Replies

(1) I strongly take exception the 'recent' Rolling Stone Poll on the top 100 guitarists of 'all time' which put Jimi Hendrix at #1. IMHO he was mostly flash. He had huge hands that could grab some unbelievable chords and frets, and played with so much distortion and feedback, you didn't know what the hell he was actually playing. Eric Clapton is Number One that's the end of it.

Try listening to Les Paul/Chet Atkins and get back to me. (I'm a guitar player myself, since I was nine....I'm now sixty one.)

FMCDH(BITS)

*** Try listening to Les Paul/Chet Atkins and get back to me ***

Okay, you are right. No doubt that Les Paul and Chet Atkins are up there at the top. As I recall Chet could really do 'some pickin' and Les Paul, well what can ya say. His name is enough.

So I guess I should have clarified that Rolling Stone Poll about 'the greatest' -- it was about Rock and Blues guitarists, not overall musicians. An 'average' concert guitarist could prolly plays rings around Clapton (I know that Eric plays a couple things 'the wrong way' - technically speaking).

Then again, that person couldn't do Layla like Eric. Or burn up the fretboard doing licks to Matchbox with Carl Perkins (love rockabilly, it started it all, and thank God for YouTube - Carl Lee Perkins, etc, still live on. And man-oh-man did Sam Phillips ever have Solid Gold at his little label).

an aside: I've got a 'couple years' on you, but you started playing 'a few' years earlier. Anywho - hi there fellow guitar player. :-)

ps: Sure you heard this one (or a version thereof):

the difference between a Jazz & Rock Guitarist is that a Jazz Guitarist learns 500 chords to play in front of three people, while the Rock Guitarist learns three chords to play in front of 500 people.