favorite blues guitarist

**kris** · 03-13-2014, 11:19 AM

Originally Posted by mangotango

Clapton got me chased through the streets of Cardiff by skinheads for a Rock Against Racism t-shirt when I was a student.

Old news for some, think what you like for others, but that's not going away for me.

"CREAM" was my favorite rock group...When I started to play jazz I"ve stoped to interested in Clapton...anway I like his singing.

**Scot63** · 03-13-2014, 01:44 PM

Clapton's covers got me into a very conspicuously absent name here: Robert Johnson.

**mr. beaumont** · 03-13-2014, 01:59 PM

Cray, Magic Sam, Chief Clearwater!

**johnny67** · 03-13-2014, 02:54 PM

Big Bill Broonzy, Blind Blake and myself.

**dalko** · 06-11-2014, 08:36 PM

For me: Peter Green

BB King once said "Peter Green has more talent in his little finger than I have in my entire body" and "He was the only one that gave me the cold sweats".

I think it's enough to explain everything.

**teok** · 06-12-2014, 12:18 AM

Hearing this song on the radio as a kid is when I decided to start playing guitar.

Just for kicks...

**docbop** · 06-12-2014, 12:22 AM

Albert King
Buddy Guy
John Lee Hooker

**coolvinny** · 06-12-2014, 01:42 AM

Clapton circa Bluesbreaker days...still the best phrasing ever for electric blues, in my opinion (especially on live cuts). Try transcribing that stuff...man, the phrasing is seriously hard to nail! Also as good but a matter of taste would be Duane Allman and Mike Bloomfield. In my view everyone else comes a far, distant second to these three cats. Wait, Jimi is in this top group too. I haven't listened to Jimi in a while. Maybe I should go back and re-assess. He did an album of blues tunes which killed. "Red House" comes to mind in particular.

**Philco** · 06-12-2014, 02:37 AM

Originally Posted by coolvinny

Clapton circa Bluesbreaker days...still the best phrasing ever for electric blues, in my opinion (especially on live cuts). Try transcribing that stuff...man, the phrasing is seriously hard to nail! Also as good but a matter of taste would be Duane Allman and Mike Bloomfield. In my view everyone else comes a far, distant second to these three cats. Wait, Jimi is in this top group too. I haven't listened to Jimi in a while. Maybe I should go back and re-assess. He did an album of blues tunes which killed. "Red House" comes to mind in particular.

Agree about the early Clapton phrasing. Still kills me. The live version of Sleepy Time. How in the pocket can a player be? To my ears still the best sustaining guitar sound I've ever heard although Derek Trucks is definitely in that tonal dept.
Raw power, volume and that freakish timing/phrasing that he lost in later years.
The day he picked up a Strat was the day the music died IMHO.

But when you listen to this clip you have to wonder if Clapton wasn't very hip to this guy….check the time and the tone..
Remind you of someone?

**MarkRhodes** · 06-12-2014, 10:38 AM

I have a soft spot for Guitar Slim.

As a kid, I idolized Albert King more than B.B or Freddie King, thought the older I get, the more I listen to Freddie and the less I listen to Albert (-but I still love Albert!)

But I don't know if anyone is better at a variety of blues styles than Johnny Winter. And the guy's still out there, playing the hell out of his guitar.

**reventlov** · 06-12-2014, 12:17 PM

I like lots of the old acoustic pickers such as Robert Johnson, Skip James and so forth; of the electric players, Freddie King and Peter Green do it for me. Then there's this guy - pin me down to name just one, and this is the one for me - great, great slide player, tremendous driving rhythm and a good singer too, he's the real deal.

**pubylakeg** · 06-12-2014, 02:07 PM

Elmore James !

**MarkRhodes** · 06-12-2014, 02:31 PM

Originally Posted by pubylakeg

Elmore James !

