[andy58-in-nh]

Stevie Ray Vaughan's take on Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Chile is breathtaking. But then, much of what Vaughan did so casually still manages to amaze me. Hendrix was an innovator who took the blues and soul of his youth and re-imagined it by transposition on a guitar strung upside down and expressed with his huge and astonishingly versatile hands. Stevie was another gift entirely - his command of blues was likewise innate, but his brilliant technical ability combined with the sublime muse within him - still brings tears to my eyes. RIP to both. (Can you tell I am a guitar player?)

[katiedidit1]

Know your guitarists...two of the all time greats.

[Libertarian444]

They really should divide these Best Of lists into "Most Innovative" and "Most Proficient", which are not always the same thing.

Even given that, I'd still put Hendrix at the top of both lists.

Also, there is no "time" context to the list. All the players are measured as if they were still alive and playing in 2011. Guitarists, especially rock guitarists, are famous (or infamous) for copying styles, so people like Les Paul, Chuck Berry and Chet Atkins tend to get shorted because of the era the played in. (Not to mention the wide availability today of effects units).

[alicewonders]

Totally agree with you on Stevie Ray Vaughan.

[Talisker]

Stevie Ray Vaughan's take on Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Chile is breathtaking. But then, much of what Vaughan did so casually still manages to amaze me. Hendrix was an innovator who took the blues and soul of his youth and re-imagined it by transposition on a guitar strung upside down and expressed with his huge and astonishingly versatile hands. Stevie was another gift entirely - his command of blues was likewise innate, but his brilliant technical ability combined with the sublime muse within him - still brings tears to my eyes. RIP to both. (Can you tell I am a guitar player?)

THAT!