The October 2006 issue of Guitar World arrived on my doorstep a few weeks back. I just got around to digesting it, and low and behold...Yet Another list.. The top 100 Guitar Albums of all time.. All in all, a good list, I have over 50 of them so, I guess my taste are OK.

So, I though to myself... Why not post a list of my own.. damn it.. I know whereof I speak.. so why not..

These are players that I keep coming back to over and over, big influences on my playing and have given me a lifetime of enjoyment.

Behold... MY top 50 guitar players of all time..

#'s 50 - 21, I'll just list them... they are mostly in order.. you could swap a few around in the list and it wouldn't matter much.

#'s 20 - 6: Solid order.. I really thought about my top 20.

#"s 5 - 1: I'll editorialize a bit..


50) Michael Hedges
49) Adrian Legg
48) Huey Thomasson (The Outlaws, Lynyrd Skynyrd)
47) Nils Lofgren
46) Michael Allsup (Three Dog Night)
45) Peter Frampton
44) Roy Buchanan
43) Elvin Bishop
42) Jimmy Page (Yup..he's way down here)
41) Robert Fripp
40) Rick Neilsen (Cheap Trick)
39) Dick Dale (THE KING of surf guitar, indeed)
38) Chris Duarte
37) Al DiMeola
36) Albert "Iceman" Collins
35) Lowell George (Little Feat)
34) Robbie Robertson (The Band)
33) Bonnie Raitt
32) Lil' Ed Williams (Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials)
31) Andy Summers (The Police)
30) Roland Orzabal (Tears for Fears)
29) Joe Walsh
28) Terry Kath (Chicago)
27) John Hiatt
26) Leo Kottke
25) Buddy Guy
24) Greg Lake (Emmerson Lake and Plamer)
23) Darryl Sturmer (Jean-Luc Ponty, et-al)
22) Kenny Wayne Shepherd
21) Brian Setzer
20) Pat Metheny
19) Tommy Shaw (Styx, The Damn Yankees)
18) Dicky Betts (Allman Brothers)
17) Duane Allman (An Allman Brother)
16) Waren Haynes
15) Brian May (Queen)
14) Donald Rossler.. aka Buck Dharma (Blue Oyster Cult)
13) Carlos Santana
12) Davey Johnstone (Elton John Band)
11) Lindsay Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac)

The Top 10

10) Adrian Belew (King Crimson, Frank Zappa Band, Solo works)
9) Jimi Hendrix
8) Pete Townshend
7) Ry Cooder (Little Village, Solo works)
6) George Harrison (A Beatle)

The BIG 5.....

5) Stevie Ray Vaughan... The finest blues player to EVER come out of Texas IMHO. Add to that, amazing touch and versatility.

4) Mark Knopfler: A unique style and approach, No one is more evocative and caries so much soul into the fretboard.

3) Eric Clapton: Hell... He's Clapton..

2) Alex Lifeson: I swear we'd be best buddies if he'd just return my calls and come over.. Great natural feel for tone, tempo and NOBODY can play "In the moment" like Lerxt... From the lilting ease of the intro to La Via Strangiato to the staccato buzzsaw of Driven... Alex rules..

Trumpets please..

1) David Gilmour: What can I say.. BDG is the Man... The touch of WYWH, the power of the opening of Sorrow, the solo of CN, all of Dogs.... that says it all right there..



Feel free to ask question if you have any... post your own.. If you haven't heard of some of these guys, go give them a listen, expand your listening range..

Enjoy.

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