Rolling Stone top 100 guitarists

[Starman]

The complete list. Comments to follow:


1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Eric Claption
3. Jimmy Page
4. Keith Richards
5. Jeff Beck
6. B.B. King
7. Chuck Berry
8. Eddie Van Halen
9. Duane Allman
10. Pete Townshend
11. George Harrison
12. Stevie Ray Vaughan
13. Albert King
14. David Gilmour
15. Freddy King
16. Derek Trucks
17. Neil Young
18. Les Paul
19. James Burton
20. Carlos Santana
21. Chet Atkins
22. Frank Zappa
23. Buddy Guy
24. Angus Young
25. Tony Iommi
26. Brian May
27. Bo Diddley
28. Johnny Ramone
29. Scotty Moore
30. Elmore James
31. Ry Cooder
32. Billy Gibbons
33. Prince
34. Curtis Mayfield
35. John Lee Hooker
36. Randy Rhoads
37. Mick Taylor
38. The Edge
39. Steve Cropper
40. Tom Morello
41. Mick Ronson
42. Mike Bloomfield
43. Hubert Sumlin
44. Mark Knopfler
45. Link Wray
46. Jerry Garcia
47. Stephen Stills
48. Johhny Greenwood
49. Muddy Waters
50. Ritchie Blackmore
51. Johnny Marr
52. Clarence White
53. Otis Rush
54. Joe Walsh
55. John Lennon
56. Albert Collins
57. Rory Gallagher
58. Peter Green
59. Robbie Robertson
60. Ron Asheton
61. Dickey Betts
62. Robert Fripp
63. Johnny Winter
64. Duane Eddy
65. Slash
66. Leslie West
67. T-Bone Walker
68. John McLaughlin
69. Richard Thompson
70. Jack White
71. Robert Johnson
72. John Frusciante
73. Kurt Cobain
74. deck Dale
75. Joni Mitchell
76. Robby Krieger
77. Willie Nelson
78. John Fahey
79. Mike Campbell
80. Buddy Holly
81. Lou Reed
82. Nels Cline
83. Eddie Hazel
84. Joe Perry
85. Andy Summers
86. J Mascis
87. James Hetfield
88. Carl Perkins
89. Bonnie Raitt
90. Tom Verlaine
91. Dave Davies
92. Dimebag Darrell
93. Paul Simon
94. Peter Buck
95. Roger McGuinn
96. Bruce Springsteen
97. Steve Jones
98. Alex Lifeson
99. Thurston Moore
100. Lindsey Buckingham

 

[Huggy]

RS All Access is hardly user friendly, but it brings back a ton of memories and I have wasted loads of time reading issues from the late-70s when I first got my subscription. There was so much more to read in it then, on new bands, old bands, jazz and blues and radio and books and a dozen other things. Great names like Marsh and Marcus and White and Nelson and Bangs. None of the celebrity-wart shirt you get in there now.

 

[Starman]

First comments:

1) Way way way way way way way too many old bluesmen. Most of them never played a note of anything which could be remotely described as "rock" music.

2) Willie Nelson? A top 100 Rock Guitarist?

3) Joni Mitchell? Paul Simon? Ditto.


4) Harrison was a distant second to the best guitarist in the Beatles.

 

[Machine Head]

Does the fact that Alex Lifeson is listed mean that we see white smoke for the RRHOF?

Seriously, was he listed in 2003?

 

[waterytart]

Trivia for the youngsters on the board: Three of the top five on the list succeeded each other as lead guitarist for the Yardbirds.

 

[Huggy]

Springsteen? I love The Boss but nobody goes to his shows to watch him shred. I'd rather hear Miami Steve or Nils Lofgren rip off a solo.

Lennon? Ridiculous. Same with James Hetfield (ahead of Hammett WTF?) and Paul Simon. Really gotta question Willie Nelson here too. Robby Krieger? Cobain?

Good to see some love for Mike Campbell, who I have always felt was very underrated.

No love for the great Warren Haynes? Eric Johnson? Steve Vai? Robert Randolph? Vernon Reid? There's just a few ommissions.

As for the old bluesmen on here, obviously that's for their influence, which is considerable, but I see the point. If you are talking influence, it's tough to look past Ace Frehley, who may not belong on this list on the merits of his talent or output, but his solo in "Rock And Roll All Nite" caused thousands of kids to pick up guitars in the 70s.

 

[DanielSimpsonDay]

Top 10 in 2003:

Jimi

Duane Allman

B.B. King

Clapton

Robert Johnson

Chuck Berry

Stevie Ray

Ry Cooder

Page

Keith Richards

The '03 list may have been even worse.

87. Joan Jett
86. Tony Iommi
85. Randy Rhodes

No.

 

[Starman]

Springsteen's rating is about right. He's in the top 100 but not in the upper pantheon of brilliant technicians/innovators.

 

[Uncle.Ruckus]

Mark Knopfler deserved much better than barely cracking the top 50.

 

[Starman]

Well if you dump out the 20-30 bluesmen-who-have-nothing-to-do-with-rock and the half-dozen or so singer-songwriters-who-strum-guitars-on-the side, that would push Knopfler up to the 30s, which seems about right to me.

Looking back on the list, Dave Davies and Richard Thompson are wildly underrated. Thompson has been a top-20 fixture on these RS lists for about 30 years and suddenly he drops to 69? Bullshirt.

Buck, McGuinn and Joe Perry should also be much higher. And where the heck is Mick Jones or Mike McCready?

 

[YGBFKM]

Just scrolled quickly through that list. Did I miss Warren Haynes? I could have sworn he was pretty high on one of these previous lists.

Also, somewhat related, I'm not a fan of Derek Trucks' music, but I'm not sure I've ever seen a better pure guitar player. He was playing live with the Allman Brothers at the age of 9. Nine!

 

[Greenhorn]

Well if you dump out the 20-30 bluesmen-who-have-nothing-to-do-with-rock and the half-dozen or so singer-songwriters-who-strum-guitars-on-the side, that would push Knopfler up to the 30s, which seems about right to me.

Looking back on the list, Dave Davies and Richard Thompson are wildly underrated. Thompson has been a top-20 fixture on these RS lists for about 30 years and suddenly he drops to 69? Bullshirt.

Buck, McGuinn and Joe Perry should also be much higher. And where the heck is Mick Jones or Mike McCready?

The Mick Jones omission is glaring. And yes, Thompson is ranked way too low. Dude is phenomenal. Tom Verlaine of Television is also ranked too low. Also missing from this list (but not the 03 one) is Steve Howe.