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zigzag

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Ziggie...

 

I guess I look behind the veil as well as before it...

 

Really, I don't want to sound as if I'm down on the post 1960 folks, many of whom almost certainly have better skills, more "talent" and perhaps even better taste.

 

And for what it's worth, as a teen in the late 1950s and early 1960s, I certainly didn't perceive the electric guitar as "new," although the old people did. <grin>

 

Because of marketing, the post 1960 guys also are seen as being more influential by a couple of generations of pickers. But essentially the new guys - Harrison, Clapton, etc., were simply doing newer, perhaps "better" versions of what had been already done. The enlightenment comes when one asks them who influenced their playing concepts.

 

I'll admit I kinda left out "who's best" as opposed to those who truly created the foundations on which others have built, and who remain legends among at least a few guitar music history nuts.

 

Yeah, Chet did great stuff after 1960, btw, but his basic technique and concept was about the same - and was always good enough, as was Merle Travis' pickin', to influence generations of pickers who then were seen as the new guys to watch.

 

m

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Rock

 

1) Mark Knopfler

2) Eric Clapton

3) Dicky Betts

4) Neil Schon

5) Don Felder

 

Jazz

 

1) Wes Montgomery

2) Larry Carlton

3) George Benson

4) Joe Pass

5) Herb Ellis

 

Country

 

1) Jerry Reed

2) Hank Garland

3) Chet Atkins

4) Ray Flacke

5) Vince Gill

 

Bluegrass

 

1) Tony Rice

2) Bryan Sutton

3) Roy Curry

4) Cody Kilby

5) Josh Williams

 

Blues

 

1) Stevie Ray Vaughn

2) Duane Allman

3) Robin Ford

4) BB King

5) Taj Mahal

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I forgot Neil Schon, Tom Scholz, and Glen Tipton, but if I keep reading these lists, I'm sure I'll remember I forgot more. My list of 25 is growing.

 

No one ever shows any appreciating for Tom Scholz.........................that man is a musical genius..........................

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Ok here goes......

 

Eric Clapton

George Harrison

David Gilmour

Terry Kath

Elliott Easton

 

Brian Setzer

BB King

Scotty Moore

D!ck Dale

Albert King

 

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Duane Allman

T-bone Walker

Brian May

Neil Giraldo

 

Andy Summers

Joe Walsh

Don Felder

Phil Keaggy

Kerry Livgren

 

That's it! 20 is all I can do.

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Ziggie...

 

I guess I look behind the veil as well as before it...

 

Really, I don't want to sound as if I'm down on the post 1960 folks, many of whom almost certainly have better skills, more "talent" and perhaps even better taste.

 

And for what it's worth, as a teen in the late 1950s and early 1960s, I certainly didn't perceive the electric guitar as "new," although the old people did. <grin>

 

Because of marketing, the post 1960 guys also are seen as being more influential by a couple of generations of pickers. But essentially the new guys - Harrison, Clapton, etc., were simply doing newer, perhaps "better" versions of what had been already done. The enlightenment comes when one asks them who influenced their playing concepts.

 

I'll admit I kinda left out "who's best" as opposed to those who truly created the foundations on which others have built, and who remain legends among at least a few guitar music history nuts.

 

Yeah, Chet did great stuff after 1960, btw, but his basic technique and concept was about the same - and was always good enough, as was Merle Travis' pickin', to influence generations of pickers who then were seen as the new guys to watch.

 

m

 

Oh shut up and make a list!! msp_flapper.gif

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A surfeit of enthusiasm....

 

Not in any order.....

 

1. Andy Summers

2. Charlie Christian

3. Grant Green

4. John Lennon

5. Bert Weedon

6. George van Eps

7. Manitas de Plata

8. Gary Davis

9. Bob Dylan

10. Joni Mitchell

11. Carter Family

12. Elizabeth Cotten

13. Merle Travis

14. Eric Johnson

15. Joe Satriani

16. Ralph McTell

17. Joe Walsh

18. Robbie Robertson

19. John Scofield

20. Larry Carlton

21. Bill Frizell

22. Pat Martino

23. Ian Broudie

24. Simon Nicol

25. Brian May

 

V

 

:-({|=

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Ok so here is mine:

1. Gary Moore

2. Stevie Ray Vaughan

3. Billy F Gibbons

4. Clapton

5. Hendrix

6. Joe Satriani

7. Steve Vai

8. Paul Personne (french bluesman)

9. Slash

10. Angus Young

11. Steve Lukater

12. BB King

13. Buddy Guy

14. Albert King

15. Freddy King

16. Robben Ford

17. Kenny Wayne Shepherd

18. Jonny Lang

19. Kirk hammet

20. Yngwie Malmsteen

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Okay... <grin> I'm told to shut up and offer "my" list.

 

I'm not sure such can be done. Every guitarist who has touched the life of another, especially other guitarists, is important. Some have simply done a bit more than others.

 

I'd also count "influential" as different from what I like. E.g., Hendrix didn't and doesn't do a thing for me, but he obvious did for others. Segovia is almost entirely unknown by young rock guitarists and yet he was exceptionally influential in classical guitar.

 

That's why I simply mentioned some whom I felt were very influential in general. E.g., I think without Chuck Berry, it's doubtful Hendrix could have been a star, at least not so much stylistically. Then too, the 50s and early 60s were times of incredible turmoil in music, but the electric and "popular" guitar playing concepts since then all harkened back to there for electric and before that for acoustic.

 

m

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Okay... <grin> I'm told to shut up and offer "my" list.

 

I'm not sure such can be done. Every guitarist who has touched the life of another, especially other guitarists, is important. Some have simply done a bit more than others.

 

I'd also count "influential" as different from what I like. E.g., Hendrix didn't and doesn't do a thing for me, but he obvious did for others. Segovia is almost entirely unknown by young rock guitarists and yet he was exceptionally influential in classical guitar.

 

That's why I simply mentioned some whom I felt were very influential in general. E.g., I think without Chuck Berry, it's doubtful Hendrix could have been a star, at least not so much stylistically. Then too, the 50s and early 60s were times of incredible turmoil in music, but the electric and "popular" guitar playing concepts since then all harkened back to there for electric and before that for acoustic.

 

m

 

Mi I'm kidding of course you're the best conversater we got.msp_thumbup.gif

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I wasn't even going to attempt this one, but what the heck. I'll try to narrow it down. I'm not going to try and appear as some connoisseur of obscure but brilliant guitarists. Most of these will be the "usual suspects", not necessarily in order:

 

1 Jimmy Page

2 SRV

3 Jimi Hendrix

4 Randy Rhoads

5 Dicky Betts

6 Warren Haynes

7 Al DiMeola

8 George Harrison

9 Tony Iommi

10 Joe Walsh

11 Elliot Easton

12 Les Paul

13 Mike Campbell

14 EVH

15 Alex Lifeson

16 Niel Young

17 Jeff Beck

18 Jeff "Skunk" Baxter

19 Albert King

20 Lonnie Mack

21 Walter Becker

22 Buck Dharma

23 Billy Gibbons

24 Duane Allman

25 Pete Townsend

 

Damn this took a long time and I still missed a bunch! #-o

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Here are two that few of us would consider very spectacular guitarists but probably did as much to help promote the guitar music culture of our current age as any: Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers.

 

Think about that one, especially if you lived in the 50s. Far different styles, but there were their guitars right up front, whether visually or musically.

 

m

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