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Lotta great Page solos to choose from, but I'd probably put "Since I've Been Loving You" (Zep 3) at the top.

Yep, that's a good one.

My theory is that to be a great rock guitarist you have to be a good blues guitarist first. All the great players -- Hendrix, Clapton, Page, Beck, probably Van Halen too -- could play a convincing solo over a traditional blues progression. After all, they all learned to play by listening to the old blues guys like Albert King and Otish Rush and Buddy Guy. Page tears his way through the Since I've Been Loving You solo so gut-wrenchingly because he's well grounded in the blues and knows how to wring every last ounce of juice from the solo, just like his blues heros did.

Later generations of rock guitarists, on the other hand, learned to play not by listening to the original blues players, but by listening to the guys *who listened* to the original blues players. Rather than listen to Buddy Guy they'd listen to Jimi Hendrix. So there was an extra degree of separation between the later generations and the founding generation of blues players. They got their blues second hand, recycled as rock licks. I think that's when the quality began to slip in rock guitar playing.

Incidentally, I think that's one reason Stevie Ray Vaughn made such a splash. Here he was in the late 80's, at a time when most guitarists were detatched from their blues roots, and he was totally rooted in the blues. He didn't learn guitar by copping Cream or Led Zeppelin licks. He learned by listening to Albert King.

What's interesting is that SRV's blues technique worked great not just in pure blues songs but in rock songs as well. Just listen to his stuff with David Bowie. And so I come by to the idea that learning blues is the best way of equipping oneself to play interesting rock.

Of course, these days rock guitar is practically dead -- and not surprisingly if you asked a young guitar player to name his favorite blues guys he'd probably stumble around for a name.

Page tears his way through the Since I've Been Loving You solo so gut-wrenchingly because he's well grounded in the blues and knows how to wring every last ounce of juice from the solo,

And his mastery of minor scales helped as well, which isn't exactly common for a blues-based guitarist. (Brian May was another minor key monster).

I'm with ya -- a thorough grounding in the blues is essential for a rock guitarist, from acoustic (delta) blues to electric (Chicago) blues ....Charley Patton, Son House, Skip James, RJ, Elmore James, J.L. Hooker, The Wolf, Muddy, etc.

When I was in high school (in the late 70s) I didn't know a thing about any of these guys, even though I'd been playing guitar for about 4 years by then. One day I was browsing in a used record store in L.A. and an old guy who worked there recommended I get one blues album and one jazz album -- Robert Johnson's King of the Delta Blues and Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. ...and that was that -- I was hooked. Never got tired of listening to them, and always discovered new things I hadn't heard before. ....and still do to this day.

You deserve a Gold Star for your observation:

Later generations of rock guitarists, on the other hand, learned to play not by listening to the original blues players, but by listening to the guys *who listened* to the original blues players.

The Faith isn't dead, just temporarily suppressed by modern trends. Cleaning carwarshes I witness truck-driving cowpokes, urbanite hippies and seemingly respectable young people listening to...(C)Rap. Thank you so much, MTV, for polluting our culture while turning your back on all of the great artists mentioned on this thread for an easy buck.

One other point: almost all of those musicians possess an understanding of classical music that is reflected in their work. I've yet to find anything of musical value in the bad poetry my ears have endured and do not understand why people subject themselves to a constant unmelodious assault of misogyny, misanthropy and worship of materialism when there's so much great music to listen to. The Democrats must be behind this! (Joking and half-seriously).

BTW: a few of my favorites are Zappa's "Pojama People", future Michigan Governor Ted's "Stranglehold", and the awesome work Randy Rhoads put into "Mr. Crowley" - a song with silly lyrics praising a totally evil reprobate. It was as if that young man knew his time here was limited and made his mark when the moons aligned.