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Now, just to (futilely) forestall the But what about… questions, this isn’t a list based on technical skill. They’re all technically competent. If all I cared about was technique, I’d have Yngwie, Vai, and Petrucci on here. But they aren’t, because as far as I’m concerned they’re technicians. They can play 85254872459598 notes a second, but who cares. It’s all sterile.

These are guitarists whose work makes me want to listen to it over and over and over. They all have melody, rhythm, and most importantly, they all write and play really good music. Some may not be technically the best, but they all make my favorite music. From the top:

1. Jimmy Page:

   No, he’s not the cleanest player around, some days, he sounds sloppier than an 80-year-old whore. But the music he’s written, or played, and the astounding range of music he’s created makes him my favorite of all. First, one myth: Page is not nearly as much a blues player as he is a folkie. Look at the songs on Led Zeppelin I. Joan Baez covers! Joan Baez. She’s not the only one. A huge number of Zeppelin’s best work came out of folk, and if you look at the musical structure of a lot of Page’s work, you see the folk influence everywhere. But it’s not just folk. There’s his blues work, his experimentation with eastern musical techniques, and the occaisional rather excellent bit of funk. (Listen to The Crunge for a great example).

   But outside of technique and style, Page has a great sense of melody. I can’t recall solos or guitar lines that seem jarring in the context of the song. He never falls for the temptation of solo wankery. Even within the maddening frustration of trying to decipher the nigh-infinite number of layers in many Zeppelin songs, it all fits. He just writes good songs, and plays the hell out of them.



2. Prince:

   One of the more underrated guitar players around, people obsess over his image and his name, and lose site of the simple fact that he can play anything and play it well, with showmanship and style. I’ve seen him play everything from funk, to folk, to Elvis, to Texas and Chicago blues. He’s got an amazing sense of melody, I mean, just look at his work throughout the years. He’s written some of the best dance songs ever heard. On his Musicology tour, it was just him and his band on a minimalist stage, and at one point, just him on a stool with an acoustic.

   In a stadium almost packed to the rafters, he communicated with everyone, and got more out of that one acoustic than 5 emo bands with top of the line effects racks. He is the consummate musician, and his guitar playing is the best example of that musicianship. The closing solo in Purple Rain, the layered growl running through Temptation, the lines in I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, the funk in Musicology, the flash in songs like Let’s Go Crazy, or Computer Blue. Prince has been playing better guitar than almost anyone for almost thirty years worth of albums, and he gets better all the time. Like everyone else on this list though, you really have to see him live to fully appreciate just how good he is. His albums are magnificent, but they don’t even come close to his live work, which to me is a sign of a true musician.



3. Joe Perry

   I don’t think it’s possible to have a list of guitar players without Joe on it. He’s a rock guitarist’s rock guitarist, and look at the music he’s done. I mean…dude…Aerosmith. He’s got hellacious rhythm, bodacious leads, and he’s not a half-bad singer either. Like Prince, he does it all, and he does it all well. He’s also smooth. Listen to him playing, I mean, really listen. Even when he’s playing with as much speed as his fingers can handle, he’s smooth. His playing is…liquid-like is what I think of when I hear a Joe Perry lick. It’s like water man. It just flows smooth from one note to the next, as if even when he’s banging away, he’s making sure that each note gets all the TLC it deserves.

   I mean, he’s almost jazz-like in how he just flows. But that’s not to say he can’t play with passion or fire. Listen to Train Kept A Rollin’, or his occasional cover of Red House. For that matter, check out his slide playing on Rag Doll. There’s nothing cold or sterile coming from that man’s hands He’s a monster, but a very smooooooth monster. Plus that, he just looks like the lead guitarist for one of the hardest rocking bands in music. Now, Jimmy Page playing with Joe during an Aerosmith show? I think I could die ten seconds later.



4. Keith Richards

   If you love good rhythm guitar you have to love Keith. He’s probably got nothing resembling blood in his system, and the rest is pickled to hell, but when you want great songs, Keith plays most of them. Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Paint it, Black, Honky Tonk Woman, and even lesser-rated songs like One Hit to the Body, all of them are not known for searing leads and virtuosity of technique, but that amazing rhythm line. True, Keith is only half of hit, with Charlie Watts filling in the other half of this brilliance, but when you think of the Stones and their music, it’s Keith that you’re thinking of.