+1. Always love the way he did this one:

**MattC** · 06-12-2014, 07:54 PM

Since you guys bumped up this thread, I'll throw in a name of a more contemporary (read: living) player. Chris Cain- superb singer, guitarist and songwriter. Check him out-definitely worthy of support.

**Peter C** · 06-12-2014, 09:00 PM

**henryrobinett** · 06-12-2014, 09:09 PM

Robben Ford.

**MarkRhodes** · 06-12-2014, 09:27 PM

Not my favorite, but Hound Dog Taylor always makes me happy. "Give me back my wig!"

**MarkRhodes** · 06-12-2014, 09:31 PM

Duane Allman and Dickie Betts were stellar together. The whole "Fillmore East" album is classic, but I think this is as good as it gets (live) on a slow blues.

**Flyin' Brian** · 06-12-2014, 09:54 PM

Of the current players..Derek Trucks by far. I saw his band with his wife Susan Tedeschi (no slouch in her own right) and it was by far the best non-jazz show I've seen in memory. Eleven people all at the top of their game just getting it done in the best, most musical way.

Like a good jazz player, Derek has learned to build a solo and take it on a journey instead of just blasting away like many of the "blues-rock heroes" of today. In addition he's done some cross-genre playing, a few Indian influences along the way all make him a pretty complete package.

The outro solo on this gives me chills every time I hear it.

**Doctor Jeff** · 06-16-2014, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by srlank

Johnny Winter was my first guitar hero, and I still love him. I saw an interview, where he looked a bit compromised health-wise.

When has he ever looked healthy? :-/

Joe Bonamassa is IMO the guy with the best chops around. And still developing as a player. One of my all-time favorites is Mississippi John Hurt - he has a syncopated yet raggedy kind of playing that is incredibly complex. He has a wonderful delivery - I can't hear his music without feeling better about life in general.

**MarkRhodes** · 06-16-2014, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by srlank

Johnny Winter was my first guitar hero, and I still love him. I saw an interview, where he looked a bit compromised health-wise. I pray the best for him!

Me too! There's a Facebook group devoted to seeing Johnny get into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. I belong to it and see lots of clips from Johnny's recent shows. He always seems to be sitting down now... I sit down to play too and I'm younger than him, but he's not doing it because he want's too.

The Johhny Winter And "Live" album was probably my first guitar-hero record. I had blues records before but not by anyone who seemed to have absorbed everything that came before them and blew it back out in a ball of fire.

Here's "Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl" from there. The other guitar player is Rick Derringer.

**LeftysBlues** · 06-17-2014, 06:54 AM

Freddie Robinson on John Mayall Jazz/Blues Fusion all the way through the record

He reminds me of GG a bit and Boogaloo Joe Jones but its prop coincidental .

**coolvinny** · 06-17-2014, 11:36 AM

Originally Posted by dalko

For me: Peter Green

BB King once said "Peter Green has more talent in his little finger than I have in my entire body" and "He was the only one that gave me the cold sweats".

I think it's enough to explain everything.

If you like that version of "I've Got a Mind to Give Up Living", you absolutely must check out the Mike Bloomfield version from the album East West (Paul Butterfield Blues Band). It will kill you.

**djangoles** · 06-18-2014, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by MarkRhodes

Me too! There's a Facebook group devoted to seeing Johnny get into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. I belong to it and see lots of clips from Johnny's recent shows. He always seems to be sitting down now... I sit down to play too and I'm younger than him, but he's not doing it because he want's too.

The Johhny Winter And "Live" album was probably my first guitar-hero record. I had blues records before but not by anyone who seemed to have absorbed everything that came before them and blew it back out in a ball of fire.

Here's "Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl" from there. The other guitar player is Rick Derringer.

I met Johnny a few times in the early 90's when he was living in NYC.....without going into specifics he was a mess back then with a bunch of issues....but was really trying to get it together. Not sure if he ever got it worked out.... I will say that at the the time he was about 45 or 46 but looked about 65. He's also a pretty small guy which also probably made him look a bit older. Was always a really nice guy despite all the problems.