At last! Rolling Stone Corrects its Guitar List

David Fricke's 2003 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time was not only controversial--it was wrong. I mean, there is  room for subjective differences of opinion, but to put Pete Townshend at #50 (!), Eddie Van Halen at #70 (!!) , and to insult the memory of Albert King by leaving him off the list entirely (!!!) ---that was unacceptable. That's why I went to all the trouble of making my own list, which, though subjected to several valid criticisms,was a huge improvement over Rolling Stone's  Fricke-list.

The authors of Rolling Stone's second list  in its December 8, 2011 issue were much more knowledgeable about  guitar and more focused on contemporary rock: "The panel of experts recruited to vote for their favourite guitar players included musicians such as Lenny Kravitz, Eddie Van Halen (who was voted No. 8), Brian May and Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys, along with a selection of Rolling Stone's senior writers and editors."       Here were the top 20 results: (I put Fricke's ranking in brackets).

1. Jimi Hendrix (1)

2. Eric Clapton (4)

3. Jimmy Page (9)

4. Keith Richards (8)

5. Jeff Beck (14)

6. B.B. King (3)

7. Chuck Berry (6)

8. Eddie Van Halen (70)

9. Duane Allman (2)

10. Pete Townshend (50)

11.George Harrison (21) 

12. Stevie Ray Vaughn (7) 

13. Albert King (---) 

14. David Gilmour (14) 

15. Freddy King (25) 

16. Derek Trucks (81) 

17. Neil Young (37) 

18. Les Paul (46) 

19. James Burton (20) 

20. Carlos Santana (15)

This is a fair representation of the most influential and innovative guitarists in rock:  closer to mine that to Rolling Stone's 2003 list. I agree that Pete Townshend and Van Halen both deserved much higher rankings than Fricke gave to them, but I would still place Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughn ahead of both them and Keith Richards. Why? Their distinctive stylings were both more innovative  and arguably more influential among guitarists in the blues-rock tradition, even though they were not as popular as the Stones or the Who.  I also place a slightly higher emphasis upon range and technical virtuosity than does Rolling Stone; hence the likes of Jeff beck, Albert King, John McLaughlin rank relatively higher, while Johnny Ramone, Neil Young and John Lennon  rank slightly lower. Nevertheless, I was completely validated by Rolling Stone's new decision to include both Albert King and Freddie in the top 15. I was right!

Of course, there is always room for reasonable people to disagree, and for all intents and purposes this new Rolling Stone  stab at music appreciation  is as good as mine. Here is my list, written in 2007:

1. Jimi Hendrix (1)
2. Eric Clapton (4)
3. Jeff Beck (14)
4. Jimmy Page (9)
5. Duane Allman (2)
6. Chuck Berry (6)
7. B.B. King (3)
8. Albert King (---)
9. Stevie Ray Vaughn (7)
10. Keith Richards (8)

11. Buddy Guy (30)
12. George Harrison(21)
13. Eddie Van Halen (70)
14. Pete Townshend (50)
15. Freddie King (25)
16. Peter Green (38)
17. Carlos Santana (15)
18. Mike Bloomfield (22)
19. Mark Knopfler (27)
20. Les Paul (46)

So it's nice to have my own judgement validated by such an august group of musicians and experts. On the other hand, as  David Fricke has said in his  defence: "In the end, I looked at it this way: Jimi Hendrix was Number One in every way; the other 99 were all Number Two." On that point, I am tempted to agree. But only if sonic pioneers  pioneers like Albert King, Link Wray, and Curtis Mayfield,  who greatly influenced Hendrix and others, and Robin Trower, who was bravely the first out of the blocks in the post-Hendrix era, are admitted to that charmed circle.

Jeff Beck LIVE at the Winspear Centre, Tuesday October 25, 2011

How many guitarists and musicians who were cutting edge  and restlessly evolving in the mid-1960s are still continually breaking new ground  today?  I can think of only one, and  the demonstration of his versatility and capacity for reinvention Tuesday night exceeded my already high expectations.

I had seen  two previous live performances by Jeff Beck--the first at the Skydome in Toronto in 1990 (part of a memorable guitar concert that opened with Jeff Healey and finished with Stevie Ray Vaughn); the second on a DVD and CD that I purchased in 2008 called "Live at Ronnie Scott's".  The Edmonton concert venue is one of Canada's finest concert auditoriums and, as such, is acoustically superior to the vast majority of places that Beck's band plays.  He responded  to this opportunity  enthusiastically, as did the audience.

What I didn't expect was that  Beck would bring a completely new  band and a vastly expanded repertoire that ranged from Puccini to Lady Gaga, Jimi Hendrix, Judy  Garland, Muddy Waters, Sly Stone and  even a Les Paul tribute, "Where There's Music"). This on top of an already diverse selection of numbers from his standard set--'Led Boots",  "Rice Pudding", "People Get Ready",  "Cause We've Ended as Lovers", and "A Day in the Life".  All told, probably the most eclectic program I've ever seen.

I won't deny being a little disappointed at not seeing  longtime drummer Terry Bozzio and  21-year old bass prodigy Tal Wilkenfeld again; but  before long I warmed to a band that featured Haligonian bassist Rhonda Smith (where does he keep finding brilliant and gorgeous young bassists?)  drummer Narada Michael Walden (who as something of a prodigy himself  back in 1976 had handled percussion  on  Wired  --in my view Beck's finest album); and keyboardist Jason Rebello. They handled the varied programme  with little difficulty and ably shared vocal duties as well as solos. A new experience for me was Smith's  upright electric bass, an instrument that  has generally been missing from jazz/rock.

This was  a venue and a band and a playlist that was well worth the money and the wait.  As for Jeff Beck himself,  his elegance and lyricism  is rare even (perhaps especially) among rock virtuosi.