The Greatest Guitarist That Ever Was

[enigmatic]

It's this man:

[zann725]

1. Hey, Clapton's up there too!

n/t

[enigmatic]

2. Yeah, but can Clapton dress like that? n/t

[billyskank]

8. LOL!

Clapton?

[Bat Boy]

36. Up there writing royalty checks to Big Bill Broonzy and Robert Johnson?

He should be.

[Orrin_73]

3. Eddie Van Halen

n/t

[lonestarnot]

17. Eddie

[Donailin]

4. in terms of skill

Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom (Finland). Calissicly trained, he's a virtuoso

[El Fuego]

5. Eric Johnson

"Cliffs of Dover."

[Rooktoven]

6. Jorma Kaukonen --nt

[billyskank]

7. Wes Montgomery

He was a Jazz guitarist. He was absolutely amazing. Anybody who thinks they like guitars but never looks outside the world of rock is really missing something. He used to play with his thumb, faster than most people could play with a plectrum. I heard he developed that style because his neighbours used to complain about the noise when he practiced, and plucking with his thumb was quieter. Died tragically young.

http://www.thejazzfiles.com/JazzMontgomery.html

[two gun sid]

9. Merle Travis

I still love "Folksongs From the Hills".

[Deja Q]

10. Jorma Kaukonen

Hendrix was great, but Jefferson Airplane's guitar riffs leave me more impressed each time I listen to them.

[Tuttle]

11. WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Django Reinhardt - what's wrong with you people?

Django not only invented the guitar solo (and the all-string band concept) but he did it with only two fingers on his left hand!

So basically, there was no one before him to 'show him the way'.

Ask any guitarist and 80% will say Django is unsurpassed - even today.

But tell who is the guy wearing the Elvis jockstrap? Eddie Herzel?

Tut-tut

[Bat Boy]

35. Yep, for "all time" you gotta go Django.

I once saw footage of him playing with Stephane Grapelli. It may very well be the only film of Django.

I didn't pick up a guitar for a month. It just didn't seem right.

[BrotherBuzz]

43. He be the man!!!

it should be noted that his hand was, indeed, mangled but he was not missing didits. His third and fourth fingers of the hand (his fret hand) were badly burned and were all but usless, he just played around them. Clean sound! I heard a 78's recording that poped and hissed, but his guitar sound was flawless.

[PittPoliSci]

47. yeah can't argue that...

Although I do have a penchant for John Petrucci, Django is the best.

[Skittles]

50. LOL

when Alvin Lee was asked about reports he was the "fastest guitarist" he laughed and said there were lots who were faster - that Django was faster and he had only two working fingers. Alvin said it was a silly title anyways - Who is counting? :D

[Cooley Hurd]

12. Adrian Belew...

...who also doesn't dress like that.:)

[goodboy]

13. John Petrucci is one of the best technical guitarists ever.

[kedrys]

18. Steve Vai and Joe Satriani are up there as well n/t

[Tuttle]

24. Steve Vai's favorite guitarist is Ry Cooder

he said so in Guitar Player right after they did Crossroads soundtrack.

Tut-tut

[chenGOD]

20. Yngwie Malsteem is also one of the best technical guitarists...

but he still blows ass. :D

[mogster]

14. Stevie Ray needs to be mentioned

Even though he didn't dress like that either ;-)

But he's one of my favourites, all right.

[donheld]

39. Stevie Ray Vaughan needs to be mentioned many times

Who really cares how they dress.

[fedsron2us]

15. Mick Green

The unsung inspiration to three generations of British guitarists and master of mixing lead and rhythm parts in one.

[LynneSin]

16. Jimmy Page

but do you think the most die-hard Led Zeppelin fan would have said anything else?

[benny05]

19. I cannot choose just one so here are my nominees

George Harrison
Eric Clapton
Jimi Hendrix
Chet Atkins
Dickey Betts
Duane Allman
Ronnie Van Zant
George Benson
BB King
Muddy Waters
Leo Kottke
Robert Cray
Jimmy Page
Keith Richards

[B Calm]

21. The legendary Duane Eddy is the Guitar Man...

[B Calm]

22. Duane Eddy is best known for his twangy guitar and

Duane Eddy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Duane Eddy is best known for his twangy guitar and had a number of instrumental hits in the late 50's and early 60's. He is known as one of the top rock instrumental artists ever.


