10 Best Rock Guitarists Of The 1960s

10. Frank Zappa

If you could transpose the visual madness that is The Mighty Boosh into some kind of audible medium, then you might come close to the extravagant sound of Frank Zappa.

Zappa was insanely prolific throughout his career, during the 1960s he recorded and produced seven albums with his band The Mothers of Invention, as well as releasing his first solo record.

It would be unhelpful to describe Zappa's early work as experimental, you could attribute that label to his entire discography. But, his initial albums were uniquely odd, a fusion of jazz, rock, blues and avant-garde madness. Hot Rats was his first solo record and it was as equally bizarre as his earlier work. Apart from a guest vocal appearance from Captain Beefheart, the album was an instrumental explosion of hard rock guitar fused with a healthy degree of jazz influences.

Particularly in his early carer Zappa was noted for his wild and ever changing guitar style, and although he was praised as an accomplished guitar player, he often brought in other players to share the stage with him. Notably he recruited a teenage Steve Vai as a touring member of his band during the '80s. Vai would go to be a highly acclaimed player in his own right, but much of his sound was inspired directly by Zappa.