Some Essential Electric Guitarists

[Dannyalcatraz]

My (the OP) list was only electric guitarists and only lead players, which is why many players were not included. Thanks for the many suggestions, they include several players I might have included if they came to mind at the time I made the list.* I don't expect everyone to like every player on my list, but I do think that every electric guitar player should hear all of them at least once.

 

 

*especially Sister Rosetta Thorp, Tom Morello, Tosin Abasi, Nicky Skopelitis

 

 

My last thought as I went to bed was, 'Oh, waitâ¦it was ELECTRIC guitarists! I"ll fix it in the morning.' Then I forgot. ð¤ª

 

Still, King has expanded into electric playing, and still stands out.

[Dannyalcatraz]

Anybody mention Al Di Meola? If notâ¦

 

The buddy who turned me onto him was a huge fan of Ritchie Blackmore* and YJM. My first jazz shredder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Anybody mention HIM?

[Dannyalcatraz]

Warren Cuccurullo. The man"s resume includes Frank Zappa, Missing Persons, and Duran Duran. Beyond his guitar work, he"s also led anâ¦interesting life.

[surfergirl]

I don't think any of these have been mentioned before, if so I apologize.

Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Mick Taylor and Ronnie Wood.

[Dannyalcatraz]

Speaking of classic great guitarists, I always wonder what it must have been like for the OTHER musicians in The Yardbirds. Not many can say they were in a band with the likes of Clapton, Beck, and Page. But still, how would it feel to see their accolades explode AFTER they left? It would be very easy to become bitter and frustrated.

[KuruPrionz]

Speaking of classic great guitarists, I always wonder what it must have been like for the OTHER musicians in The Yardbirds. Not many can say they were in a band with the likes of Clapton, Beck, and Page. But still, how would it feel to see their accolades explode AFTER they left? It would be very easy to become bitter and frustrated.

 

 

Keith Rolf (Yardbird's lead singer) is famous for his death so he has that going for him. He tried to play an ungrounded electric guitar in the bathtub and was electrocuted when he contacted a gas pipe.

[KuruPrionz]

I don't think any of these have been mentioned before, if so I apologize.

Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Mick Taylor and Ronnie Wood.

 

 

Keith Richards would do very well in a "guitarists who have written the most iconic riffs" list. I always cringe when local cover bands try to play Stones songs and don't use a guitar in G tuning. It just doesn't quite sound like it\, no matter what you do\.

 

Some of them are much harder to play than it sounds too - Can't You Hear Me Knocking is really clean for how fast it is.

[skipclone 1]

Well I'm not going to get close to the 'who should and should not be included'part of it.

You could reach out a hand in any direction and interrupt someone bickering over it.

But there are a couple that I didn't see-

Jan Akkerman-really unique sense of harmony and composition, along with killer chops.

 

Plini-actually a dual guitar band-modern shred with a sense of songcraft as well. More approachable than Dream Theater.

 

Matthias Eklundh and his band Freak Kitchen-shred turned on its head, with a sense of humor. I saw

him in Tokyo at a workshop and promotion of his Caparison sig guitar. Hilarious guy with mad chops.

 

Christophe Godin-saw him play at a booth in Tokyo, another year but same show as Mister Eklundh.

I had no idea who he was at the time. Another guy who makes hilarious fun of the superserious shred/metal guy image,

but has deadly skills. There's a video of him jamming with Guthrie Govan:

[video:youtube]

[Larryz]

I'm adding Eddie Van Halen to the list (as I think we missed him and we still do)...

[Dannyalcatraz]

Any recommendations on Plini? DT lost me with their last one.

[skipclone 1]

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[Dannyalcatraz]

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Thanks! I"ll check those out when I have a chance.

[skipclone 1]

My pleasure

[skipclone 1]

There's also AndyJames-

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[skipclone 1]

The bass player for this group-I'm not sure if it's a band in the traditional sense-

shows up on FB to endorse and demonstrate Dingwall Guitars-except they don't make guitars, they make basses.

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[Dannyalcatraz]

Quick check-in: that Pliny dude can PLAY!

[skipclone 1]

Yes sir he can.

There is a live concert vid on youtube with both guitarists.

if you're not familiar with Marco Sfogli, he's another 'possibly not human' type player.

[PrairieGuy]

One of my favourites who never makes these types of lists is Mike Campbell. He's only known for his work with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and he never created a unique style that others copy, but he never overplays and has the rare ability to play exactly the right part for the song. I've never heard a Tom Petty song where his guitar playing is lacking or sounds like an afterthought.

[Anderton]

One of my favourites who never makes these types of lists is Mike Campbell. He's only known for his work with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and he never created a unique style that others copy, but he never overplays and has the rare ability to play exactly the right part for the song. I've never heard a Tom Petty song where his guitar playing is lacking or sounds like an afterthought.

 

Agreed, he's definitely underrated. I think of him the same way as Eliot Easton - a team player who plays the right notes, in the right way, at the right time.

