"I'm going off the subject now..." This is why I love this channel.

Can’t fault this list :) When I saw AC/DC’s live in Paris 1979 video I was mesmerised by Angus, the whole band were brilliant but he was astonishing. Has to be one of my favourite live videos

Glad to see Richie Blackmore up there. Anyone remember Alvin Lee? Those rippling guitar runs were sweet.

All in all, I love Jimmy Page. As we all know, his chops in the purest sense aren’t always as clean as some of the others, but he plays with such balls, urgency and abandon live, and with such charisma (probably the most charisma of all the greats in his prime years). And then in the studio - unrivaled! I just listened to Ten Years Gone - a masterpiece among several he composed - and totally unique. But this list is awesome and on point. And I agree with your assessment of Clapton. Love Cream, but he’s Dockers Rock.

Love your intro man. You get it! You have to look at the whole package because that’s what propels the guitar culture and inspires young people to play and rock out!

Another great video. Thanks Andy your students probably don't realise how lucky they are to have a teacher who is so enthusiastic.

Andy, you have inspired me and a few of my musician friends to start making and debating these "best of" lists! Thank you so much...cheers, mate!

I'm relatively new to your channel and our tastes in music often diverge, but I've loved every single video so far and this one is an all timer!

11 Brian May all day. writer of history making tunes, innovator re fx and his self built guitar straddles genres but playing isn’t easily pigeon holed, early years he brought super heavy guitar but lyrical playing - Death on two legs is a masterclass in tone. unique, inimitable, irreplaceable.

My top-ten: - Ritchie Blackmore - Alvin Lee - Ted Nugent - Michael Schenker - Tony Iommi - Gary Moore - David Gilmour - Alex Lifeson - Dave Meniketti - Jimmy Page

Andy totally gets it from my perspective. He recognized Schenker and leaves off Clapton. Love it.

The real ones know Iommis Genius. Thanks for including him. Solid list !

I couldn't agree more about Ritchie Blackmore. Even just his sound is amazing. His presence is ominous. His riffs are iconic and his solos are pure art.

This is a perfect list, in terms of seminal influencers of iconic styles, past and future iterations... and by the end of your video, you're so right, guys like The Edge (and Andy Summers), innovators of the dotted 8th note delay, or Tom Morello, Thurston Moore, and Kevin Shields, i.e, pushing the limits of guitar sound effects, or even Robert Fripp and his dalliances in soundscapes and ambient tape looping deserve mention. Perhaps another video? Love your channel.

Great list Andy thank you for sharing.👍

thanks man. love the close up camera. great nose hair shots. :-)

Totally agree with the Clapton comments, Always very safe in my option unlike the entire 10 you picked, next Video I guess will be 10 more that nearly made it ! Great engaging video once again.

Great video! Glad you mentioned Tom Verlaine.

Hi Andy, great video as always. It's difficult to argue against any of those choices. My favourite cakes? probably Madeira or Angel Cake. Time for a cake ranking vid 😁😁😁😁

You know who was really good. Terry Kath of Chicago. Wow. That guy could really play. Sad he died way too early.

Honorable mention and hat tip to my personal favorite Alex Lifeson!

Very good. I didn't get into the bands some of these guys played with (AC/DC e.g.) but interesting to hear your choices and reasoning. Thanks. Was good to hear you mention Thurston Moore. Would love to see an Andy video on Sonic Youth. Btw, you're so right about the Stooges. Loved the Battenberg bit at the end.

Great list - glad you included Pete Townsend in this and Jeff Beck as high up as you did. Your idea of doing a video on 80s/90s experimental or underground guitarists (Thurston Moore, Tom Verlaine, even someone like John McGeogh) would be very interesting. Thanks for the great videos and don't let the trolls get to you!

I love the list... I love the insights and I agree with you almost exactly. Well done! I was just going over the great guitarists with my uncle. He didnt understand why Hendrix was known as the greatest rock guitarist. I'm happy to as, my analysis is very similar to your comment (just not as good) haha! No nastiness. Come on, talking about music is like what I did with my high school and college buddies. And ever since. Thanks Andy!

