10 Best Rock Guitarists Of The 1960s
4. Duane Allman
The short lived career of Duane Allman is a tragic tale of an incredibly gifted musician taken from the world far too early. Sadly, he died after a motorcycle crash in 1971, but he left his mark across the musical soundscape of the '60s and early '70s.
Inspired heavily by the blues, Allman could turn his hand to a number of sounds, with his unique improvisational skills as a slide-guitar player. Apart from the contribution he brought to the Southern rock stylings of The Allman Brothers Band, he also played with Eric Clapton and Derek and the Dominos. All those other guitar parts you hear giving credence to Clapton's playing on Layla, that's all Duane Allman. As well as a number of slick fills, his unique slide solo can be heard coming in at around the 2:20 mark.
Throughout the second half of the '60s the guitar virtuous lent his unique sound to a number of artists who recorded at the fabled FAME studios in Alabama. Notably, setting the tone for two incredibly successful cover tracks: Aretha Franklin's The Weight and Wilson Pickett's Hey Jude.
No one could rock a slide guitar like this guy, or pull-off such a distinctive moustache and mutton chop combination, for that matter.