Top 10 Guitar Players Of The '70's

[Jesse]

The '70's was the Guitar Hero decade, so I thought this was a fitting top 10 list. Every guitar player from the 1970's is fair game, but I have one catch: We ONLY consider what they did in the 70's. Don't put Jimmy Page on the list because of the first 2 Led Zeppelin albums, or Eric Clapton because of what he did in Cream, or Eddie Van Halen because of his 80's work. Those three may end up on the list anyways, but it would have to be because of the merits of their 70's work. Get it? Got it? Good!


I'll let some of you do your lists awhile, I'm still trying to narrow my list to 10 as I have about 15 or so guitarist whom I think HAVE to be mentioned. ;D

[kim]

Okay,
Here's a few from the 70's for me...in no special order...

1. Billy Gibbons
2. Mark Knopfler
3. Lindsay Buckingham
4. George Harrison
5. Brian May
6. Randy Bachman
7. Ritchie Blackmore
8. Malcolm Young
9. Eddie Van Halen - (Because of his 70's work with the debut album).
10. Rick Nielson

Thanks
Kim

[Jesse]

Sept 10, 2011 12:03:15 GMT -5 kim said:

Okay,
Here's a few from the 70's for me...in no special order...

1. Billy Gibbons
2. Mark Knopfler
3. Lindsay Buckingham
4. George Harrison
5. Brian May
6. Randy Bachman
7. Ritchie Blackmore
8. Malcolm Young
9. Eddie Van Halen - (Because of his 70's work with the debut album).
10. Rick Nielson

Thanks
Kim

Shit, I forgot about a couple of those.Now I have 20 names to narrow down to 10.

[spacel0rd]

(edited)

1. Stephen Stills
2. David Gilmour
3. Dickey Betts
4. Tony Iommi
5. Alex Lifeson
6. Eric Clapton
7. Jimmy Page
8. Ritchie Blackmore
9. Mark Knopfler
10. Lindsay Buckingham

[Warpig]

Robin Trower
David Gilmour
Tony Iommi
Ritchie Blackmore
Don Felder
Ted Nugent
Jimmy Page
Ace Frehley
Steve Miller
Joe Perry

[Speedy]

UNCLE TED
ACE
IOMMI
GILMOUR
GIBBONS
TIPTON
ULI ROTH
COLLINS
DUANE ROLAND
CHARLTON

[spacel0rd]

Crap...How did I forget Dickey Betts??

[Jesse]

FUCK! I was all ready to begin MY list and you guys came up with some other names that I forgot about (I don't know how!). Alright, I'll try this again tomorrow.

Good lists though!

[Jesse]

Ok, I think I'm ready to begin. Let me preface by saying that on January 1st, 1980 I was only 7 years old, so my knowledge of how it was in the 70's is limited to what I've heard, what I've read and the copyright dates on my CDs, cassettes and albums. I also acknowledge that, in order to limit it to a list of ten, I'm going to leave a lot of REALLY GREAT guitarists off my list......sorry.

Here goes:



10-Brian May. The King of Queen, Baron of Bombast. Guitar royalty for sure!

9-Angus Young. I think he was only a few years older than I was in the 70's. I almost left him off the list because I can't count "Back In Black" or "For Those About To Rock", but his 70's output ranks right up there with anyone.


8-Eddie Van Halen. Only 2 albums to his credit in the 70's, but he re-wrote Rock guitar playing with them, so he belongs on any definitive list of 70's guitarists.


7-1 coming shortly.

[kim]

Sept 14, 2011 15:19:44 GMT -5 Jesse said:

Ok, I think I'm ready to begin. Let me preface by saying that on January 1st, 1980 I was only 7 years old, so my knowledge of how it was in the 70's is limited to what I've heard, what I've read and the copyright dates on my CDs, cassettes and albums. I also acknowledge that, in order to limit it to a list of ten, I'm going to leave a lot of REALLY GREAT guitarists off my list......sorry.

Here goes:



10-Brian May. The King of Queen, Baron of Bombast. Guitar royalty for sure!

9-Angus Young. I think he was only a few years older than I was in the 70's. I almost left him off the list because I can't count "Back In Black" or "For Those About To Rock", but his 70's output ranks right up there with anyone.


8-Eddie Van Halen. Only 2 albums to his credit in the 70's, but he re-wrote Rock guitar playing with them, so he belongs on any definitive list of 70's guitarists.


