A couple of years ago, someone showed me an article in Rolling Stone called “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”  I remember being somewhat dismayed with this piece at the time and since I recently ran across the list on the web, I thought maybe it was as good a time as any to get some things off my chest.

Of course, one of my biggest problems with this compilation is that Ace Frehley, who is probably one of the most influential rock/metal guitarists of all time, is nowhere to be found on the list.  But I guess I am not terribly surprised by this.  In fact, I would probably be more surprised if the editors of Rolling Stone actually knew that there was a band called “Kiss.”  I say Ace is “influential” because I think it’s a reasonable estimation that from 1975 to 1980 (or thereabouts), thousands and thousands of guys  decided to pick up a guitar after seeing or hearing Ace in action.  Ace has been cited as influential by guys like Kim Thayill, Stone Gossard, Dimebag Darryl and many, many others (check out all the Kiss and Ace Frehley tribute albums to get a better idea).  Sure, the same folks probably thought Townsend and Page were “cool,” but Ace was the guy that most teenagers wanted to emulate, both in technique and sound.  So much for giving credit where credit is due.

And what about Jimmy Page?  He comes in as 9th place?  I would think he would easily break the top 5, but he’s not as pretty and grown up-sounding as Clapton, who landed the number 4 slot.

Now Randy Rhoads is the real kicker for me.  Seriously, why Randy doesn't make it into the top 25...or even the to top 50 is a mystery to me.  At first, I thought he was stuck at number 85 because he passed on before he could accumulate a substantial body of work.  Then I saw number 17:  Jack White of the White Stripes.  Huh?  Um, okay...Maybe the editors of Rolling Stone didn’t think that Randy’s range and techniques were broad enough to crack the top 20.  But then again, we have Johnny Ramone, the master of the power chord, grabbing the number 16  spot.   At the end of the day, one would have to wonder if the folks at Rolling Stone have ever even heard anything by Randy Rhoads.  I could certainly recommend some decent starting points.  Even if you go back to the Randy Rhoads-era Quiet Riot stuff that was never legitimately released in the U.S., it’s easy to tell that he was ahead of his time.


Number 85:  The late Randy Rhoads.  Um...REALLY?

Yeah, I know everyone is going to have their own problems with the list. And I am not necessarily suggesting that anyone who is named on the list is undeserving or untalented.  There’s probably a fair amount of folks on the list with whom I am not overly familiar.  For example, I have been told that I won’t really understand why Duane Allman comes in at number 2 until I hear the Allman Brothers album “Live at Fillmore East.”  I have been meaning to get around to that for a couple of years now.  I have a tendency to avoid anything that fits into that whole “Southern rock” genre these days.

In the end, I am not so sure that Rolling Stone comes anywhere close to a decent representation of “the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.”  At best, they have compiled a list of “100 guitarists that the editors of Rolling Stone would like to have dinner with, in this particular order...” or something like that.

Back in 1992, Kurt Cobain made a special t-shirt to wear for Nirvana’s first cover shoot for Rolling Stone.  Hopefully, you can get the gist of it by checking out the picture below.  The inscription is as true today as it was back then.

Recommended Listening:
Ozzy Osbourne:  Randy Rhoads Tribute (Live)
Quiet Riot:  The Randy Rhoads Years
Quiet Riot (with Randy Rhoads):  Live at Starwood Club ‘79