There are so many greats that limiting it down to ten makes it inevitable that someone will be left out. This is a guy who, whenever King Crimson threatened to become successful, would break them up and go off and play with Blondie or go into retreat or disband the group and form a completely different band under the same name. Joe Satriani. Ritchie came up and jammed with us at the Marquee when I was in Girl. "Alex Lifeson is a god – I remember watching this on video and thinking: ‘One day I’m going have a guitar like that and I’m going to know how to play it.’ I never knew rock music could uplift, astound and move you in that way. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. His signature song "Layla," an ode to George Harrison's (and later Clapton's) wife Pattie Boyd, charted in … Jimi Hendrix. Led Zeppelin were very influential to Kiss. I found that frustrating and hard to believe. "A lot of what Gilmour does is about feel and emotion and atmosphere. I couldn’t believe it – that Brian May was standing there. He was the backbone of AC/DC, the greatest rock band ever, and wrote some of the most amazing riffs you’ll hear. I grew up with that music. A god among men (with a great guitar tech!)! "I recall being given one of his guitar picks after a gig on the band’s current tour, and it was half worn down. What I like about Steve’s playing is that he’s not one of those guys that thinks that Jimmy Page was the first electric guitarist. This was rock, but not like I’d ever heard it. "When the Black Crowes recorded and toured with Jimmy Page, he told us so many Peter Green stories. He’s a great technician, he’s got an amazing ear, and his feel and emotion really resonate with me personally. Most guitar players have a basis in the blues, and you play those scales, but for whatever reason Robert has never had that and there’s no one else quite like him. I don’t really care about finger picking, and acoustic doesn’t satisfy me. Elliot Easton (The Cars): "To me, George Harrison is the one. He can take liberties – he’s Ritchie Blackmore. Trey Anastasio recently called Derek Trucks the “best guitar player on earth right now,” and many people would likely agree. The versatility of the man is remarkable. What he chose to play is what we chose to love. "Before then I was a drummer and I started from watching The Stones and The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. But look at someone like Jeff Beck; he just gets better and better. Stratocaster was introduced in 1954 and it changed the music world. "Morello’s approach is rooted in his love of metal. Thank you for signing up to Louder. But as soon as I heard Hendrix that was it. The Top 10 Best Guitarists Ever. And I played his guitar and it sounded like Steve Vai. You see him play now and he’s still had the same passion and energy he’s always had. Skimming over almost a century of music, here are the 10 best guitarists the world ever saw. And anybody who disagrees with me, I will come to where you are and personally kick your ass. Not too long ago I was lucky enough to be asked to interview Robin. Led Zep was a great place for him to show off his guitar talent, because he got to play electric and acoustic and even some jazzy riffs. Wonderful records in every genre, whether it was Donna Summer making great disco records, Marvin Gaye making great soul records or King Crimson and Pink Floyd making these great art rock albums. And if he’s good enough for a giant like Jimmy to acclaim, then it reinforces my adoration.". I just plugged straight into an amp and turned it up to 11. The 10 Greatest Electric-Guitar Players ... Clapton is probably best known as the king of the Tulsa Sound. All great players play according to the music they are playing, it’s not like it’s a self-promotion vehicle. I had taken a night off from the second Asia tour, by which point the band was having troubles. Day Of The Eagle also has a great, unusual conclusion. The Queen II album was one of those pivotal moments that just nailed me to the wall. Scotty Moore is best known for being the genius guitarist who backed the iconic vocals of Elvis Presley. So I thought the idea of a UFO tribute would be fun. 20. Timeless, too. It’s amazing. Brent Mason has played on over 1,000 albums for all of the top country stars and in other genres. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done. "He’s a class act from head to toe and it shows in his playing. I just bought Floating Point, one of his most recent records, which inspired me to write a song called Johnny’s Dream as a nod to McLaughlin on the new Masters Of Reality album.". "I never had a guitar lesson in my life, except from listening to Eric Clapton records.". Joe Satriani: "The first thing that really flipped me out was hearing The Wind Cries Mary on the radio. It’s something that’s inherent in the brain of the guitar player. The Mahavishnu Orchestra came out... and the music damaged me for life. On that album their drummer, Rod Morgenstein, almost revolutionised his instrument, but of course guitarist Steve Morse also stood out. During my research I found that he seems unwilling to admit ever practising. To my mind, Peter Green is the finest white man I’ve ever heard playing blues guitar. I always love to say that Stratocaster and Les Paul are the two best guitars ever made. End of story. Led Zeppelin were very influential to Kiss. So in order to get a different or unique sound, I had to learn to squeeze it out of the strings with just my fingers. Hopefully, we have given you a good idea of some of the best and most badass guitar players throughout history. Every player in that band was world class, and