My All Time Favorite:
GUITAR PLAYERS
Mick Ronson
Perhaps the only traditional guitar "hero" you’ll find on this list. Ronson had a very lyrical style that demonstrated virtuosity with a minimum of notes. Just like me, ha, ha!
Johnny Ramone - Ramones
Partially a sound and partially a style, I think his playing was more inventive than particularly skillful. I still remember reading about how groundbreaking critics thought it was when he finally used the top two strings on his trusty Mosrite. Unfortunately, I still haven’t quite figured out what those damn things are for.
Chuck Berry
He absolutely has to be on this list. As soon as I learned how to play one quarter of his licks, I simply stopped learning because I knew everything I needed.
Greg Ginn - Black Flag
To me this guy has the quintessential hardcore guitar sound, which I love. If I could combine his hardcore punk guitar sound with a Beach Boys song, I would so love our next album!
Mick Jones - The Clash
Producer Sandy Pearlman said that The Clash’s second album “Give ‘Em Enough Rope” contained the most guitars per square inch of any record ever made. And even on their other albums, Mick has a style of using liberal amounts of overdubs that creates a unique cacophony of chords and counter melodies.
Joe Walsh
I don’t always like his material (although I have heard worse), but this guy has an immediately recognizable style. I remember hearing him tell a story on the radio about a time when he heard a guitar player on a new Bryan Adams song shamelessly copying the “Joe Walsh” style. He was so angry that he called up his manager to complain. His manager patiently explained to Joe that it was actually Joe himself playing guitar on the song.
Guy Days - 999
I hate it when people put purposefully obscure people on lists like this, but this relatively unknown guy (no pun intended) really was the first guitar player who ever caused me to sit up in the middle of a record and go “I really like that way that guy plays.” And all kidding aside, I probably play the most like him than any other person on this list.
Malcom Young - AC/DC
My very first real guitar was a 1973 cherry Gibson SG with the cherry finish faded to sort of brown. I got it because it was the same guitar Angus Young plays in AC/DC. Of course, several years later I realized that the sound that I so Ioved was actually being produced by brother Malcolm. Oops! And now I still bring “Touch Too Much” into the studio every time we record so I can tell the engineer “That’s the sound I’m trying to get.”
Steve Jones - Sex Pistols
“Never Mind the Bollocks” is a masterpiece of maximum guitar heavy-ocity. I’m only now starting to understand how they did it. It is also heartening for me to hear how their first attempts at recording sonically fell far short of what they ultimately achieved. So, we’re not the only ones who need more than one crack at a song to get it right!