The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, According to Rolling Stone

Weird, I didn't even know they still wrote about music over there. Anyway, here's the list:

1 Jimi Hendrix
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
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 Bo Diddley
38 Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac
39 Brian May of Queen
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

Oops. I missed the guitarist part. Proceed as follows.


[Edited on Aug 31, 2003 by Horyzon]

i definitely would have left a few out, and changed the order around a bit, but i'd say they got pretty close.

i have no major disagreements because all my top guys made it in the top ten (hendrix, page, clapton, santana).. the only one that kinda surprised me was jack white of the white stripes.. don't get me wrong he's good, but that high up???
-redcrayonkelly

My first problem: where are the women on this list??

Okay, you've got Joan Jett, she's pretty good, but not the best female guitarist of all time. If you're going to add a token girl in there, where's Bonnie Raitt? Carrie Brownstein? Joni Mitchell?

Last year's list from another guitar magazine had no women on it. So there's two answers to the question: either the people who write these lists are sexist pigs, consciously or unconsciously, or there's some sort of... something at work that makes it more likely for a man to become famous as a guitar player.

I was thinking about this a while back, and what I decided was that, first: it's obvious that there's no mental or physical reason why a woman couldn't be as good as say, Jimi Hendrix. Some of the greatest players of other instruments, cello, violin, drums, bass, piano, etc, have been women. So what's up with the guitar?

I think there's something about the way a guitar has to be played in the "guitar hero" style, the kindof style that makes these lists, that most women are not attracted to. Men, I think, are driven by the need to outdo other men. Play faster and better and louder than other guys, even if it's a detriment to their songs. Mastering the guitar to the "guitar hero" level requires immense dedication and countless hours, so something has to be driving you to want to play like that. It's like a "bigger dick" contest, but with a musical phallus. Most great female players that I've heard seem to be striving to play in service of their songs, not to outdo everyone else.

Also, a lot of parents wouldn't consider it weird if their boy locked himself in his room 8 hours a day practicing his guitar, but if their daughter tried it they'd think something was odd. Which is sad.

[Edited on Aug 31, 2003 by Keith]

[Edited on Aug 31, 2003 by ava]

Slash really should have been on there somewhere.

there is a definite lack of women on the list. beth orton is as good as any of the new male guitarists. i think the female artists get recognized for their vocal talents more so than their instrumental abilities. however, you could bet that billie & ella would be at the top of the list if the category were changed to "100 GREATEST VOCALISTS OF ALL TIME" even if RS did the poll. and then the guys still have to compete with the likes of madonna, karen carpenter, aretha franklin, bjork, and the rest of the modern day divas. true, the guys would have ol blue eyes, but i think the ladies would dominate.

What about the Motown guys - Robert White and Joe Messina?


Mojo Magazine - 100 Greatest Guitarists of all time - June 1996 Issue

Includes a signature track and main axe

Jimi Hendrix - Are you experienced, the whole album - 1967 - Fender Stratocaster

Steve Cropper - Green Onions - 1962 - Fender Telecaster

Peter Green - The supernatural (John Mayall’s Hard rain) - 1967 - Gibson Les Paul

Keith Richards - Jumpin’ Jack Flash - 1968 - Fender Telecaster 1950’s

Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode - 1958 - Gibson ES-350

Eric Clapton - Crossroads (Wheels of fire) 1968 - Custom Fender Stratocaster

Jimmy Page - In my time of dying (Physical Graffiti) - 1975 - Gibson Les Paul

T Bone Walker - Your my best poker hand (The Complete..) - 1946 - Gibson ES-150

Neil Young - Like a Hurricane (Decade) - 1977 - Gibson Les Paul

Richard Thompson - Can’t Win (Watching The Dark) - 1988 - 1959 Fender Stratocaster

B.B. King - Sweet Little Angel - (Live at the Regal) - 1965 - “Lucille” Gibson Archtop

Jimmy Nolen - Papa’s got a brand new bag - (Any James Brown compilation) - 196? - Vox 335 copy.