the songs were amazing. "If you’ve never heard him play – and can there be anyone on the planet who hasn’t heard Malcolm Young? But this list wasn't compiled by a bunch of tired hacks sitting in a room rolling out the same old names. The players you picked as the best of 2019 (Image credit: Cecchetti) Even a cursory look at our list of the finest acoustic players of the last 12 months offers a cross-section of bonafide legends, established names and exciting young players – the level of talent on offer is, frankly, formidable. He later told me that I was an influence of his, which was immensely flattering. "I don’t use the term ‘revolutionary’ lightly, so, ladies and gentlemen, based on this metric, The Revolution is in good hands.". There was a problem. "That happened after I played on Dixie Dregs’ Industry Standard album [1982], and then played with him in 1983 at a gig called My Father’s Place in New York. "Being limited gear-wise forced me to find my own voice on the guitar. Despite the fact that he had a mainstream career that lasted for only 4 years, Jimi Hendrix can be considered the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock. And beyond the steel guitar, he was one of the most important and most influential musicians in country music history. A guitar legend, Atkins was elected to the Country Music Hal of Fame in 1973. He gets the mood exactly right. He is a genius. It was pretty incredible and I couldn’t believe it. And probably Joe Perry… I still love these guys. Over the years, various instrument from distinct culture have been developed of which Guitar is the most vital and famous instrument. It’s down to playing what the song requires and no more, basically. The audience sat in the sun on a grassy hill while Ravi Shankar played – which was mindblowing. "He’s probably one of the top identifiable guitar players, even more so than Jeff Beck and Page and Clapton. I love really flashy lead guitar playing, and Blackmore’s technique is great – it’s aggressive. So I was in this little service room where all his guitars are and his tech is in there tuning stuff. The way he took straight blues riffs and siphoned them though the AC/DC sensibility is a lesson to all guitarists.". Even now when you listen back to him you can hear what a great player he is. The dude just flat-out works hard. Features The 50 Best Jazz Guitarists Of All Time. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Clapton, of course, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck. That’s pretty impressive.". "King Crimson and Robert Fripp were the most fascinating of all for me. OK, when the list started it was hard to tell if the author was knowledgeable on the subject because of the automatic “Go To” names. "Doing like the Rock Bottom solo or something, I feel like I’m 16 years old again and I’m emulating my heroes. Jim Davies (The Prodigy, Pitchshifter): "As a guitarist with The Prodigy and Pitchshifter, I guess I might be considered an unlikely fan of Paul Gilbert. Jimi Hendrix Jimmy Hendrix is the best guitarist in history. I went to Planet Rush. It makes him so authentic. Steven Wilson: "He’s probably the biggest influence of all for me. He was aware of Kiss, and I told him we sometimes played Whole Lotta Love at soundchecks. Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge): "He’s such a character guitar player: you can tell within one measure, ‘that’s Slash’. He had a vision for a whole sound, a whole ideology around his band, and that’s been very inspirational to me. But I wish everybody could have rock’n’roll laid out for them the way it was for me on that particular day. He was the lead guitarist and got all the glory. BA1 1UA. That’s a simple way of putting it. I have seen how hard he works at his craft, and he is not just good by chance. If you want to know how perfect his guitar skills actually are, just listen the track “Cliffs of Dover”. ", Current page: Thank goodness for YouTube, because it gives all of us a chance to appreciate his talents. "I went down and he brought me up on the stage and he let me play the guitar – the guitar that he built with his dad. Whenever I listen to him, it sounds like he just learnt how to play, but he went from zero right to the top. 9. "I got into Paul Gilbert through the school’s resident shred-master. Not only that, but he’s an auteur. ", Current page: Jimmy wasn’t just a genius in the way he played, he was a genius in how he recorded too. Bath Those kinds of artists have been important to me, rather than just the pure musicians.". I was already in a band and we began playing Day Of The Eagle and the same album’s Too Rolling Stoned. Chuck Berry changed the rhythmic landscape of popular music forever. "When I finally got to make my own album, Electronic Guitar, I knew that I also wanted it to be accessible to those who don’t play the guitar, just like Paul’s own solo albums.". Phil Collen (Def Leppard): "The first gig I ever went to was Deep Purple – during their Machine Head period – at Brixton Sundown, now known as the Academy. He’s a peerless performer and improviser, and his stunning slide playing, full of wailing vocalisms and exotic micro-tonalities, is unlike anything else in modern music, rooted in blues and rock players like Elmore James and Duane Allman while also incorporating jazz, … As anyone who’s attempted to perform it will know, the ending of Too Rolling Stoned is just a single bass note with Trower soloing over the top. And it was through getting into these records that I started to explore the Peter Green legacy. Rich Robinson (The Black Crowes, The Magpie Salute): "Growing up in America, you couldn’t help but