Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Guitarists
I'm just a big music fan with a lot of music I like.My thoughts on the RS top 100 guitarists list:
1 Jimi Hendrix - Not my favorite guitarist,but there's no doubt he's the best.
2 Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band - My favorite guitarist ever,I'm a sucker for slide.:)
3 B.B. King - Samey in his work,though I really like his playing,smooth and nice,can't play chords,a little too high.
4 Eric Clapton - Really like a lot of his work,some is not as good,but Layla and other assorted love songs is one of the greatest guitar albums ever.
5 Robert Johnson - Tough to criticize,practically invented blues guitar and influence so many,but to me his recordings are boring.Legend more for what he did then his recordings.
6 Chuck Berry - Yes,he's samey,but I would rank him higher,right around 3 would be better.And RS said he did the #1 guitar song ever so,whatever,RS is wrong...again.
7 Stevie Ray Vaughan - Not into him,but his guitar work is amazing,no denying that.
8 Ry Cooder - Simply a great player,good slide.
9 Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin - Great riffs,solos,songs,acoustic work,should be higher.Did you ever see the Zeppelin movie?Yeah it sucks but that guitar work!Whooo!
10 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones - Great rhythm guitarist,good solos,about 40 lives,OK with this placement.
11 Kirk Hammett of Metallica - Shred!Shred!Very fast,but wouldn't put him this high,like a good part of Metallica's work,but...
12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana - No.I really like Nirvana and Cobain was a good guitarist,but top 40 material?Most likely not.Let alone top 15.Though then again I can't imagine Nirvana without guitar so maybe like mid 50's.
13 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead - I like the Dead and Jerry's guitar work,could play with feeling,real emotion,and that matter's.At least to me.
14 Jeff Beck - Should be higher,great unique player,one of the best at making his guitar,"sing".
15 Carlos Santana - One of the best tone's to ever come out of a guitar was by him,gorgeous,but somewhat repetitive.Still love his work though.
16 Johnny Ramone of the Ramones - Simple!I like his work and the hooks his guitar playing has,and the stubbornness of his down stroke playing.Pretty much started punk rock in America,(a genre I love by the way),a bit high.
17 Jack White of the White Stripes - Sue me,I love this guy's guitar playing,but I don't know about 17,maybe 25-27 is more appropriate?Diverse.
18 John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers - Quite a good player with some pretty cool work,but too high,in the 20's somewhere makes more sense to me.
19 Richard Thompson - Never heard of him.
20 James Burton - Have only heard a little of him,but what I heard was really good.
21 George Harrison - Good where he is,like his playing more then most people.
22 Mike Bloomfield - Great blues player.
23 Warren Haynes - Very good player,still a bit too high up on the list.
24 The Edge of U2 - Simple melodic and echo filled playing,easily my favorite part of U2.Maybe a little high,but he's cool,so OK.
25 Freddy King - More blooooz.In a good spot.
26 Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave - A little high,but it's safe to say he's an original.
27 Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits - He is the only part about the Dire Straits I like,great player,should be higher.
28 Stephen Stills - Not very showy,but has very complex acoustic playing.
29 Ron Asheton of the Stooges - Took simple driving riffs and solos,common things in rock and screwed with them using feedback,distortion,wah wah,etc.,couldn't really play,should be lower,(even if I really like him).
30 Buddy Guy - Fantastic blues guitarist,should be higher.
31 Dick Dale - Surf guitar king,very good,even if I don't really like him,he should be higher.Very,very fast.
32 John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service - Good,very good,but not qite great.
33 & 34 Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth - Love these guys,great at using noise and feedback to raise complete hell.
35 John Fahey - A Folkie,that doesn't mean his playing is crap!Quite the opposite!Amazing player.
36 Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the MG's - Not a fan,but he solos really well,no doubt.
37 Bo Diddley - Great,punk minimalism,and metal guitar tone,and this is the 50's!
38 Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac - Good guitarist.
39 Brian May of Queen - Love his guitar work and sound. Amazing stuff. Should be way higher.Don't always love Queen,but May is always good.
40 John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival - Swamp guitar,and damn good at it too!
41 Clarence White of the Byrds - Very good acoustic palyer in the vein of Stephen Stills.
42 Robert Fripp of King Crimson - Ughhh...King Crimson,I'd rather not talk about that.Fripp is a good player,but...King Crimson,I really dislike King Crimson.
43 Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic - Screw this!Eddie Hazel is freaking amazing!God he's good,should be way higher.
44 Scotty Moore - Pioneer guitarist on many Elvis songs.
45 Frank Zappa -I'm not yet sure wether I like Zappa or not yet,but man this guy could PLAY.Really,really well.Should be higher.
46 Les Paul - Not just a guitar inventor,also good in his own right.
47 T-Bone Walker - Early blues player.
48 Joe Perry of Aerosmith - Good player,even if I only liked Areosmith in the 70's.
49 John McLaughlin - Influential jazz guitar player. Should be higher.
50 Pete Townshend - Should be way higher,great rhythm guitarist,also good soloist,and invented the windmill,that counts for something.
51 Paul Kossoff of Free - Never heard of him.
52 Lou Reed - Great rhythm guitarist,good soloist,a pioneer of feedback,distortion,and alternate tunings,(not saying he was the first for those things,but he was one of them.)
53 Mickey Baker - Did a lot of session work,was pretty good in the 50's.
54 Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane -I'm mostly indifferent to JA,but Jorma is a very good player,shouldbe higher.
