Jimmy Page #3 Greatest Guitarist according to Rolling Stone

[Reggie29]

The difference between Page and Hendrix, IMHO is, Page realised his full potential as a player and songwriter whereas Hendrix did not due to his untimely death at such a young age.

As for Hendrix being an influence on Page, by his own admission Page never actually saw him play live which is quite incredible seeing how Hendrix was based, played and recorded his best music in London.

Popularity contests and lists etcetera are a drag, IMHO.

The greatest guitar player in history is the bloke who invented it and played it for the first time.

Edited November 25, 2011 by Reggie29

[missytootsweet]

Unless I somehow missed it, I found it strange that Steve Howe of Yes was omitted. Quite a brilliant player, influential and virtuoso. I think it was Guitar Player that had him as their Guitarist of the Year for several years back in the late 70's and early 80's. I seem to recall this. He's certainly one of my favorites and can't believe, he's not listed.

Agree with you SuperDave, a hugh oversight that Steve Howe is not on that list, in the upper Top 10 if you ask me.

But I still can't help but feel happy that Hendrix is no. 1 on that list!

Totally agree with you Kiwi. I never really sampled Jimi's library of music until this year and I get it now. He should be sitting at number one. But I think Jimmy Page easily beats out Clapton imo for second place.

And where are the female guitarists?! None at all? Joni Mitchell should have hit that list, even if in the lower half. .......missy

[RIP-IT-UP]

Steve Howe is probably the only Page-era (i.e. self-taught, 60's) guitarist that's on Jimmy's level in every way; especially as an "all-arounder"). Page often said he wanted to be more versatile than other guitarists, even if that meant being a "jack of all trades-master of none". However, Howe did seem to surpass Jimmy in technique. I've been a fan of both since 1969, and play acoustic myself. It's a fact that it's more technically challenging to play Howe's ragtime solo piece "Clap", than to play "Bon-yr-aur", or "Black Mountainside". Both Page and Howe used hybrid picking, but I just couldn't see Pagey nailing all those bar chords. Howe was also amazingly original: just listen to "Gates of Delerium"; "Soundchaser "And you and I", just to name a few. Plus classical guitar stuff like "Mood for a Day", and "The Ancient", and "Surface Tension". Other than a few bars of "Bouree" thrown in the live solos of "Heart breaker", I never heard Jimmy do any classical style playing. Of course, Jimmy excelled in alternate tunings, and improvisation. Just an interesting comparison. The only reason Howe is ranked "farther down" on these lists is Yes are not as popular as Zep these days. But having seen Howe just a couple years ago, he was truly playing better than ever.

Edited November 25, 2011 by RIP-IT-UP

[Rock Historian]

I think your post is pretty accurate. There are plenty of guitarist, including Howe that are more technically advanced then Page. No question about that. I'm sure Page himself wouldn't hesitate to say that as well. For Page it was about layers, composition and arrangement. That is where he excelled. Not to mention he's probably the greatest "riff" maker in Rock music. Building the entire peice around the riff or in some cases the "riffs". He was a genius at that. But as for Steve Howe, you nailed it.

[seaweed gate]

What ?!

No Donald' Buck Dharma' Roeser ?

This list is a pure heresy. Period.

[Jahfin]

And where are the female guitarists?! None at all? Joni Mitchell should have hit that list, even if in the lower half. .......missy

Bonnie Raitt's at 89, Joni's at 75. In the end, it really doesn't matter who made the list and who didn't, what counts is what your favorite musicians mean to you.

[missytootsweet]

Bonnie Raitt's at 89, Joni's at 75. In the end, it really doesn't matter who made the list and who didn't, what counts is what your favorite musicians mean to you.

Jahfin, I missed those because I didn't click on the thumbnail shots and couldn't discern male or female. Which brings up another point. A friend asked me recently why I make a distinction between male and females players/singers etc. That's when I realized I was showing a completely unintentional bias towards males in the field. So, I'm not doing that anymore!

