"Ar" wants to know who they are. When I was young I studied guitar for seven years (multiple styles), so it's an area I've long had an interest in. I was never very good but I learned a lot about it. Here goes:
Classical: Segovia, Eduardo Fernandez. I enjoy the transcriptions of Yamashita and Larry Coryell's covers of Stravinsky, though he isn't usually considered a classical guitarist.
Jazz: Django Reinhardt, Joe Pass's Virtuoso album, Wes Montgomery live (no strings), and George van Eps. Charlie Christian deserves a mention. Today, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and the guy who plays for Trio Saudade. There are plenty of others, including Jim Hall and John McLaughlin.
John Fahey-Leo Kottke: They deserve their own category and indeed they dominate it. For Kottke try 6 and 12-String Guitar Music, and then his 1981 Guitar Music. For Fahey try the 1959-1977 Greatest Hits collection. This is some of my favorite music.
Electric blues: Muddy Waters, Robert Cray (live), Johnny Winter (live only). Amadou of Amadou and Miriam. The player from Orchestra Baobab. Does Lonnie Mack count here?
Acoustic blues: Reverand Gary Davis, Son House and many others. Jorma Kaukonen also. Bob Dylan is much underrated in this area. Can Richard Thompson go here? d'Gary, from Madagascar, is one of the greatest and most original guitarists that few people have heard of. Bola Sete too, from Brazil.
Bluegrass: Clarence White and also Doc Watson.
Rock: Jimmy Page, Brian May, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, of course Jimi Hendrix as #1. van Halen and his ilk never much impressed me.
Les Paul deserves mention but he straddles a few of these categories, as does Chet Atkins. Hawaiian guitar deserves its own post. Dick Dale. The Carnatic slide guitar players, including Bhattacharya. Roger McGuinn. The Zairean tradition, including Franco. Neil Young has his moments, as does Thurston Moore.
Eric Clapton was impressive for a while but overall I wish to be contrarian and leave him off. Who am I forgetting? Duane Allman?
In general guitar is an instrument which works relatively well on YouTube. Most of the names above can be found there.
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Chris Smither, acoustic blues
Oops, didn’t realize there were several pages of comments.
Graham Coxon
Very, very surprised Stevie Ray Vaughan has received only one mention. I would most certainly place him as the #2 guitarist of all time, right in between Hendrix (obviously) and Reinhardt.
You forget the sub-category of “prog rock” where Steve Howe (Yes) and Terry Kath (Chicago) loom large. Incredible talents who are often overlooked.
Give Harvey Reid a try … http://www.woodpecker.com/harveyreid.html
No Thurston Moore or Lee Renaldo?
Sungha Jung – there’s a wealth of his songs in Youtube. Child prodigy with an outstanding finger picking style.
Somebody mentioned Paco de Lucia. I’d second that and add Tomatito. Flamenco must be one of the most important categories here: it’s hard to beat in terms of either technical virtuosity or improvisational imagination.
You are missing Jeff Beck, Bill Frisell and Ry Cooder
Aren’t we forgetting Dave Matthews??
Aren’t we forgetting Dave Matthews??
George Harrison had to be doing something right.
“Aren’t we forgetting Dave Matthews??”
We’re trying, really we are.
Obviously nobody on this list has even HEARD of Egberto Gismonti, certainly one of the finest guitarists in the world, and certainly in the same league as McLaughlin or Paco de Lucia. After a 14 years hiatus he’s just in the past week put out a new recording too.
And for those who haven’t heard of him, he’s a classically-trained Brazilian composer/musician who plays both piano and guitar, the latter in 10 and 14 string versions.
All these comments remind me of the opening scene in Mike Judge’s Extract, in which a young women steals a guitar by getting all the guitar geeks in the store stirred up and talking about Pat Metheny, “the Jake E. Lee of fusion”.
Hey, how come no one mentioned Jake E. Lee?
Neil Young FTW.
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