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Guitarists By Whom I Have Been Intrigued

Here is a growing list of guitarists that have blown my mind at one time or another. They’re in no particular order, although Curt Kirkwood and D. Boon and Ralph Spight are indeed my top three.

In the case of some of them, I only listed the bands in which I was “into” them; for example, I loved Brian Baker in Minor Threat and Dag Nasty, but I’ve never heard his stuff in Bad Religion (since, as you know, listening to Bad Religion is a lot like listening to a leaf blower). Likewise, I really really like Nels Cline’s solo stuff and especially the stuff he did with Mike Watt, but I haven’t really dug into his Wilco work. I’m sure it’s amazing though.

* Denotes a guitarist that I’ve seen play live

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1. Curt Kirkwood (Meat Puppets) *
2. D. Boon (Minutemen)
3. Ralph Spight (Victims Family) *
4. Nels Cline (various)
5. Deke Dickerson (Untamed Youth/solo) *
6. Dr. Know (Bad Brains) *
7. Joe Baiza (Saccharine Trust)
8. Eddie Van Halen
9. Jimmy Page
10. Jimi Hendrix
11. Mark Knopfler
12. Tom Verlaine (Television)
13. Johnny Ramone
14. Chuck Berry
15. Eddie Roberts (New Mastersounds) *
16. Bryan Giles (Red Fang)
17. Brian May
18. Nile Rodgers
19. Rocky George (Suicidal Tendencies)
20. Scott Hill (Fu Manchu) *
21. Bucky Pope (Tar Babies)
22. Ty Segall
23. Eddie Roeser (Urge Overkill)
24. Nash Kato (Urge Overkill) * (saw his god-awful solo tour in 2000)
25. John Kimbrough (Walt Mink)
26. Dean Ween
27. Gary Chester (Ed Hall) *
28. James Petralli (White Denim) *
29. Tommy Niemeyer (The Accüsed)
30. Alex Lifeson
31. Jack Endino *
32. Johnny Marr
33. Jerry Garcia (Gayfold Redd)
34. Andy Kerr (NoMeansNo) *
35. Tom Holliston (NoMeansNo) *
36. Rick Miller (Southern Culture on the Skids) *
37. Steve Turner (Mudhoney) *
38. Larry LaLonde (Primus)
39. East Bay Ray (Dead Kennedys)
40. Peter Frampton
41. Alan Anderson (PopDefect) *
42. Tom Pig (Poison Idea)
43. Gavin MacArthur (Schlong) *
44. Duane Denison (Jesus Lizard) *
45. Angus Young
46. Ian Williams (Don Caballero) *
47. J Mascis *
48. Jon Fine (Bitch Magnet)
49. Brad Paisley
50. Charlie Hunter
51. Cory Wong
52. Dexter Romweber (Flat Duo Jets)
53. Dave Navarro *
54. J Robbins (Jawbox)
55. Berton Averre (The Knack)
56. Robby Krieger
57. Jack White *
58. Mike Gent (Figgs) *
59. Billy Duffy
60. Isaiah Mitchell (Earthless)
61. Josh Homme
62. Lindsey Buckingham
63. Captain Sensible (Damned)
64. Dave Diebler (House of Large Sizes) *
65. Brian Baker (Minor Threat/Dag Nasty)
66. Tony Iommi
67. Scotty Moore (Elvis)
68. Ian MacKaye *
69. Joe Walsh
70. Rick Sims (Didjits) * (though I saw him with Gaza Strippers)
71. Buzz Osbourne (Melvins) *
72. Stephen Egerton (ALL/Descendents) *
73. Andy Summers
74. Billy Gibbons
75. Justin Trosper (Unwound) *
76. Albert King
77. Dick Dale
78. Frank Zappa
79. Slim Harpo
80. Ed Crawford (fIREHOSE) *
81. John Fogerty
82. Ichiro Agata (Melt Banana) *
83. Greg Ginn
84. Tim Kerr (Big Boys)
85. Billy Zoom (X)
86. Stevie Ray Vaughan * (saw him live in ‘89!)
87. Dave Gonzalez (Paladins) *
88. David Immergluck (Monks of Doom)
89. Greg Lisher (Camper van Beethoven/Monks of Doom)
90. Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü)
91. Link Wray
92. Reverend Horton Heat *
93. Both Ed and John from Deerhoof
94. Paul Leary (Butthole Surfers)