http://www.rollingstone.com/features/coverstory/featuregen.asp?pid=1924

1. Jimi Hendrix Damn straight
2 Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band
3 B.B. King
4 Eric Clapton
5 Robert Johnson
6 Chuck Berry
7 Stevie Ray Vaughan
8 Ry Cooder
9 Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
10 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones
11Kirk Hammett of Metallica
12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana WTF? Why does he belong here???
13 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead
14 Jeff Beck
15 Carlos Santana
16 Johnny Ramone of the Ramones
17 Jack White of the White Stripes
18 John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
19 Richard Thompson
20 James Burton
21 George Harrison
22 Mike Bloomfield
23 Warren Haynes
24 The Edge of U2
25 Freddy King
26 Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave
27 Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits
28 Stephen Stills
29 Ron Asheton of the Stooges
30 Buddy Guy
31 Dick Dale
32 John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service
33 & 34 Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth
35 John Fahey
36 Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the MG's
37 Bod Diddley
38 Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac
39 Brian May of Qeen
40 John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival
41 Clarence White of the Byrds
42 Robert Fripp of King Crimson
43 Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic
44 Scotty Moore
45 Frank Zappa
46 Les Paul
47 T-Bone Walker
48 Joe Perry of Aerosmith
49 John McLaughlin
50 Pete Townshend
51 Paul Kossoff of Free
52 Lou Reed
53 Mickey Baker
54 Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane
55 Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple
56 Tom Verlaine of Television
57 Roy Buchanan
58 Dickey Betts
59 & 60 Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien of Radiohead
61 Ike Turner
62 Zoot Horn Rollo of the Magic Band
63 Danny Gatton
64 Mick Ronson
65 Hubert Sumlin
66 Vernon Reid of Living Colour
67 Link Wray
68 Jerry Miller of Moby Grape
69 Steve Howe of Yes
70 Eddie Van Halen
71 Lightnin' Hopkins
72 Joni Mitchell
73 Trey Anastasio of Phish
74 Johnny Winter
75 Adam Jones of Tool
76 Ali Farka Toure
77 Henry Vestine of Canned Heat
78 Robbie Robertson of the Band
79 Cliff Gallup of the Blue Caps (1997)
80 Robert Quine of the Voidoids
81 Derek Trucks
82 David Gilmour of Pink Floyd
83 Neil Young
84 Eddie Cochran
85 Randy Rhoads
86 Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath
87 Joan Jett
88 Dave Davies of the Kinks
89 D. Boon of the Minutemen
90 Glen Buxton of Alice Cooper
91 Robby Krieger of the Doors
92 & 93 Fred "Sonic" Smith, Wayne Kramer of the MC5
94 Bert Jansch
95 Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine
96 Angus Young of AC/DC
97 Robert Randolph
98 Leigh Stephens of Blue Cheer
99 Greg Ginn of Black Flag
100 Kim Thayil of Soundgarden

Not a bad list if both the artist's influence and chops were EQUALLY considered as criteria for making it.

I would have placed many differently in the order, based on how they influenced me (or didn't), but I can't quarrel much with these dudes taken as a group.

If you ever go to Lubbock, check out guitarist John Sprott.

He plays with Plain Brown Wrapper on Thursdays, Eric T. Busboy & The Blues Butchers on weekends, often sits in at the Sunday Jam at The Spoon and sometimes fronts his own group.

He'll most likely be playing at Bleachers in the downtown Depot District with Elvis T. when we visit the Red Raiders.

The Blues Butchers play around the state and have a website.

I recommend him as being able to hold his own, chopwise, with the dudes on that list and I fully understand what I just said.

You can sit close enough to see him up really close and personal, if you get there early enough to beat me to the best seats.

If he's taking requests, Prince's "Purple Rain" is worth a buck.

Gig 'em, FAST FRED '65.

Before the world wide web, village idiots usually stayed in their own village.

[This message has been edited by FAST FRED (edited 8/28/2003 8:10p).]

That list is an absolute joke.

Joan Jett????? HAHAHAHA

Notable omissions:
Steve Vai
Joe Satriani
Alan Holdsworth
Steve Morse
Yngwie Malmsteen

I haven't heard of about half of the people on that list.

IMO

A few overrated

Cobain
Richards
Garcia
Harrison

A few underrated

Santana
Rhodes
Joe Perry
Steve Howe
David Gilmore
Angus Young
Tom Scholtz of Boston (not on the list)
Rosington & Collins of Skynyrd (not on the list)
Einziger of Incubus (not on list)
Martin Barre of Jethro Tull (not on list)
Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac (not on list)

I must admit that there's at least twenty names that I don't recognize on the list.


[This message has been edited by Aggie Spirit (edited 8/28/2003 1:50p).]

