The beacon of light that was Jimi Hendrix burned briefly in the late 60s. If youve read from the beginning you may recall that I mentioned that I allowed the Guitar World Readers Poll from 12 to guide the rankings of my 20 favourite guitarists. Would I personally rank Hendrix below Eddie Van Halen? No, but Ive made the rules and now have to live with them. Hendrix surpassed so much of what was being done in rock guitar at the time and was a true innovator with his use of feedback and distortion. Hendrixs penultimate tune is, perhaps, All Along The Watchtower, an instant classic that raised the bar in for so many players at the time.
1. Eddie Van Halen (1)
Im sure that EVH will lose little sleep over me disputing his position at # 1 and I would certainly include him in any discussion of the top four or five guitarists of all time. As a guitar album, Van Halens debut in 1978 stands as one of the best ever and as a guitarist EVH never quite achieved the heights, at least in studio, of that album. Van Halens releases during the David Lee Roth era established the guitarists legend but that was later tarnished, at least musically, by a sudden early 80s infatuation with keyboards and the devolution of Van Halen into a bad hair metal band during the Sammy Hagar era. A comeback album with original singer DLR was released about a year ago to generally favourable reviews. I wasnt impressed. Thanks for considering these ramblings and pondering them amongst your own. Disagree with my choices or methodology? Feel free use the comment section below to let me know.