Comments on: Our Ten Best- Episode 11: Classic Rock Guitarists

By: klaus

klaus — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:58:55 +0000

Hendrix is the best Guitarist of all Time.Er kann alles spielen.

By: Murray

Murray — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 23:53:04 +0000

Where is everybody?

Check out Ritchie Blackmore’s solo on “Child in Time” on Deep Purple’s “Nobody’s Perfect” live album. I would be interested in comments from all. …To me, it is the best hard rock guitar solo ever. It also shows just why Blackmore is (by a freakin’ long shot) the best hard rock guitarist ever – musically and technically (and for those who care about such things, “speed-wise”).

By: Murray

Murray — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 21:41:29 +0000

Hello all, Ritchie turns 65 today (April 14). There can be no doubting his hard rock guitar mastery of this true “Child in Time” – best ever in my opinion. We can all only hope and pray that this is the year he and his D.P. Mark II mates somehow get back together, i.e., while they all still have the musical chops to recreate the magic that personified D.P. circa 1969 -1972. Such magic hasn’t happened since with that (or any other) band. And yes, I include Gillan and Glover in “the magic equation” of the Mark II lineup – for as many of you know, Ritchie soldiered on with the band until 1975, sans Gillan and Glover. The guitar wizardry of the Man in Black was still there in abundance (spades?) – but alas, the magic was not. …Go figure the intangibles that make for “the best of the best” on such lists.

Happy Birthday Ritchie!!!

By: Darrell

Darrell — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:17:24 +0000

Wow, I’m glad to see Ritchie getting his dues, both on the list and with all the comments. Since Hendrix died, Ritchie has been my favorite rock guitarist. Such a unique style and so much talent. I like the fact that in concert, Ritchie will go after a riff that is so challenging and complex, that most others would never even attempt. It’s a shame that he isn’t even more famous; so many people don’t really know who he is.

I’m a little surprised that Satriani isn’t on the list – he’s great technically, but his song writing doesn’t always match the others on this list. But I would put him above Johnny W and Michael Schenker – even though I love them both. And Buckethead should also get honorable mention.

By: Gerry

Gerry — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:21:04 +0000

What about Roy Buchanan?

By: David Linck

David Linck — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:36:39 +0000

I am so glad to see so many sane responses discussing the brilliance of Ritchie Blackmore. No other guitarist spans the decades of both recording and performance with his constant awesome virtuosity and inventiveness. I have seen just about every major rock guitarist live (including Hendrix) and no one touches Blackmore live. Ever. Pity that so few videos and films exist of his early playing. One just has to watch the 1972 Denmark Hallen show to see a glimpse of his energy and balls-out mastery of his instrument. In the studio, how many guitarists can match up to the pantheon of classic riffs and solos Blackmore created, often (at his own admission) in one-off sessions over 5 decades of quality recording. Even at his most bored or repetitive, Blackmore always finds something interesting to play in any style. The much overrated Page, for example, could never play as well live consistently, although his songwriting was very strong. Beck is one dimensional, as is Clapton, when compared to what Blackmore has chosen to play over the years. Few guitarists inspire fans to savor each song as Blackmore has, even today with Blackmore’s Night. Anyone who sees the current band in concert knows the demon is still loose, dancing along the strings with a fluidity and intelligence few musicians in any genre have ever attained. Not to mention the man, at 64, looks twenty years younger and will outlive and outproduce his peers if only for the fact that his ability to inhabit new music and his willingness to please himself keeps him fresh and vital. The fact he is not in the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame points out how shallow and ridiculously irrelevant that institution has become.

By: Ahmed Shaikh

Ahmed Shaikh — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:39:28 +0000

Ritchie Blackmore should be #1.
He is undoubtedly the most creative guiterplayer.
Axel Rudi Pell is also a follower of him.

By: bbbob21

bbbob21 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:12:11 +0000

I had the pleasure and privilege to see Ritchie Blackmore with Blackmore’s Night for the second time in Chicago last Saturday night at the House of Blues. The band was superb and they played for two hours and twenty minutes doing their renaissance thing. At the 3/4 mark they rocked it up a bit doing (in this order) Woman From Tokyo, Smoke on the Water, and Black Night with his wife taking lead vocals of course and the rest of us in a sing-along. It was fucking great. Ritchie gave so much of himself to the audience that night both in his incredible guitar playing and his personality and playfulness. I have seen Blackmore (5) different times. Twice with Deep Purple, once with Rainbow and twice now with Blackmore’s Night.