7-1 coming shortly.

Damn Jesse,

You really know how to make an old guy feel even older... *sigh*

I remember the date, January 1st, 1980. I was getting a ride back to college with a girl that attended the same New Years party I did the eve before...yet apparantly, she didn't have as much fun as I did and insisted that we leave by 1 pm for the 3 hour drive South back to North Bay the following day.
Keep in mind, I didn't get home untill 4 am.

I still had memories of the night reeling through my brain and the gal that I had the wonderful opportunity of spending time with, only to be "whisked away" in a flurry the following day...talk about being discomboobulated!!! hahaha.

The one thing that I do recall about that trip back however, was the fact that at one point, a song came on the radio as we were
driving South...and that was "Let The Good Times Roll" by The Cars. It kinda helped take the edge off of the cerebral fumes from the previous nights engagement...She even stopped talking
whilst I listened to the tune...hahahaha.

There was a lot of good stuff back then, at least for me...and even stuff like Toto, and The Knack had their fair share of airplay
in the dorms and at the college pubs that I attended back then.
Ohhh to go back to those days for a quick visit...hahahaha.

Thanks Jesse for bringing back that memory.
Kim

[Jesse]

Sept 16, 2011 12:49:33 GMT -5 kim said:

Sept 14, 2011 15:19:44 GMT -5 Jesse said:

Ok, I think I'm ready to begin. Let me preface by saying that on January 1st, 1980 I was only 7 years old, so my knowledge of how it was in the 70's is limited to what I've heard, what I've read and the copyright dates on my CDs, cassettes and albums. I also acknowledge that, in order to limit it to a list of ten, I'm going to leave a lot of REALLY GREAT guitarists off my list......sorry.

Here goes:



10-Brian May. The King of Queen, Baron of Bombast. Guitar royalty for sure!

9-Angus Young. I think he was only a few years older than I was in the 70's. I almost left him off the list because I can't count "Back In Black" or "For Those About To Rock", but his 70's output ranks right up there with anyone.


8-Eddie Van Halen. Only 2 albums to his credit in the 70's, but he re-wrote Rock guitar playing with them, so he belongs on any definitive list of 70's guitarists.


7-1 coming shortly.

Damn Jesse,

You really know how to make an old guy feel even older... *sigh*

I remember the date, January 1st, 1980. I was getting a ride back to college with a girl that attended the same New Years party I did the eve before...yet apparantly, she didn't have as much fun as I did and insisted that we leave by 1 pm for the 3 hour drive South back to North Bay the following day.
Keep in mind, I didn't get home untill 4 am.

I still had memories of the night reeling through my brain and the gal that I had the wonderful opportunity of spending time with, only to be "whisked away" in a flurry the following day...talk about being discomboobulated!!! hahaha.

The one thing that I do recall about that trip back however, was the fact that at one point, a song came on the radio as we were
driving South...and that was "Let The Good Times Roll" by The Cars. It kinda helped take the edge off of the cerebral fumes from the previous nights engagement...She even stopped talking
whilst I listened to the tune...hahahaha.

There was a lot of good stuff back then, at least for me...and even stuff like Toto, and The Knack had their fair share of airplay
in the dorms and at the college pubs that I attended back then.
Ohhh to go back to those days for a quick visit...hahahaha.

Thanks Jesse for bringing back that memory.
Kim

You're welcome!

[Jesse]

7-IT'S A TIE! Tony Iommi AND Steve Howe. Even though I can't listen to more than about 3 songs in a row from these 2, they are both great guitarists and I couldn't bring myself to leave either one off my list. How does one choose between this apple and orange? Black Sabbath or Yes, the riff king or the classical virtuoso, the soundtrack to hell or elfen magic? I couldn't decide, so I put them both at my #7.


6-Billy Gibbons. Not originally on my list, but so many of you brought him to my attention that I had to reconsider. I listened to "The Best Of ZZ Top" again and decided he definitely belongs. I mean, he's not only a great guitar player, but he does a half dozen or so things that the boys in Skynyrd and Hatchet only WISH they had done. Awesome!


5-Dickey Betts. Always overshadowed by Duane Allman, Dickey Betts was probably the better overall guitar player (hold on to your tomatoes, no one can touch Duane as a SLIDE GUITARIST). His resume during the 70's includes "In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed", "Midnight Rider", "Rambln' Man", "Jessica", Blue Sky", "South Bound", "Revival", plus his half of "At Fillmore East". Not to mention his 2 Great Southern albums and his slide guitar solo on Charlie Daniels' "Long Haired Country Boy". If he ain't in the top ten, nobody should be.

