EVH and SRV.
This is a never-to-be-resolved question but my vote is Clapton’s second lead on Crossroads from the “Wheels of Fire” LP. I’ve heard it thousands of times and it still stops me in my tracks.
Horrible — and part of it cribbed from J.S. Bach. The best guitar solos ever — and there were many — were all on Led Zeppelin albums.
Pat Travers
Reverend Horton Heat (aka Jim Heath)
Phil Keaggy
I’d put these two up against anyone anytime.
I see the 64 did not even include “Money For Nothing”. Which is probably the greatest intro ever, if not best guitar.
I like David Gilmour’s work on Comfortably Numb a lot better than I like Eruption.
I also like Ted Nugent on Stranglehold a lot better than Eruption, and it lost out pretty early on.
And, as far as I am concerned, ANYTHING by Stevie Ray Vaughn is better than anything by Eddie Van Halen
Wildly innovative? Yikes.
Speed and technical acumen does not make one the “greatest” guitarist anymore than Jackson Pollack’s frenetic attack of paint would elevate him to “greatest artist”. I was a huge VH fan and saw them many times. But this selection is preposterous.
I’m disappointed that Hound Dog Taylor’s “Give Me Back My Wig” didn’t even make the top 64.
Best song ever with two solos by two different guitarists.
Henley’s “Dirty Laundry”, Joe Walsh and Steve Lukather.
And Lukather’s out solo on The Tubes’ “Talk to Ya Later”, is better than anything he did with Toto.
Somehow, that's just not right.
I see EJ’s “Cliffs of Dover” is on the list, but IMHO “Zap” is his best solo.
not saying it’s the top 10, but top 50 Warren Demartini’s intro and solo in “Lay it Down” is pretty damn good.
There are thousands of these world class guitarists out there. I think it boils down to the exposure they get and the style you prefer. John Nitzinger in Fort Worth is an example. I saw Mike Morgan at the Wortham blues festival last Saturday and he was great. Eric Johnson is another. How about Carlos Santana?
OK, well maybe not. I'll offer Vai and Satriani and McAlpine and Petrucci for consideration. And then there's this feller named Tommy Emmanuel...
Some of my favorite Pat Metheny solos:
Lonejack
The Epic
It’s For You
Song for Bilbao
Half Life of Absolution
The Roots of Coincidence