Okay, I spent most of this morning (yes we are inbetween projects at work), trying to find in vain a thread about this very topic. I was actually successful at finding all of my old threads as I used a trick told to me by Rockets2K (sort by thread starter and then go into the address line and change the number from like "1" to "950"). But I couldn't find this old thread; then I remembered it was started by someone else. So, it has been awhile and I will ask the question this time. If Jimi Hendrix was the greatest guitarist ever (and most people consider this the case), who is the 2nd best? I am going to do a poll on this and include the following: Jimmy Page - Led Zeppelin's guitarist who was former session man and in the Yardbirds. Very strong and innovative; best work might have been the entire Led Zeppelin II album. Eric Clapton - Slowhand has been around forever and if all you know him by is stuff like "Tears in Heaven" and "Change the World" then you will be shocked to hear him shred in songs by Cream and Blind Faith as well as the one album he did with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. After listening to those albums, Clapton made a believer out of me. Jeff Beck - Personally, I think he is the most underrated guitarist ever. Highly respected by his peers (see my sig) and Hendrix considered him to be a major influence. His legendary temperament and somewhat haphazard career has cost him the accolades and respect he deserves so much. David Gilmour - Came up with many memorable solos while in the Floyd such as "Comfortably Numb", "Money", "Time", "Dogs", and many others. Very bluesy and a personal favorite of mine but is he really the 2nd greatest of all-time? Randy Rhoads - died far way too young; if he had lived longer, he may had wrapped this spot up a long time ago. Best work was on Ozzy Osbourne's album, "Blizzard of Ozz". Eddie Van Halen - once upon a time, everybody, it seemed, was heralding EVH as one of the best ever. However, as time has passed, he seems to have dropped further and further down the list. Still a great player. Ritchie Blackmore - another legendary "difficult" guy to deal with (just like Beck) but boy could this dude shred and did so in bands like Deep Purple and Rainbow. Other - you can vote for other and say in the thread who it was and why you think your choice is #2 all-time.
Well, I left off many others like Joe Satriani, Duane Allman, Steve Vai to name just a few. You have to draw the line somewhere but yea you could vote for SRV in the other and say that is who you voted for. But from what I have read and heard, it seems like #2 is between Page, Clapton, and Beck.
I thought about voting for Clapton and don't get me wrong - he is very, very good. But I can't do it. I went with Jeff Beck as he continues to amaze me every time I listen to one of his solos (the best being "Cause We've Ended as Lovers" off the "Blow by Blow" album), mainly because I always hear something different every time I listen to it. He is also the only other guy besides Hendrix to make me say, "My God - how did he do that or how did he create that sound out of the guitar?" Plus he was cited by Jimi as a big influence so those were all things I took in consideration in casting my vote.
By the way...what actually defines greatest, best, or good when it comes to guitarist. Personally I don't see what is so special about Hendrix, Clapton, Paige, etc...
But everyone has different tastes so what may sound awesome to one person may not be very impressive to another. The picture didnt show btw...
In my opinion, JLV is #1, but that's just because I like him the best. I'll go with SRV for the sake of this poll. Incredible tone and technique, even though I always have preferred his older brother.
When it comes to rock guitarist Hendrix is the one what is so special? put it this way I think just about every rock band in history given the chance would take him as their lead guitarist-IMHO
agreed. Oh, I know all about him as I have the 2 original Mahavishnu Orchestra albums as well as the Shakti album and all of Miles Davis' fusion classics in which John plays on (especially "A Tribute to Jack Johnson"). Personally, I don't think McLaughlin is the greatest jazz guitarist ever - I would say Wes Montgomery is. And when it comes to #2 all-time behind Hendrix, I definitely don't see McLaughlin or SRV being there - sorry. And as for the guy who was asking why people like Page and Clapton and Beck (plus Hendrix) are always considered to be so great - it's because they were revolutionaries and innovators. Not many people were doing what Clapton was doing when he was in the Bluesbreakers and later Cream. Ditto for the wah wah effect and fuzztones and other technical stuff that Beck and Hendrix really got into. And no one was better in the studio at layering guitar parts and doing all kinds of weird stuff like Jimmy Page (the guy used a cello bow on his guitar on some songs). There have been many great guitar players over the years but the ones that keep getting named many years after their prime - the Hendrixes, Claptons, Becks, and Pages still hold today because listening to their stuff now is just as fresh as it was 30 plus years ago. At least that is my opinion - someone who is an actual musician could probably give you a better reason than that, but that is what I came up with.
Different tastes? My God, we must be polling mere... mere... OPINIONS! And Christ, there are a lot of wrong ones. Oh, and that picture exemplifies everything there is to know about "awesome guitarist."
SRV is Hakeem-like in the way he incorporates new and old into something great. Allman is good, but he's more of a power forward and they don't win a lot of championships. The others you mention are Ewing at best and more like Cartwright. You compound this slight to a great Texan by including someone on your list who did his best work playing backup to a guy who peed on the Alamo. Looking at the poll, by best, do you mean technically proficient? Innovative? Influential? In my view, the first is last. So, SRV is the clear #2 choice. Clapton did his best work by far in his early years and I may be penalizing him a bit because he survived... but SRV was still rising when he died... he had his own sound, had dealt with his addictions, and was gaining confidence. In my view, none of the others can be seriously considered for #2. (And by the way, while I'd never put Pete at #2, he belongs on any list of top tier/influential guitarists.)
