Best Guitarist of All Time

One of my first ever posts to ILM, before coming here, was to cite Elmore Leonard as my favourite guitarist. My old pal Andrew L responded to say that he was very fond of Elmore James's crime novels. I was very embarrassed, and still don't understand how I wrote such a thing.

(Where do boys with hair like that exist IRL?)

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-11/493172/guitarist.jpg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8611997.stm

Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante has been voted the best guitarist of the past 30 years.

Frusciante, who left the group in 2008, beat Guns n' Roses star Slash, Muse's Matt Bellamy and Johnny Marr of The Smiths to the top spot.

Prince, Jack White, Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood and REM's Peter Buck were also in the top 10. But Noel Gallagher, The Edge and Kurt Cobain missed out.

Some 30,000 people took part in BBC 6 Music's Axe Factor online poll.
...

1. John Frusciante - Red Hot Chili Peppers
2. Slash - Guns n' Roses
3. Matt Bellamy - Muse
4. Johnny Marr - The Smiths
5. Tom Morello - Rage Against The Machine
6. Kirk Hammett - Metallica
7. Jonny Greenwood - Radiohead
8. Prince
9. Jack White - White Stripes
10. Peter Buck - REM

5. Tom Morello - Rage Against The Machine

poll invalidated

weird, this isn't on ILM

lj is that because you hate ratm or you dont think morello is any good? cuz i would bet he's a better guitar player than matt bellamy.

lol Peter Buck is a terrible guitarist

matt bellamy has pretty good chops - or had, at least

ratm is just too awful to contemplate in any regard, plus dude's guitar-style was so cruddy

the only one who deserves to be in this list is prince and that is truth

I mean he's a decent enough songwriter and everything, but Peter Buck has like zero chops and nothing close to a signature sound wtf

Jack White is a pretty inventive guitar player, he definitely belongs in any list of this kind

really most of this list is okay/understandable but the exceptions are pretty glaring imho

remember its bbc 6 music listeners

Shakey do you agree with lj that tom morello is a crap guitarist with a cruddy style? (and that matt bellamy is better than he is)
No point in arguing that none of them deserve to be in the top 10 guitarists list as that goes without saying.

LJ why not give us a rundown on each guitarist in the top 10 of what you think of their guitar playing?

This should be so simple. Just count raving fanboys and tote up the winner.

John squire's better than peter buck!
Noel's a fucking strum by numbers who can't even play some of his own solo's!

I don't think I could identify a single Muse song/have never paid attention to them so have no opinion about them really.

I wouldn't say Morello's crap exactly - he has some mildly amusing tricks - but I don't really have any time for RATM. they're just a car-crash of bad aesthetic decisions.

agreed that Squire is way ahead of most of these jokers. Noel is also a pretty boring guitarist.

No point in arguing that none of them deserve to be in the top 10 guitarists list as that goes without saying.

dude, fucking Prince

yeah I rate Prince pretty highly even if his recent output is dire

also, where's bernard butler, great sound and style!

lol Peter Buck is a terrible guitarist

― Shamandy Warhol (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, April 9, 2010

wat?

come on lj give us your rundown!
(then give us your top 10 guitarists list)

Peter Buck's playing on the first few REM albums is fantastic: folk-rock jangle energised by post-punk. He's a great example of a guitarist who makes the most of his limitations. Some of the stuff on Reckoning is quite ingenious. He's not a 'great' guitar player though, and he's been fairly lazy in recent years.

It's a pretty boring list. People have just chosen their favourite bands. Only Prince really belongs on there. Maybe Jonny Greenwood. I quite enjoy Matt Bellamy's ridiculous playing on a comedy level, but nah. Squier is wanky as fuck and fairly derivative - the rhythm section are the Stone Roses' real.
heroes. Glad the Edge didn't make it on there. Most overrated guitarist of all time.
So who's been missed out? King Sunny Ade, Lee & Thurston, Neil Hagerty, Marnie Stern, Mark Ribot, Andy Gill, Eddie Van Halen, Niles Rogers, Keiji Haino...

the answer to this is is, btw, Jonny Greenwood, and idgaf

-is

will anyone high-five me for randy holden?

I like that one Blue Cheer record he's on

i used to be all "i like song structures, nuffa that guitar wank" and then i heard population ii.

Anyone with a bit of oversight care to tell me if Rory Gallagher is ranked up there at all? We make a big fuss of him over here, but then it's really him, The Edge or Tim Wheeler so there's not much option.

I think he used to be

The Edge?

that welsh guy in U2

Johnny Marr

Carlos Alomar
Andy Gill
Jimi Hendrix
Tom Verlaine
Lonnie Johnson

Dave Gregory from XTC is the secret agent man

Charo otm

Randy Rhoads
Robert Fripp
Robert Johnson

though it's really

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBi6hBrpgqQ

Hendrix is the best sloppiest guitar player, beats any other classic rock guitarist for style alone. He played with such soul and feeling that every wrong note he played sounded right. Kinda wish more black people cared enough to get involved in rock music, seems that right after laying the roots of rock they just lost interest.

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

Also:

Bill Frisell
Daniel Lanois
Ry Cooder

Davie Allan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgXHchnQtt8

Hendrix had a direct connection to the Muse

i don't think anyone's mentioned the amazing slate of early blues guitarists, e.g., blind willie johnson; blind blake; scrapper blackwell; miss. john hurt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxovd6tS8mk

Grant Green Classic Or Dud?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E1qCAPJJPE

my favorite noisy guitar album is "Axis: Bold as Love"

electric guitar it's obviously Hendrix, no one comes close

acoustic guitar... I submit Elliott Smith:

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

I don't know if I'd say Steve Vai in a walk, but I think you could at least say he's...VAI-ING FOR THE TOP SPOT!

lol psych I hate that guy

As far as guy who astonishes me most while still being enjoyable to listen to, it might be either Django Reinhardt or this guy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqdsiXSfEyQ

like I cannot fathom ever being able to play what he plays no matter how much I practiced

As far as pure musicality and touch, I'd say Jim Hall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZF74lQ0kMs

As far as people who expanded the sonic vocabulary of guitar while also just being awesome players, Hendrix is still it for me.

My favorite fingerpicker in terms of sound, style and technique is Rev Gary Davis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fpPgo4Deo4