No, I said Bono as a joke, somebody said that actually with all seriousness on another message board.
I can’t really say who the BEST guitarists are, as my top ten or so all have different qualities that appeal to me. Instead I’ll name two who I think are underrated/underappreciated:
Rivers Cuomo from Weezer, and John McCrea of Cake. Both have a laid-back, sort of “jam” feel, but when they try, they can do some pretty cool little licks. /hijack
My 5 favorites are:
Jimi Hendrix
Richie Blackmore
Rick Neilsen
Danny Gatton
Roy Buchanan
**Dio ** - you’re way off-base here. Nancy is a great guitarist. You should check her playing out - seriously. The fact that Jerry Cantrell, Kim Thayil and lots of other Seattle-scene players respect the heck out of her is some indication, certainly,
Outside of my thinking that Thompson is #1, I can’t really order them, and I couldn’t quite fit it in five. Anyway:
Richard Thompson
Django Reinhardt
Blind Willie McTell
Martin Carthy
Jimi Hendrix
Leo Kottke
I can’t believe that all of you could somehow, inexplicably, forget Johnny Marr.
Who is Johnny Marr?
Guitarist for the Smiths and now Modest Mouse. Very tasteful, mostly rhythm - known for playing exactly right for the song in an understated way that…well, stands out.
I think that’s what he was saying – I, too, was suprised that you regard Malmsteen with “the greats” instead of as a navel-gazing savant like Vai or Satriani. They’re all brilliant, but I prefer performers; technicians merely irritate me.
Why is it so trendy for the internet guitarati to dish on Steve Vai these days?
So we can now confer “greatness” on the artists most capable of being assimilated into pop culture? I think this rings particularly hollow for musicians. Seems to me that its quite possible to be remarkably influential, but not particularly good. The OP gave us a perfect example of this with his reference to the late Kurt Cobain. Please, tell me that Johnny Ramone is “worth discussing” in your estimation. :dubious:
Regarding ‘Catherine’…
What I saw when I watched that was six and a half minutes of thematically incomplete noodling. Sure, it had all of EVH standard tricks: tapping, the sloppy phrasing, the obnoxiously bent artificial harmonics, and the goofy volume knob wanking. He even tossed in some haphazard wah-stomping and a few throwaway Tom Morello’esque “Am I playing a guitar or a turntable?!” scratches at the bridge. And then there were the occasional excursions into the “land of five chords” that are always a shocking demonstration of innovation. Basically, there are several glimpses of what might become a working song at some point, but no song to speak of.
Personally, I think the image of him chucking the guitar to the floor of the studio at the end of the video and slinking off is a perfect visual metaphor for this whole thing. For his former glory, EVH is a burn-out. Face it; he hasn’t done anything worth talking about in over 12 years.
Vai is and always has been an uncompromising artist. He is innovative beyond reason in his medium. I think you’d be hard-pressed to identify any contemporary player (including EVH) capable of simultaneously matching his technical proficiency and knowledge of music theory. If you can honestly say that Vai’s playing lacks passion or feeling then I’ll assert that you haven’t been paying attention. For goodness sake, go see him in concert. I’ve never seen another player so perfectly represent himself as a human being through the instrument.
(…and no, I’m not Steve Vai, nor do I know him.)
Chet Atkins and Doc Watson are worthy of consideration.
I think there are probably a lot (hundreds if not thousands and quite a bit more if you expand it beyond guitar) of players with his ability and his music theory knowledge. Music theory is fairly finite and does not take much to master (a lot of time yes but it’s not rocket surgery). I think there are two separate issues, is X a technically great player and/or does X create great music? The first can be quantified to an extent but the second is a lot more nebulous.
I find Malmsteen and Via to be unlistenable (just my opinion mind you) but I do recognize their skill. I just don’t think it’s unique or rare even.
I second both of those.
How about Walter Trout?
I despaired in this thread, and I didn’t want to be the one to yell Johnny’s name… but yes, Johnny is brilliant. I’m seeing him with Modest Mouse this Friday. He’s also played with Bryan Ferry, Talking Heads, Kirsty MacColl, Beth Orton, Oasis, Pretenders, The The, Electronic, his own band The Healers…
Most gearheads are all Yngwie, Beck, etc. and forget guys who play in bands… but almost every gearhead gives props to “How Soon Is Now?”
My faves:
Johnny Marr
Andy Summers
John McGeoch
Peter Buck
Stevie Ray/Vernon Reid/Alan Murphy
Guys I can always identify, that I absolutely have to stop what I’m doing to hear them play.
The Five Greatest Guitarists of All Time, no particular order: Macintosh, Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith and Red Delicious.
No, wait. At least that’s comparing apples to apples.
No worries - Johnny Ramone is hugely worth discussing - as is Kurt Cobain. I don’t think you’re following it - it really seems like you and I are on the same page. I put the song first, the influence second and the technical skill below that, perhaps not even next on the list. The point about EVH is NOT that he can out-wank Vai - the point is that Eddie is Ground Zero for the do-it-yourself, pyrotechnic hair-metal explosion that came in his wake - period. Just like Johnny Ramone is Ground Zero for punk-rock downstroke rhythm and Cobain for grunge.
I am a musician and I work in a band with long-term, do-it-for-a-living musicians. They have much more respect for musicians that reach a broad audience while making music they love vs. solid players who never go anywhere (and are frankly a dime a dozen) or talentless hacks who have a corporate machine backing them. There was a thread a few weeks ago about Robert Smith of the Cure potentially working with Ashlee Simpson - so many wannabee snobs howled compromise. My buddy - *who knows and has worked with Robert Smith * basically said - “get over it - what do you think professional musicians DO for a living?”
Okay - all true. I am happy to agree with you on every point. If that is your definition of “Great Guitarist” per the thread, then you are 100% right. It is not my definition of great guitarist. In my case, I can discuss Vai’s mastery of the Mixolydian mode all night, but you know what? 99.9% of folks, even real music nuts, simply don’t care.
I would take Johnny Ramone over Steve Vai as a great guitarist every day of the week. Vai has mastered his craft; Ramone created a genre.
I apologize but nirvana never really classified as a classic band and half these guitarists some of u r mentioning r unknown to me and captian socks said that as a joke (the whole bono thing)
Less than 15 years after their demise, it’s still a bit early to call Nirvana classic or not classic. I personally am not a fan of their music, but that’s not a requirement for me to recognize their importance.
If we’re mentioning guitarists who are unknown to you, well, that’s what the SDMB is all about: fighting ignorance. Give one or two of them a listen!
Sir - just a tip: posts on the SDMB tend to be taken more seriously when they don’t use abbreviations like “u r mentioning” - no slam intended; merely trying to help a fellow poster out.
And I agree with **OneCentStamp ** wholeheartedly - folks are welcome to not like Nirvana - I am not a big fan but like some of their stuff - but to deny their influence is short-sighted. If you could measure it, who has influenced more kids to pick up a guitar - Kurt Cobain or, say, Steve Vai? Again, that may not be a measure of a great guitarist to you - and that’s cool - but it must be acknowledged.