He was born in Corning, New York in 1938 and was playing the guitar by the time he was five years old. As a teenager he moved with his family to Arizona, eventually arriving in Phoenix in 1955. Local Phoenix disc jockey/music promoter Lee Hazlewood liked his work and the two began a long professional association. The two men worked to induce a new concept into Duane's guitar playing that came to be known as his twangy guitar. Duane has used a red Gretsch guitar for so many years that it has become his trademark. The single-note melodies, strong and dramatic, would be combined with a bending of the bass strings with the sound amplified to produce the unique sound.

A recording contract was arranged with Dick Clark's Jamie label and Duane's second single, Rebel-'Rouser, proved to be one of his biggest hits ever. All of the ingredients for a hit song came together on Rebel-'Rouser: rebel yells and handclaps in the background furnished by the Rivingtons, a new sound, and of course the twangy guitar. It reached number six on the charts and established Duane Eddy in the minds of the record-buying public in 1958. He was twenty years old.

Duane Eddy followed his initial success with fourteen more top forty hits from 1958 to 1963, most of which were instrumentals. He had some excellent session musicians in his backup band, the Rebels, including Larry Knechtel on piano and Jim Horn and Steve Douglas on sax. Forty Miles Of Bad Road went top ten in 1959. The following year Duane appeared in a movie with Dick Clark titled Because They're Young, and the title song recorded by Duane on Jamie was his biggest hit ever at number four. He began working on songs for television shows, such as the theme from Peter Gunn, and movies such as the title track from Pepe. A group known as the Rebels began to tour with Dick Clark's rock-and-roll shows, and it included Al Casey, Steve Douglas, and Larry Knechtel . Duane Eddy also recorded the theme for another popular television show, The Ballad Of Paladin from Have Gun - Will Travel. More movies also followed: A Thunder Of Drums, The Wild Westerners, The Savage Seven and Kona Coast.

In 1962 Duane switched from Jamie to the RCA label and he married teenaged Phoenix singer/songwriter Jessi Colter. The marriage lasted until 1968; the following year Jessi married Waylon Jennings and later had a top ten song of her own with I'm Not Lisa in the 70's. Duane switched again from RCA to the Colpix label.

Duane Eddy is a quiet, unassuming, kind person who takes his music very seriously. He has charted with 34 singles and has worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million. His phenomenal guitar playing and hard work are a large part of the reason for his success. He also acknowledges the studio genius of Lee Hazlewood.

Duane's instrumentals include rebel yells and some terrific sax breaks. His music incorporates country, blues, jazz and Gospel to produce his unique sound. Some of the titles are as much fun as the music -- Cannonball, Shazam, Some Kinda' Earthquake, and The Lonely One. Some of those who have played with him, including sax players Steve Douglas and Jim Horn and keyboard player Larry Knechtal, have been heard on hundreds of records and spent a lot of time as session musicians with Phil Spector in the 60's.

Duane has always been very popular in the U.K. In 1973 he produced an album that was recorded by Phil Everley. In the 70's he had some top ten songs on the U.K. charts, and worked with artists such as Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, besides continuing his association with Lee Hazlewood.

His number twenty-seven song from 1960, Peter Gunn, was re-done by Duane along with the British group The Art Of Noise in the 80's. It is a group that Eddy admires. Peter Gunn won the Grammy for Best Rock Instrmental of 1986.
In 1987 Duane Eddy was joined by some of the top names of the rock-and-roll era when he released his album Duane Eddy on Capitol. Among those who produced tracks were Paul McCartney, Jeff Lynne, Art of Noise, Ry Cooder, and of course Duane himself. Other contributors included John Fogerty, George Harrison, David Lindley, Steve Cropper, James Burton and original Rebels Larry Knechtal and Jim Horn.

And Duane Eddy continued his work in movies. A new generation of music fans heard Duane for the first time when his Rebel 'Rouser was played in the movie Forrest Gump as Forrest ran across a football field after being chased by a pick-up truck loaded with rednecks. In the film Natural Born Killers, Oliver Stone used Duane's The Trembler to help set the tone in a scene involving a raging thunderstorm in the desert. Duane worked with Academy Award winning composer Hans Zimmer on the soundtrack of Broken Arrow, which starred John Travolta; it is Duane's voice that is used for the villain's theme. It was used again in the horror movie Scream 2.

Gretsch Guitars in Georgia recently reissued the exact guitar that Duane had made to his specifications, the Duane Eddy Signature Model 6120 on which the twang had first been heard when Duane was starting out. Duane is regarded by many as the top rock-and-roll instrumentalist of all time. He still tours with oldies shows and lives with his wife Deed near Nashville.