5. Neil Giraldo

   Yes, 80% of you just went WHO??? and half the rest went WHY???. For the first group, Neil is Pat Benatar’s guitar player and husband. As for the rest, listen to his work. Beyond Pat’s magnificent voice, (Yes, it is. I saw them live not a year ago, and she still has it. Hit the chorus on We Live For Love with no problem), and lyrical sensibilities, the rest of hit is Neil. He’s got a real ability to play with the time on his licks, which I really groove on, because it’s surprising, but he never loses track of the song, which is even better.

   He understands that people pay to hear Pat, but even while he makes sure to never overshadow her, he shines. Sure, there’s the stuff on the big hits, like Promises in The Dark, and Love is a Battlefield, but it’s on the less – known songs you really hear the range of styles he can play. Songs like Crazy, Painted Desert, Evil Genius, they show that Neil is far more than just that guy playing for Pat Benatar. Pat may be the voice of the operation, but without Neil, she wouldn’t have a catalog half as good as she does. Try to imagine Hell is for Children without that intro. Listen to Crazy, and try to think of some generic metal player trying to pull that off. Everybody Lay Down. Invincible. (Stop Using) Sex as a Weapon. If you ever get the chance to see them live, run, don’t walk to do so, but pay attention to Neil as well. He’s long overdue for a little love from the guitar community.



6. Howard Leese

   Since we’re talking about great guitarists who get no recognition from most of the public and press, you can’t not mention Howard Leese. Yes, he’s more than The Guy with the Poodle Hair in Heart. By staying with his Lonesome Howard persona, he managed to avoid all the drama of Heart, while being, for decades, the guitar, and much of the genius behind Heart. Howard, (quite intelligently) always seemed to take the John Paul Jones role in the band. He was never an attention whore, he got who the press wanted to talk to, but when you listen to Dreamboat Annie, a huge chunk of that album is Howard.

   In fact, when you listen to the guitar and keyboard work on the good Heart album, (read: Pre – self – titled and beyond drek), that’s Howard. One of a minority of rock musicians to have studied music theory and arrangement, that background shone through on the classic Heart cuts. Not just the big hits like Barracuda, Magic Man, and Crazy On You, but things like Sylvan Song/Dream of the Archer, Love Alive, Nada One, and Cooking with Fire, Ann and Nancy got the attention, but Howard was The Guy through all of it. Without Howard, Heart wouldn’t have been half the band it was.



7. Angus and Malcom Young

   Okay, so I don’t have to say much about the Young brothers. They’re the sound of AC/DC. They are the one of the best lead/rhythm combos playing today, and if you can go a month without hearing evidence of why they’re amazing, then you only read a very narrow range of biographies that conclude prior to the 70s. But what may not be clear is why they’re both at number 6 together. This isn’t a tie, it’s an acknowledgment of the musical relationship the brothers have always had. Malcom provides the driving rhythm and beat, and Angus takes care of some of the best leads you’ve ever heard. They’re a perfect match, and you can’t really talk about either solo.

   Angus without Malcom would lack the foundation, the low end that gives AC/DC’s best hits the balls they require. You’d still have the searing leads, but it would lack force that you get from Malcom’s very abused guitar and his relentless backing tracks. Imagine Thunderstruck without Malcom. It’s not even close to the same song. By the same token, without Angus, the songs lose so much fire, that heat that you get from leads that only Angus can play. They’re a team. No matter how talented each is alone, without the other, they’re not completely there. But together, they make magic. That magic is why I love them, and why they’re on my list together.



8. Allison Robertson

   Yes, she’s the only chick on my list, but she’s far from a token. A token chick would be on here only for the boobs and the two X chromosomes. Allison is not any of that. The fact that she’s number seven on this list is not a crack against how good she plays, or how much I really enjoy listening to her play, but an acknowledgment of of the quality on this list. If you listen to The Donnas’ catalogue from their first album through to Gold Medal, you can hear her playing evolve and go from one of the best damned Ramones licks I’ve ever heard to something that’s a cross between Rick Nielsen, Jimmy Page, and Ace Frehley.

