I've seen a couple topics around here asking which beatle was the best guitarist. Well I am wondering where George, Paul, and John rank among the greatest of all time. I never seem to hear them mentioned among the best, why is that? Are they not as good or did the generations they influenced take guaritist to another level?
Glad to see Mr. Santana at position 15. Is Joni Mitchell justified in being there at 72?
I think George deserves to be in any top 100 poll. And I'd put him in the top 20. But there's a lot of good guitarists and virtuoso guitarists, mostly from the late sixties/seventies, or came into their own in the seventies - like David Gilmour. So, I don't know if I'd put George into my own top ten. But if I had to choose George or Clapton, I'd choose George. Because George phrased his guitar parts so well for Beatles songs. And Clapton, though good, is still IMO overrated.
If any of the Beatles made a list of the greatest guitarists ever, then it was based purely on popularity. None of them should make that list. I love the Beatles but, George, Paul, nor John were good enough guitarists to make that list.
Polls are always based on popularity, so they are only reflective of that.
I wouldn't say that any of The Beatles deserved the right to be classed as one of the 'Great' guitarists. John was a good rhythm player, but in the grand scheme of things, nothing that special. Townsend whoops his a**! Over the years George developed a very nice melodic style which he then transformed into his slide playing. Very nice, but not great. Macca will be remembered for his bass playing.
I just want you to reassure him - talk to him, make him see the error of his ways. Then I'll hit him.
Guitarists wouldn't agree with those who don't consider George as one of the greatest ... polls usualley are for 100 or even 500 names and George will be on them for sure ... among the greatest of all the time ... if we ask his guitar fellows: Clapton, Page, Beck or whoever about George ... one of the 100 greatest guitarists, for God shake!
Please dont tell me you think George is one of the 100 to 500 greatest guitar players ever. If Clapton, Beck, or Page ever did say this (who are all worlds above George) it is purely out of respect of the person and not the skills.
Please don't tell that you can list 100 greater guitarists ... or that the greatest ones would lie about George ...
Actually I could list 100 better guitarists than George. Easily come to think of it. As for lying about George's skill,,,,,yeah I can see that. Dont get me wrong, George is good guitar player, but not one of the top 100 ever. I have tons of friends that are better drummers than I am, but they're not going to tell me that I stink although I know they are better than me. Friends do that.
Here's a list of 100 jazz guitarists that I guarantee are better than george and this isnt even my list.
1. Wes Montgomery 2. Django Reinhardt 3. Pat Metheny 4. Joe Pass 5. Charlie Christian 6. John McLaughlin 7. Allan Holdsworth 8. Grant Green 9. John Scofield 10. Jim Hall 11. Larry Coryell 12. Kenny Burrell 13. Bill Frisell 14. Larry Carlton 15. Pat Martino 16. Mike Stern 17. Al DiMeola 18. Lenny Breau 19. Herb Ellis 20. John Abercrombie 21. George Benson 22. Lee Ritenour 23. Tal Farlow 24. Lonnie Johnson 25. Eddie Lang 26. Robert Conti 27. Johnny Smith 28. Bill Connors 29. George Van Eps 30. Jimmy Bruno 31. Jimmy Raney 32. Hank Garland 33. Joe Diorio 34. Barney Kessel 35. Kurt Rosenwinkel 36. Oscar Moore 37. Les Paul 38. Jeff Golub 39. Ed Bickert 40. Russ Freeman 41. Derek Bailey 42. Charlie Hunter 43. Martin Taylor 44. Howard Roberts 45. Stanley Jordan 46. Ralph Towner 47. Chet Atkins 48. Scott Henderson 49. George Barnes 50. Gabor Szabo 51. Mark Stefani 52. Thom Rotella 53. Nick Webb 54. Charley Byrd 55. Ted Greene 56. Billy Bauer 57. Henry Johnson 58. Billy Bean 59. Sonny Greenwich 60. Dean Parks 61. Steve Khan 62. Frank Gambale 63. Andy Summers 64. Russell Malone 65. Ronny Jordan 66. Bireli Lagrene 67. Earl Klugh 68. Grant Geissman 69. Carl Kress 70. Harry Volpe 71. Buzz Feiten 72. Lorne Lofsky 73. Nguyen Le 74. Robben Ford 75. Daryl Stuermer 76. Phil Upchurch 77. Ulf Wakenius 78. Hiram Bullock 79. Sonny Sharrock 80. John Pizzarelli 81. Tony Mottola 82. Bucky Pizzarelli 83. Norman Brown 84. Tiny Grimes 85. Tommy Tedesco 86. Mark Whitfield 87. Julio Fernandez 88. Marc Ribot 89. Greg Carmichael 90. John Pisano 91. Emily Remler 92. Brian Hughes 93. Fitzroy Coleman 94. Mick Goodrick 95. Kevin Eubanks 96. Ken Navarro 97. Wolfgang Muthspiel 98. Tuck Andress 99. Robert Normann 100. Howard Alden
