Good call. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/qXjMhZ6I9Hs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Rodrigo y Gabriela? <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/KV2ixprDrK8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I'm a big fan or Johnny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien. The sounds they create are otherworldly. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/rF8khJ7P4Wg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I feel like the OP had every right in proclaiming his top choice and not being ridiculed for it. Seems a lot of people don't understand the impact John McLaughlin had on music. That trio sounds really hard to beat. Just saying.
Problem stemmed from saying "Top 3" and then naming three that are great, but obviously anyone's top three is going to leave anyone else's favorite out. Instead of just saying "That's great, but these guys deserve consideration" or "Hard to make a top three without these guys" he says something along the lines of "you know nothing." He was abrupt and curt about it, so other dude comes back with "No, if you don't agree, you don't know jack" or some semblance there of... These threads can't be "won" and no one can be definitively "right" so it's really best if you go with "What's YOUR favorite.... mine is/are _______" and then everyone give it all a listen. That's the only way these things are worth a damn anyway. moving along... nothing to see here unless you're posting good music instead of arguing who's "right."
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/R82OM5tzcrk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Spot on. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/FlAyEN07JjI?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Al and Paco engaging in a conversation between virtuoso. Notice how the clinical precision of the Ovation guitar of Di Meola meshes with the warmth of the venerable flamenco guitar: Live version: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/nlaCZ106b5w?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Friday Night in San Francisco version: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/DvVmqnNBo9w?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> John McLoughlin deciding to go on a shredding rampage because why not: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vrkIBbmul9I?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Notable claims to top position are: The Gypsy Kings: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3jNCa2BVJ6M?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Los Indios Tabajaras: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_rQheOglFos?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Pata & Hide (X-Japan), even though their type of music is not really my cup of tea <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/sidLL3sBvW4?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Very solid list, but what are Slash and Izzy Straddlin doing in there? Izzy is Duck Dodgers to the Batman that is Slash. Also, like you said, though they were immensely talented, the body of work of Clapton, Beck and Page together as an ensemble is quite smallish. That's why I usually rate Smith/Murray as the top guitar duo in Heavy Metal/hard Rock as they do have an impressive body of work and arguably the best chemistry generated through decades of playing with each other. Just in case some might wonder what I am talking about: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/TNN40kKr6nQ?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/t7zk4as9kzA?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I prefer Airbag: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/KgE29oRPhrI?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Incredible opening and closing segments And of course Climbing up walls in which they pretty much manage to pin down the mood of madness: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/qbtZyuOMdHI?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Lonnie Johnson & Elmer Snowden <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/BSEvVPs2g_Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Lonnie Johnson & Eddie Lang <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3iPA7oNRr5o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Muddy Waters & Johnny Winter <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/bL53_etpc7Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> John Lee Hooker & Johnny Winter <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/HhoAXjOc92o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Classical giants Bream and Williams <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/r0ZKmuIc-qM?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Young prodigy Julio Silpitucla and Luis Salinas <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/mu7-z8mfzl8?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>