They are all musicians, and it all boils down to personal taste, just as you said. ...... missy

[ZoSo1960]

I don't need anyones list to tell me who is a great guitarist Jimmy is #1 to me and always will be. I also don't trust this rag "The Rolling Stone" is a joke U.K. publications are far better.

This is the magazine who didn't put Zeppelin on the cover until 1975 nuff said.....

Edited November 25, 2011 by ZoSo1960

[Rock Historian]

I don't need anyones list to tell me who is a great guitarist Jimmy is #1 to me and always will be. I also don't trust this rag "The Rolling Stone" is a joke U.K. publications are far better.

This is the magazine who didn't put Zeppelin on the cover until 1975 nuff said.....

[slave to zep]

i suppose hendrix is right for the no.1 position, most people agree on it , but .........

imvho, jimmy was a far better composer. his music is just SO good. hendrix on the other hand to i can only get into a couple of congs. hey joe, all along the watchtower ..... and he didn't even write that.

[mstork]

Steve Howe is probably the only Page-era (i.e. self-taught, 60's) guitarist that's on Jimmy's level in every way; especially as an "all-arounder"). Page often said he wanted to be more versatile than other guitarists, even if that meant being a "jack of all trades-master of none". However, Howe did seem to surpass Jimmy in technique. I've been a fan of both since 1969, and play acoustic myself. It's a fact that it's more technically challenging to play Howe's ragtime solo piece "Clap", than to play "Bon-yr-aur", or "Black Mountainside". Both Page and Howe used hybrid picking, but I just couldn't see Pagey nailing all those bar chords. Howe was also amazingly original: just listen to "Gates of Delerium"; "Soundchaser "And you and I", just to name a few. Plus classical guitar stuff like "Mood for a Day", and "The Ancient", and "Surface Tension". Other than a few bars of "Bouree" thrown in the live solos of "Heart breaker", I never heard Jimmy do any classical style playing. Of course, Jimmy excelled in alternate tunings, and improvisation. Just an interesting comparison. The only reason Howe is ranked "farther down" on these lists is Yes are not as popular as Zep these days. But having seen Howe just a couple years ago, he was truly playing better than ever.

I like Howe too and he definitely belongs on the list. Having said that, you're pointing out some areas where you consider Howe to be superior to Page without acknowleding that one could easily make the same case in another direction. I've never heard Howe play anything in the blues vain to suggest he has the technical brilliance of Page on say, "Since I've Been Loving You" from HTWWW. And that's only one example.

[goldenguitar]

I don't need anyones list to tell me who is a great guitarist Jimmy is #1 to me and always will be. I also don't trust this rag "The Rolling Stone" is a joke U.K. publications are far better.

This is the magazine who didn't put Zeppelin on the cover until 1975 nuff said.....

"U.K publications are far better": yes, you are absolutely right.

[Black-Dog]

Keith Richards in top ten. Hillarious....this magazine is the biggest joke in the world.

[SuperDave]

Keith Richards in top ten. Hillarious....this magazine is the biggest joke in the world.

I think Ron Wood and especially Mick Taylor are definitely superior to Keef, but that's just me.

[lipsee]

Django Reinhardt I like to hear him play ,I can,t remember if he was on the list!!! I have just bought "Coda" and I,v never heard "Bonzo,s Montreux" before,, great noise,,I,m a sucker for drum solos...

[Gospel Zone]

It's not too bad of a list, but Mick Taylor only #37? And this notion of Hendrix always being #1 is boring.

[kaiser]

I'm shocked that Mick Taylor made it all! Not that he shouldn't be there but I can't think of a guitar player who was in such a huge band who has gotten less recognition then Mick Taylor. I don't believe even Guitar World had ranked them in their 100 greatest guitarist lists.

