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?

Quoted from ohyea

[...] I never seem to hear them mentioned among the best, why is that? [...]

George used to be mentioned ... acchording to the Rolling Stone magazine George's the 21st best guitarists of all time  :
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5937559/the_100_greatest_guitarists_of_all_time

John surely appears on some but not on many, I guess   ...

And I wouldn't expect Paul mentioned as he's not known for playing other guitar than the bass guitar   ...

Quoted from raxo

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5937559/the_100_greatest_guitarists_of_all_time

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.

Nope. George was a Great Slide guitarist, not a Great guitarist, in general. John was Never happy with his playing.

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.

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 ...

Quoted from raxo

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.

Quoted from tkitna

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.

Quoted from tkitna

[...] Friends do that.

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 ...

Quoted from tkitna

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

I shouldn't quote the whole list, but I love it.  With the exception that Carl Kress (who is in the Jazz list) doesn't show up on this one.  Too bad Segovia and Jimi Hendrix never jammed.

I think George Harrison and Lasse Wellander of ABBA are the two greatest guitarists ever.

Where's Estaban?!

Also, btw, does anybody know what guitarist Estaban studied under?

Quoted from adamzero

Where's Estaban?!

Also, btw, does anybody know what guitarist Estaban studied under?

Do you mean Esteban?

Quoted from adamzero

Where's Estaban?!

Also, btw, does anybody know what guitarist Estaban studied under?

Segovia

Correct!  Sorry for the misspelling.  I've heard his guitars ain't that good.  But that hat is killer.  

I think John was a quite underated guitariest!
His work on Get Back & You can't do that is quite impressive!

These lists are all guitarists who have great virtuoso technical skills ... "what a solo!".

But I think a better way to answer this question is to realize that how good the guitarist makes their band sound counts LOTS. Can you imagine the Beatles being as good with another guitarist in George's place? No way, IMHO - George knew that it wasn't all flash that made a song .... sometimes just a tiny phrase here or there could make a difference.

So, that's why I think George is one of the best guitarists ever, because without him the Beatles would not be the best band ever!

Just my two cents/pence.

Quoted from alexis

These lists are all guitarists who have great virtuoso technical skills ... "what a solo!".

But I think a better way to answer this question is to realize that how good the guitarist makes their band sound counts LOTS. [...]

Exactly!!!  
http://dmbeatles.com/forums/b-othermusic/m-1136463882/s-45/

any list that puts eric clapton at 25 is crap...

george makes his guitar talk you know when george is playing the  guitar in a song you even know when george wrote a guitar piece but didn't play the actual guitar...

George is one of the best guitarist ever he can make a guitar sound that other guitarists can only attempt...

   not doubt in my mind george isn't one of the greats if not the greatest guitarist... he's the only player that i know that's just was pretty much in love with a guitar ... definitely one of the best ...

eric clapton 25 pff... i hate jimmy hendrix hate him sincerely...

Quoted from DarkSweetLady

eric clapton 25 pff... i hate jimmy hendrix hate him sincerely...

I personally think Hendrix is so overated. I don't hate him as i think he
had a sound of his own. I didn't think he improved really & i've never rated him
as a songwriter. He seems to be known best for All Along The Watchtower which is
a Dylan song, i've never liked Hendrix's records much.
My guitarist are George (of course), Robbie Robertson, Eric Clapton Mark Knofler
& Chris Rea.. to mention a few. i hate guitarist who tryto show off on stage etc. ..
George never did that, he played from his heart beautifully!  

Quoted from Andy Smith

I personally think Hendrix is so overated. I don't hate him as i think he
had a sound of his own. I didn't think he improved really & i've never rated him
as a songwriter. He seems to be known best for All Along The Watchtower which is
a Dylan song, i've never liked Hendrix's records much.
My guitarist are George (of course), Robbie Robertson, Eric Clapton Mark Knofler
& Chris Rea.. to mention a few. i hate guitarist who tryto show off on stage etc. ..
George never did that, he played from his heart beautifully!

I agree with that.
I'm a little keener on Jimi Hendrix though. His version of Red House is untouchable, IMHO, and I actually like his songwriting. Also, I believe Paul considers him the best guitarist he'd ever seen, I believe I've read that somewhere, but who knows how true it is.

Quoted from alexis

These lists are all guitarists who have great virtuoso technical skills ... "what a solo!".

Isnt that what we're judging here.....All-Time Greats? Just because George played in the biggest band of all time, doesnt automatically make him one of the greatest guitarists.

Quoted Text

Can you imagine the Beatles being as good with another guitarist in George's place? No way, IMHO - George knew that it wasn't all flash that made a song .... sometimes just a tiny phrase here or there could make a difference.

I dont want to come across as a George basher, but YES, I can actually see the Beatles being as good or better without George (in the early days before he became an efficient songwriter). Lets be honest, The Beatles were John and Paul in the early going and George played shitty as much as he played well in those days.

Quoted Text

So, that's why I think George is one of the best guitarists ever, because without him the Beatles would not be the best band ever!

I disagree. If George was replaced in the early going, he wouldnt have been missed. Its hard to discount him or any other member now as the pieces are already in place, but there were better guitar players to choose from.

I dont think any of the Beatles were masters at their instruments, but they could write songs that nobody else could. Thats where the magic came from.

Quoted from tkitna

I dont want to come across as a George basher, but YES, I can actually see the Beatles being as good or better without George (in the early days before he became an efficient songwriter). Lets be honest, The Beatles were John and Paul in the early going and George played shitty as much as he played well in those days.

I pretty much agree on that. Though I think Ringo would be fairly irreplaceable without radically changing the overall sound of the band.

I agree totally with Tkitna and BlueMeanie. If I may use my normal example - when someone else plays lead (ie Paul or John) no one notices the difference.Re Hendrix - I think he is so important because he blew away the boundaries of what it was possible for a guitarist to do. Whether he played his own songs or Dylans is a moot point.  

Quoted from DarkSweetLady

George is one of the best guitarist ever he can make a guitar sound that other guitarists can only attempt...

Now that's a big statement.
Examples please.

Yeah, i'm waiting for those examples too.

Still waiting DSL!

Quoted from tkitna

[...]
I dont want to come across as a George basher, but YES, I can actually see the Beatles being as good or better without George (in the early days before he became an efficient songwriter). Lets be honest, The Beatles were John and Paul in the early going and George played shitty as much as he played well in those days. [...]

Yep, you all can wait   ... and I can wait too till some explain to me why to say this^ when he was still learning the instrument and the rest of the band was a shame sometimes too (as songwriters, singers or playing -they all were still learning how to do all those things-) ... it's out of place, in my opinion, and I can't understand why, if we're discussing his whole career as a guitarist, we should pay at10tion to his early stage to prove ... what? what exactly?

Quoted from Kevin

I agree totally with Tkitna and BlueMeanie. If I may use my normal example - when someone else plays lead (ie Paul or John) no one notices the difference.[...]

Maybe some people and with a few songs they don't notice it but that happens with almost every guitarist, I can't see a rule there   ... anyway, that doesn't mean necaesareanily that George didn't have his own style and sound and way of playing and listening to sevenral songs anyone could easily notice when George was playing ...

Quoted from DarkSweetLady

any list that puts eric clapton at 25 is crap...
[..] eric clapton 25 pff... i hate jimmy hendrix hate him sincerely...

Have you seen this?  :
http://dmbeatles.com/forums/b-othermusic/m-1103687640/s-0/