Robin Trower, one of my top favorites! Great topic like your insight!

It's the ranks that make this channel a cut above. Keep it up, man! =)

So glad you mentioned Fair Warning as a magnificent album.

Spot on! I usually go into a video like this expecting some glaring omissions or brutal rankings, but I found myself agreeing with you on every point. I might have flipped positions for Eddie and Jimmy only because Jimmy came first and influenced the guys of Eddie's generation, and his body of work is so complete whether it's playing on Sunshine Superman with Donivan or playing Rumble at the Rock and Roll Hall of fame. Kudos for the honorable mention of Robin Trower too! Great video!

A fine list... can't really argue with any... even though my prog favorites didn't make the list... Robert Fripp, Steve Howe, Allan Holdsworth. I suppose like Frank Zappa, who described his playing as specialized music that only appeals to certain tastes. Another great video. Keep it up.

I enjoyed your list and opinion. Thanks for the rant! Lemon drizzle is number 1 for me!

Thanks for the list! I also think the same about Clapton, but Layla with Derek and Dominoes and Blind Faith are great like Cream

Love seeing Jeff Beck so high on the list. And you have one more joining the _no-Clapton chorus._ When you are making these lists you can maybe include an Honorable Mention section of 3-5 too. You have mentioned Clapton, Verlaine, Gallagher but would they make the HM list?

I’d have David Gilmour and Steve Howe

Loved the end of the video Andy! I'd love to see you, Rick Beato, Pete Pardo, Norman Maslov and some others do a livestream where you discuss your favourite music. My tastes are very similar to yours and certainly with this video it seems we like the same guitarists in the same order, more or less. I grew up idolising Ritchie Blackmore and Jimmy Page, then looked backwards towards Hendrix, loved Schenker and Alex Lifeson, then EVH, then Steve Howe. Discovered Al Di Meola and Allan Holdsworth and went back to Jeff Beck. Loved Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp and Tom Verlaine. Loved John McGeoch, Will Sergeant and The Edge. Over the last 20-30 yrs my favourite guitarists have been Richard Thompson and David Rawlings and alsoappreciated the guitarists that contributed to Steely Dan like Denny Diaz, Skunk Baxter, Jay Graydon and Larry Carlton. Most recently I've been enjoying Robben Ford. This video was a great nostalgic trip for me!

Rock God's Jimmy Page Blackmore,Jeff Beck,Gibbons,Rick Derringer. Joe Perry ,Whitford Downing/Tipton,Johnny Winter, Tony Iommni.Malcom/Angus Mark Farner,

EVH had a happy pedal, his joy and love of the guitar came through in his playing. When he passed away , a proliferation of demos and bootleg stuff came out on youtube and confirmed to me that he was the best that ever played rock n roll.

Enjoyed your video. Just a few off the top of my head. Rory Gallagher. Steve Hillage and Paul Kossoff

Thank YOU, We do not have the same exact list BUT you brought along 8/10 of my favorite guitarists and band along sida them. AND you have Jeff Beck on your list and Angus Young.... They are not my favorite guitarists but they HAVE to be on ANY list af the greatest of all times for all the right reasons. Thank you!

Love your list! Love the fact you rated Beck, Blackmore and Schenker as high as you did. Wondering what's your take on Lifeson. I think him and Satriani give you so many different moods and great but totally different songs that can give you 100 songs and they would all be great but totally different from each other. Lifeson gives you so many enjoyable rhythms be and a master on guitar effects.

Great hearing you explain why you choose these guitarists. Many who put up lists are not able to do that, and that makes it nor really interesting. This was very interesting.

Fantastic video once again! I have a question for you. What are the 10 greatest (intentionally) comedic songs in rock? In my mind there are certain artists like Morrissey and Zappa and Ian Dury that might make the list. But interested in your thoughts. PS. can't wait for the 10 Greatest Cakes| Ranked.

Omg he finished the guitar talk with biscuits!! I’m in stitches. Lol.

Beautiful! Totally agree on your points

You rock Andy! Absolutely wonderful List. I think Hendrix was heading for a new jumping off point. A new place , less pop , more into where ever he could expand. Or, a safe place to enjoy a tasty Biscuit.