hear the Rumours and the Fleetwood Mac albums on the radio all the time. "He also has such an incredible range. I can listen to any player and pantomime their sound, but I can’t do Brian May. Sign up below to get the latest from Louder, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! They’re all so identifiable but Brian May had such a tone in his head and in his fingers, it speaks volumes. "To my mind, Peter Green is the finest white man I’ve ever heard playing blues guitar. As he developed, and hip-hop emerged, he identified with what the MCs and DJs were doing. © You can’t ever claim that one particular song defined him, in the way that you can possibly do with Hendrix, for instance. Sometimes he would play a little crazy, a little out-of-the-box, but he was just incredible. The 50 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time 10-1. Wow. Visit our corporate site. ... t break a sweat – and proceeds to change his guitar right in the middle of the song. Randy Rhoads was the quintessential guitar player. What Harrison did, he taught me about short solos and hooks, and what a hook is. Ralph Mooney was the best steel guitar player ever. Like Malmsteen and I, Jimi and Robin came out at the same time and had had the same set of influences. Michael’s a melodic and technical player but he didn’t sound technical, it sounded full of feeling. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, "That record was a huge influence because it’s so cool. "Trower is sometimes unfairly dismissed for copying Jimi Hendrix – well, there are worse people to imitate! Edward Van Halen: "Clapton was it. 3. Widely recognized as one of the most creative and influential musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix pioneered the explosive possibilities of the electric guitar. Nowadays as a guitarist you want to celebrate what you’ve been able to play, which goes back to quoting other great players, but you also feel a responsibility not to copy those people. He was 16 years old in The Scorpions. A week later I saw him at the same club, and this time he was sober, dressed great, and he remembered me from the week before. Listen to what he achieves on Oh Well or Rattlesnake Shake, and it is stunning. "There can be no substitute for originality. 2. I wasn’t interested in any of that, so I found solace in the 60s and 70s music that my parents were listening to. "Unfortunately the 70s were a hellish period for many great players, if you look at Hendrix’s comrades it was a rough road. Of course, we know that isn't true. Morello is so far ahead of the pack it will take years for folks to catch up. That’s the thing that’s fascinating. But you know what’s astonishing? I hope I can do likewise. Perhaps that’s because he’s so understated. This is the man responsible for more great rock moments than any other guitarist you can name. Brian May. "That’s was what probably got me going, looking at George Harrison. Who are Some of the Greatest Guitar Players? Maybe even top 3. Steve Howe (Yes): "During the 1980s I stumbled across an instrumental album called What If by the band Dixie Dregs. The 50 best guitarists of all time pays homage to the string benders, the finger tappers and the whammy wranglers, as voted by you. I asked around and found out it was Eddie Van Halen. Getty Images. "Aside from the fact that he is such an incredible guitarist, I like Paul because he’s a good communicator. I got into a lot of other players as I got older, but Schenker was one of the first for me. So thanks for taking part, one and all. Squeezing the talent that’s blessed our ears for all these years into a list of 10 is just as difficult as choosing which limbs to lose or keep. With the time, the class of playing Guitar is also raised. I had no money and couldn’t afford a fuzz box or a wah-wah or a ring modulator, or whatever Hendrix had in his whole rig. Luckily I’m not visible. It’s just a beautiful composition; he becomes the song, that’s very important. It’s the same syndrome with guitarists today. Dr Stuart Clark (Astronomer): "Deep Purple gave me colour, excitement, classical influences and long songs that were improvisational. "This short-haired guy played his guitar like he was possessed. Please refresh the page and try again. For instance, Steve Via is an alien from another world; there’s absolutely no point aspiring to be like him because he’s from a different planet. I was listening to what he did, because he was the guy writing the music. Paul Gilbert. Joanne Shaw Taylor: "Stevie Ray Vaughan was the gateway artist for me and for so many of my generation, in the same way that Eric Clapton was for an earlier generation. Slash was already in a league of his own and watching him play guitar was a ‘holy shit’ moment.". "To be honest I think he was more interested in my girlfriend, which was fine by me [laughs]. I was just a 13-year-old kid at an outdoor show at Syracuse University in 1972. Obviously, he’d left Fleetwood Mac long before these were done, but I was influenced enough by them to want to know more about what the band had done before – and that’s when I discovered the amazing talent of the man. That’s what I heard in Brian May’s playing. His contribution to orchestrated guitars is unprecedented. He can take liberties – he’s Ritchie Blackmore. So it was fitting that we would become good friends. Best Solo – The extremist Satriani is considered a highly technical guitarist and has been referred as top guitar virtuoso. He made the blues slightly more commercial and easier to relate to for me as a teenager. The Best Guitar Players of All Time. That’s rare. Seeing Van Halen for the first time and I was