Jeff Beck - Where were you? (Guitar shop) - 1989 - Fender Esquire

Stevie Ray Vaughn - Pride and Joy (Texas Flood) - 1989 - Fender Stratocaster

Pete Townshend - My Generation - 1965 - Rickenbacker

George Harrison - Something - 1969 - Rickenbacker 360 - 12

Robert Johnson - Come on in my kitchen (the complete recordings of..) - 1937 - Gibson L1

Charlie Christian - Solo Flight (Genius of electric guitar) - 1988 - Gibson ES-150

Guitar Slim - The things I used to do (The things I used to do) - 1953 - Telecaster

Johnny Ramone - It’s alive (Whole album) 1979 - Mosrite Ventures

Eddie Van Halen - Eruption ( Van Halen) - 1978 - Custom Linn Ellsworth

Ry Cooder - Vigilante Man ( The Purple Valley) - 1972 - Customised Fender Stratocaster

Johnny Marr - The Queen is dead - 1986 - Fender Stratocaster

Hubert Sumlin - 300 pounds of joy (Single) - 1990 - Gibson Les Paul Gold Top

Curtis Mayfield - People get ready (Originals) - 1965 - Fender Stratocaster

James Burton - It’s up to you (Ricky Nelson’s All my best) - 1992 - Fender Telecaster

Elmore James - The sky is crying (The history of..) - 1990 - A cheap Kay

Frank Zappa - Watermelon in Easter hay (Joe’s Garage) - 1978 - Gibson SG

J Mascis - Freak Scene (Dinosaur Jr’s Bug) - 1988 - 1963 Fender Jazzmaster

Buddy Guy - Five long Years (Damn right I’ve got the blues) - 1991 - Fender Stratocaster

Freddie King - Have you ever loved a woman ( Texas Sensation) - 1960 - Les Paul Gold Top

The Edge - Bullet in the blue sky (Joshua Tree) 1987 - Gibson Explorer

Prince - I wanna be your lover (Prince) - 1979 - Cheap Telecaster Copy

Tom Verlaine - Marquee Moon (Television’s Marquee Moon) - 1977 - Fender Jazzmaster

Jerry Garcia - Dark Star (Live Dead) - 1969 - Irwin Custom

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - That’s all (Lucky Millinder’s Apollo Jump) - Gibson SG Custom

Eddie Cochran - My Way (Legendary Master series) - 1972 - Gretsch Chet Atkins

Roger McGuinn - Mr Tambourine man - 1965 - Rickenbacker 360 - 12

Duane Allman - Dreams (Allman Brothers Band) - 1970 - Gibson Les Paul

Link Wray - Rumble (The best of..) - 1994 - Danelectro Guitarlin

Robbie Robertson - Unfaithful Servant (Rock of ages) - 1972 - Fender Telecaster

Bert Jansch - Angie (Bert Jansch) - 1965 - Yamaha acoustic

Chet Atkins - Chinatown,My Chinatown (The RCA Years) - 1952 - Gretsch Chet Atkins

Hank Marvin - Sleepwalk (The Shadows) - 1961 - Fender Stratocaster

Robert Lockwood - Hard time getting Started (The Chess Box) - 1952 - Gibson L7

Scotty Moore - That’s all Right (Elvis’s The Sun Collection) - 1954 - Gibson Super 400

Eldon Shamblin - Faded Love (Bob Wills, Classic Western Swing) - 1950 - Gibson Super 400

Bo Diddley - Mumblin’ Guitar (Have Guitar will Travel) - 1959 - Square Gretsch

Lowell George - Fat man in the Bathtub ( Dixie Chicken) - 1973 - Fender Stratocaster

Ron Asheton - TV eye (The Stooges, Fun House) - 1970 - Fender Stratocaster

Robert Fripp - Sailor’s Tail (Islands) - 1971 - Ferandez Sustainer

David Gilmour - Shine on you crazy Diamond (Wish you were here) - 1975 - Fender Stratocaster

Mick Ronson - The width of a circle (The man who sold the world) - 1971 - Gibson Les Paul

Syd Barrett - Baby Lemonade (Barrett) - 1970 - Fender Telecaster

Bob Mould - Friend, You got to fall (Songs and Stories) - 1987 - Ibanez Rock ‘n’ Roll Junior

Leo Nocentelli - Sophisticated Cissy (The Meters, Good old funky music) - 1990 - Fender Stratocaster

Nile Rodgers - Good Times (Chic, Risqué) - 1979 - Fender Stratocaster

Clarence White - Cuckoo Bird (Everly Brothers Single) - 1969 - Custom Fender Telecaster

Steve Jones - Bodies ( Never Mind the Bollocks ) - 1977 - Gibson Les Paul

Kurt Cobain - Serve the servants (In Utero) - 1993 - Fender Jaguar

Wayne Kramer - Looking at you ( Back in the USA) - 1970 - Fender Stratocaster

Les Paul - How high the moon (The Legend & the Legacy) - 1991 - Gretsch Chet Atkins

