1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Rolling Stone top 100 guitarists

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Dick Whitman, Nov 30, 2011.

  1. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    The complete list. Comments to follow:


    1. Jimi Hendrix
    2. Eric Claption
    3. Jimmy Page
    4. Keith Richards
    5. Jeff Beck
    6. B.B. King
    7. Chuck Berry
    8. Eddie Van Halen
    9. Duane Allman
    10. Pete Townshend
    11. George Harrison
    12. Stevie Ray Vaughan
    13. Albert King
    14. David Gilmour
    15. Freddy King
    16. Derek Trucks
    17. Neil Young
    18. Les Paul
    19. James Burton
    20. Carlos Santana
    21. Chet Atkins
    22. Frank Zappa
    23. Buddy Guy
    24. Angus Young
    25. Tony Iommi
    26. Brian May
    27. Bo Diddley
    28. Johnny Ramone
    29. Scotty Moore
    30. Elmore James
    31. Ry Cooder
    32. Billy Gibbons
    33. Prince
    34. Curtis Mayfield
    35. John Lee Hooker
    36. Randy Rhoads
    37. Mick Taylor
    38. The Edge
    39. Steve Cropper
    40. Tom Morello
    41. Mick Ronson
    42. Mike Bloomfield
    43. Hubert Sumlin
    44. Mark Knopfler
    45. Link Wray
    46. Jerry Garcia
    47. Stephen Stills
    48. Johhny Greenwood
    49. Muddy Waters
    50. Ritchie Blackmore
    51. Johnny Marr
    52. Clarence White
    53. Otis Rush
    54. Joe Walsh
    55. John Lennon
    56. Albert Collins
    57. Rory Gallagher
    58. Peter Green
    59. Robbie Robertson
    60. Ron Asheton
    61. Dickey Betts
    62. Robert Fripp
    63. Johnny Winter
    64. Duane Eddy
    65. Slash
    66. Leslie West
    67. T-Bone Walker
    68. John McLaughlin
    69. Richard Thompson
    70. Jack White
    71. Robert Johnson
    72. John Frusciante
    73. Kurt Cobain
    74. Dick Dale
    75. Joni Mitchell
    76. Robby Krieger
    77. Willie Nelson
    78. John Fahey
    79. Mike Campbell
    80. Buddy Holly
    81. Lou Reed
    82. Nels Cline
    83. Eddie Hazel
    84. Joe Perry
    85. Andy Summers
    86. J Mascis
    87. James Hetfield
    88. Carl Perkins
    89. Bonnie Raitt
    90. Tom Verlaine
    91. Dave Davies
    92. Dimebag Darrell
    93. Paul Simon
    94. Peter Buck
    95. Roger McGuinn
    96. Bruce Springsteen
    97. Steve Jones
    98. Alex Lifeson
    99. Thurston Moore
    100. Lindsey Buckingham
     
  2. Huggy

    Huggy Well-Known Member

    RS All Access is hardly user friendly, but it brings back a ton of memories and I have wasted loads of time reading issues from the late-70s when I first got my subscription. There was so much more to read in it then, on new bands, old bands, jazz and blues and radio and books and a dozen other things. Great names like Marsh and Marcus and White and Nelson and Bangs. None of the celebrity-whore shit you get in there now.
     
  3. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    First comments:

    1) Way way way way way way way too many old bluesmen. Most of them never played a note of anything which could be remotely described as "rock" music.

    2) Willie Nelson? A top 100 Rock Guitarist?

    3) Joni Mitchell? Paul Simon? Ditto.


    4) Harrison was a distant second to the best guitarist in the Beatles.
     
  4. Machine Head

    Machine Head Well-Known Member

    Does the fact that Alex Lifeson is listed mean that we see white smoke for the RRHOF? :D

    Seriously, was he listed in 2003?
     
  5. waterytart

    waterytart Active Member

    Trivia for the youngsters on the board: Three of the top five on the list succeeded each other as lead guitarist for the Yardbirds.
     
  6. Huggy

    Huggy Well-Known Member

    Springsteen? I love The Boss but nobody goes to his shows to watch him shred. I'd rather hear Miami Steve or Nils Lofgren rip off a solo.

    Lennon? Ridiculous. Same with James Hetfield (ahead of Hammett WTF?) and Paul Simon. Really gotta question Willie Nelson here too. Robby Krieger? Cobain?

    Good to see some love for Mike Campbell, who I have always felt was very underrated.

    No love for the great Warren Haynes? Eric Johnson? Steve Vai? Robert Randolph? Vernon Reid? There's just a few ommissions.

    As for the old bluesmen on here, obviously that's for their influence, which is considerable, but I see the point. If you are talking influence, it's tough to look past Ace Frehley, who may not belong on this list on the merits of his talent or output, but his solo in "Rock And Roll All Nite" caused thousands of kids to pick up guitars in the 70s.
     
  7. DanielSimpsonDay

    DanielSimpsonDay Well-Known Member

    The '03 list may have been even worse.

    87. Joan Jett
    86. Tony Iommi
    85. Randy Rhodes

    No.
     
  8. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    Springsteen's rating is about right. He's in the top 100 but not in the upper pantheon of brilliant technicians/innovators.
     
  9. Uncle.Ruckus

    Uncle.Ruckus Guest

    Mark Knopfler deserved much better than barely cracking the top 50.
     
  10. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    Well if you dump out the 20-30 bluesmen-who-have-nothing-to-do-with-rock and the half-dozen or so singer-songwriters-who-strum-guitars-on-the side, that would push Knopfler up to the 30s, which seems about right to me.

    Looking back on the list, Dave Davies and Richard Thompson are wildly underrated. Thompson has been a top-20 fixture on these RS lists for about 30 years and suddenly he drops to 69? Bullshit.

    Buck, McGuinn and Joe Perry should also be much higher. And where the hell is Mick Jones or Mike McCready?
     
  11. YGBFKM

    YGBFKM Guest

    Just scrolled quickly through that list. Did I miss Warren Haynes? I could have sworn he was pretty high on one of these previous lists.

    Also, somewhat related, I'm not a fan of Derek Trucks' music, but I'm not sure I've ever seen a better pure guitar player. He was playing live with the Allman Brothers at the age of 9. Nine!
     
  12. Greenhorn

    Greenhorn Active Member

    The Mick Jones omission is glaring. And yes, Thompson is ranked way too low. Dude is phenomenal. Tom Verlaine of Television is also ranked too low. Also missing from this list (but not the 03 one) is Steve Howe.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page