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Time Magazine's 10 greatest electric gutarist

Well, these lists never make anyone happy. But really, no country or jazz players? No Chet Atkins or Jerry Reed or Albert Lee or James Burton or Roy Nichols? No Charlie Christian or Wes Montgomery or John McLaughlin or George Benson?

And I always have to mention my personal favorites, Steve Cropper and Richard Thompson.

The Tulsa Sound is a kind of laid-back country-influenced rock and roll that started with musicians around Tulsa OK and then moved to the west coast in the '60s. Clapton had some Oklahoma players in his band and much of his '70s stuff is Tulsa Sound-influenced. Think "Lay Down Sally" or "After Midnight" (not the Michelob commercial version).

--Justin
 
Eh. a safe list. It is hard to argue that any of the first eight don't belong there although Slash is too high. Everyone has their favorites they could put in but you can't argue the first eight weren't hugely successful and influential players.

If I was going to put a classical metal guy in there I'd go with Vai over Malmsteen. He is a better player and a far better musician. And if you just wanted a metal guy put in Eddie, he was far more influential.

Prince? No. He is underrated but he is not top 10 either.

Johnny Ramone? Did what he did very well, but what he did was very limited.
 
Daft, these lists, aren't they? How do you ever decide who to include or exclude?

I mean, I'd think of people like Eddie Hazell, Phil Manzanera, or Johnny Marr - but that's because of the music I like.
 
They ALWAYS screw up these lists, and it never fails that Jimmy hits #1. Look, Hendrix was awesome, ahead of his time and stoned out of his mind, but there are better rock guitarists.

I remember a couple of years ago, Rolling Stone put out their Top 100 list and Hendrix was at #1. Kurt Cobain was in the Top Ten. Eddie Van Halen was #50. Insane!

J.
 
Dark Journey said:
Eh. a safe list. It is hard to argue that any of the first eight don't belong there although Slash is too high. Everyone has their favorites they could put in but you can't argue the first eight weren't hugely successful and influential players.

If I was going to put a classical metal guy in there I'd go with Vai over Malmsteen. He is a better player and a far better musician. And if you just wanted a metal guy put in Eddie, he was far more influential.

Prince? No. He is underrated but he is not top 10 either.

Johnny Ramone? Did what he did very well, but what he did was very limited.
Click to expand...

Well if Slash is so high because he had to deal with Axel Rose for so long I guess that locked EVH out who still has to deal with Edward and the demons which are below the surface.
 
A few months ago I attended Don Felder's book signing at my local Borders. He was there to promote his biography, just released in paperback. Felder, of course, was a member of the Eagles for many years. Throughout his career he's seen and known many famous names in rock.

Someone in the audience at Borders asked Felder who his favorite guitarists were. He said that he was blown away by Jeff Beck's guitar skills, that Jeff Beck is the best he's ever seen. Felder recalled watching Jeff Beck in concert, and said that "he was so good that I wanted to murder him!"
 
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Bad Bishop said:
A few months ago I attended Don Felder's book signing at my local Borders. He was there to promote his biography, just released in paperback. Felder, of course, was a member of the Eagles for many years. Throughout his career he's seen and known many famous names in rock.

Someone in the audience at Borders asked Felder who his favorite guitarists were. He said that he was blown away by Jeff Beck's guitar skills, that Jeff Beck is the best he's ever seen. Felder recalled watching Jeff Beck in concert, and said that "he was so good that I wanted to murder him!"
Click to expand...


I've heard both Clapton and Page say out of the three legends who came form the Yardbirds Jeff Beck is the best of them.
 
Star Wolf said:
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1916544,00.html

Their own list as published and they picked 11.:brickwall:

1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Slash
3. B.B. King
4. Keith Richards
5. Eric Clapton
6. Jimmy Page
7. Chuck Berry
8. Les Paul
9. Yngwie Malmsteen
10. Prince
11. Johnny Ramone.

:confused: What is the "Tulsa sound"?
Click to expand...

