[Coltrane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clarke68 Not sure I understand this statement...isn't it possible for a guy to be a great pop guitar player and a guitar hero?

Yes. But its possible to be a great pop player and not a guitar hero as well.

Quote:

When I think of a guitar hero, or "guitar legend" as the thread title suggests, I think of the guys who have had a big influence on the way the instrument is played. Most of the guys on your list hadn't recorded a single note in 1966 when Clapton appeared on Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton, and that was after two records with the Yardbirds (thank you allmusic.com). I'd say he at least laid a few bricks in the road of all their careers, if not influenced them directly.

Clapton had little influence on most of the men on that list. He did do alot of good by getting many kids into the blues, but virtually all quickly went to the source. Albert, BB, Freddie, Albert Collins etc all had a MUCH bigger impact on blues playing than Clapton. Eric really didnt add alot to blues vocabulary, he was somewhat the Elvis of the blues. He got kids into, and he was good at it, but he wasnt highly original or influential

And yes, I have yeard the Yardbirds, Blue breakers, Cream, the solo stuff, unplugged, from the cradle etc. EC is very good, but he is certainly not top 3.

And Slash is actually very VERY good technically. He was one of the fastest 'blues' players ever.

 

[omedon]

From what I have heard

Lenny Breau new the guitar pretty damn well.

He was Randy Bachman's mentor and played a lot of jazz guitar. Lenny passed away and Randy has the rights to his catalogue of music. Apparently there are 200 some album's worth of music that have never seen the light of day. They are slowly trickling out now though. I keep meaning to pick up one of his releases but they are super hard to find and usually quite expensive.

Anyone listen to Lenny Breau? Should I bite the bullet and pick up an album?

EDIT:

I just did a search and found this:

"He is one of the true geniuses of the guitar. I suppose he is a musician's musician. His knowledge of the instrument and the music is so vast, and I think that's what knocks people out about him. But he's such a tasty player too. I think if Chopin had played guitar, he would have sounded like Lenny Breau." -Chet Atkins

I think I will definitely have to check him out. Any album recommendations?

 

[clarke68]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coltrane Albert, BB, Freddie, Albert Collins etc all had a MUCH bigger impact on blues playing than Clapton.

Agreed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coltrane Eric really didnt add alot to blues vocabulary, he was somewhat the Elvis of the blues. He got kids into, and he was good at it, but he wasnt highly original or influential

Okay...I'll give you that. Thing to remember (about Elvis) is that while he was derivative of the great R&B musicians of the era (Sam Phillips' "If I could find a white boy..." and all that), he was a great singer, and not just "for a white guy".

Back to Clapton...now that you mention it, I don't know of anyone who credits Clapton as a major innovative force in blues guitar (Hendrix on the other hand...) but I think by the time Slowhand rolled around, he'd found his own voice (despite the obvious/credited influence of J.J. Cale), also with the Edge of Darkness soundtrack.

 

[peter braun]

My personal favs-

Stevie Ray Vaughn
Eric Clapton
Buddy Guy

 

[Dusty Chalk]

I'm sure this joke has been made already, but just in case...

I don't know any guitar legends...personally...but I know of these:

Buckethead
Vai
Satch
Beck
Al Di Meola
Jimi Hendrix
Gilmour
SRV
Adrian Belew
Robert Fripp
Eddie van Halen

 

[BillC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GIGANTOID Oh, and everyone on my list has been noted, I was fearful people would forget... Robert Johnson Stanley Jordan Django Segovia Also this list is decidedly slim on classical, blues and jazz guitarists.

Why is it the only mentions of Robert Johnson and Stanley Jordan come from Atlanta?

I'll throw out a couple Atlanta local guitar legends then:

Glenn Phillips
Tinsley Ellis

Glad to see that Fripp and Belew are getting some mentions. Jerry Garcia was a good addition as well - even apart from the Dead his acoustic work with "Old and in the Way", his own band and the stuff with David Grissman was great.

 

[jamesb]

James Burton. I dont actually know much about him, but he has my name!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Burton

 

[VicAjax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coltrane Yes. But its possible to be a great pop player and not a guitar hero as well. Clapton had little influence on most of the men on that list. He did do alot of good by getting many kids into the blues, but virtually all quickly went to the source. Albert, BB, Freddie, Albert Collins etc all had a MUCH bigger impact on blues playing than Clapton. Eric really didnt add alot to blues vocabulary, he was somewhat the Elvis of the blues. He got kids into, and he was good at it, but he wasnt highly original or influential And yes, I have yeard the Yardbirds, Blue breakers, Cream, the solo stuff, unplugged, from the cradle etc. EC is very good, but he is certainly not top 3. And Slash is actually very VERY good technically. He was one of the fastest 'blues' players ever.

i totally back you up on this. clapton was a popularizer, not an innovator. i think the elvis analogy is spot on.

 

[tortoise]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VicAjax oh! Leo Kottke duhhhhh.

Good call. Can't mention Kottke without mentioning Fahey, though.

 

[musicmind]

Some unmentioned Jazzers...these cats know the guitar like no other.

Joe Pass
Martin Taylor
Jimmy Bruno
Wes Montgomery

of course satriani, malmsteen, paco de lucia and many more guys mentioned already are also superhuman guitarists. There should be far more flamenco players mentioned like Pepe Habicheula or Oscar Herrero, but of course they arent as well known as Satriani or Van Halen
But there is something to be said of the chord melody style played by Joe Pass, it should be listened to by those who think the likes of kurt cobain or clapton is god

Ultimately, it depends what impresses u more...speed alone, or true musicianship. U want both...then check out some of these guys mentioned above. U want sheer speed with so many notes your ears cant keep count, then go with Rusty Cooley, Chris Impelliteri and old Jason Becker.
Speed is impressive, but eventually you get bored of it, unless you are a guitar player yourself practicing to play fast as well

 

[dave-the-rave]

Have we forgotten the immortal Jukka Tolonen?

 

[pezzy]

dont think anyones mentioned these 2 guys yet

Tommy Emmanuel
Herman Li

and worthy of a mention imo
Tak Matsumoto
Miyavi

 

[Mr Iriver]

Buckethead hasn't been mentioned. (I think)

Jason Becker is awesome. Amazing speed, and amazing musicianship. Same with Eric Johnson.

 

[SennFan]

Kind of surprised someone has Tommy Shaw from Styx on their list but neglected to include Jimmy Page...?

 

[zowie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by proglife Dear lord, why did it take so long to mention Jerry Garcia? John Fahey

YEAH!

I'll add:

Mississipi John Hurt
Big Bill Broonzy
Gene Bertoncini
Rev. Gary Davis
Jose Feliciano
Maybe Dave Van Ronk, a huge early influence on Dylan.