Eddie Taylor - I’m Gonna Love You (J Reed & E Taylor, Ride ‘em on down) - 1955 - Gibson ES-355

Ike Turner - Prancing ( Unissued track given away with Guitar Player Mag.) - 1959 - Fender Stratocaster

Dick Dale - Misirlou (The best of..) 1962 - Fender Stratocaster

Cliff Gallup - Crusin’ (Gene Vincent & the Blue caps, Guitar Player Mag. Giveaway) - 1991 - Gretsch Duo-jet

Lou Reed - I can’t stand it (Velvet Underground, V.U.) - 1985 - Gretsch Country Gentleman

King Sunny Ade - Sunny Loni (Live live Juju) - 1988 - Fender Telecaster

Leo Kottke - Ojo (6 & 12 String Guitar) - 1969 - Taylor 12 string

Eddie Hazel - Maggot Brain (Funkadelic, Maggot Brain) - 1971 - Fender Stratocaster

Albert King - Blues Power (Live wire/Blues power) - 1969 - Gibson Flying V

Carlos Santana - Sampa Pa Ti (Abraxis) - 1970 - Yamaha SG 2000

Merle Travis - Merle’s Boogie (Capital Classics) - 1948 - Custom Merle Travis/Paul Bigsby

Wes Montgomery - Montgomeryland Funk Chase (Far Wes, Pacific Jazz) - 1959 - Gibson L5

Billy Gibbons - Nasty Dogs & Funky Kings (ZZ Top, Fantango!) - 1975 - Gibson Les Paul

Peter Tosh - Get up, Stand up (The Wailers, Burnin’) - 1973 - Gibson Les Paul Sp.

Joni Mitchell - Coyote (Hejira) - 1976 - Martin D-45

Mike Bloomfield - East West (The Butterfield blues band, East - West) - 1966 - Gibson Les Paul

Zoot Horn Rollo - Big eyed beans from Venus (Cpt. Beefheart, Clear Spot) - 1972 - Danelectro

Angus Young - Up To My Neck In You (AC/DC) - 1981 - Gibson SG

Mark Knopfler - You and your friend (Dire Straits, On every street) - 1991 - Fender Stratocaster

Bernard Butler - How about you (The Sound of McAlmont & Butler) - 1995 - Gibson ES-355

Charley Patton - A spoonful blues (Founder of the delta blues) - - Stella

John McLaughlin - Dream (Mahavishnu Orchestra, Between Nothingness & Eternity) - 1973 - Rex Double neck Gibson

Carl Perkins - Matchbox (Carl Perkins) - 1957 - Gibson ES-5 switchmaster

James Williamson - Search & Destroy (The Stooges, Raw Power) - 1973 - Les Paul custom

Rory Gallagher - Shadow Play (Stage Struck) - 1980 - Fender Stratocaster

Ernie Isley - Summer Breeze (Isley Brothers, 3+3) - 1973 - Fender Stratocaster

John McGeogh - Spellbound (Siouxsie & the Banshees, Juju) - 1981 - Yamaha SG1000

Toni Iommi - Supernaut (Black Sabbath, Vol 4) - 1972 - Gibson SG Jr

Mark Ribot - 16 shells from a 30-Ought-6 (Tom Waits, Big Time) - 1988 - Fender Telecaster

Bonnie Raitt - Give it up or let me go (Give it up) - 1972 - National Resonator

Phil Manzanera - In every home a Heartache (Roxy Music, For your pleasure) - 1973 - Gibson Firebird

John Cipollina - The Fool (Quicksilver messenger service) - 1968 - Gibson SG

Mick Green - My Babe (Johnny Kid & The Pirates, Classic & Rare) - 1993 - Fender Telecaster

Jonny Greenwood - Just (Radiohead, The Bends) - 1995 - Fender Telecaster

John Squire - Shoot you Down (The Stone Roses) - 1989 - Gretsch Country Gentleman

John Fahey - When you wore a tulip (After the ball) - 1973 - Yamaha Acoustic

Marv Tarplin - Tracks of my tears (Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Single) - 1970 - Gibson Les Paul Custom

Ritchie Blackmore - Highway Star (Deep Purple, Made in Japan) - 1972 - Fender Stratocaster

i agree with keith and navig8r--
this list is mostly male, mostly white.