I am a workingman’s guitarist as I am sure their are others writing hear as well. One thing we all have in common in writing here is we love guitar music. Here is a list of they guitarists I’ve been fortunate to see and hear play in person: Ritchie Blackmore, Eric Clapton, Rory Gallagher, Steve Howe, Santana, Jeff Beck, Allan Holdsworth, John McLaughlin, Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Edward Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Morse, Steve Vai, Ted Nugent, Robin Trower, Peter Frampton, Derek Trucks, Eric Johnson, Al DiMeola, and I may be forgetting some. Let me close with a few quotes from some of the greats about each other:

Ritchie Blackmore – “Jeff Beck gets fucking notes from nowhere you know. Sometimes he finds notes that I don’t have on my guitar”

Eddie VanHalen on Allan Holdsworth – “He’s the best in my book. He can play over any chord change you want, and his improv comes from so deep down.”

David Gilmour – I like Eddie Van Halen’s playing alot. Of course, I can’t do that at all. I don’t have the dexterity in my fingers to play that fast.”

I love all these guys..long live the guitar.

By: dermot murphy

dermot murphy — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:01:24 +0000

as an observer of rock guitar since mid60s – these comments about Blackmore and Hendrix , the key players on the list.Hard rock guitar owes much to the rock blues crucible of late 60s Beck Clapton Page but perhaps most to Ritchie Blackmore whose powerful attackiong slyle comes closest to defining the genre.There are at least two Blackmores _ the searing guitrarist of early Deep Purple (69-75) taking rockl guitar on occasions to zones as dissonantly innovative as Hendrix an the fluent master guitarist of Rainbow and later Purple.Hendrixs ratcheted up blues style is cosmically cen trifugal (spiralling outwards).Like john Coltrane in jazz and Maria C allas in opera Blackmores centripetal style at its most intense is like a heat seeking missile tracking its quarry at blitzing speed and with lethal effect. Two performances of Mandrake Root (Ortf ina 1970 and Granada Tv 1970) make the point.The balances are not optimal and the guitar levels on the Ortf execrable (perhaps the guitar sound on the Ortf live session could be isolated and the violume raised considerably.Its one of those rare performances where the guitar cries out justifiably for louder volume. Mandrake Root was frequently concertised by Deep Purple at the time.Using the group as a sort of musical trampoline Blackmore kicks starts a solo of sundering fury. No other guitarist( I have seen or heard and that includes Hendrix )matches it . Blackmores use of the tremolo bar is merciless yet the effect is superb. Its all part of the musical equipment needed to achieve momentary RAPTUS. In these performanxces Blackmore draws leves with the greatest guitarist Jimi |Hendrix.Its instructive to compare Blackmore with the latterday Steve Morse
Morse is fine technically and has oodles of speed but compared to Blackmore is a one trick pony. There is no incremental growth in his solos. Where Blackmore tonal colourings al;one can sound like a marauding bass guitar MORSE is samey .Factor in Blackmores cumulative heft and the discrepancy between a peerless master and a very good guitarist becomes apparent. At long last a list that actually names the two key p layers in rock guitar The debate will rage over taxonomies to wit is Hendrix rock or blues (given a conspicuous absence of a rock prequisite – a driven up tempo beat) In 1970 I believed that Ritchie BLACKMORE WAS second only to Hendrix in the rock guitar pantheon. ALmost forty years later i am of the same opinion. Dermot Murphy.
o

By: Bill Palmer

Bill Palmer — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:04:05 +0000

There is no doubt Richie Blackmore’s Talent has long been under-rated, I can listen to and appreciate other guitarists for the work they do, and I have seen almost all of the top 10, but after seeing Blacks with Deep Purple in the very early 70′s in Vancouver B.C. Well, what can I say, changed my life, ever since it has been Blackmore, and the rest of the list, always seems to not get the recognition he deserves, the man is head and shoulders above the rest. One addition I would add to the list is another one who doesn’t get the recognition he deserves is Alvin Lee, another great one. Cheers Bill Palmer

By: mike kluss

mike kluss — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:15:05 +0000

ritchie rocks, good list.Tommy bolin for mention, what might have been….

By: Jaroslaw Skulski

Jaroslaw Skulski — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:36:13 +0000

My list: Is:
1.Ritchie Blackmore
2.Jimmy Hendrix
3.Jimmy Page
4.Eric Clapton
5.Eddie Van Halen
6.Peter Green
7.Gary Moore
8.Dave Gilmour
9.Rory Gallagher
10.Martin Barre
Why Ritchie is not in Rock’n'roll Hall of Fame?
Keep rocking.
Jaro

By: Susan Parker

Susan Parker — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:24:59 +0000

One only has to listen to the Son of Alerik, never mind his other virtuoso-level solo efforts to realise that Blackers richly deserves his No.2 spot in these rankings. If I had my way, I’d give him the top spot, But there again,Blackers has never tried playing upside down guitar with his teeth, smacked up to his eyeballs, so I guess that’s a serious shortcoming that no credible reviewer can afford to overlook. Seriously! Blacker’s technique: his tone, style and, particularly, his musicality are unsupassed by the other guitar greats listed. I can’t get enough of his playing.