   Like Page and Nielsen, Allison has the job of providing both rhythm and lead during live performances, and having seen and heard her play live in a number of venues, she does it with skill and fire. I’ve been absolutely blown away by how well she combines speed, power and subtlety in her playing. She’s not one of these CHORDCHORDCHORDCHORDCHORDCHORD players that infect modern rock like some disease of dumb, who wouldn’t know a good lead if it bit them in the ass. Nor is she like one of the technicians who can play a hundred notes a second, and hammer blindfolded, but lack any kind of soul or warmth in their playing. Songs like I Don’t Want to Know, I Wanna be a Unabomber, Five O’Clock in the Morning, Gold Medal, and of course Take It Off, all show off the range of the best new guitarist in rock, and someone who, in time, will be recognized as one of the true greats of rock guitar. So yeah, she’s the only woman on the list, but a token? No friggin’ way.



9. Robert Smith

   Yeah, yeah, he’s the guitarist and lead vocalist for The Cure, but so what? Just because he’s a depressing spooky kid doesn’t mean he doesn’t have talent. He’s also got HUGE brass balls for his non-traditional cover of Purple Haze on the first Hendrix tribute album. Any guitar player who will not only take on that Hendrix song, but do it in a totally different style than Jimi did, and have it be <horrors> pretty damned good gets major props in my book. Like a few of the people on this list, Robert Smith was one of the people who started a major, and occasionally not annoying trend in music, namely Goth. However, like most pioneers, he did, and does it better than 90% of the prats who follow and emulate him.

   But if you’re not sure why he’s on this list, download some Cure from the iTunes Music Store, and listen to his work. From the astounding and nigh-psychedelic leads on Fascination Street to the tight, pop licks of Why Can’t I Be You, Robert Smith shows he can burn and rip with no problem at all, but manages to keep the song at the forefront. His work always fits in the framework of the song, and that’s really the important thing in my book.



10. Robert Randolph

    The sole pedal steel player on the list, but don’t confuse him, or his group, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, with the warmed over crap you hear from that instrument most of the time. I’ve heard him cover Hendrix, and I’ve heard him play originals, and I’ve seen him play it live. Folks, Robert Randolph burns. I mean, he lights the place on frriggin’ fire. You want to know what I’m talking about? Download Live at the Wetlands, and listen to Ted’s Jam, the first track on the list. It’s simple in structure, he’s not playing a lot of different notes. But he grabs the few notes he does play and squeezes over thirteen minutes of fire from them, and leaves you wore out by the end of it. That’s just the first song.

    He’s one of the youngest on the list, but he’s the equal of anyone else here.



11. Dick Dale

    Yeah, I said ten. But, like great amps, this list goes to eleven. So does Dick Dale. No, scratch that, he goes to twelve. I’ve seen Dick play live a couple times, and he is, without doubt, the loudest thing I’ve ever heard. Now, let me explain…I worked on B-1B bombers. I lived with DJs. I know loud. But the one time I saw Dick play live without earplugs, I had a sonic hangover that lasted two days. That old man wore me out.

    But it’s not just the volume. Dick plays beautifully. Left-handed with a right-handed guitar, flopped over and played “Upside Down”, he shreds, he wails, and he can also play as softly and beautifully as anyone you’ve ever heard. Check out his cover of Silent Night. It’s certainly better than that bleating thing Stevie Nicks did. If you have not yet seen Dick live, then you have yet to truly see what a guitar can do. If you have, then you’re a dickhead, and you were before he reached the stage.

Technorati Tags: Guitar, Musicians

8 Responses to “My ten favorite guitar players”

1. Paul Says:
   February 2nd, 2006 at 12:27 pm

   A good list, John – you’ve got some true music lovin rare-ities in there.

