Charlie Byrd - my favorite jazz guitarist. Popularized the bossa nova style outside of Brazil.
Lenny Breau - my 2nd favorite jazz guitarist. Played an unconventional 7-string guitar. He was unbelievably skilled; on a lot of his stuff you could swear there are at least 2 or 3 guitarists playing, but it was all coming out of him.
And I’ll second Danny Gatton. He used to regularly play a spot called Tornado Alley in Wheaton, Maryland. I had a friend who worked there and he would sneak me in through the back because I wasn’t old enough to get in at the time (I was still in high school). He was quite possibly the greatest guitar player to ever live, and that is not hyperbole at all.
I’m going to go ahead and side with my boy Stevie Ray and nominate Grant Green – IMHO he had the biggest balls and the choicest tone and the best confidence to play like he did.
Everyone talks about Danny Gatton and he’s incredible – the best at what he does. But I think Grant Green kind of opened everyone’s ears to a new way of leaving space open.
I play bass, but not as a frustrated guitar player forced to change – totally diasinterested in everything but the music.
Among studio guys – I got to go back and suggest maybe Eric Gale, but just cause I was listening to a piano video from way back somebody sent me from the “supergroup” Stuff. Anyway, that’s just my taste.
I’ll defend Jimi, though – he changed the whole game. Hell, so did the other Eric Gale, who’s called Eric Clapton, and our man in FA/GA, Duane.
I do like Derek (sp?) Trucks – he’s doing something completely different, but I don’t know enough about the technical aspects of picking to say anything but that I did like his playing.
ETA I was wrong. Wes. C’mon – to me, he’s the most tuneful improvisor out there. I know guitar pickers are always upset by his octaves, but to me as a non 6-slinger, he’s just one of the best musicians I’ve heard period. How many people’s improvised solos do you end up singing seven eight years after you heard it last? He’s just that good.
Vini Reilly deserves a mention as does Richard Thompson (Fairport Convention).
Dave Gilmour manages to move me more with less notes than any soloist I can think of (which must take immense technical skill…but what do I know?)
And Prince is Prince, love the outro to “I could never take the place of your man”
ETA - I see Dropzone has mentioned Richard Thompson as well, good man.
Lonnie Johnson
Pat Hare
Wes Montgomery
BB/Freddie/Albert King
I’ll join the Prince faction, he’s under-appreciated. I also liked Duane Allman. I don’t like Hendrix but think that had he lived, he would have become one of my favorites. He had the potential to make huge strides in blues & jazz and IMO would be one of very few guys from the Sixties that was still relevant today.
Hendrix is the usual choice, and I have no argument with him.
Surprised that Jeff Beck hasn’t been mentioned. He has innovated in technique and musical genres, pushes the envelope to this day and is generally held up by other guitarists as head and shoulders above everyone else.
Back to the OP - technique is central to your criteria, which is why you hold up Yngwie and slam folks like Johnny Ramone. But Ramone’s innovations on punk rhythm guitar have had a far broader and deeper influence.
I also think folks like Keith Richards and Pete Townshend should be far higher on the list than shredders for their innovation and influence. But I am not going to push hard - I’m happy to hang back and watch this thread get populated with checklist entries…
jack tardiff - I loveGrant Green - he and Kenny Burrell are two of my favorite jazz players.
I always compare guitar playing to horror movies. Some of us like creepy, mood setting, ghost stories, and others like Hostel and The Human Centipede. It’s what makes the world go round…
By the way, in terms of guitar innovation, 20’s jazz players like Eddie Lang, Carl Kress and Dick McDonough were the ones who moved the guitar to the front of the band, alongside Charlie Christian. Guitar was primarily a background rhythm instrument before those guys. Lang in particular was a monster, ripping out long complex classical runs, then shifting to jazz chording, melody and bass line work.
T-Bone Walker, the first electric blues guitarist, was also instrumental (;)) to broadening the guitar’s palette…
Some of the best guitarists are session musicians in the top recording studios. Glen Campbell was one of them in the early 60’s. Session musicians are expected to play any style and do it almost instantly in the studio. Campbell was a member of the The Wrecking Crew. The best session musicians ever put together. Bill Pitman, and Tommy Tedesco are two others. The Wrecking Crew were the recorded sound behind a lot of Pop stars and their hits.
Grant Green is one of those guys who took me a while to understand his music. Maybe I thought he was just playing laid back because he couldn’t play standard bebop lines, but he could definitely shred some more straightahead stuff with changes if he wanted to, no doubt. Not a big part of his bag of tricks, but it’s out there.