First single I ever bought..I can see for miles... saw them live , they were great

Really enjoyed this one.

From the perspective of musicians, I think your list does speak to some objectivity. Once you got to #6 on your list, I knew you'd have to include Hendrix and predicted he would come first. There are always great honorable mentions - I agree with another viewer about David Gilmour - yet when you are tasked with discussing 10 specific players, there's just no way to not offend someone. What I love about your list is that while I'm not a big Van Halen or AC/DC fan, I do like their music and appreciate them from the perspective of superb guitar work. Great list here. Cheers!

Mr. Andy Edwards who so eloquently discusses fusion, jazz, prog and rock, you once again have put together a top 10 list that is superior and insightful. I agree with you about Clapton post Cream and about Jeff Beck who arguably is the best rock guitarist over the last 50 plus years. I cannot describe what it was like listening to Jimi when he first broke on the scene, it was mind blowing. Keep up the good work Andy! Brit Rock Rules!

The "Battenberg" inclusion started to feel like a Monty Python bit. I got a big grin on my face. Cheers, Andy.

Completely agree regarding Clapton. However, there are some things I like about him, such as the solo he contributed to While My Guitar Gently Weeps and, in addition to his writing and playing with Cream, his writing for some of the Derek & the Dominos stuff (e.g., Bell Bottom Blues and some others). On a separate topic, I highly recommend searching out the band Chicago’s performance at Tanglewood from 1970. In their early incarnation they were white hot, extremely tight, energetic, and inventive. And Terry Kath was quite the guitarist.

Live Evil, I'm so happy you mentioned (and revere) it, it was my very first ever LP and to this day I still think Ronnie gives one of the best all-round vocal performances of his recorded career.

Nice list, Andy, I completely agree on your top 2, but now I'm curious about your opinions on John Frusciante, Prince and Mick Ronson.

Andy when You mentioned jump by van halen it made me think of something. Another example of him taking a back seat..have you noticed how on VH albums most of his guitar is amazing rhythm guitar on side channels. And i think blackmore did a lot of this too. So much creative rhythm guitar lines the two of them did on top of amazing creating solos.

Excellent, excellent list, I just have one that I feel that changed the thought process I the 80s nearly at the level of EVH and that's Yngwie Malmsteen ,that first Rising Force and the next couple of albums really inspired the next level neo classical style , he was such an influential force over Vai even in the 80s, I just feel he needs to be on this list, but I can't argue whatsoever of what you decided, one of the best and we'll thought out lists, you even talked me into Pete Townsend

Good stuff. Been a Beck fan since Cosa Nostra and Truth still a fan.

I'm happy to see Jeff Beck so high on the list. And for all the right reasons

Good one Andy but I’d have to put Duane Allman in there somewhere :) ✌️

Your analysis and insight are brilliant. Although I don’t agree with some of your comments (especially about the drumming of Keith Moon) I respect the criteria that you use to validate and quantify your perspective. I’m old enough and fortunate enough to have seen live performances of: Cream (1967), Jimi Hendrix (1968, 1969), The Who (1969, 1970, 1971 & 1973), Jeff Beck (1968, 1975), Black Sabbath (1972, 1975), Pink Floyd (1970, 1972, 1977), ELP (1971, 1972, 1977), Yes (1971, 1974, 1977) and many many more. Those performances (especially the guitarists and drummers) forever changed my musical evolution and perspective. Thank you.

Jeff Beck has always held my admiration - as a young teenager I was besotted by Rough and Ready and it's been an interesting enveloping enjoyment since. That right hand....

@ Andy Ewards I respect your list, very close to mine. Don't know who to take off, but SRV, and Gary Moore are top 5 on mine. Probably Schenker, and Townsend. In my top 15, but not top 10. Gary started with rock and crossed over to the blues when SRV (RIP) died. I know he was not flashy like the others, but he could make his guitar weep. SRV @ #2 behind only Jimi. Yes, I love the blues. Honorable mentions to Johnny Winters, Frank Marino, and Duane Allman.

