Ok, I will start with my top 10 and then I’ll tell you why…
1) Jimmy Page
2) Duane Allman
3) Terry Kath
4) David Gilmore
5) Jerry Garcia
6) Eric Clapton
7) Mark Knopfler
8) Charlie Daniels
9) John Fogerty
10) Jimi Jendrix.
Reference Terry Kath (1946-1978): Jimi Hendrix once said that Kath was a much better guitarist than he was. Hendrix was so impressed (and totally intimidated) by Kath’s solo on «25 or 6 to 4«, where he did not repeat himself in a tour de force of rock-and-psychedelic jazz, that Jimi did not want to come onstage. Chicago Transit Authority was opening at that time for the Jimi Hendrix Experience in Philadelphia in 1968. Terry died too soon and soon forgotten to history (mostly) because of Chicago’s turn towards soft-rock in the 1980’s.
Jerry Garcia (1942-1995): Was the master of improvisation. He listened to the band and created solos that were in keeping with the structure of the music. He had the necessary knowledge of harmony and could work scales in any time signature with ease. Therefore, one of the greatest guitarists in rock.
Charlie Daniels (1936-2020): A master studio musician in Nashville who played not only the guitar as a master, but the bass and the fiddle. He played in many studio albums including one for Bob Dylan, and for Leonard Cohen, before he put on his cowboy hat and ventured out on his own.
Mark Knopfler (1949): Delicate finger-picking, a master of tone and control giving texture and emotion to his solos rather than just a bunch of distorted notes.
John Fogerty (1945): The undisputed king of «swamp rock». Fogerty is the master of musical economy. He created direct riffs, playing masterfully with three chords. He didn’t do eight minute solos but he did compose classics like «Green River», «Lodi» and «Proud Mary». To me Fogerty (and CCR) represented the proletariat class of rock.
Duane Allman (1946-1971): For sure the god of the slide guitar. His guitar duel with Clapton on «Layla«, and his performance at the Fillmore East, is legendary and created rock history. Duane’s lyrical phrasing, sounding almost like a blues singer would, has not been replicated by any guitarists in rock.
And if you notice that there are many representatives here of Southern Rock and Country. I’ll tell you why:
Today, the best musicians (onstage or as studio/session musicians) on Earth are in Nashville. While pop. mainstream rock and urban music depend on the Auto-Tune, and programmed bases that producers arrange in computers, Country music continues to make pure and real music created by talented musicians.
There is not trick recording allowed. If a musician wants to succeed in the Country music circuit (e.g. Chris Stapleton, Billy Strings with his acoustic guitar, or the studio musicians recording in studios in Nashville), you have to be a virtuoso. These musicians can play as easily onstage as in the recording studio and they can create a song on the first take perfectly. Their sense of rhythm, dynamics, harmony and meter is wild, and perfect. They are able to handle their instruments, i.e. guitars, fiddles, mandolins, keyboards, to professional perfection. Anywhere and any time.
Now, you tell me, who would you put in your top 10 guitarists of rock.
CHEERS
JaZzArt en València 
What a fascinating and well-informed list! I especially enjoyed reading the reasons behind each choice—it reflects not only your deep knowledge of rock music but also your appreciation for musicianship over popularity. Your thoughts on Nashville and the enduring value of genuine, live musicianship were particularly insightful. Thank you for sharing such a passionate perspective; it was a pleasure to read.
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I thank you Sir for your kind words and for your support and encouragement. I am a lover of music and I truly value those musicians that can get up onstage and play with anyone and play well because they know what they are doing. They are not intuitive improvising knowledge. The real ones know how to improvise, but they do it in accordance to the song, to its metre, to its structure and rhythm. That is why I did not include Jimi Hendrix. I do admire some of his solos, but that was all he was, a soloist conjuring phrases like a shaman, but the others were highly skilled surgeons that could play any time and anywhere. I could not picture Hendrix playing with other band than his, which he overshadowed, mostly because he super-imposed the volume of his amplifier, not because he was truly performing a smashing solo. After all he used so many pedals and distortion that it was hard to follow. Thank you Sir and all the best to you.
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Some of your picks surprised me because I was not familiar with them, eg Jerry Garcia.
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Jerry Garcia, leader of the Grateful Dead…
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I know who he was; just not that he was a talented guitar player.
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As you have seen, in my opinion, among the best, and as a true Jazz-style improvisor, the best! All the best Pat!
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Yes, your choices were well explained.
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Thank you Pat! (Pat, are you ready to provide a poem for Wednesday’s LatinosUSA English language publication? If you are email it to me. Cheers)
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Will do.
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Phenomenal! 😺
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I sent two choices: one safer than the other. You can choose, I selected a July 3 (night before our 250th birthday) with two different poems.
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Perfect. I will check it out tomorrow Pat and I will advise with a link when the post is ready. All the best and a Happy Saturday Night!
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Thanks, Francisco. It’s your choice, absolutely.
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My list might differ a little but no complaints — this is a great list 🙂
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Who do you list?
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Oh man, now I have to think about it, lol. I dunno. Page, Gilmore, Clapton, and Hendrix are untouchable, that’s for sure. Some of the others are personal preference. I might squeeze in Neil Young or Jeff Beck (if you’re willing to call him rock) or Joni Mitchell (if acoustic songwriting and nuance counts as rock). I could only cut Duane if I replaced him with Dickie, but Dickie would probably hate that, lol. I love what I’ve heard of Knopfler but don’t know him well-enough to say if he had the range and creative longevity of Young or Clapton. Charlie Daniels is great but if I think hard enough, I could probably find a rock guitarist that I’d rank higher. But why should I think harder? Your list is fine. Other than the four I mentioned as untouchable, we could go back and forth with great names all day 😊
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Great reply my friend, I would only argue against Hendrix. Joni Mitchell I love, not only as a great guitarist but as a great musician and composer as well as Neil Young. Thanks! All the best!
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Great List Brother… I would have probably added Prince to that list, but don’t know if he would be considered Rock…
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Thanks Brother! Yes Prince was a very good guitarist who knew how to play and proved it by playing with other people and other music not just his own. Good point.
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