55 Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple - Only known for the most primative riff of all time,but his other work,especially solos,are great.
56 Tom Verlaine of Television - Equal to Eddie Hazel,one of my personal favorites,love his tone,solos,everything.I'd rank him much higher.
57 Roy Buchanan - Jeff BEck loves him,he must be good!
58 Dickey Betts - Not as good as Duane Allman,but he could hold his own next to him,should be higher.
59 & 60 Jonny Greenwood,Ed O'Brien of Radiohead-
61 Ike Turner - He's OK...
62 Zoot Horn Rollo of the Magic Band - Not really that good of a player.
63 Danny Gatton - Very good,shame more people haven't heard of him.
64 Mick Ronson - I only know him for playing with David Bowie,but I really liked what I heard of him,great soloist.
65 Hubert Sumlin - Blues guitarist for Howlin' Wolf.
66 Vernon Reid of Living Colour - Should be higher,almost equal to Kirk Hammett.
67 Link Wray - Invented overdrive type guitar,also one of the first to play power chords.Decent placement.
68 Jerry Miller of Moby Grape - Would put many people on here before him.
69 Steve Howe of Yes - Never liked Yes,but once again I realize the greatness of Howe's guitar playing.
70 Eddie Van Halen - Wrong,one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time at 70? So many people have taken note from Eddie Van Halen,like I don't know...every metal guitarist to come after him,should be in top 20,at the least.
71 Lightnin' Hopkins - Early blues player.
72 Joni Mitchell - Doesn't show off,but has odd tunings and complex playing.OK with this placement.
73 Trey Anastasio of Phish - I Like him,should be higher.
74 Johnny Winter - I'd put him above some of the random blues players that RS put on her.
75 Adam Jones of Tool - Complex riffing and decent soloing,good placement.
76 Ali Farka Toure - Never heard of him.
77 Henry Vestine of Canned Heat - Never liked Canned Heat,so whenever I hear them,I never listen to the guitar.
78 Robbie Robertson of the Band - Great underrated player,The Last Waltz shows his mastery of the instrument.
79 Cliff Gallup of the Blue Caps - Impressive guitar playing.
80 Robert Quine of the Voidoids - Very good soloist,not a very big body of work,but what he does play on is great.
81 Derek Trucks - Very good slide player,good player.
82 David Gilmour of Pink Floyd - Floyd has grown on me,and so has Gilmour.Should be way higher.
83 Neil Young - Good acoustic player,but an even better Electric guitarist.Great feel,I'd rank him higher.
84 Eddie Cochran - Died early. Good pioneer guitarist.
85 Randy Rhoads - Don't like Quiet Riot or Ozzy's solo career,but Randy is the greatest metal/classical guitarist ever.Should be higher.
86 Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath - Despite what people say,Iommi is a good soloist,popularized metal guitar,should be in the top 20.
87 Joan Jett - No,rhythm guitarists are important,but there are many better rhythm guitarists out there.Shouldn't even be on his list.
88 Dave Davies of the Kinks - One of the earliest garage rock guitarists,should be top 50 at least.
89 D. Boon of the Minutemen - Like D. Boon's guitar playing,in a good spot.
90 Glen Buxton of Alice Cooper - Very good hard rock guitarist.
91 Robby Krieger of the Doors - Great diverse guitarist,overshadowed by Jim Morrison very often,should be higher.
92 & 93 Fred "Sonic" Smith, Wayne Kramer of the MC5 - Smith is great as rhythm guitar,and Kramer has very good solos.
94 Bert Jansch - Good acoustic player.
95 Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine - Not a technically great player,but I still like him.
96 Angus Young of AC/DC - Simple as hell riffs,but his solos are very good,I'd rank him higher.
97 Robert Randolph -Never heard of him.
98 Leigh Stephens of Blue Cheer - Good early hard rock guitarist.
99 Greg Ginn of Black Flag - Very interesting guitarist,more then other punk guitarists at least.
100 Kim Thayil of Soundgarden - Good riff guitarist.








Robert Fripp - 42! Definitely needs to be in the top 10. Listen to his amazing solo in Brian Eno's "Baby's On Fire". Definitely my favorite solo ever. He uses an agressive tone that just screams awesome and sounds like liquid death. Not only is he one of the best technical guitarists, he's also a brilliant innovator of sounds. As the leading member of King Crimson he broke new musical ground and he has also played for many artists in the studio (Brian Eno, David Bowie, etc.). He's not afraid to play tritones.
Al DiMeola - Wow, not even on the list. An amazing jazz fusion guitarist, he deserves top 20 at least. He could easily destroy 90% of the guitarists on the list, just listen to "Race with Devil on Spanish Highway" or almost anything else he's done.
David Gilmour - I don't see how he could possibly be 86. He deserves top 20 as well. His solos in "Dogs" are probably his best work. Time, Money, Comfortably Numb, Echoes, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Mudmen, and Marooned are just a few examples of his amazing skill. Sure, he's not very fast, but every note he plays is packed with emotion.
Other guitarists that need to be higher or at least on the list at all:
Eddien Van Halen (duh)
Frank Zappa
Adrian Belew
Joe Satriani
Tom Scholz
Greg Lake
Brian May
Joe Pass
Steve Vai
But I guess whatever RS says is law. What a load of shit.
Blaaargh!!!