Rolling Stone top 100 guitarists

I don't know if Beck's music has ever been headed in one direction. He goes all over the place, blues, rock, electronica, jazz.

But he doesn't sing and isn't known as a writer so he is at the mercy of his collaborators, which is great if it's someone like Rod Stewart but there aren't many guys like him around. Beck's instrumental reworking of "A Day In the Life" is staggering.

 

"Eastwood" an instrumental on his new album featuring a spoken-word intro by Dirty Harry himself sounds like the greatest Outlaws song the Outlaws never recorded, all rumbling guitars, fiddles and a whistle right out of an Eastwood spaghetti western. It has much more in common with the wild west than any of the crap Jon Bon Jovi did on Blaze of Glory.

 

Wow, just googled that song. Good stuff. Given they both have the same base of operations these days, I'd love to hear a Paisley-Jack White collaboration.

 

Yeah, Beck is hurt by this and by not producing hits or being in a big band for decades.

So many of his songs are instrumentals.

But the guy is unbelievable. I went to the 2007 (and 2010) Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival. I was excited to see a lot of the performers, but had no real expectations about Jeff Beck. Hadn't ever really listened to him.

He blew my brother & I away. Best performance of the day.

Here's a clip:

 

This.

 

From the more recent era, Rodrigo y Gabriella:

 

I was going to post a Rodrigo y Garbiella clip but eventually, I ran out of steam.
They are fantastic.

 

Vote for me!

http://www.guitarworld.com/2011-guitar-world-readers-poll

 

I don't have time to go through the entire thread, so forgive me if I'm repeating anyone. Pat Metheny is a jazz guitarist, but he's ventured into some very strong rock stuff. Even if his jazz roots disqualify him from the list, to deny that he's one of the top 10 guitarists of all time, purely on ability alone, simply would be wrong. Truly tasty stuff he's produced for more than 30 years. And his live shows are legendary.