but let's face it-- that's the pantheon of rock in general.
there is a certain physicality (and also sexuality) inherent in playing an instrument that we as a culture associate as a male trait: the aggression, the cock-sure swagger.
it has nothing to do with technical ability, because women are physically able to play guitar, and able to play it well.
it's more about what we come to associate as a Guitarist with a capital "g".

there is a certain image we hold in our minds of what a "guitarist" is, and that image is not female.

guitar-playing is in the realm of techinical ability;
is this perceived as a male trait?
singing is more emotive;
is it seen as a particularly "female" trait?

aside from coachella, there weren't too many festivals that included women as more than an afterthought. even lollapalooza, which likes to think of itself as a progressive, forward-thinking festival, added the donnas as a seemingly-conciliatory gesture after the main line-up had been announced.

virgina woolf thinks that women writers need a room of their own. maybe female musicians need a stage of their own. i guess what bothers me is that we still need to have these distinctions, these indicators and qualifiers. but that's a rant for another day.

moving on past the gender issues, i don't agree with some of the ranking.
jack white in the upper eschalon surprises me,
but considering how all the music mags fawn all over him i'm not too shocked.
i guess i didn't get the memo that's the next musical messiah.
and even though he's become a bit of a barbie doll, where's dave navarro?
at least johnny marr was on the other list.

don't forget the bass guitarist
Flea
Cliff Burns
Lemmy
lists are easy to compile, and amount to pretty much nothing.
that said I'd be pretty interested to see who you folks thought were the lyrisists most worth celebrateing,
let me start with a few-
biafra
McKaye
Morresy
Ignorant
Griffen

What say you? leslyrix@aol.com

why is jack white on the list. oh yeah because he "saved rock and roll" or something. give me a break!

it better not have been in order of importance.

i don't know how jack white saved rock and roll.
but somebody needs to save me because i'm really sick of seeing his pouty puss plastered all over the place.

the only time i see/hear him is when i am shopping at "the maul".
that says a lot about the future of rock and roll.

ha, typical "safe" RS list...going with all the usual favs. what a bullshit list. fripp needs to be a hell of a lot higher. they also left off Michael Karoli, Tom Verlaine, Kevin Shields, as well as many others. BUT this type of list is what i expect from rolling stone so i'm not supprised.

*edit* i didn't notice Verlaine and Shields on the list, but they should be a lot higher than they are

[Edited on Aug 31, 2003 by Smux]

that list is a big crock o' shit. i'd like to know how the hell they came up with those rankings. i mean seriously.... randy rhoads at 85 and kurt cobain at 12? get the fuck out of here. i had more technical skill than kurt when i was 13. and no steve vai? satriani? shit, even eric johnson? look at some of the ones towards the bottom of the list, and then they put jack white way up there? it's their opinion i guess, and my opinion is that rolling stone is the worst music magazine in publication.

yes and yes!!!

I do love though how every time one of these lists comes out, there's someone who doesn't understand that "greatest" does not equal "most technically skilled". You'll see 'em, they're the ones who are complaing about Kurt Cobain and Johnny Ramone being on there, and going "Where's Steve Vai? Joe Satriani?". Etc. Greatest means most influential. That's why Hendrix always makes it to the top. He may not have been the most technically skilled guitarist of all time, but he is without a doubt the most influential.

well, to some extent, sure. but hendrix was in fact very talented. not the best, but he did have some great chops. and as far as influential, i guarantee there are tons and tons of guitarists out there that were hugely influenced by satriani and vai. i mean, come on, kirk hammet studied with satriani when he was younger. how many guitarists out there heard satch ripping it up and instantly wanted to go out and practice practice practice until their fingers bled so they could play some kick ass solos like that? i know a lot who were like that. kurt cobain played the guitar, yes. but that was not his strong point, and therefore he should not be considered a great guitarist. songwriter? sure. but not guitarist.

How could Tom Verlaine only be #56 and The Edge is #24? Even The Edge, himself, would tell you he cribbed his style off Verlaine. Also, how could John Frusciente make the top 20...OF ALL TIME!?! He hasn't even played on all the Chili Peppers albums. This list is a fucking joke.

yay! i took out my comment because i thought people would think i was joking. but ya, slash for sure. i'm a big rick nielsen fan as well.....

see, but for the last fifteen years, 9 out of 10 rock bands have been trying to play like Cobain, not Vai.

Prince is not on that list for what reason??

Amen!

yeah, and you see the quality of musicianship that populates the current rock scene.