminal omission. So we have Tom Verlaine but no Richard Thompson?!??!?

I know right!

Also, if it's Verlaine & Lloyd it should definitely be Quine & Julien. Where's Johnny Thunders, by the way?

Voted Syd Barrett

Tom Verlaine & Richard Lloyd (Television)
Johnny Ramone
Eddie Hazel (Funkadelic)
This little sequence is amusing to me for some reason.

Actually my favourite guy who would have been a very cool inclusion on the list is Michio Kurihara.

i'm kind of curious what the process to arrive at this was ... like whether there was a ballot or whether it was an afternoon's spitballing

i enjoy the list, tho. tho it does kind of remind me of wire's 'in praise of the riff' thing from a few years back - which was all 'hey wouldn't it be awesome to have edgard varere on the same list of BORIS, wouldn't that be great and redefine our categories, that would be so awesome of us' - is how i feel about the presence of the odd improv dude or guitar composer here

voting fripp based on both technicality + inventiveness

i'm a bit surprised by the lack of postpunkers. no keith levene, john mcgeoch, rowland s howard, daniel ash, geordie, roger miller etc?

WHERE'S VINI REILLY??????????

Went to a Prince after show last night. That swayed my vote. He tore the place down.

I'd be more annoyed if I were, like, Bilinda Butcher or Ed O'Brien and just left out of the "&" altogether. ;)

I mean that says something, doesn't it? In a band with 3 guitarists you pick the one who spends the least time playing guitar.

Surprised Keith Rowe and Kevin Drumm aren't on the list.

Annoyed Pete Townshend and Bo Diddley aren't.

(I did listen to the track that Spin singled out and wasn't really blown away. I can believe that it might not be the best example, however, considering their choices in other cases.)

(The sound on the video wasn't that great, admittedly. I'll look for a better-sounding version on Grooveshark.)

Nels Cline 0

rip ksh

love ginn's guitar playing, though he's obviously not the most fleet-fingered guy out there. the appeal is mostly in the riffs, tone, violence and roughness of his sound. he's a "great guitar player" in the same sense that henry rollins is a "great singer". they're both extremely limited, but in a way that suits the band's attack, makes them sound all the more brutal, anti and fucked-up. at least that's how i related to ginn & black flag when i was young. i liked the cro-mag quality. whether or not it was intentional, it sounded cool to me.

yeah word. also a lot of his stuff is kind of bluesy in a way most hardcore ended up not being (see: nervous breakdown)

Nels Cline was my #2 choice (but not primarily for Wilco).

anyway, i voted for john fahey based on quantity and overall quality of output.

just as easily could have gone for eddie hazel or robert fripp. hazel's responsible for my favorite single piece of guitar music ("maggot brain"), and fripp's played on a bunch of recordings i like almost as much (king crimson stuff, no pussyfooting and here come the warm jets (esp "baby's on fire"), heroes, "i zimbra", etc.)

Nels Cline was my #2 choice (but not primarily for Wilco).

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Sunday, May 27, 2012 3:59 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

ditto

Do you like Initiate? I love it.

seeing clime play guitar with a vibrator in the geraldine fibbers really blew my mind as a young college kid

Ha, Nels Cline in Anvil tribute shocker! Tbh, I don't know the Geraldine Fibbers. I love the Nels Cline Singers, solo Cline, and some of his 'out' jazz collaborations though.

Hm, Fibbers are sounding pretty good.

They did a couple of classic albums imo

They didn't really sound like X but they are the only band that gives me the same feeling as early X

11 people voted correctly

Almost voted that way

Fibbers-era Cline is great
Greg Ginn is great
Eddie Hazel is the greatest

No
No
Yes

Have you even heard nels cline?

