The Steel Guitar Forum

I have a friend I talk to about music. He has an incredible knowledge about guitars and music, he was a professional bass player, he claims his 6 string guitar talent is (I can make any of them sound bad"). He also has an extensive collection of guitars, some rare.

I asked who his favorite guitar players were and he talked about some of the older guys but said he thought the top 2 for him were Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen. He said I should read about Young's guitar playing, he said he is very creative and inventive. However he said he considers Springsteen the best although most people don't know he is an accomplished guitarist. As for other guitarists, he said he finds Chet Atkins playing boring and mechanical. He said technically he is fabulous and he can play anything including rock but his playing is just not interesting, Merle Travis he has a lot more admiration for. He said Eric Clapton although recognized for his guitar skills is just not interesting to listen to. He said he has seen Springsteen play 10 times and he is the best performer you have ever seen, although he did not disagree with me when I said Springsteen is a terrible vocalist.


I would appreciate other thoughts on this.

There was a guy named Jimi Hendrix . The most well known and almost universally lauded as the greatest.

The "best" guitarist is likely unknown but playing or practicing for hours at a time every day just for the love of the instrument. The answer is subjective and somewhat based on what qualifiers are used as well as the age and experience of the judge.

Stephen Stills, Doc Watson, Mark Knopfler, Junior Brown, Larry Carlton are all accomplished masters of their instrument. All are innovative. But I can't say one is better than the other.

Hmmm , let's see :
Johnny Smith , Tony Rice , James Burton . Going to go out on a limb here and say those three are better guitar players than Bruce Springsteen .

J Fletcher wrote:Hmmm , let's see : James Burton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PLq0_7k1jk
Yes, he's more fluent IMHO.

I suspect that Bruce might well concede that he is not even the Boss of the six string within his own band.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone declare Neil Young the best guitarist, although he is very influential and unique. I've certainly never heard Bruce Springsteen called the best.

it's hard to define "best" and rather futile to even try but most guitarists would have a pretty long list and Neil or Bruce would not turn up on at least 99% of them.

I could easily name 50 guitarists off the top of my head but I'm not gonna open the can of worms in my head

Many of the so-called "best guitarist" lists I've seen that are published online and in the mass media list Kurt Cobain in the top ten. I've nothing against Cobain, but ???

"Best" can refer to how thoroughly they've mastered the instrument, or how much money they've made from playing it. Two different leagues with no end-of-season playoff.

Jack Hanson wrote:Many of the so-called "best guitarist" lists I've seen that are published online and in the mass media list Kurt Cobain in the top ten. I've nothing against Cobain, but ???

Cobain was so good he played it backwards.

Define "best". You need an unambiguous metric to rank-order anything. And even with that, there is no "best" because any rational metric must necessarily include subjective, taste-dependent factors. This is art, not football. And even with football, there is great difficulty comparing players of different eras,

There is "a favorite" or a short list of "eternal favorites" for some people. Not me. I couldn't possibly say who is "my favorite" - my list of 'great' players is very long. And my list of "favorite greats" may well change from day to day, week to week, month to month, year to year, or decade to decade. My bet is that there are players who will ultimately boggle my mind that are in diapers now - if I live that long.

This is also absolutely style-dependent and era-dependent. The things that make a great player in one style may well be the absolute opposite of what makes a great player in another. There are great players in pretty much every genre and every musical era.

The part that really gets me about this is how vociferous some (obviously not all) people can get about stubbornly proclaiming stuff like, "This player is great.", "This player sucks.", "This player is boring", or "This player is better than that player." Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah.

I think you probably get my point by now.

Well, Barney Kessel did have this to say about Johnny Smith .

"As far as I'm concerned, no one in the world plays the guitar better than he. They might play it differently, but nobody plays better. Johnny could easily overplay because he's got chops unlimited, but his musical taste would not allow him to make an over­statement. As a result, he makes beautiful music."
- Barney Kessell, Jazz guitarist

Just sayin'

Montana or Brady. Blah blah blah.

What can be said about Springsteen is he is without a doubt a great composer, arranger, and performer of rock n roll music, up there with Lennon/McCartney, Jagger/Richards, etc., and his guitar playing and voice fit into those compositions and arrangements perfectly. But no, he is not one of the great “well known” guitarists of his era. Interesting, yes.

To the point others have made, however…Eddie Van Halen may have played the solo on Prove It All Night differently, but would it have been “better” than what the Boss played?

Neil Young…same thing to an extent, with his early Springalo and solo material. His guitar playing always suited the song very well, and I believe he did most of the arranging of songs that he wrote. Having those compositional skills does tend to add something to a guitarist’s styling when they take a solo. Also, when you noodle on for 8 minutes over the same 3 chords with your amp turned up to 11, you’re bound to hit on a cool lick or two.

I just saw an interview of David Crosby, and when he was talking about the other guys in CSN debating why they needed Neil Young in the group, he said “Listen to those songs, that voice, and that guitar. I would have wanted him even if there were 25 people already in the band.” There is something in that guitar playing. It ain’t Johnny Smith or Herb Ellis, but it is highly flammable.