Here's another list of all genres. George,,,,not on the list. (I'm half drunk and hope i didnt over see him, but i'm pretty confident)
1. Andres Segovia 2. Django Reinhardt 3. Jimi Hendrix 4. Chet Atkins 5. Wes Montgomery 6. T-Bone Walker 7. Charlie Christian 8. B.B. King 9. Robert Johnson 10. Joe Pass 11. John Williams 12. Julian Bream 13. John McLaughlin 14. Merle Travis 15. Phil Keaggy 16. Sabicas 17. Jeff Beck 18. Pat Metheny 19. Lenny Breau 20. Micheal Hedges 21. Paco De Lucia 22. Les Paul 23. Sol Hoopii 24. Ry Cooder 25. Eric Clapton 26. Leo Kottke 27. George Van Eps 28. John Fahey 29. Jimmy Page 30. King Bennie Nawahi 31. Danny Gatton 32. Jim Hall 33. Christopher Parkening 34. Al DiMeola 35. Buddy Emmons 36. Eddie Van Halen 37. Speedy West 38. Allan Holdsworth 39. Chuck Berry 40. Eddie Lang 41. Lonnie Johnson 42. Joe Maphis 43. Derek Bailey 44. Adrian Legg 45. Albert King 46. Carlos Montoya 47. Buddy Guy 48. Duane Allman 49. Narciso Yepes 50. Stevie Ray Vaughan 51. Bill Frisell 52. Davy Graham 53. Elmore James 54. Doc Watson 55. Stanley Jordan 56. John Scofeild 57. Larry Coryell 58. Robert Fripp 59. George Benson 60. Albert Lee 61. Steve Vai 62. Steve Morse 63. Jerry Byrd 64. Bola Sete 65. Tommy Emmanuel 66. Steve Cropper 67. Laurindo Almeida 68. Ramon Montoya 69. Tal Farlow 70. Eric Johnson 71. Koo Nimo 72. Raymond Kane 73. Yngwie Malmsteen 74. John Renbourn 75. Freddie Green 76. Bert Jansch 77. Baden Powell 78. John Abercrombie 79. Randy Rhoads 80. Sandy Bull 81. David Gilmour 82. Noel Boggs 83. Gabby Pahinui 84. Ledward Kaapana 85. Manuel Barrueco 86. Shawn Lane 87. Blind Willie Johnson 88. Sonny Sharrok 89. Freddie King 90. Fred Frith 91. Maybelle Carter 92. Muddy Waters 93. Sonny Greenwich 94. Larry Carlton 95. David Russell 96. Joe Satriani 97. Tony Rice 98. Charley Patton 99. Paco Pena 100. Kenny Burrell 101. Keola Beamer 102. Big Bill Broonzy 103. Barney Kessel 104. Paul Gilbert 105. EK Nyame 106. Blind Willie McTell 107. Charlie Byrd 108. Bob Brozman 109. Red Rhodes 110. Link Wray 111. Steve Howe 112. Norman Blake 113. Alirio Diaz 114. Johnny Smith 115. Alex Konadu 116. Peter Green 117. Otis Rush 118. Blind Lemon Jefferson 119. Melchor de Marchena 120. Frank Zappa 121. Richard Thompson 122. Nino Ricardo 123. James Blood Ulmer 124. Nick Webb 125. Grant Green 126. Hank Garland 127. Mike Bloomfield 128. Ali Farka Toure 129. Son House 130. Rev. Gary Davis 131. Ronnie Earl 132. Robert Cray 133. Sharon Isbin 134. Earl Hooker 135. Herb Ellis 136. Norbert Kraft 137. Lester Flatt 138. Johnny Winter 139. Mike Stern 140. Carlos Santana 141. Dick Dale 142. Richie Blackmore 143. Brian May 144. Juanjo Dominguez 145. Carlos Barbosa-Lima 146. Martin Carthy 147. Alexandre Lagoya 148. Clarence White 149. Liona Boyd 150. Pat Martino
Those two lists were well know people in their genre, but I can promise you that there's probably a thousand unknown guitarists that are better than even them. When we mention greatest,,,,thats a broad topic.
If i'm bored, i'll list my top 100 guitarists in Rock/Pop only.
Actually I could list 100 better guitarists than George. Easily come to think of it. As for lying about George's skill,,,,,yeah I can see that. Dont get me wrong, George is good guitar player, but not one of the top 100 ever. I have tons of friends that are better drummers than I am, but they're not going to tell me that I stink although I know they are better than me. Friends do that.
Totally agree. There's no need to rank George up there as a 'great' guitarist just because he was a Beatle. The fact that he was a Beatle is good enough for me.
I just want you to reassure him - talk to him, make him see the error of his ways. Then I'll hit him.
So George was friend of the greatest, I see. Quality (when we're talking about playing) is not only measured by technical skills ... feelings have something to do too ... we should ask his guitar fellows ... or at least to the public in general ... anyway, you've shown your thoughts ...
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DM's Beatles forums › Beatles forums › The Beatles › Where do Beatles rank among All-Time Guitarists?