Duane Eddy took his place in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1994.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

23. Johnny Marr

[Glenda]

25. Brian May n/t

[KG]

26. Danny Click.

[Ron Green]

27. The fact that no one has mentioned Charlie Christian

shows that there has to be some work done in the Music Education area of this message board.

[hickman1937]

28. Steve Howe is in the top 10. n/t

[catbert836]

29. What about Jimi Hendrix?

n/t

[DODI]

30. To me, this question is like "what is the best thing you can make

with flour"

I cannot say who is the best. I have many faves and they are all the best in what they do. I tend to judge by spirit and emotion. My "bests" are (in no particular order):

Pete Townsend
Buck Dharma
Bonnie Raite
Lowell George
David Lindley
Carlos Santana
Duane Allman
Eric Clapton
Robin Trower
Terry Kath
Jerry Garcia
Trey Anastasio
Mark Knophler
Stanley Jordan
David Gilmour
Steve Howe
Richie Blackmoore
Keith Richards
The Beatles
Jimmy Paige
Jimi Hendrix
Stevie Ray
Steve Hunter
Joe Perry
Robbie Robertson
Chet Atkins
Les Paul
Charlie Christian
George Benson
Steve Cropper
Neil Young
Steven Stills
Keb Mo'
Buddy Guy
Jeff Baxter
Jeff Beck
Joe Walsh
Don Felder
Larry Carlton
Denny Dias
Al DeMiola
Paco DeLucia
John McLaughlin
Steve Miller
Chuck Berry!
Jimmy Burton
Alvin Lee
Albert Lee
Lindsay Buckingham

[DODI]

32. Sorry, I left off

Rory Buchannan
Johnny Winter
Rick Derringer
Tom Schultz
Mick Rolfs
Mike Bloomfield
Robert Cray
Ernie Isley
Davy Johnstone


Don't get me started on drummers and bass players!

[Hubert Flottz]

34. And...

Frank Zappa

[DODI]

42. Ah, yes Frank. When my hubby was a kid he got to hear Frank's

sound check at the Hartford Civic Center. Although hubby was playing at the time and followed music, he didn't think one way or another about Frank, but after hearing the soundcheck -- he was floored. They guy could PLAY!! We miss you Frank!

[eyepaddle]

38. I like the sentiment in you first post...

It's impossible to nail it down to just one. And to be perfectly honest it'd be kind of sad if one guy really had all others beat--all the time.

There have been a lot of great names mentioned--and some of them are strongly influenced by others on this list; for example Eric Johnson is a real devotee of Wes Montgomery.

Here's a brief (and by no means complete) list of some of my favorites:

Lowell George and Paul Barerre
Glenn Tipton and KK DOwning
Martin Barre
Tim Sparks
Leo Kottke
Adrian Legg
Joe Satriani
Steve Vai
Adrian Belew
Steve Howe
Martin Barre (great last name for a guitarist, too!)
Adrian Smith
Pretty much anybody who's played with the Allman Brothers
Dave Pritchard (may he rest in peace)
Tommy Bolin

ON EDIT: Dear god, how could I forget Dick Dale?!?!? Let's hear it from the Dick-heads!

That's enough to get things started....

[Hubert Flottz]

53. RE: Pretty much anybody who's played with the Allman Brothers

Do you mean like these cats?

http://www.warrenhaynes.net/photos.html

[pres2032]

31. Chris Olivia

former member of savatage, died in 1992. could play even the most challenging guitar solos with ease.

[Liberal_Andy]

33. What about Teeper?

:shrug:

[Sufi Marmot]

37. Actually, it's the gentleman depicted in my avatar... n/t

[greendog]

40. Who is that guy, anyway?

[Sufi Marmot]

44. Nice pic...I'm going to get me one of those balmoral caps someday...n/t

[Bat Boy]

41. Richard Thompson

His name has to be in a thread like this.

[AllyCat]

54. Oh yeah! Love him

Also like Brian May from Queen

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

45. What about George Harrison

and Django Reinhardt (spelling?)?

They're the best

[Wat_Tyler]

46. Eddie laid down the funk for George's gang magnificently.

Eddie Hazel - gone way too soon.

[wyldwolf]

48. that looks like Snoop Dog!

[Skittles]

49. I always loved Jimi Hendrix and Alvin Lee

yes INDEED

[Parche]

51. guitar

David Gilmour.....Pink Floyd

[brainwashed]

52. Rick Dyer - Nightweed

Check out "Rain" from Nightweed. Considered by some to be one of the best rock guitar solos ever!