I missed a few that I should have gotten, Trucks, Clark Jr., Santiago, etc... This is one of the better lists that I have seen. Nice work. I might disagree with some of the positions, but this is much better than many of the lists put out by Rolling Stone, or VH1 or other publications. Thanks.
Walacama, thanks for the nice comment! I always thought the Rolling Stone list was cool but that they gave too much weight to popularity and reputation, so it was fun to make my own list relying on my own ears.
I think your list, like most, is way too light on metal guitarists. But I appreciate that at least you're trying to weigh the list on real criteria instead of popularity and word of mouth.
Thanks. I do acknowledge that metal guitarists are the group that was probably the most hurt by my personal taste. Since I'm a blues fan, I put more weight into feeling, expression, and soul whereas if I liked metal more I would have given more weight to the technical brilliance of guys like Hammett & Hetfield, Zakk Wylde, Dimebag Darrell, Jason Becker, and more.
Actually, I've wondered about the Chile/Child discrepancy for a while, but I've never bothered to look it up. It turns out Hendrix used both spellings in the notes he sent to his record label (whether he meant to or not), so the US release of Electric Ladyland featured the titles "Voodoo Chile" for the 15-minute song on side 1 and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" for the more famous song on side 4. However, the UK release spelled both songs with "Chile." Because I'm from the US, I've usually seen the spelling "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)," and that title seems to be used more frequently in official Hendrix media. If this was a song titles quiz I would definitely accept both spellings as type-ins.
Good list and good quiz. As a jazz fan, I would include Pat Metheny and Joe Pass, at least, and probably Tal Farlow, too. But I know it's hard to be diverse and not go on forever
Thanks. Joe Pass and Pat Metheny were honorable mentions on my blog post too, as well as Lenny Breau. I need to check out Tal Farlow. I feel like a lot of the things that great jazz guitarists do are kind of hard for me to fully appreciate as a non-musician, so it was kind of hard for me to know exactly how to compare them.
Appreciating jazz isn't that much more complicated than rock or blues. There is more emphasis on solos; instead of a single 12 bar solo, there might be several choruses shared among the soloists. And there are fewer lyrics, and a larger palette of chords--nothing that some listening couldnt remedy. On YouTube, Rick Beato and Adam Neely are two of my favorite content creators; both are conversant in rock and jazz, and have videos that are helpful in expanding horizons, if and when you desire. Of course, blues is great, too
I've really been enjoying Rick Beato's videos this year and have learned a lot from them. I need to watch more of Adam Neely's stuff too.
It seems like with a lot of jazz there is a much greater emphasis on novel chord progressions and finding new ways to improvise around the chords, and I think the more knowledge you have, the more you are going to appreciate why what they are doing is impressive. Whereas with blues, it's more about expressing emotion through one's playing whether or not you are a highly technical player, and that just naturally connects with me more. So it's kind of a challenge to compare something that connects with me on a more visceral level with something I process more intellectually.
Just watched Beato's video on Pat Martino. He would be another good contender for the list. Incredible that he was that good, lost it all after a hemorrhage, and was able to get back to that level and then some.
It seems like with a lot of jazz there is a much greater emphasis on novel chord progressions and finding new ways to improvise around the chords, and I think the more knowledge you have, the more you are going to appreciate why what they are doing is impressive. Whereas with blues, it's more about expressing emotion through one's playing whether or not you are a highly technical player, and that just naturally connects with me more. So it's kind of a challenge to compare something that connects with me on a more visceral level with something I process more intellectually.