Top Ten Guitarists

I always see these lists on the greatest guitarists of all time and never agree with them. So I am going to open up the debate with my own thoughts on a very subjective topic.

1. Jimi Hendrix - Jimi was only on this world a short time but changed the way music was played forever. It would be hard to ever find that kind of raw talent again. He made amazing things look as easy as breathing, and could make a guitar that was out of tune sound more in tune. It took a while after he was gone for anyone to even catch up to what he was doing. The first album asked a question that couldn't be answered until you heard it, Are You Experienced?

2. Edward Van Halen - Ed is actually my favorite but I put him as a close second. The 80's was a decade of guitar players trying to sound like Eddie, so he seems to have gotten thrown in with all the imitators. Go back to 1977 when the first Van Halen album was released, nothing like Eruption or anything else on the record had been heard before. Probably the most recognized guitar in the world too.

3. Eric Clapton - Clapton has probably had the most diverse career of anyone on the list and showed so many sides to the instrument. Think about how different Cream sounds from Tears from Heaven or even Cocaine. The funny thing is, they all sound like Clapton, doesn't matter if it's a Marshall stack or a Martin acoustic.

4. Jimmy Page - Led Zeppelin brought out the best in Page and it defines a rock sound. You would be hard pressed to find someone can't hum or grunt out a Zeppelin tune. Heavy rock in the 70's was defined by Page's riffs and are still relevant and copied. Where would music be today without his influence, can you picture a world without Whole Lotta Love or Stairway to Heaven?

5. Stevie Ray Vaughan - The thought of Texas Blues would probably bring Stevie Ray to mind for most people. Being from Texas I just thought he was a local phenomenon at the time, but his talent took him much further. Though he was only here a while, he brought a truer form of blues back and gave people a taste for more. For a while it seemed as though we knew what Jimi would have been playing if he were still around.

6. Keith Richards - His career parallels that of Rock, and he has played well and adapted as the times did. The Rolling Stones almost invented the style, then took it to new places and are synonymous with Rock and Roll. He took blues to a new place and gave it a British accent, would we be even talking about this had Satisfaction not been released in 1965?

7. Slash - I remember hearing Guns and Roses when they first came out with Welcome to the Jungle and was blown away. Appetite for Destruction blew everybody out of the water the way Are You Experienced did in 67' and Van Halen did in 77'. As he continues to work on his music he is still moving up the list, and will probably go higher.

8. Dick Dale - Dick Dale virtually invented surf guitar and played it like nobody before or since. Probably recognized for his instrumental in Pulp Fiction to the people who were not around during the beginning of the 60's.

9. Kurt Cobain - The icebreaker for the grunge style whose time was cut short. In a time of overproduced and sterile sounding music he brought back a garage band sound. He was going against the grain and gave us a grainy sound again.

10. Joe Satriani - Satriani gave us a virtuoso that didn't need a singer, his guitar was up front. Surfing with the Alien was blistering guitar from beginning to end, perfect CD to put in a fast car and hit the gas.

Honorable Mention - Randy Rhoads, Joe Perry, Angus Young and Willie Nelson, could you imagine Willie doing what he does with a Strat and a Marshall?