James even managed to record a few albums during a brief comeback before he died in 1969. Fingerstyle guitarist John Fahey would finally locate James in 1964, stricken with cancer and ailing in an Arkansas hospital, and persuaded him to play the Newport Folk Festival in 1966. James’ unusual D-minor open tuning, baffling right-hand fingerpicking technique, and hauntingly high vocals were lionized by blues aficionados and emulated by other artists, even as their creator remained in obscurity. The 18 songs he cut at a Wisconsin session in 1931 were so powerful that tracks like the chilling “Devil Got My Woman” and “Hard Time Killin’ Floor Blues” became part of the country-blues canon. Image Credit: David Corio/Redferns/Getty Imagesīorn in 1902 in Yazoo City, Mississippi, Skip James showed an early talent for both piano and guitar, but spent his twenties pursuing much more lucrative activities like gambling and bootlegging. Key Tracks: “Wayfaring Pilgrim,” “The Messiah Will Come Again” “Further on Up the Road” The guitarist’s impeccable technique, nuanced blues phrasing, and ability to harness all of the expressive possibilities of the Telecaster - including squawking pinch harmonics and voice-like tonalities coaxed from the guitar’s tone knob - earned him praise from top guitarists like Jeff Beck and Jerry Garcia, but Buchanan never achieved superstar status and died of an apparent suicide in 1988. Buchanan, born in 1939, had performed as a sideman on various recordings and was well known in his hometown of Washington, D.C., but seemed destined to remain a local legend until a 1971 PBS documentary, Introducing Roy Buchanan, brought him to the attention of major labels. put it, “I don’t know if I want to get too far off the path - I don’t want to get lost in the forest - but I like to wander out a bit and adventure.”įew guitarists could boast of mentoring the Band’s Robbie Robertson and turning down a job offer from the Rolling Stones, but Telecaster ace Roy Buchanan did both. We also tended to give an edge to artists who channeled whatever gifts god gave them into great songs and game-changing albums, not just impressive playing.Īs modern blues visionary Gary Clark Jr. In making the list, we tended to value heaviness over tastiness, feel over polish, invention over refinement, risk-takers and originators more than technicians. (All you Balalaika shredders out there, keep at it maybe next time.) Our only instrumental criteria is that you had to be a six-string player. Many great guitarists realized their genius as part of a duo, so Kim and Kelley Deal of the Breeders, Adrian Smith and Dave Murray of Iron Maiden, and other symbiotic pairs share an entry.

There are huge stars like Prince, Joni Mitchell, and Neil Young, and behind-the-scenes masters like Memphis soul great Teenie Hodges and smooth-rock assassin Larry Carlton. There are peerless virtuosos like Pat Metheny, Yvette Young, and Steve Vai, as well as primitivists like Johnny Ramone and Poison Ivy of the Cramps. The list has rock, jazz, reggae, country, folk, blues, punk, metal, disco, funk, bossa nova, bachata, Congolese rumba, flamenco, and much more. The earliest entrant on the list (folk music icon Elizabeth Cotten) was born in 1893, the youngest (indie-rock prodigy Lindsey Jordan) was born in 1999. We wanted to show the scope of the guitar’s evolution. But mythic guitar gods like Jimmy Page, Brian May, and Eddie Van Halen are only one part of the story. Guitar players are often as iconic as the lead singers for the bands they play in.

Our new expanded list was made by the editors and writers of Rolling Stone.

It was compiled by a panel of musicians, mostly older classic rockers. Rolling Stone published its original list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists in 2011. That’s why thinking about what makes a great guitarist is so much fun. Anybody can pick up a little guitar in no time at all, but you can spend a lifetime exploring its possibilities. It is who I am.” The guitar is the most universal instrument, the most primal, and the most expressive. “My guitar is not a thing,” Joan Jett once said.

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