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Best guitarist ever!!!???


onewilyfool

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I would prefer a poll for most underrated guitarist, i think that would be more interesting.

 

For me that would be Robert Smith from The Cure ( master of layering and making the complex sound simple) Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins (octave and layering master) and actually even though I dont like his music so much, the purple one himself .... Prince, who is a genius on the 6 strings.

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Amen, Versatile........ i recall an interview where John Sebastion was talking about his song Nashville Cats. He said that whenever he visted Nashville, he'd got to the bars and watch these incredible guitar pickers, who no one would likely ever hear of, and they were playing for tips. Lots of super pickers, but if they don't know the right people, they're luck of hitting-it-big isn't very good.

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One of many that changed the world - and a great player for sure (one of my favourites) but I don't believe in the concept of 'best' when it comes to music.

 

Matt

 

Agree 100% on this. The "best" will vary with the criteria used, at the very least. It's like trying to pick out the "best" guitar, or the best song. I love way too many of them to call any of these great guitarists the "best".

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I gotta give Rolloing Stones credit - they put Richard Thomspon in the top twenty. Hard to believe though they could only find 60 some odd guitar players better than Eddie Van Halen.

 

I love Hendrix but when it comes to the best guitar player ever - gotta be Lonnie Johnson. Memphis Minnie would have to be there as well. She and a handful of others made the blues electric in the later 1930s and brought it to Chicago. That music made on the Southside of Chicago and recorded by Leonard Chess influenced everything that came after.

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I would prefer a poll for most underrated guitarist, i think that would be more interesting.

 

For me that would be Robert Smith from The Cure ( master of layering and making the complex sound simple) Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins (octave and layering master) and actually even though I dont like his music so much, the purple one himself .... Prince, who is a genius on the 6 strings.

 

Al "Bigger is Better" Anderson best known at the guitar player with NRBQ for a few decades.

 

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The best guitarist ever – The one that hit you in the stomach with a flower glove and made your hair rise – gave you the feeling of unparalleled power, then made you melt down in tears, relieved knowing your inner fortress was now opened and free.

 

A couple of my basic ever favorite performances :

 

Cortez The Killer - Neil Young the Zuma album

 

No Woman No Cry (live) – Al Anderson with Bob Marley from the Bob Marley Live album

 

Please Be With Me – Eric Clapton on dobro 461 Ocean Boulevard

 

Muffin Man – Frank Zappa on the Bongo Fury album with Captain Beefheart

 

Aisumasen (I'm Sorry) – David Spinozza, Lennon album Mind Games

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On a related subject, the term 'guitar' seems to be used by the media to cover an absurdly wide range of styles. e.g Ry Cooder is a world away from Julian Bream - Bream is a world away from Johnny Marr who is a world away from Richard Thompson who is a world away from Paco De Lucia! Those four names have very different types of guitars and play very different styles, yet when a 'best' list is written, they are often jumbled in together.

 

The media recognises that the pipe organ, harpsichord and piano while related and have similar keyboards and a similar technique to play each etc, are still very different disciplines, yet everything guitar is thrown in together, It has it's good points, but it's bad points are the general public remain ignorant to the whole range of styles and types of guitars there are!

 

Matt

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On a related subject, the term 'guitar' seems to be used by the media to cover an absurdly wide range of styles. e.g Ry Cooder is a world away from Julian Bream - Bream is a world away from Johnny Marr who is a world away from Richard Thompson who is a world away from Paco De Lucia! Those four names have very different types of guitars and play very different styles, yet when a 'best' list is written, they are often jumbled in together.

 

The media recognises that the pipe organ, harpsichord and piano while related and have similar keyboards and a similar technique to play each etc, are still very different disciplines, yet everything guitar is thrown in together, It has it's good points, but it's bad points are the general public remain ignorant to the whole range of styles and types of guitars there are!

 

Matt

Matt, everyone you mentioned is a great guitarist......however do any one of them have the IMPACT on the music world or guitar world that Hendrix did? Inflenced as many modern guitarists as Hendrix did? He just blew away whatever came before him. Clapton, SRV..all of the greats have been influenced by him. Segovia may be a better guitar player, but I'll bet more know Hendrix. Maybe "best" is not the right word..perhaps ...impactful...or influential...or maybe he was just from another planet???

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Why did this response get a 'red' ... ??

 

Im giving it a green ! [thumbup]

 

The best guitarist ever – The one that hit you in the stomach with a flower glove and made your hair rise – gave you the feeling of unparalleled power, then made you melt down in tears, relieved knowing your inner fortress was now opened and free.

 

A couple of my basic ever favorite performances :

 

Danger Bird - Neil Young the Zuma album

 

No Woman No Cry (live) – Al Anderson with Bob Marley from the Bob Marley Live album

 

Please Be With Me – Eric Clapton on dobro 461 Ocean Boulevard

 

Muffin Man – Frank Zappa on the Bongo Fury album with Captain Beefheart

 

Aisumasen (I'm Sorry) – David Spinozza, Lennon album Mind Games

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Matt, everyone you mentioned is a great guitarist......however do any one of them have the IMPACT on the music world or guitar world that Hendrix did?

 

Julian Bream...impact??? Wily, with the risk of sounding rude - several of the 20th centuries most important (and greatest composers) wrote pieces for him - he was taught by Segovia and in his own style (Spanish Guitar) continues to inspire generations of musicians. Jimi is great too, but belongs to the world of popular culture which is a very commercially driven world that is VERY different, not bad different, but very different never the less [thumbup]

 

For the record (in case the cold written word doesn't translate) - no hard feelings and I think you are still one of the softest souls here)

 

Matt

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Well, it may just be exposure.......Jimi was BIG NEWS in the 60's. No one had seen anyone like him..... And although there are many great Jazz and classical players, no one got the exposure that Jimi got, PLUS, he was "writing" his own music as he went along, so he was composer and player on the spot. A performance artist on top of that.Reminds me of the old joke....What's the difference between a rock (country) player and a Jazz player?.......The rock player plays 3 chords in front of thousands of fans, and the Jazz player plays 1000's of chords in front of three people. So...although there are many great Jazz players, perhaps technically better than Jimi Hendricks, he just exploded on the scene and had such a great impact. I just wish he were still with us.....

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