By: Paul Weston

Paul Weston — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:51:33 +0000

Richie Blackmore is by far the finest guitarist we’ve seen over the past 40-50 years. The only reason Hendrix beats him in this list is because Hendrix is dead and Blackmore isn’t. The moral of the story? You don’t miss what you’ve got ’till it’s gone!

By: JimmyJump

JimmyJump — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:37:10 +0000

Fair top ten. Though I’d also put Blackmore at the top. A name that I’ve not seen in the responses, and which should at least figure among the ‘honorable mentions’ is Alvin Lee. Speaking of ability and technical wizardry, the man’s got some in spades.

But I fear a ‘Top Ten’ is too small to gather all the great snarepickers: Ted Nugent, Gary Moore, Ulrich Roth, Mike Oldfield, David Gilmour, Frank Zappa, Mick Ronson, Kirk Hammett, Dave Edmunds, Django Reinhardt, Steve Howe, Glenn Tipton, Rory Gallagher… there’s just too many of them… lol

I also wonder if Hendrix would have made anyone’s top-ten shoulkd he not have died, because I feel that he ‘suffers’ from what I call the James Dean syndrome, or Monroe Effect, if you like, in that he also was propulsed into mythical stardom due to dying at his peak…

By: Kurt

Kurt — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:45:33 +0000

Hey Steve,
I really enjoyed reading the top 10 guitar player list.
For ability I would say Steve Vai.
For song writing I would say Jimmy Page.
For showman I would say Eddie Van Halen.
Please note that all top ten guitar players you chose possess characteristics of immortality.
My favorite of all time is Jimmy Page.
Best riff I would say it’s between Jimmy Page and Eddie Van Halen.
For the greatest impact on the classic rock world hmmmm…. it would have to be all of these players Jimmy Page, Jimmy Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Ritchie Blackmore. But if it would have to be just one you then would have to ask all the great guitar players on the list and see which one had the greatest impact on them the most.
Jimmy Hendrix had the greatest impact on many of them but that’s just my opinion.

Keep up the wonderful work Steve.
Your friend Kurt

By: j r miller

j r miller — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:22:52 +0000

I THINK BLACKMORE SHOULD BE NO 1. BUT WHAT ABOUT DONALD ROESER( BUCK DHARMA) ? I THINK HE IS NUMBER 2. DAVID GILMOUR , ROBERT CRAY, MARK FARNER, ROBIN TROWER, JOHN MCFEE AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST B B KING. TO BE HONEST, THERE ARE A LOT OF GREAT GUITAR PLAYERS THAT WERE NOT MENTIONED ON THE LIST. SO I THINK IT IS FAIR TO SAY IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT STYLE YOU LIKE.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:01:21 +0000

With all due rispect to Pete Townshend and the Who, but we are talking about guitarist who can lead, who are virtuoso and so forth.
Peter Townshend could be one of the best rock and roll showman, one of the best song wirter, one on the best singer, but not one of the best guitarist. Leading guitar is not his trade. yes he can olay cords, but leading is not in his DNA

By: Purpleman1972

Purpleman1972 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:17:08 +0000

Where the hell is Pete Townshend ? At least they mentionned Brian May !

By: Gareth

Gareth — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:54:33 +0000

Nice to see Ritchie on the top of a list for a change. Amen to brother Jim, I’d put him one personally, but thats as may be. Not like some mag lists which put him over the top 50, very sad

By: Jim Manngard

Jim Manngard — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:51:51 +0000

Ritchie Blackmore is hands down the best guitar player and song writer, producer and music arranger etc. Ritchie’s track record speaks for itself!!!! Ritchie’s writes and plays songs people love to listen too and his guitar playing is absolutley awesome. Check Ritchie out live in concert and you will see the master at work, nobody plays the guitar better!! Ritchie’s guitar playing is real and he doesn’t use effects to hide behind when he plays, He plays some many styles and so many different instruments. I personally think Ritchie is the best!!

By: evo

evo — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:50:30 +0000

where is steve howe who can play any guitar and a steel pedal guitar or gary moore who can play soft,slow or hard and fast not to mention the blues

By: Vladimir Danov

Vladimir Danov — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 08:34:31 +0000

The first time i see such a list that shows some sensibility. Glad that Blackmore got a rightful place in the top 2. I would mention Mark Knopfler and Dave Gilmour, Rory Gallagher.

By: Garrett

Garrett — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:42:30 +0000

I agree with Arik, Mario and Murray. Blackmore is the best.

