My favourite too. I also prefer:
Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa, Pete Townshend, Uli Jon Roth, Ritchie Blackmore, Robert Fripp, John Lee Hooker, Johnny Winter, Nokie Edwards, Link Wray, Bill Harkleroad, Jeff Cotton, Jeff Moris Tepper, Gary Lucas, Marc Ribot, Rowland S Howard, Blixa Bargeld, John Parish, Jukka Orma and of course Lee and Thurston.

Bryan Gregory
Ron Asheton
Johnny Thunders
Rory Gallagher
Matt Pike

new top 20 (same old names)

Jimmy Page
Jimi Hendrix
Paul McCartney
Mick Taylor
Robert Johnson
Peter Buck
Mick Ronson
Robert Fripp
John Fahey
Charlie Patton
Carlos Alomar
Kurt Cobain
Charlie Christian
George Harrison
Neil Young
Mark Knopfler
Robbie Krieger
Prince
Marc Ribot
John Lennon

2006 list
Jimi Hendrix
Neil Young
Mick Taylor
Keith Richards
Jimmy Page
Mick Ronson
Lou Reed
Sterling Morrison
Thurston Moore
Lee Ranaldo
Robert Fripp
George Harrison
John Lennon
Frank Zappa
Prince
Robert Johnson
Joe Pass
Bo Diddley
Nick Drake
Syd Barrett
Peter Buck
Johnny Thunders
Robbie Krieger
Eddie Van Halen
Django Reinhardt
Jeff Beck
Kurt Cobain
Eugene Chadbourne
Steve Jones
Eric Clapton
Lenny Kaye
Mike Bloomfield
Chuck Berry
Jerry Garcia
Bob Dylan
Dave Davies
Andy Summers
Kevin Shields
Wes Montgomery
Greg Ginn
J Mascis
Ron Asheton
Joe Walsh
Paul McCartney
Stevie Ray Vaughan
George Benson
Danny Gatton
Billy Corgan
Adrian Belew
Ian MacKaye
Pete Townshend
Elliot Easton
Greg Lisher
Tom Verlaine
David Byrne
David Gilmour
John Fogerty
Duane Allman
Duane Denison
Son House
John Fahey
Glenn Branca
Robert Smith
Marc Ribot
Brian May
Ry Cooder
Randy Rhoads
Muddy Waters
Curt Kirkwood
Tommy Stinson
d boon
Bruce Springsteen
Mike Campbell
Stephen Malkmus
Johnny Marr
Lightnin' Hopkins
Charlie Christian
Fred "Sonic" Smith
Wayne Kramer
Daniel Ash
Angus Young
Tony Iommi
Buddy Guy
Ritchie Blackmore
Link Wray
Carlos Santana
Charlie Byrd
R.L. Burnside
Johnny Ramone
Bob Stinson
Robert Quine
Bob Mould
Joey Santiago
Scott Kannenberg
Jerry Harrison
Thor Eisentrager
Bill Frisell
William Tonks
Richard Lloyd
Kim Gordon
Buren Fowler

 

These are all great choices. Obviously you play yourself (right?).

Thank you for mentioning Adrian Belew. Incredible, incredible talent. His solo on "Ruiner" haunts me for life.

Here are some of my personal favourites:

Andy Gill - Gang Of Four
Julian Swales - Kitchens Of Distinction
Robin Guthrie - Cocteau Twins
Ray Hanson - Thee Hypnotics
Terry Bickers - The House Of Love
Kevin "Geordie" Walker - Killing Joke

thanks for the feedback, Severian

yep, play

all kinds of stuff

was jamming out "Station to Station" and a bunch of other stuff last night after that 500th Simpsons ep.

had fun too with Prince's piano ballad "Condition of the Heart" from Around the World in a Day
- cool arrangement for guitar (with handy chord definitions) here:
http://www.azchords.com/p/prince-311...rt-233800.html

great Bowie songs tab site:
http://www.lovebolts.co.uk/david_bowie/
(guy's also apparently a big Springsteen and Billy Joel fan)

Belew is great on Lodger and as one of Bowie's many outstanding touring guitarists.
He's also fine on Laurie Anderson's Mister Heartbreak. And of course on a lot of the King Crimson stuff with Fripp too.

How about that guitarist Andy Gill? Without him Albini wouldn't play guitar for shit. There probably wouldn't be any post new wave funk/punk breeds like Franz Ferdinand either.

Keeping it simple beat me to it, haha!

So HE'S the guy playing on "Look back in anger"? I love that song so much after hearing it in a movie. Great song. Great solo. Great drumming too. Great great. Great.

Great minds think alike. :)

Think that's actually Carlos Alomar's 16-bar solo on "Look Back in Anger" but Belew is on it too.

And then per the Bowie/Eno "Oblique Strategies" card-dealing production methods on the so-called "Berlin Trilogy," it's actually Alomar on drums on "Boys Keep Swingin'," but that one does feature an incredible Belew outro solo for the last minute and a half or so.

Keiji Haino
Phill Todd
Lee Ranaldo
Robert Hampson
Keizo Myanishi
Kurt Cobain
Otomo Yoshihide
Johnny Marr
Blixa Bargeld
Freddie Stone
Tony Iommi
Kelly Deal
Martin Bramah
Lou Reed
Arthur Lee
Renee Scroggins
Bill Orcutt
Derek Bailey
John Fahey
Ned Hayden


They tend to change just like my taste in noodle flavours. I've posted this list on FB a while ago and it still stands for the time being.

Curious but nice choice.

Ian Mackaye (completely underrated)

Still can't think of any.

Isaac Brock always seemed like he had unacknowledged skill. Is he "good good" from a musician's perspective?

I am neither a musician nor a particular Modest Mouse fan, but there are a couple of songs where theres some proper good guitar work such as this

Grant Green of Blue Note label fame was pretty good.

anyway

Phil Todd
Lee
Thurston
Marc Ribot
John Fahey
James Dean Bradfield (listen to The Holy Bible, fitting anything around those lyrics was a superhuman feat)
Mark Mcguire
Ash Bowie
Michael Karoli
Tony Iommi
Jonny Greenwood
Paul Leary
Zoot Horn Rollo
Cedric out of At The Drive In

Pretty much every guitar player who contributed in some way to making a record that sold well or later became a cult favorite between 1965 and 2011 is my favorite guitar player, in a way.

I realize that covers a lot of ground, but I believe that's some very fertile ground that I've covered very concisely.