I purposefully am not adding any names to this shiteshow, just commenting on the OP.

A lot of top-level guitarists answer this question with "Joe Walsh". No matter how technically accomplished a player might be, there's always a little "extra" that elevates the masters from the ranks of the greats. You either have or you don't. Joe's got that something special in spades and more than a few pros recognize it.

"Best Well Known Guitarists"

As others have said, 'best lists' are a futile effort. IMO "Bests" tend to be more accurately described as favorites or most popularized; and 'well known' is, again, very subjective. We are all frequently discovering someone or something 'new' who/that is well known to others.

With that said, I'll submit four guitarists that may or may not be 'best' or 'well known', but are most definitely notable:

Ted Greene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDuee6blvj8

Joe Beck:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1hoxRkG08M

Peter Finger:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHhfBnbdv6A

Hank "Sugarfoot" Garland:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfzS6ZbhTDI

Keep on picking'!
Glenn

Joe Pass has always been my favorite. Simply the best. Nothing against any mentioned here.
And yes Glenn, Hank Garland was a mother...

Roy Clark, one of the best.

Grady Martin - Country Music Hall of Fame inductee https://www.countrymusichalloffame.org/ ... ady-martin

Jerry Reed - Fifth year Musician's Hall of Fame inductee https://www.musicianshalloffame.com/inductees/

As far as "best well known" I'd say Jimi Hendrix and Chet Atkins.

Darrell Criswell wrote:I have a friend I talk to about music. He has an incredible knowledge about guitars and music, he was a professional bass player, he claims his 6 string guitar talent is (I can make any of them sound bad"). He also has an extensive collection of guitars, some rare.

I asked who his favorite guitar players were and he talked about some of the older guys but said he thought the top 2 for him were Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen. He said I should read about Young's guitar playing, he said he is very creative and inventive. However he said he considers Springsteen the best although most people don't know he is an accomplished guitarist. As for other guitarists, he said he finds Chet Atkins playing boring and mechanical. He said technically he is fabulous and he can play anything including rock but his playing is just not interesting, Merle Travis he has a lot more admiration for. He said Eric Clapton although recognized for his guitar skills is just not interesting to listen to. He said he has seen Springsteen play 10 times and he is the best performer you have ever seen, although he did not disagree with me when I said Springsteen is a terrible vocalist.

I would appreciate other thoughts on this.

I’m just glad he’s your friend.

I’m just glad he’s your friend. Neutral

There is no "best" because music isn't a competition. There are simply those that are more influential than others.

But I like your friend. The Boss doesn't get enough credit. He can tear it up when he wants to.
https://youtu.be/dMLIig1lR1g

John Larson wrote:There is no "best" because music isn't a competition.

Opinions may vary, but I see everything in life as a competition, of sorts. And you can’t really evaluate anything without making some comparisons. The problem with an art form is that there are so many factors that should be considered in order to make a reasonable evaluation, and not all of them can be objective. Among these are overall knowledge, technique, sheer ability, style, originality, imagination, creativity, breadth (how much of what is known that is actually employed), personality (which is often termed “showmanship), taste, and probably a few other overall factors like success and earnings.

Food for thought, anyway .

The key phrase in the OP is “well-known guitarist”. The term ”best” is secondary. Most people don’t know what a great guitarist Glen Campbell was, but he was certainly well known and is certainly a great guitarist. Same with Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, Santana, EVH, SRV, Garcia, Page, Zappa, Knopfler, the aforementioned Hendrix and Walsh. Some people think Willie Nelson is a great guitar player, or Tom Morello, or George Benson. They are all well known. That Segovia guy was pretty famous. But who knows who who Herb Ellis was? Or Tal Farlow? Or even Pat Matheny or Larry Carlton? Jazz connoissuers. Sorry, they are not well known. Country greats like Albert Lee and James Burton, Brent Mason, Scotty Anderson - they’re all fantastic players, but they are unknown to the public at large. John Williams, Christopher Parkening, Elliot Fisk, - the list of great classical guitarists is endless for all 35 fans of classical guitar.

So, the choices of Springsteen and Young are not so crazy in that context. But instead of using the word “best” as the qualifier, maybe “favorite” would be the more appropriately subjective term.

You're right, Fred. A "favorite" might not be the bestin different styles, and "well-known" is rather subjective. Well known...by whom? A lotta kids under 15 have no idea who The Beatles were! (But they've heard of Snoop Dog.)

The key phrase in the OP is “well-known guitarist”.

I defy you to even define "well-known guitarist" objectively. Well-known to whom? Who the hell cares? This is all nonsense, IMHO.

"Music" is not a competition. I state that pretty much categorically. The "Music Business" is definitely a competition. There's a big difference. Again, IMHO.

Music is about expressing emotions - connecting with people at some level. Some singers, musicians, producers, whatever, manage to connect to some people. Nobody connects with everybody. Some connect to more, some connect with less. It all comes down to personal taste and preferences. There is obviously a significant element of skill, but that doesn't necessarily define "success".

This is the kind of discussion I'd expect in Tiger Beat. "Who's the best guitarist ever - Slash or C.C. DeVille?"