Totally agree on Ritchie Blackmore. Very understated genius.

Those top 2 would also be my own personal top 2 but I actually love listening to Jeff's best work more than I do to Jimi's but both are amazing musicians.

Fave Rock Guitarists : Jeff Beck - Richie Blackmore - Angus Young - Michael Schenker - Eddie Van Halen

Great list, and given the premise of innovation and debt owed by rock music to these guys, I would not argue with any of the choices. That said, if I were compiling such a list, I would have found a way of squeezing Alex Lifeson into it, though I don't know which of the team you picked I would drop.

RIP Jeff Beck. I can scarcely believe that earlier today, I downloaded a Yardbirds album from Spotify, only to learn hours later that Jeff had died after 'suddenly contracting' bacterial meningitis. Absolutely gutted! 😪. I hope, Andy, you'll next be doing a retrospective of the life and genius of unquestionably the finest British guitarist ever to have lived. Loving your channel, by the way.

I'd include David Gilmour, who easily slipped from avant garde to mainstream rock, and much in between. He is one of the greatest melodic soloists, always picking just the right note and intonation.

In the late '80s we had a heavy metal covers band and needed another guitarist! We got a few guys to audition then this guy (Frankie) just walked in, plugged in and nailed Eruption then dropped into You Really Got Me, we all got in - played it and he was hired!

Not really a Slash fan but he had the look and the persona and that big Les Paul tone.

Andy - good show & note that when mentioned Jim Marshall had his shop and Pete Townshend tried out amps John McLaughlin was a sales person then!

Well done Sir!

Nice to see Eddie Van Halen. People really need to listen to his rhythm work. He's like a metronome. His timing was exceptional.

Great list, totally agree about Clapton.

I don't know if you could include him as Rock Guitarist, although his band certainly played Rock, amongst many other things, but I would include Brian May who is just simply amazing

Fascinating take on Clapton. I revere him for his work with Delaney & Bonnie and the first two LPs. For the honourable mentions list: Duane Allman. Is it a bit 'colonial' to relegate Neil Young to a showman? Though I get what you are saying and I totally agree: One thing to be wildly popular. Quite another to 'innovate', invent, take it to the next level (or 'to the beyond' with Hendrix). What about Keith Richards? To point to the obvious: the riff on Start Me Up. Even the Edge never quite got one like that. I am curious, from the Canadian west coast (Jimi's grandma lived in Vancovuer, the building is still there... though maybe not for long), what is your take on US east coasters: Dylan, Paul Simon, and Springsteen. There seems to be an implicit bias in the presentation away from folk/classical guitar-and the Jersey street scene-towards straight-ahead screaming sounds. Which is good. However, Day in the Life matches all the criteria fro Prog (except perhaps decibel levels), yet it's not hard edge.

I think you are right. Iommi and angus and page etc.

Great list! It inspired me to relisten to Whole Lotta Rosie. That outro!!

Just started watching it. Nice close to the heart topic ,one name immediately comes to mind and that is Gary Moore 🙏

I saw a concert in the 90s and MSG was the warmup band for Great White (best known for the Great Fire which happened much later). When Shenker played you knew you were listening to a Guitar God, you were in the presence of greatness and then he was followed by a forgettable hair band. He has never been fully appreciated.