By: Paul Bearer

Paul Bearer — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:08:50 +0000

Great list. On pure playing ability I would rate Jeff Beck at No.1. When you include impact, riffs, song writing etc. then maybe Blackmore has the edge. He is unfairly hugely underrated and it is refreshing to see him rightly recognised for a change. Both he and Beck are legends and are still producing material in their respective fields to this day. Agree with previous posts – Page, great in the studio, sloppy live. Townshend – magnificent songwriter/arranger not so lead guitar. I’d leave out Santana and include David Gilmour who IMHO is not only a better allround player, but when you include his impact/songwriting etc. is way ahead of Carlos. But as always these lists are purely subjective – but make for good debate!

By: Murray

Murray — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 04:21:51 +0000

Decent list…although I am still waiting for someone to have the balls not to automatically put Hendrix at the top of all such lists. Personally I’d put him “mid pack” at best, with Blackmore at the the top of the list. I also think Vivian Campbell (Dio, Whitesnake) and Mick Box (Uriah Heep) should be on the list – and that to make room for them, Winter and Santana should not be there.

By: Mario

Mario — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:59:00 +0000

Arik, I agree with you.
Revolutionizing guitar playing from 1966-1970 by Hendrix, does not make him a virtuoso, a classical, talentated and a clean guitar player as Blackmore is.
The list is almost perfect, with the exception that Page is overrated as lead guitar player. He is so sloppy.
Clapton plays always the same licks over and over again. Peraphs the most overrated guitarist in the world.
What J.D. Stevens is talking about. Pete Townshend? This is about lead guitarist, the best in the world. Pete can not lead to save his life, with all due respect for him and Who that is great band.

By: Arik

Arik — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:51:38 +0000

Nice list !
u shuld replace no 2 withe no 1
Ritchie Blackmore is The Greatest guitar player !

Thanx

By: Carl

Carl — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:35:46 +0000

RealBigSwede: “I like to to add Santana to to this list.”

What, so he’d be on there twice?!?

By: RealBigSwede

RealBigSwede — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:35:32 +0000

I think one guy that are realy forgotten is Former Members of CCR, John Fogerty. His guitar play is out of this world. I like to to add Santana to to this list. and the Mick Box of Uriah Heep!!

By: ABNER

ABNER — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:22:39 +0000

Well, first of all, I would say that we must first identify the timeline of classic rock music.
How early are we considering the music to be classic and up to when we draw the line?
Looking back 20 some add years ago, during the 80′s there were a lot of great guitartists
that ever picked up a guitar and play timeless and masterpiece riffs, tunes, solos, etc.
that until now, it is still a big influence for many musician out there especially those who
are highly interested in playing guitar. However, the list were categorized as the early
pioneers of classic rock music and they were the first to be known worldwide. There is
still more musicians to be considered.

By: peter

peter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:38:40 +0000

steve…one more came to mind…keith richards…i know what your thinking about his playing ability but he makes up for it on impact, memorable riffs and songwriting…deserves at least an honorable mention for being the prototype…don’t forget mick when you do the vocalists list

By: C Nacht

C Nacht — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 21:08:06 +0000

Great list. Very well thought out with good supporting information. The only changes I would make would be to include Zappa at the expense of EVH and add Rory Gallagher as honorable mention.

By: J.D. Stephens

J.D. Stephens — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 04:47:00 +0000

Johnny Winter in the Top 10 and Duane Allman only Honorable mention? And where the heck is Pete Townshend? Joe Walsh also deserves to be here – even if only an Honorable Mention. He has an instantly recognizable style, and his work with James Gang, Barnstorm, solo, plus the Eagles speaks for itself.

By: mikeydacopa

mikeydacopa — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:58:47 +0000

Brilliant and well written mr.Janowsky i would have added Danny Gatton as #3 Page#2 santana although a great guitar player he does tend to bore me aftre a while,,1.hendrix 2.page 3.Clapton listen to Live cream then u’ll get it 4.Stevie ray Vaughn5.Blackmore6.santana 7 ed van halen8g.harrison9d allmen10b quinne,,,,,thanks

By: benny boo

benny boo — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:57:10 +0000

Nice list. But what about Garcia, Gilmour, And Zappa… the Holy Trinity

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:32:32 +0000

Clapton is a great guitarist, but he’s a bit overrated. Same with Angus Young and Slash. Tony Iommi and Mike McCready are both better contemporaries of each, IMO.

By: Jimbo

Jimbo — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:01:37 +0000

While I agree with everyone on the list I would have Clapton #2,and Stevie Ray #3. Close enough though.Great that you added Johnny Winter, a sometimes forgotten classic rock guitarist. Duane Allman as a honorable mention is also a nice touch. A great talent cut down in the prime of his life.Imagine going to the Beacon and seeing him with the Brothers !!