Rolling Stone's Top 100 guitarists

[TerryTNM]

Danny and Edward-
Thanks for the explanation of the Ventures without the Ventures. I guess we're all OK with that?

As far as the top 100 goes . . . I'm not sure I could name 100. But every list is different that I've seen. The genre of the list is all important. Who's the best is just totally subjective. But a list of who's been influential may narrow the field. I go back a long way, to the beginnings of the popularity and emergence of the guitar as a lead instrument for small bands. It wasn't always the electric guitar.

I remember when the tenor saxophone was the hero of the band. But then, along came a guy named Elvis Presley with his side man Scotty Moore that almost single handed changed the direction of the guitar in popular music. Guitar sales took off. Chuck Berry cannot be denied his contribution to rock'n roll. So many super players credit Berry as the reason they started playing. Certainly the Ventures themselves were an influence on many a young man, myself included. They had their guitar hero too. Chet Atkins was mentioned as their influence for Walk Don't Run. After Scotty Moore and Chuck Berry the field expands to include James Burton who invented "chicken pickin". Jimmy Page and Jimmy Hendrix start a whole new direction for the guitar. For me it's hard to keep track after this time frame. You can fill in who's who after this point or totally disagree with my memory of the origins.

So many great players - so many great licks! Each one of us has our favorites list which is ever expanding and may change from time to time. I'm not going to list my favorite players as they wouldn't be yours.

-Terry

[JimPage]

TerryTNM wrote:
>>I remember when the tenor saxophone was the hero of the band. But then, along
>>came a guy named Elvis Presley with his side man Scotty Moore . . .

Absolutely right on. We are dating ourselves here, but I started on alto and tenor sax, wanting to do those honking solos I heard on the Coasters sides and so on. Then Scotty Moore hit my ear, though I was too young to realize it wasn't Elvis playing those leads. That made me wonder if guitar might not be better than sax. But the guitar looked intimidating to my eyes.

Once I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, that was it. I still played sax (baritone by that time) at school, but guitar and bass were where my heart was.

Super good summation, Terry. Right on the money.

--Jim

[Edward Lopez]

Danny and Edward-
Thanks for the explanation of the Ventures without the Ventures. I guess we're all OK with that?

As far as the top 100 goes . . . I'm not sure I could name 100. But every list is different that I've seen. The genre of the list is all important. Who's the best is just totally subjective. But a list of who's been influential may narrow the field. I go back a long way, to the beginnings of the popularity and emergence of the guitar as a lead instrument for small bands. It wasn't always the electric guitar.
[snip]

My, the stories each one of us could tell about who we admired and who influenced us. I was born and grew up in Puerto Rico and found the P.R. guitar players to be heads and tails above anyone, the things they could do with their fingers and picks. My father, his brother, and another player were a guitar trio that played live on the radio in the 1930s. You should see my father's art deco shoes in a photo!

My main interest was drummers/percussionists and you can't beat (pun the drummers/percussionists featured on "MUSIC FOR BANG BAAROOM AND HARP" (Dick Schory). But by that time I had already been enchanted by Chet Atkins in 1956 plus the emerging rock 'n' rollers such as Buddy Holly and studio musicians. Anyone remember Canned Heat's Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson? Gifted fingers. Their bassist was Larry Taylor, the brother of Ventures’ drummer, Mel Taylor.

You rarely hear of Chuck Berry being a guitar influence he is not really heard picking away on his hit record but he could make some very pleasing sounds as in "Deep Feeling".

How about the wildest guitar player that I've ever heard? Johnny Watson doing "Space Guitar".

And, oh, so many talented. The soundtrack to "Sweet And Lowdown, great acousticity.

[TerryTNM]

You rarely hear of Chuck Berry being a guitar influence he is not really heard picking away on his hit record but he could make some very pleasing sounds as in "Deep Feeling" Edward Lopez

I beg to differ. The Berry guitar intro and solo on Johnny B. Goode is rock history. Check out Youtube and see how many would-be rock stars try and show you how to play that intro and solo. To this day nearly every band pays dues to Chuck with their very own version of that classic. It has stood the test of time. Again we are not talking about ability and technical prowess but influence. . . massive.