there. To us, that’s what that job looks like – that’s what you do when you play lead. "There’s footage of that show on YouTube (see below). Any feature like this is a rock'n'roll bunfight, and we've inevitably included musicians some readers would never have chosen, and ignored others they believe worthy of a place near the top. And David Gilmour is one of the masters of that.". His contribution to orchestrated guitars is unprecedented. There’s no question. Jimmy Page. It’s not just about soloing, either, it’s about what and how you play throughout the song. Vai is nothing if not eclectic and quirky with his shred style, … "But he’s also got that sound, and he developed that sound at a really young age. "Although I also had the Bridge Of Sighs, Robin Tower Live and Victims Of The Fury records, all of which were stunning, I didn’t get to see him in concert till the 1980s. Green understands that simplicity could hold the key to the blues. And it taught me so much. Of his whole generation, Beck’s the only one for me who’s never lost the fire. But, is he really the third greatest guitar player of all time, as Rolling Stone suggests, let alone the greatest of all time as many others have proclaimed? He’s just walking on higher ground.". So, without further ado, in no particular order, here is the list of the top ten all-time greatest guitar players.. Table Of Contents He was a gift to the Planet and should be #1. McCoy was 140 lbs of pure instinct! Top 5. When I began to learn my instrument, I was massively into Iron Maiden, Pantera and the likes of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. Playing with Steve was so unforgettable.". He was a songwriter, not a shredder. He later told me that I was an influence of his, which was immensely flattering. Actually I have a UFO tribute band called Flight To Mars, we do a [charity] show every year, and we do shows up around Seattle, and we do most of the Strangers In The Night record. Jimi Hendrix. "When I first started to listen to AC/DC it was Angus who caught my attention. Steve Rothery (Marillion): "Of the players who’ve influenced me and whose work I love, Steve Hackett and David Gilmour stand out, and another of my all-time favourites would be Jeff Beck. I was terrified to look at it in case I could see myself as some awkward teenager on Billy Cobham’s side of the stage. His rudimentary style inspired an entire generation of musical newbies to keep practicing. "Nowadays you don’t see any guitar heroes of the same calibre. There were some interesting things developing, but everyone I knew wanted to be in Level 42, Simple Minds or U2. From guitar faces to the different kinds of axes, here is the Top 10 Greatest Guitar Players. Louder is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. And today it has become an essential tool for any song to be popular. That’s so important. Though he obviously has bags of inherent talent, he became that good because he practised, which gives hope to everybody. Wayne Kramer (MC5): "In the world of cutting-edge modern electric guitarists, Tom Morello ranks foremost. He was never flamboyant like the others I just mentioned, and is therefore so often overlooked in the list of guitar greats. Guitar, as a music instrument, came in recognition in 20th century. The man is truly a one-off. Watch his videos and you can learn things. Check for exceptional guitar lessons near me. When he was a kid, that’s the music he learned on. You know who the Real McCoy was don't you? "So when you hear Machine Gun from Live At The Fillmore you have no idea what’s going to happen in the next few minutes, you’re totally unprepared. What he does is so interesting, because he doesn’t overplay. I found that very reassuring, as he’s now into his 60s. Joe Satriani: "The first thing that really flipped me out was hearing The Wind Cries Mary on the radio. "I remember seeing Van Halen in magazines, but I didn’t know what their music sounded like, and then after hearing Beat It I got really into them. Mike McReady (Pearl Jam): "It’s really hard to pick just one guitarist. This is kinda embarrassing but the first time I heard Eddie Van Halen was on the Beat It solo. All rights reserved. I couldn’t even believe that I was touching this instrument! I was absolutely stunned by the raw, emotive power he so easily tapped. King and Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stone critic chooses the best and most influential guitarists in rock During some of my searching, I found a few cool guitar gadgets that I'm sure many guitar players would like. The 50 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time 50-41. But I wanted longer songs, to go big. The 50 best guitarists of all time pays homage to the string benders, the finger tappers and the whammy wranglers, as voted by you. To me it was like when Edward Van Halen came along and just reshaped the sound of electric guitar. A lot of the guys in my generation that saw Harrison play, that’s how we learned how to be a lead guitarist in a band. Scotty Moore. Top 10 Best Guitarists of All Time #10 - Brent Mason. Thank you for signing up to Louder. I went to the Rainbow Bar & Grill and Brian May was there. In another life he’d be the guitarist in the Ohio Players. It was clear that Jimmy loves the man’s talent. His musical contributions inspired artists ranging from Eric Johnson to the late Lenny Breau. The addiction started, and I’ve now seen them over 50 times. ", “It was obvious, even on the acoustic guitar he played that first night [when the pair first hooked up in Hollyewood], that Slash was a special player. Ritchie Blackmore was a huge influence because he was flashy.