[Flyingzepp]

Lol. rolling stone & their 'lists'

shit

[Rock Historian]

My wife just brought this home for me, by accident....? Well, my father-in-law had it is his mailbox, with no address on it. It was delivered by mistake??? So he said he was going to throw it away. My wife was there at the time, and told him she would take it. So now I have it. I looked at it once over just a little while ago. I already knew the list from being on here , so I wasn't surprised. I thought the write-up's on each player would have been a little longer and more in depth, but they weren't. It wasn't as interesting of a read as I thought it might be.

[CMRitter]

I have list-fatigue. I guess it's the only way they can sell magazines now, huh? "Let's rank sandwiches next!" sigh

1 vote for McRib!

[Daniel]

My wife just brought this home for me, by accident....? Well, my father-in-law had it is his mailbox, with no address on it. It was delivered by mistake??? So he said he was going to throw it away. My wife was there at the time, and told him she would take it. So now I have it. I looked at it once over just a little while ago. I already knew the list from being on here , so I wasn't surprised. I thought the write-up's on each player would have been a little longer and more in depth, but they weren't. It wasn't as interesting of a read as I thought it might be.

Did you get this months issue of Rolling Stone with Jimmy Page on the cover, or one of the other 'top 4' guitarists?

[Rock Historian]

Did you get this months issue of Rolling Stone with Jimmy Page on the cover, or one of the other 'top 4' guitarists?

Clapton on the cover

[MJC455]

Forbes Daniel Papalia

A theory in regards to the lack of modern guitarists – somewhere around the time Kurt Cobain pulled on his first cardigan, the guitar solo became uncool. Leaving technical proficiency to Ivy League oboists in carpeted concert halls, rockers have taken a velvet detour back to their underground, art-school days. The rock and indie bands of today’s Live Nation era choose melody and poetry over fireworks and flair. Rolling Stone’s panel has taken note, and ranked accordingly.

http://www.forbes.co...t-in-pop-music/

[Rock Historian]

Forbes Daniel Papalia

http://www.forbes.co...t-in-pop-music/

I do agree with them on one thing for sure in this article...where are all the rock bands these days???? There are no new good/great "rock" acts dominating the charts, or on radio..at least not from where I reside. Everything you hear today is inflammed with some hint of pop illuminating the atmosphere. It's sad really.

Edited December 3, 2011 by Rock Historian

[Jahfin]

I gave up on commercial radio back in the mid-90s when one of our local stations went all classic rock (meaning no new music) and a station devoted to "Modern Rock" popped up. I liked it at first for no other reason than I didn't have to hear the same old songs by the same old bands over and over again but a steady diet of Stone Temple Pilots, Jane's Addiction, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Candlebox, Tonic, etc. grew equally as tiring even though I'm a fan of several of those bands. Plus, their idea of a "Flashback" to the early days of alternative consisted of the same Ramones or R.E.M. songs every day at lunch. The format was just too confining and unadventurous. It wasn't long after that when I subsisted on the local NPR station (mainly for All Things Considered and Mountain Stage) along with my CDs. This lasted until around 2004 when I decided to subscribe to XM which turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made. I haven't looked back since. Radio has changed so dramatically since the days of AOR in the 70s and 80s that it holds very little interest to me unless it's something like KEXP out of Seattle or KGSR in Austin, both of which I can listen to thanks to the magic of the innerwebs. I'm also blessed in the Triangle area of NC to have some very worthwhile college radio stations to tune into such as WUNC, WXYC (UNC Chapel Hill), WXDU (Duke University in Durham) and WKNC (NC State University in Raleigh). There's also a community run station out of Carrboro called WCOM that has some very unique programming. Thankfully, there's also a very vibrant live music scene here that has helped introduce me to tons of local bands not just in the past but in the present. With all of those resources combined with good ol' word of mouth, I have no problem whatsoever discovering new music. Unfortunately, commercial radio has become a lost cause, other than a few progressive stations that can be tuned into via the internets.

Edited December 3, 2011 by Jahfin