1. He wrote some great music, introduced alot of new sounds and effects to the world, but as a guitarist he's horribly overrated.
2. Generic pentatonic wanker.
3. Legendary music, overrated player.
4. LOL?
5. Generic pentatonic wanker.
6. Generic pentatonic wanker.
7. Overrated as a player.
8. Now this guy deserves to be on the list. Even though he wasn't the greatest player compared to some of the guys who came after him, in his prime he was incredible and even if he wasn't, he still deserves recognition for his incredible achievements and innovations in recording, effects and the guitar as an instrument.
9. Great player, terrible songwriter.
10. What?
11. Are they serious?

Overall, a terrible list. I don't believe in ranking musicians, but to call some of these guys "great guitarists" is laughable. To be considered a good guitarist, you need the whole package. You can have great technique but if you can't improvise for shit or write good music (that's subjective though), you aren't a good guitarist. The reverse is true. None of these guys (except Les Paul, R.I.P) have the whole package.

I think it's impossible to rank guitarists, and unfair to try because there's so many great players out there that it's impossible to include them all, but some of these choices aren't even GOOD guitarists by any stretch of the imagination, just mediocre players elevated to superstar status by their overrated, generic classic rock groups.
 
Why? They are generic pentatonic wankers. Every time they attempt at taking off into a fast solo, they end up getting stuck in minor pentatonics and usually make a right sloppy mess of unwanted string noise while they're at it. They're not great guitarists, they're mediocre guitarists that happened to get a big boost in fame by playing in well known groups. Many defenders of these overrated musicians claim that they were "good for their time", but are ignorant to the fact that many players of the same era in other genres (mainly jazz), and indeed even other generic blues rock groups (Jeff Beck comes to mind, though I think people tend to overrate his ability a little) are better.

I guess it's subjective, if you want to listen to mindless pentatonic wanking (fans of the style claim it's full of "feeling" but all I hear is endless repetitive wailing stuck in one scale), that's your choice.
 
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Geckothan said:
Star Wolf said:
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1916544,00.html

Their own list as published and they picked 11.:brickwall:

1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Slash
3. B.B. King
4. Keith Richards
5. Eric Clapton
6. Jimmy Page
7. Chuck Berry
8. Les Paul
9. Yngwie Malmsteen
10. Prince
11. Johnny Ramone.

:confused: What is the "Tulsa sound"?
Click to expand...

1. He wrote some great music, introduced alot of new sounds and effects to the world, but as a guitarist he's horribly overrated.
2. Generic pentatonic wanker.
3. Legendary music, overrated player.
4. LOL?
5. Generic pentatonic wanker.
6. Generic pentatonic wanker.
7. Overrated as a player.
8. Now this guy deserves to be on the list. Even though he wasn't the greatest player compared to some of the guys who came after him, in his prime he was incredible and even if he wasn't, he still deserves recognition for his incredible achievements and innovations in recording, effects and the guitar as an instrument.
9. Great player, terrible songwriter.
10. What?
11. Are they serious?

Overall, a terrible list. I don't believe in ranking musicians, but to call some of these guys "great guitarists" is laughable. To be considered a good guitarist, you need the whole package. You can have great technique but if you can't improvise for shit or write good music (that's subjective though), you aren't a good guitarist. The reverse is true. None of these guys (except Les Paul, R.I.P) have the whole package.

I think it's impossible to rank guitarists, and unfair to try because there's so many great players out there that it's impossible to include them all, but some of these choices aren't even GOOD guitarists by any stretch of the imagination, just mediocre players elevated to superstar status by their overrated, generic classic rock groups.
Click to expand...


So would Yngwie be a generic Phrygian wanker?
 
Pretty much, all that sets him apart from the pentatonic wankers on the list is that his technique doesn't suck. He's got some decent tunes out there though (so do the pentatonic wankers though), but the problem is most of them sound the same (again, just like the pentatonic wankers, blues rock is so monotonous).
 
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