[Dannyalcatraz]

I"d put both of them in the same category as Gilmour and Knopfler- guitarists who play what the song demands, not their ego.

[KuruPrionz]

I"d put both of them in the same category as Gilmour and Knopfler- guitarists who play what the song demands, not their ego.

 

 

OK, we have...

 

Mike Campbell

Elliot Easton

David Gilmour

Mark Knopfler

 

And they are all great musicians as well as great guitarists.

 

George Harrison comes to mind in that category.

Robbie Robertson

Albert Lee played some great stuff on Emmylou Harris albums, I saw him on his 70th birthday tour and the man is a chicken pickin' shredder to boot.

David Lindley added tasty stuff to Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, Trio (Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton) and was fantastic live both times I saw him

[KuruPrionz]

And I gotta add Buck Dharma from Blue Oyster Cult.

 

A "serve the song" player with strong melodic hooks and enough flash to keep it fun.

[Dannyalcatraz]

Dharma and Harrison, without a doubt! The others, I"m not as familiar with. (I know! I know!)

[KuruPrionz]

Dharma and Harrison, without a doubt! The others, I"m not as familiar with. (I know! I know!)

 

Give the first Cars album a spin "The Cars". You'll recognize a few of the songs, almost half the album got significant FM airplay and considerable AM. A few of them are still staples on "Classic Rock" radio.

 

Elliot Easton was that rare shredder who also had a deep understanding of other genres, like Country Rock. His tone was not too distorted, his picking was clean and his sense of melodic development was top notch. Just a great player in a great band. The solo on Just What I Needed is a great example of Elliot's playing.

 

Robbie Robertson was the guitarist in The Band and the primary songwriter. He wasn't technically remarkable but he was true to the songs.

 

Albert Lee? Here's one for ya, a chicken pickin' circle jam including Danny Gatton and Vince Gill (who is also hugely under-rated.

 

Last but not least, David Lindley played the iconic steel guitar on Jackson Browne's Running On Empty and Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London, among many, many records you'll find David L.

[Dannyalcatraz]

To clarify, I meant I wasn"t as familiar with the ones you had just posited for addition to the list of 4. I"m a HUGE Cars fan, for instance.

 

I do know who Robertson is, but have never been a big fan of the recordings he"s on. As in, I may know and even sing along with them, but I have never sought them out for purchase. I"ve never considered them as 'favorites' of any kind.

 

The others I knew even less of. Zevon, Browne, Harris- all enjoyable, but I might inky know 1-2 songs with any level of familiarity.

[KuruPrionz]

To clarify, I meant I wasn"t as familiar with the ones you had just posited for addition to the list of 4. I"m a HUGE Cars fan, for instance.

 

I do know who Robertson is, but have never been a big fan of the recordings he"s on. As in, I may know and even sing along with them, but I have never sought them out for purchase. I"ve never considered them as 'favorites' of any kind.

 

The others I knew even less of. Zevon, Browne, Harris- all enjoyable, but I might inky know 1-2 songs with any level of familiarity.

 

And that's OK, there simply isn't enough time in the day to listen to all the great music. I have a wealth of ignorance about most of it, playing all the time really curbs any desire to listen in my spare time.

 

I will mention that the album The Band by The Band (Robbie Robertson's greatest moment) is in my top 5 or 6 albums ever. The Band wasn't cool enough to worshipped like the Beatles or the Stones but none of their albums make my top 5 or six. Go figure. Doesn't mean you'll like it, if you even ever bother to give it a spin.

 

I can get about 20-30 seconds into just about anything and then I'm usually done, even if I like it. Just one of my quirks...

[Dannyalcatraz]

We"re not that dissimilar. I"ll give most music a fair chance to win me over.

 

There"s a lot of music I KNOW that I"m not enthusiastic about. I respect them and can sing along with damn near any of their major songs- and some minor ones as well- but I own very little Beatles or Stones myself. Ditto The Who and The Doors.

 

Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, OTOH, take up significant space on my CD racks.

[Winston Psmith]

Two players who get little mention, but whom you've heard a LOT more often than you may realize . . .

 

Steve Hunter & the late Dick Wagner.

 

Dig out Lou Reed's "Rock 'n' Roll Animal", and you'll get to hear these two Guitar masters at work. Give a listen to Peter Gabriel's first solo album, some Alice Cooper albums, Aerosmith, I'll let you look up the rest; like I said, you've heard them more often than you probably realize, and a lot of Music we love wouldn't have sounded the same without them.

[skipclone 1]

'Rock 'n' Roll Animal'-one of the best live shows ever recorded IMHO.

[Larryz]

Skip, Let us not forget to add Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina to the list. A couple of great guitarists, song writers and singers all in one. Here's a 3 song sample of my favorite LIVE album. It's another of the greatest live albums ever recorded IMHO. A double album set and I love every song on it. Thanks for reminding me:

 

 

:cool: