As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
The UK press released the 20 greatest guitarists of all time, and of course got it insanely wrong by leaving out the following:
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Ted Nugent
Glenn Campbell
Roger McGuinn
and of course Joe Walsh
The stupid English and their lists can never be trusted as they are always biased.
Jimi Hendrix
It wasn't so much that Hendrix was more technically accomplished than
his peers. It was just that he made it all seem so much more natural.
Effortlessly creative and cooler than any guitarist you care to mention,
he embodied the music he performed.
Credit:
Rex Features
Keith Richards
There is a reason people will pay thousands to see Keith Richards
play. Granted, this is no longer a man at the height of his powers, but
it is a man who has penned an astonishing, enduring array of riffs and
songs. His guitar playing has been consistently innovative, and his use
of alternate tunings lies at the heart of the Stones's sound.
Credit:
AFP/Getty
B. B. King
From Indianola, Mississippi, Riley B. King was immersed in the blues
from the beginning. His minimal style and clean phrasing have influenced
generations of guitarists. Now 87, the king of the blues still appears
in around 100 shows a year.
Credit:
AFP/Getty
Eddie Van Halen
Van Halen's mastery of huge riffs, like the stabbing, grinding opener
to Ain't Talking 'Bout Love or the glimmering Unchained, comes in part
from the original way he plays guitar. He tackles harmonics and tapping
techniques with the ease of a master of his craft. Now 55, Van Halen
continue to tour.
Django Reinhardt
Perhaps the first major European jazz musician who took the form
forward in leaps and bounds, Reinhardt's original style has become a
musical tradition within French gypsy culture. He famously played all
guitar solos with two fingers after a fire accident injured the other
two fingers on his hand.
Credit:
Roger - Viollet / Rex Features
Mark Knopfler
One of the most respected fingerstyle guitarists of his generation,
Knopfler's precision and melodic skill went against the grain of the
evolving punk scene of the late 1970s. Sultans of Swing sealed his
reputation as a guitarist of effortless ingenuity.
Credit:
Getty Images
Robert Johnson
There is a good reason that any article on Robert Johnson is always
accompanied by the same iconic photo: just two verified pictures of the
blues musician exist. Johnson spent most of his life without commercial
success, playing on street corners or at dances and juke joints, but he
remains perhaps the most formative blues musician who ever lived.
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Vaughan (right) dropped out of high school at 17 and immersed himself
in the music of blues musicians like Albert King and Muddy Waters, as
well as rock guitarists like Lonnie Mack and his idol Jimi Hendrix. He
developed an eclectic style with a bold signature tone and, with band
Double Trouble, enjoyed a career spanning seven years until his untimely
death in a helicopter crash in Wisconsin.
Credit:
Rex Features
Ry Cooder
Eclectic, accomplished and with an extraordinary number of
collaborations to his name, Ry Cooder is best known for his central role
in the Buena Vista Social Club record. He started out as a teenage
blues prodigy and remains renowned for his intricate slide work.
Credit:
Karen Miller
Lonnie Johnson
A pioneer of both jazz guitar and single-string guitar solos, Johnson
also enjoyed a career of significant commercial success. He is one of
few guitarists who can lay claim to laying the foundations of blues and
rock, and his influence is imprinted on virtually every electric blues
guitar player who came after him.
Credit:
Rex Features
Carlos Santana
Santana's signature glassy guitar tone is recognisable the second he
appears on record - more than can be said for many of the guitarists on
this list. His fusion of latin, blues and jazz is almost as iconic as
his dazzling fretwork, and the 65-year-old's startling career has seen
him net 10 Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards.
Credit:
AP
Jimmy Page
The Led Zeppelin guitarist was one of the greatest riffmakers and
shredders of all time, but he was also one of rock's great writers and
producers. With a staggering back-catalogue of songs, solos and riffs to
his name, Page has earned his reputation as one of the titans.
Paco de Lucia
Certainly the greatest living exponent of flamenco guitar, de Lucia
is a terrifically fast, talented guitarist. His work with John
McLaughlin and Larry Coryell as The Guitar Trio produced one of the most
compelling albums of guitar music ever written, while his own album
Fuente y Caudal changed the landscape of flamenco guitar.
Eric Clapton
The only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
Clapton revolutionised the way guitar was played, introducing feedback,
sustain and - more importantly - volume. His style is indebted to
legendary blues guitarists like Buddy Guy, B. B. King and, later, to
reggae artists like Bob Marley.
Brian May
The Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University also happens to be
something of a rock legend. Brian May's guitar histrionics - and the
dozens of Queen classics he penned - will go down in history as rock at
its glittering best.
Credit:
Rex Features
Chet Atkins
Mastering a range of styles from country through to jazz and
classical, Atkins developed his own thumb-and-three-finger picking style
to play melody and chords simultaneously. Not content with being a mere
guitar virtuoso, he singlehandedly resurrected country music with the
Nashville sound that became his signature.
Credit:
AP
Slash
The Guns N' Roses guitarist has written some of the most memorable
riffs of all time, while his solos - on November Rain, Sweet Child o'
Mine and countless others - will go down in history. Guns N' Roses may
have struggle to repeat the success of their first album, but Slash's
guitar playing is as compelling as ever.
Credit:
AFP
Chuck Berry
Berry is best known for his shaping of rhythm and blues and, in the
process, laying the groundwork for artists like the Beatles and the
Rolling Stones. As a guitar player he was economical and clean, and as a
showman he was flamboyant and witty. Everything about the way he played
guitar was built upon by the rock greats in the decades that followed.
David Gilmour
Gilmour's elegant solos, by turns dreamy and melodic, buoyed Pink
Floyd's music. His phrasing was flecked with blues influences and his
solos on Comfortably Numb, Time and Money are up there with the all-time
greats. He was adept at channelling an eclectic range of influences to
forge a sound that was always his own.
Credit:
Getty
Jeff Beck
Along with Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, Beck is one of three notable
guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds. For that he was inducted
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - and he was inducted again for his
solo work. The 68-year-old has produced some of the most thrilling,
dazzling guitar lines in history, and despite not maintaining the
commercial success of many of his contemporaries, remains extremely
influential.
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