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11Kirk Hammett of Metallica
12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana

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HAHAHAHAHAH! It only took them 11 spots into their list to lose all credibility! Rolling Stone sucks.

Scholtz and Buckingham are favorites of mine also.

Buddy Holly, Cliff Gallup with Gene Vincent and the dude that played lead on Bill Haley & The Comets' "Rock Around The Clock" all beat out the guy in the White Stripes and Johnny Ramone, if I'm making a list.

There's only two on that list I haven't heard of, but there are several more with whom I'm not familiar.

Going back, I see that Cliff Gallup is on it.

Cool.

Gig 'em, FAST FRED '65.

Before the world wide web, village idiots usually stayed in their own village.

jerry is way underrated. note they feel compelled to mention what group he played for. his ability to solo were at times unmatched (when the amount of smack in his system was just right). that nine-fingered banjo player could jam!

Joan Jett is on the list, but not Eric Johnson? Incredible. And where is Rik Emmitt? Albert Collins? Robert Cray? Imbeciles. Utter idiots.

Other notable omissions by these idiots:

Zakk Wylde
Glenn Tipton
KK Downing

Also, the Jimmy Hendrix worship is way overblown. I don't think he's the best guitar player of all time. He should be on the list, but probably not #1.

Rolling Stone is a bunch of jack-offs that isn't fit to judge the top 100 anything of all time, much less guitarists. For the love of Pete, no Eric Johnson? No Zakk Wylde? Freaking Mike Keneally is 100 times the guitar player that 90% of those guys are, and he plays guitar in Steve Vai's BAND (among other things). And personally speaking, David Gilmour at #82 is just blasphemy. But that's just me. And he should be higher *especially* if it's not just about chops since he is known for his tasteful playing and not his speed.

Anyway, these stupid polls are just moronic crap for ignorant jackasses to read. Personally I think they get a group of the newest 19-year-old interns together and make them come up with the lists in their offtime or something. You really think music aficianados are going to sit in a room and debate the top 100 guitarists? I don't...

Us And Them - The Pink Floyd Experience
http://www.usandthemband.com

"...'cos life is impossible without a guitar."
-David Gilmour

For the record, I think Les Paul should be #1.

I think SRV should definitely be higher than #7 and Jack White in the top 20? I am suprised to see Mark Tremonti didn't bump Hendrix out of the top spot knowing that this is Rolling Stone

What a joke of a list...a couple of noticable omitions besides the ones listed.

1. John Petrucci (Dream Theater)- should have been top 15 IMO
2. Dimebag Darrell (Pantera)
3. Alex Lifeson (Rush)
4. Randy Rhodes (Ozzy)

I guess I'll be the first to ***** about Slash not being on there. I know, many of y'all don't care about GnR, but they were a badass band and while Slash may not truly be one of the 100 greatest guitarists ever, he is way, way, way better than alot of the people on that list.

Others:
Pretty much anyone from G3.
I didn't see Mike McCready. His Alive solo kicks the **** out of most of those people's best songs.
Eric Johnson? (while we're at this whole blues-rock thing, I still think Kenny Wayne Sheppard is good enough to be mentioned on that list.)
Ted Nugent?

WTF?

Jack from the White Stripes. Yeah...Whatever. If they honestly believe he is one of the 15 best guitarists ever, they're stupid.

Imagine this: A room with Johnny Ramone, Jack White, Kurt Cobain and Carlos Santana. They're all playing and someone walks in and tells Carlos Santana he is the worst in the room. Would they all laugh?

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12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
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70 Eddie Van Halen

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This list gets funnier every time I read it!

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I guess I'll be the first to ***** about Slash not being on there

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Actually, there are a lot of people on the RS message board about this article saying that Slash should not only be on the list, but should be in the top 10. I think he's easily top 25-30.

Billy Gibbons?

Chet Atkins?

Gig 'em, FAST FRED '65.

Before the world wide web, village idiots usually stayed in their own village.

[This message has been edited by FAST FRED (edited 8/28/2003 7:47p).]

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Slash should not only be on the list, but should be in the top 10.

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Let's not get carried away. Top 100, sure, but not top ten. Then again, judging from who they put on the list and where they placed them, I could see you putting Slash at #2 (if Donnie Allman is there currently).

Honestly, I think I could make a top 10 list of guitarists who AREN'T on the top 100 list and put it up against Rolling Stones any day of the week.

Johnny Ramone of the Ramones at #16?

I love the Ramones, but come on now, how hard is it to play the same three cords?

Oh well they did place Stevie Ray Vaughn in the top ten. I figured they put him in the bottom 50 if they put him on the list at all.

Any list without Chet Atkins at or near the top is a complete joke.

Joe Walsh is a pretty good guitar player too (at least as good as Joan Jett or Ike Turner).

