In the last most influential guitarist post they failed to mention Stevie Ray Vaughn. I think Stevie Ray Vaughn was the most influential guitarist ever and I know that because everytime i play his music for someone they all want to pick up a guitar and play. I made this post not to scrutinize the post that failed to mention Stevie but to [font="]commemorate[/font] him of his work and effort towards music. So for all you Stevie Ray Vaughn lovers lets give him a toast for the most influential guitar playing.
I don't think it's possible to classify someone as the "most influential guitarist ever." There are so many different genres of music which come with many different types of guitar playing. I will say though, that Stevie Ray Vaughn was the most influential blues guitarist, that or B.B. King.
Actually, now that I think of it, there can never be one "most influential guitar player," not even for a certain type of music. Because not everyone is influenced in the same way, everybody has their own idol or someone who makes them want to pick up a guitar or something. Stevie Ray didn't even have an album until like '83 or something. So it's all personal opinion, he may be your most influential player, and Hendrix may the next guys, and maybe Les Paul is someone elses....its all relative to a single person.
Im just very glad to see the opinions expressed here. Its very refreshing to know that there are still some intelligent humans out there that actually enjoy the same players Ive always considered my heroes. I DID fail to list SRV, my bad. But I also failed to mention hundreds of others. It is all relative....Stevies most influential would have been big bro Jimmy. Hendrix once said(believe it or not ) Billy Gibbons was his. and as mentioned previously Buddy Guy. I suggest we start a similar post about bassists and drummers, It would be cool to see what everyone here digs in the way of backbones...Geddy and Peart comes to mind.
nope. he didn't change music he just contributed his talen, i'm sure he would be insulted to be called more influential then Hendrix just becasue he knows how influential hendrix was. Jimi Hendrix, now theirs a guy who could be named the most influential guitar player. Listen to the Monterray Pop Festival from 1967. Just listen to the whole thing and you'll notice that Jimi Hendrix (this is his first time in America after gettin good) is playing music completely different then anyone else, then listen to other popular bands throughout the ages untill now and you'll see that he completely popularized his style. But i'd call Buddy Guy the most influential for influencing Jimmy (as he was known before he was popular) to play and then Eric Clapton for influening him to try and invent new ways to play the guitar and twist blues into what Jimi eventually made his version of the blues, Hard Psychedelic Blues (Purple Haze). But by far Jimi Hendrix made the largest mark on popular guitar music simply becasue he didn't just influence a few people into making new kinds of music, he is known by everyone to have revolutionize how the electric guitar is played.
Yes but Jimi Hendrix too was influenced by someone, so it is impossible to name one guitarist "the most influential." Everybody is influenced by someone else, I mean, rock music wouldn't even be around unless jazz existed. Everything branches off from something else, but in different ways.