Rolling Stone top 100 guitarists

David Fricke put out his own Top 100 list, which makes an interesting counterpoint to Rolling Stone's "official" list.

 

chet atkins:

 

Tommy Emmanuel?

 

And the brilliant Doc Watson doing a more restrained version of 'Windy and Warm':

 

Kaki King:

 

And my goodness, Michael Hedges was a god:

 

If I was still young, eight times nerdier and 400 times more talented:

 

Andres Segovia must be included on any top 100 guitarist list for it to be legit.

 

I love Neil Young, and the Martin he's playing in this video makes me want to touch myself:

But loving Neil Young doesn't make me irrational. He's not a better player than Stephen Stills and isn't even close to top 100.

 

Of course, Segovia's influence is really hard to fathom.

And since someone mentioned Django before me, let me just post a link to the Lost Fingers.
Modern music treated as hot Paris jazz? Yes, please.

 

And if we're just talking about the 'rock family' of music, Jeff Beck is the one who can challenge Hendrix for pre-eminence.

Hendrix's real-time facility with the instrument was unmatched and his creativity was unmatched.
But Beck is incredibly good, in real time. His range is amazing, much broader than Clapton or Knopfler. His tone is impeccable with little effect.
The guy is amazing. He's probably not in my personal favorite top 10, but that's an issue if taste rather than artistry.
If Hendrix had lived, would Beck have passed him. I don't know. I think they would have headed in similar, if different, directions. Certainly not what Clapton was doing in the 70s.

 

Ok, I've become a Doc Watson sycophant over the past several years.
And I'm glad, if embarrassed, to say I didn't know who he was until somebody around here hipped me about eight years ago.

This is just an unbelievable clip. This blind bastard plays unbelievable flat-pick runs and cross picks like crazy as if it's routine rhythm.