There are 1000's of very fine players in every genre. Most of whom you've never heard of. I'm always amazed to be out somewhere and discover some guy or girl that just blows me away and I think, man, where did you come from? There are certain "root" players that have started a style of playing that just "caught on". Others that have admired that style are influenced to want to play like that. A couple of players in the "root" category for me would be D'Jango Rheinhart, Merle Travis and James Burton. Each of whom for the most part started a style of playing. Others that have been influential have combined styles, added their own mojo and taken playing to another level. Chet Atkins would be in this category. I have no comments of the hard rock branch of this discussion but it appears that this is the road that really sells a lot of guitars.

[dubtrub]

Speaking of Chuck Berry, this is a sad way to end a career.

[Edward Lopez]

[quote="dubtrub"]Speaking of Chuck Berry, this is a sad way to end a career.

Whadda ya mean? They can't all be Les Pauls! He has an audience that wouldn't care if did anything but just stand there and anything he does brings adulation. The fact that he can stand straight and pick that big, ol' guitar is what they came to see and hear. He doesn't bend down as much during his "duck stride" and it's shorter but he gives them what they went to see. Of course, you wouldn't have caught me in the audience!

That said, I experienced Chuck twice. I saw him live in the '60s and he turned me off when he did the "My Ding-a-Ling". His lowest point but he was still going strong. One day in the early '70s I was walking along 8th Street in the West Village (NYC) and as I passed the entrance to the Jimi Hendryx recording studio Chuck emerged onto the sidewalk but I didn't approach him. (John Lennon was a different story!)

[dubtrub]

I won't get into to a debate with you over what is or what isn't, but to me it's just sad when a legend deteriorates to this level. There comes a time when one must realize they cannot do what they've always done. As for the audience, it's great they cheered him on, but again that was recorded in Spain. Here they wouldn't have been so kind. I saw him about eight years ago and he was sharp as a tack. Even BB King (who is a year older) has slowed down but he still knows how to tune his guitar.

[MWaldorf]

Chuck Berry has a long history of not giving much thought to his live shows. Seems he gets a pickup band in each city he plays. A friend of mine was hired by a club in Montreal to back him and he wouldn't even run through the songs before the show. Maybe he's losing his chops, maybe he was having a bad night, maybe he didn't care.

I've seen other "legends" who may have lost their edge but still put on a great show. Don Ho was great, played songs, told dirty jokes, ended with Tiny Bubbles, and made sure he was available for everyone to take a picture with him. Ticket price included a *strong* Blue Hawaii, too! Little Richard was outragous, must have played Good Golly Miss Molly three times, talked about himself in the third person, but the band was tight and he was a histerical entertainer.

Yet others I've seen, Duane Eddy and Dick Dale come to mind, who still rock and roll.

Nonetheless, Chuck Berry was a very influencial guitar player, and plenty of players cop his chops, or the chops of their favorite guitar player who's copping Chuck's chops.

[vibramutant1965]

vibramutant1965's unofficial top 100 guitar players in no particular order ..... Nokie/Ventures . Joe Maphis , Elliot Easton, Sugarfoot, Bill Baugh, Jonny Ramone, Ricky Wilson, MC5, Tbones, Terry , Toulouse Englehardt,Barbara Mandrell, Glenn Campbell, Curt Cobain, Semie Moseley, vibramutant1965, Iron Butterfly,That 9 year old kid, Messhugah beach party , and all the rest of you on the mosrite forum !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TerryTNM]

Mel,
Seeing in person one of your favorites and a legend that may have lost their edge may be a let down in some cases and not so much in others.
I remember many years ago we went to see Andre Segovia for the first time. I had listened in wonder for many years to his classical recordings with amazement. The start of the recital was far less than my expectations for the first couple of compositions. Missing notes losing time. . . But then realized I was in the presence of possibly the greatest classical player that ever lived who was in his twilight years. I thoroughly absorbed the rest of the evening and consider myself very privileged to have been there. He died just a few months after.