cresta57

Some time ago I was given the 100 greatest guitar solos Cd set. I stuck it on the shelf & forgot about it as I had loads of music on the P.C i-pod etc.
I've just loaded it onto my phone to play at work as our new work radio has a docking gizmo.
Played most of it today & it had me thinking what a pile of crap to quite a few of the tracks. There's some classic tunes for sure, Clapton, Queen, Pink Floyd, Led Zep, Frank Zappa, Carlos Santana all produced amazing guitar solos.
Funnily enough Jimmy Hendricks had me cringing & reaching for the FF button. I've never really been a fan but most of his tracks sound like someone struggling to tune a guitar & play a few scales [?] Is he a case of the Emperors new clothes? The sound is awful & he seems to shout tunelessly into the mike. Not in my top 100.
A few surprises were Brian Setzer from the Stray Cats & Ted Nugent.
Who would make your top 5 strummers?

Icarus

Randy Rhoads
Eddie Van Halen
Jimi Hendrix
Ritchie Blackmore
Pete Townshend

In no particular order & next week could be all change , Too many to narrow down . Clapton , Page , Beck .

Alfresco

Steve Morse
Alex Lifeson
Eddie Van Halen

The rest to follow...

DadAgain

Yngwie Malmsteen? (Worth a mention for supreme technical ability)
John Williams (Probably plenty of other better classical guitarists - but he's done a lot for the genre)
Gary Moore
BB King
Mark Knopfler
Joe Satriani
Django Rienhardt

Who knows - so many greats for so many different reasons...

Hendrix may not be everyones cup of tea - but he was an innovator and unquestionablyenormously influential on many who followed.

Tramps_mate

Slash
Tom Morello

cresta57

Yngwie Malmsteen made the top 100 disc with Black Star
As a fan of 40's & 50's music My list would include Bo Diddley, Duane Eddy, Chuck Berry & T-Bone Walker lol

DadAgain

Yep - his first album (Black Star) was fantastic. A beautiful blend of fine super-slick technical work, classical/baroque influence (Bach, Paganini, Vivaldi) and the energy and power of heavy metal. Unfortunately his subsequent work was all too often bland 'shredding' guitar masterbation.

Still - despite everything - being the front row of an Yngwie concert as my first rock gig as a young guitarist was an AWESOME experience - I loved it!

northernbird

Agree with a lot of those already posted and will add Steve Vai to the mix. Saw him with Joe Satriani many years and they were both awesome.

DeadVim

Hendrix (note the spelling)
Daylight
More daylight
Peter Green
Clapton, Page, Beck, Van Halen, and all the rest.

earlybird

Mine would be:
Jimmy Page
Clapton
Hendrix
Santana
David Gilmour

scottishcelts

Roger Waters
Dave Gilmour
Johnny Marr
Slash (hate the ****** though)
George Harrison
Keith Richards

moneypenny20

Jimmy Page
Eric Clapton
Brian May
Carlos Santana
Steve Cropper

Have always hated Hendrix and have never understood the fascination.

cresta57

At least you could bring yourself to spell it properly, I couldn't

moneypenny20

I also upset people when I tell them I thought Janis Joplin was shite as well. I guess you had to be off your head from LSD to 'get' them.

DeadVim

Waters can only deal with 4 strings at a time Interesting character and songwriter but nowhere near the top 'guitarist' for mine. Gilmour is very underrated I'll give you that

Yet another reason me and yea will not get along