4-1 coming up.

[Jesse]

4-Jimmy Page. Riffmeister of the '70's for sure. If the first 2 Zep albums came out in 1970, I'd put him #1, but I believe his lead playing leaves a bit to be desired after those 1st 2 records. He still came out with the "Stairway To Heaven" solo in 1971 and that makes him a top 5 guy right there.



3-Ritchie Blackmore. Again, put those 1st 2 Zep albums in the mix and no way do I put Blackmore above Page, but for 1970-1979 material, it's Blackmore all the way. I mean, Fuck, he was an outstanding guitarist in 2 bands in the '70's!



2-Ace Frehley. Technically, not even close to the most gifted guitarist in the 70's. But, damn, the guy was a guitar hero in every sense of the words. He had the coolest face paint of Kiss, not "demonic" like Gene's, nor borderline retarded like Paul's or Peter's. Being in Kiss he obviously dressed like a hero and weilded a Les Paul that fucking shot fireworks! Who cares how good or bad his actual chops were he influenced more folks to play guitar than Allan Holdsworth ever will.

[Jesse]

#1- Ted Nugent. I dunno, when I think about guitar playef the 1970's, Ted is the first name to pop into my mind. Even though he never really improved upon his first solo album, you still can't go wrong with any of his 70's work. Absolutely outstanding guitar player and showman.





My appologies to David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, Pete Townsend, Tom Sholtz, Toy Caldwell, Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, Hughie Thomasson, Billy Jones, Robin Trower, Gary Richrath, Rik Emmett, Charlie Daniels, Tommy Crain, Pat Travers, Leslie West, Brad Whitford, Joe Perry, Mick Ralphs, Lindsey Buckingham, Mark Knofler, Albert Lee, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Geore Harrison, and probably a dozen others if I thought about it, for not including them on this list, but, damn, it was hard to narrow this one down to 10.

[Warpig]

One that I forgot to list is Peter Frampton, he never gets the credit he deserves as a guitar player IMO, that dude could (& still can) Rip it up.

[Pete]

Brian May

Billy Gibbons (My favorite Billy Gibbons moment sitting front row during guitar solo I shouted "Billy mother fucking Gibbons" and he pointed at me and nodded)

David Gilmour

Angus Young

Jimmy Page

Eddie Van Halen

Tommi Iomi

Tom Scholz

Joe Walsh

Ted Nugent

[kim]

Sept 23, 2011 10:26:44 GMT -5 Pete said:

Brian May

Billy Gibbons (My favorite Billy Gibbons moment sitting front row during guitar solo I shouted "Billy mother fucking Gibbons" and he pointed at me and nodded)

If you had the honour of being in the front row of a ZZ Top
gig to begin with...you were blessed.

If you had the honour of Billy Gibbons noticing you and responding to your laments...you have been tagged and
have a spot in rock and roll heaven...yoooooo mother
fucking bastard!

Good on ya Pete!...you have made a connection with one
of the greatest.

(Sure hope that you didn't fuck up his solo though...Doh!)


Thanks
Kim

[snakesandladders]

Can't add more than what has already been posted up here.......perhaps Alvin Lee...anyone???!

[Pete]

Sept 23, 2011 15:06:40 GMT -5 kim said:

Sept 23, 2011 10:26:44 GMT -5 Pete said:

Brian May

Billy Gibbons (My favorite Billy Gibbons moment sitting front row during guitar solo I shouted "Billy mother fucking Gibbons" and he pointed at me and nodded)

If you had the honour of being in the front row of a ZZ Top
gig to begin with...you were blessed.

If you had the honour of Billy Gibbons noticing you and responding to your laments...you have been tagged and
have a spot in rock and roll heaven...yoooooo mother
fucking bastard!

Good on ya Pete!...you have made a connection with one
of the greatest.

(Sure hope that you didn't fuck up his solo though...Doh!)


Thanks
Kim

It was a great show. Charlie Daniels, Lynyrd Skynyrd and headliner ZZ Top. My friend hooked us up with all access passes. I was so close I could have grabbed his shoe.

[jamey]

Some of my favs not mentioned:

Frank Marino. Michael Schenker. Neal Schon. Jeff Beck.