The Steel Guitar Forum

how the hell did jerry gracia get on this list.

Well, how did Tiny Tim get on this list? Not once, but four times. Are y'all funnin' us?


Seriously, it's hard to treat the original question too seriously. De gustibus non disputandum est, a phrase that bears repeating on this forum occasionally.

Disgustibus a randitiorum est

Jerry Garcia

Some of your answers are unpractical, but that's just my opinion, so it doesn't really matter. However, I feel certain every individual answer/opinion is determined according to where you hail from and how you were brought up. I could give several answers, but I'm on a Don Rich kick right now, so I still say that Don Rich is the most incredible musician of all time. CHALK ONE UP FOR "MR. TELECASTER"!

Yours truly,
Tay Joslin
Newbern, Tennessee
U.S.A.

My friend, Mr. Tom Brumley, ain't too bad, either!

I vote for Mark O'Connor. His primary instrument, of course, is the fiddle/violin, but he also plays mandolin and guitar. He is a composer as well as a musician. He can adapt to many styles of music, like New Age, classical, country or bluegrass. His services as a studio musician were in high demand back in the 80's. He has shown respect for the violin/fiddle heroes who have influenced him, and I imagine he's influenced countless others. Mark has composed classical works (which seems to be where he's most comfortable today) and collaborates with musicians like Yo Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer. I think he had devoted most of his life to playing and making music and I think he's one of the best on this planet.

I'll sign in for Gordon Lightfoot, too. Here is a long-term, consistent observer and interpreter of the human event who, to me at least, seems completely at peace with his destiny and has no compulsion to make it anything else.