   My list:
   10. This list is written inversely so forgive that I’m putting all of these as my number 10 – they are all part of what made me start playing and still give me goosebumps to keep playing so my list can’t ignore them: Alex Lifeson, Warren Hanes, Dicky Betts, George Harrison, Angus, Jimmy Page, Roy Buchanon, Frampton, Chuck Berry, Stevie Ray, Jimi, Paul Simon, Joe Strummer, Roger McGuinn, Clarence White, Jeff Beck, Albert King, BB King, Bo Diddley, Rossington & Collins, Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, Robben Ford.
   9. Mike Campbell – a great and original rock player. Effortless, too. I’ve seen Petty many, many times and Campbell is always on – always tasty. Those riffs at the end of American Girl are vintage. He plays understated – always adds to the song without trying to dominate. Also a tonemeister.
   8. Eric Clapton – well, what list of great guitar players wouldn’t include Slowhand? This new Cream reunion that’s going around now is testament to how wonderful Clapton is – he sounds bigger, better, cleaner, tastier than ever. The amount that he has contributed to all guitar players psyche’s is immeasurable – you doodle around on your guitar and you come across Layla and Badge. You futz around with power chords and you find yourself playing Sunshine of Your Love or Cocaine. We all owe a lot to EC.
   7. Brian Setzer – playing those big, beautiful Gretsch 6120’s – Setzer has real Jazz chops, real Rockabilly chops and real rock chops. He mixes them together in one of the great original styles of our time.
   6. Danny Gatton – a magician. Could do anything he wanted with a guitar. He has one of those Hot Licks training tapes – get it. Don’t ask why – just get it. The section of him and Albert Lee should be illegal.
   5. James Burton – played for Elvis, Rick Nelson and many others – this is where country and rock and roll comes together. All those tricks of how open strings ring and make you look one way, while another riff starts and makes you look the other. Great stuff. See him in action on the Roy Orbison Black & White Night DVD.
   4. Steve Cropper – Memphis soul, understated rhythms, perfect feel.
   3. Springsteen – he never shows up on people’s lists and I don’t get it. Yeah, I’m biased cause he’s my all time favorite musician, but, you should love him too because his tone is absolutely unique, he wills certain sounds out of his solo’s, plays his ass of every night, and he just looks so friggin cool all of the time. Try and figure out the solo to “Prove it All Night” off of Darkness. The first bar of that solo is killer. If you ever can find any of his early band Steel Mill bootlegs around, you’ll hear tremendous 60’s blues chops. Viva la Bruce.
   2. Larry Carlton – one of the reasons I picked up the guitar, and often one of the reasons I think about putting it down – ‘cause I can’t play like him. His playing is just so…...musical. Guitar solo in Kid Charlemagne – ‘nuff said.
   1. Keith Richard – every time I detune to “Keith” tuning and hit one of his power chords, I get all woozy. The opening to Brown Sugar, Start Me Up, Jumpin Jack Flash, Honky Tonk Woman and, of course, Satisfaction – rock guitar riffs just don’t get in your soul like this anymore.

2. John Says:
   February 2nd, 2006 at 6:11 pm

   I thought about Clapton, but I wouldn’t have been putting him in for anything he’s done since he got sober. He just seems to be coasting really.

3. Peter Says:
   February 4th, 2006 at 4:34 am

   These are good lists. I’d also include Bill Frisell, Andre Segovia (presuming we’re not just talking about living guitarists), Alex Lifeson…

4. Jim Says:
   February 4th, 2006 at 4:44 am

   What about Zakk Wylde? I assume you all just included him by default, right?

   I don’t know if I could come up with a definitive list—every time I see a name, I say “oh yeah, him too!”

   I think Robert Johnson and BB King would have to be on a list somewhere.

5. John Says:
   February 4th, 2006 at 6:16 am

   Heh…no, I didn’t include Zakk (ducks). I like him, I think he’s cool, but I’m not a huge ozzy fan.

   But Jim did nail it…there’s always one more person…hell, i couldn’t do a top ten list in less than eleven people.

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   December 8th, 2006 at 4:26 pm

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7. C.A. Cozmik Says:
   December 13th, 2006 at 9:24 pm

   I totally agree with your assessments of all the guitarists on your list, but I’d like to take a moment to concur with the guitarist you chose as #8: Allison Robertson. I was raised on “riff rock,” for lack of a better description, and this young woman can riff with the best of ‘em. She’s obviously got so many influences running through her head and it’s just so amazing how she can hold a tune together so well, yet with the elasticity of rubber cement, and then she’ll pull off really TASTY (read: not wanky or overstaying their welcome) solos just at the right time, only to bombard right back into that amazingly rhythmic riffing. Bravo for choosing her. You have great taste.

8. John Welch Says:
   December 13th, 2006 at 9:45 pm

   Yay, more Allison Love!

   Seriously, the more I listen to The Donnas, the more i’m impressed, not just with her, but with the entire band. But yeah…”tasty”. That’s one of the best descriptions of her solo work.

   And I have to say, “I Don’t Want To Know (If You Don’t Want Me)” is one of the best Cheap Trick songs they never did.

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