If someone asked me “Who are great guitar players” I would never think of saying Roy Clark. He’s simply not my usual style of music so it wouldn’t occur to me
If someone asked me “Is Roy Clark a great guitar player” I wouldn’t hesitate to say yes.
Supposedly top musicians voted to make up that list. Alex Lifeson 98? Springsteen? Springsteen is the 3rd best guitar player in his own band.
Lots of folks on that list known for making great music, being artists, writers and innovators…but not for being great players.
The list is beyond meaningless.
Roy has chops for miles and can probably do most stuff you would throw at him, and a lot of guitarists (me included) admire him. But he exemplified a style; he did not influence it. He mastered a particular genre but I never heard any really original ideas from him.
A lot of people confuse chops with being a good musician.
Roy Clark is a great guitar player. Jimi was a great artist who used the guitar to express his art. There is a huge difference. The reason Jimi is held in such high regard is the expressive power that shot out of his guitar, not how many notes he could play how fast or how many fancy scales or chords he could use. In fact Jimi could say a lot with one note.
I always enjoyed watching Roy’s facial expressions as he played the more intricate/difficult parts.
An earlier poster accurately said the Rolling Stone list was limited to blues and rock guitar players. Roy Clark was no more slighted by his non-inclusion than Andres Segovia and Django Reinhardt were.
Had the author of this article stated that it was limited to blues and rock guitarists then you would have a point. No such declaration was made. As noted in my original post, the inclusion of at least two other country artists disproves the assumption.
Also as noted above, the list is pointless and discussing it’s nonexistent merits and shocking flaws is equally pointless.
He was well respected before Hee Haw, but that and doing the Branson thing tends to put him in “another category” when best-of lists are made.
Exactly. He’s not well known, but those who know, know he’s great.
Favorite Roy Clark musing: Someone once said that if a tampon came with a string, Roy could play it.
Heartily concur. Any list without Steve Howe in the top 3, let alone OMITTED ENTIRELY is worthless beyond comprehension.
Agreed, it’s rather suggestive of ecstatic constipation.
Thank you for this.
mmm
You know, after hearing him play the Malaguena, I rather wish he and Charo had gotten together to play flamenco. I bet it would have been amazing.
Roy is far from a one trick pony. He was a monster. Fabulous. And Campbell is every bit as underrated as a guitarist too (did you know he was a Beach Boy for a while?).
Right fuckin’ here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sTpvd3UAXP4
I think Loach said something like this above but if you asked me if Roy Clark was a great guitar player I would say yes. Would I expect to see him in a list of the 100 greatest of all time? No, not really.
As for the list itself, while I might quibble with the order I have to admit I don’t really have an issue with most of the guitarists on it.
Okay, maybe a handful, but whatcha gonna do?
I don’t want to live in a world where a list of 100 greatest guitarists doesn’t include the words “Yngwie” and “Malmsteen”.
I saw Roy Clark in concert three times. He is a fantastic guitarist. I agree with Crafter_Man. The list is a joke. I quit reading it at 71. Robert Johnson deserves to be in the top 10, for sheer influence, if nothing else. However, I also he was a wonderful musician. Lindsey Buckingham deserves to be higher than 100 if you’re considering only rock and blues.
Of course Roy Clark is underappreciated as a guitarist. I’m underappreciated as a guitarist. You’re underappreciated as a guitarist. Whoever your favorite guitarist is, they’re underappreciated.
Was Leo Kottke on the list? Paul Simon?