Argh, I missed this poll it seems. Would have voted for Zappa.

yeah Geraldine Fibbers remain just a major band to me, the album before Nels joined is imo maybe the best rock record of the '90s. Initiate is great but also a double disc that came out during a really prolific period of Nels Cline output, so i prob haven't paid it enough attention.

yeah Geraldine Fibbers remain just a major band to me, the album before Nels joined is imo maybe the best rock record of the '90s.

what are the second through one-hundredth best?

ps: i'm just fuckin w/ u cause of capn lorax in that other thread. do not take that zing to heart.

[quote=Actually my favourite guy who would have been a very cool inclusion on the list is Michio Kurihara.]
good to see someone beat me to mentioning him

yeah I woulda swapped a couple of these entries out for Kurihara and Hagerty

and I ended up being the only one who voted for Andy Gill. went for him, because his probably influenced mine the most of all these people listed

real talk whiney have you heard Lost Somewhere Between The Earth And My Home? incredible album, you should check it out sometime.

great album, but I like <i>Butch</i> better

yeah the fibbers were pretty good -- better live than on record imo, at least the times I saw them. that scarnella record that cline and bozulich did was pretty damn good too.

cline's best stuff was with Watt imo

yeah, or at least def his best sideman-to-a-vocalist work

Cline's instrumental compositional/improvisational work is so much more significant to me than his rock guitar playing (and I do really like his lead guitar playing with Wilco and Lee Ranaldo).

(especially when considering as a great guitarist)

I voted Ginn.

Have always been intrigued by his lack of prowess and totally rubbish tone. He was great.
He seemed to just jam along in any key, in a way that made me think he didn't even know what key he was in and certainly his scales were unique.

Ever since I heard My War back when it was released, that twat influenced my guitar playing. What he was doing sounded so random, angry and sludgy,.It was always the easy way out and I only played on stage 7 times and my career was over.

He still deserves my vote.

Now, Greg, let somebody with a clue remaster them classic SST albums

on greg ginn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4deAZAT21xc#t=53s

Have always been intrigued by his lack of prowess and totally rubbish tone. He was great.

I think I'm putting my finger on why I never liked Black Flag that much, one or two songs aside, and Ginn especially. Maybe even why I love some classic Amerindie and am left totally cold by some.

no, i just mean he was part of a scene/era in which chops were not a must

I've actually been thinking about this. I guess it depends what you consider to be his scene/era. I really like several bands on Ginn's own label - Sonic Youth, Husker Du, fIREHOSE, Meat Puppets - all of whom seemed to place some value on musicianship. I'd probably say that in some cases they were better musicians, at least as instrumentalists, than many mainstream rock bands of that time. I realize that most of these were 'indie rock' and not 'hardcore' bands (at least as far as the records I listen to go). But, while I get that chops were not a must, even some other hardcore bands seemed to have placed a greater emphasis on tightness, e.g. Minor Threat, whom I also dislike but for different reasons.

Thinking about why I don't like something often tends to be a first step in starting to appreciate it. I used to hate Pavement for similar reasons.

figured he must have been a big influence on kerry king

Can see this btw (and I love Reign in Blood obv).

WTF?! How could this list omit Kevin Okanyra?!

(j/k I made up that name)

loved the album he did with hans bennink and joe mcphee

imo he was kind of an overrated gimmick player, it's not like the 6th and 7th fingers on his left hand really contributed to his fretwork at all

wasn't he uncredited on some of those denny vertigo peel sessions?

imo he was kind of an overrated gimmick player, it's not like the 6th and 7th fingers on his left hand really contributed to his fretwork at all

― some dude, Wednesday, May 30, 2012 11:54 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

particularly on those records where he plays a stringless.

Incidentally, one of those was enough.

i disagree, i'd put him in the top five stringless baritone guitar players ever

His pit band work on the touring cast recording of CATS is kind of an overlooked gem though

little known fact: he invented that pick-holder that you stick onto your guitar. His nickname was "butterhand" for a reason.

okanyra shreds

Despite the moments of goofiness/trolling, this list (the full 100) is kind of amazing.

just scrolled through some of the comments again, re-confirming this list is basically the greatest thing to ever happen

carrie brownstien finishing over iommi lol