I just don't see how they got Ed Van Halen at #70 and Randy Rhodes and Tommy Iomi in the mid 80s.. .what the hell? I agree that Slash and Dimebag Darrel should be on there somewhere. Johnny Ramone deserves to be on the list for his influence alone, but I probably wouldn't have listed him as high as they did. Another guy that I'd put on my top 100 although I'm not shocked at all that RS doesn't list him is Texas' own Chris Duarte. That guy is amazing.

Hell Houston's own Freddie Everett is better than some of the people on that list

You're all way off base here. Rolling Stone is THE expert in popular music, and this list was researched a hell of a lot more than anyone at Texags knows. I'll trust their expertise over a bunch of rock fans from the most conservative university in the US. I think this list is dead on.

I don't see how Eric Johnson and Slah are not on there.

Philo B 93: Go ahead and ingest whatever horse**** Rolling Stones publishes. I'll bet you had no trouble with the moronic choices for Grammy's or MTV VMAs lately either. I guess it's too much bother thinking for yourself.

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I think this list is dead on.

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I hope you're laying on the sarcasm here...

Us And Them - The Pink Floyd Experience
http://www.usandthemband.com

"...'cos life is impossible without a guitar."
-David Gilmour

I'm kidding. I read to #12-Kurt Cobain and skipped the rest. I knew by that point that the list would have no more meaning to me than a Ziggy cartoon. Entirely bogus. Its probably a good list for discussion, or to argue about over a few pitchers at Dudley's. But putting Kurt Cobain in the top 100 completely destroys its credibility.

Love the Stripes, but Jack White is not top 20...

Jimi at #1 is the only correct thing on that list.

What a joke of a list. Joan Jett and no Lindsey Buckingham. I also think SRV is #1.

I stopped paying attention to anything RS publishes after they started putting boy bands and pop stars on their covers. They lost whatever credibility as a Rock magazine they had with me at that point.

A slight venture out of rock will get you some of the world's legitimate greatest guitarists ... John Williams and Andres Segovia. They're better with seven fingers chopped off than 90% of that list.

I agree that this list is pretty bogus, but some impressions (to go with many already posted with which I agree):

-Glad to see Warren Haynes on the list at #23, but how do they not tell you what bands he's in? (Allman Brothers, Gov't Mule) For God's sakes, they have to tell you that Duane Allman was in the Allman Brothers?! Or that Keith Richards is from the Stones or Jimmy Page is from Zeppelin?! What kind of morons are reading this magazine?
-I think that John Frusciante is underrated by most. He deserves to be up there pretty high. The Chili Peppers just aren't the same without him.
-Joe Perry in the Top 50? C'mon, the guy is a joke. Nothing more than a Jimmy Page wannabe.
-David Gilmour at #82?! That is an unbelievable insult. Almost as bad as Eddie Van Halen at #70.
-Lindsey Buckingham is an absolutely amazing player who should at least be in the Top 10 if not higher and he didn't even make the list?!
-What about Prince? He is actually a great guitar player when he chooses to play.
-I love B.B. King, but #3 is too high IMO.
-Love seeing Robert Johnson up there.

That's all I can think of right now. All I know is my list would be MUCH different.

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For God's sakes, they have to tell you that Duane Allman was in the Allman Brothers?! Or that Keith Richards is from the Stones or Jimmy Page is from Zeppelin?! What kind of morons are reading this magazine?

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The same people that were exicited that the recent covers have include Clay & Ruben (on separate issues) from American Idol, Justin Timberlake, Good Charlotte, & the Olson twins

I don't know if RS put out such a ridiculous list on purpose just to stir up controversy or if that is who they genuinely feel the top 100 guitarists of all time are. Let's assume the latter for a moment, becuase what they are displaying is something I see quite often when guitar players are ranked.

IMO, the issue is what you feel makes a guitar player great. I think too often great songwriting or musicianship as a whole is equated with great guitar playing. But to me the two are different qualities to be considered. Take Kurt Cobain at #12 for instance. Anybody who knows anything about guitar playing at all knows that Kurt Cobain was, at best, a poor guitarist. You can make a case for his songwriting and his impact on rock music, but not for his guitar playing. On the flip side, take a guy like Yngwie Malmsteen. Say what you will about his songwriting, but there's no denying that the guy is a phenominal guitar player who practically invented neo-classical shred and raised the virtuosity stakes in the early 80's. His technique is beyond reproach, yet he is missing from the list. So with regards to these rankings, RS has it completely backwards, I think, but I see this from a lot of folks. They think that if someone writes or plays some cool riffs or songs they are a "great guitar player", even if the riffs are nothing but simple power chords.

So again, what you have to ask yourself is this: does a band's greatness make a great guitar player, or does a great guitar player make a band's greatness? I think when considering the greatest guitar players of all time, the criteria should be the latter.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2003/08/29/slide_ruler/