I was 17 years old and playing in a band in 1966 when the John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton LP came out. Maybe you weren't even born yet but it is impossible to overestimate the impact of Eric Clapton at that time in that context! He changed all music for all time. Everybody...and I mean everybody followed him. Eddie van Halen said "I worked very hard to sound like Clapton" It was akin to the emergence of Charlie Parker and bebop in the 1940s. Chet Baker said "Man that was a rude awakening!" But everybody had to go Charlie Parker's way. In San Francisco Bluesbreakers introduced us to Eric Clapton! We had no knowledge of him before that. I had heard a little of Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse on a compilation LP "What's Shakin'" I really dug the guitar sound and approach. Warm, punchy sustain like a horn or a voice. At that time the guitar heroes were Mike Bloomfield and Jeff Beck. As you said Clapton introduced distortion, tone and extreme bending. He also introduced the Les Paul craze. Gibson was no longer making Les Pauls. People were on Les Paul hunts searching for original vintage Les Pauls. And they were finding them in garage sales, pawn shops etc. In 1968 Gibson re-introduced the Les Paul line. After Clapton lead guitarists and there licks became the focus in rock bands. And the shit got loud as more and more amps came out like the Marshall stack. Clapton's influence from those times is still pervasive with little kids dreaming of being guitar heroes, the toy "guitar hero" I can even hear Clapton's influence --from that time--in elevators from Musak! I can understand why you left Clapton off the list. If you require constant innovations then Clapton hasn't done that but all the guitarists on your list ae not innovating any longer either! I know Hendrix is not making any innovations! But after making the biggest contribution ever in rock music Clapton has just made enjoyable and tasteful music. And he's made some money.

Spot on, Mate!

It should also be about composition and with that in mind I prefer Richard Thompson who is this country’s best singer songwriter who can play acoustic gigs as well as electric. He is regarded as one of the best electric guitarists in the world and when he does decide to play a solo the construction is well considered and epic. Try the live version of Living On Borrowed Time from the deluxe release of Shoot Out The Lights.

Excellent list. Well argued. I respect the fact that your top three separate themselves by being both creative and influential. Speaking of influential I would reluctantly drop Shenker, who is admittedly a monster, in favour of Chuck Berry.

Rock Bottom live changed my life for sure

SRV for sure simply as a player. Unfortunately shortened career and life. Of all the greats I have seen, none completely became one with the guitar life Stevie. Saw him from 3ft away the first time and that was an experience I will never forget.

Where’s Nick Lucas?!! He was………. Enjoyed this very much Mr. Edwards. Looking forward to the next vid! 👍

The thing that makes the guitarists on this list iconic is that the music they created with the groups they played with would simply not existed without them. I can't imagine a Led Zeppelin, Who or Jimi Hendrix Experience with some other blues influenced guitarist in the lead roll.

I would say (in no order): Page, Beck, Blackmore, Angus, EVH, Hendrix, SRV, Gilmour, Vai, Brian May Great video!

Very impressive list, and I especially agree on the top five you have picked. I would place those five guitarists in a slightly different order, but only because of my personal preferences, and/ or my view as to their virtuosity: 1) Beck; 2) Blackmore; 3) Van Halen; 4) Hendrix; 5) Page.

A great list but I would've included Brian May.

Great episode. Jeff Beck would be my #1 though. It has been almost 60 years since the Yardbirds and Jeff has only improved as a player. He was fantastic in the Yardbirds and is so incredible and much more thoughtful now. Every album and every tour he does he plays better and better. And seems to be having so much fun while doing it. I love Hendrix. But he is # 2

I saw Jeff Beck in concert about 4 years ago. He is a true guitar god if there ever was one.

I always think about Rainbow when you do that AC/DC sound. Tuu du duu! Since you've been gone 😄

Andy, love the channel and I love this list. Love your knowledge and enthusiasm. Hard to argue with your choices. However as a huge Gary Moore fan I am disappointed he didn't make the list. Even if one discounts his fusion and blues work Gary was a helluva rock guitarist. Technique and chops for days. A ferocious lead player. And he goes way back. For me no one plays like Gary although someone like John Sykes has captured Gary's spirit. Keep up the great work!

Dick Dale worked with Leo Fender earlier than that, although the sound Pete and Dick were going for were very different.

Stupendous video

Totally agree about Jimi ! He's the one and always will. And EVH is the 2e for me. They both changed the game in the rock scene. But the comet Hendrix is just unique

Very entertaining video but I wish you would have added Tom Morello or John Fruciante as they are more modern and they each have a distinct style. But still very entertaining! Greetings from Chicago.

Great video once again Andy. Is there scope for a list that would include Rory Gallagher?

33:11 Are you familiar with the Van Halen "club days" bootlegs that are plentiful these days? -- that's actually my favorite EVH stuff to listen to -- the way Edward would supercharge those cover tunes is just amazing

Looks like you've made it to 5K subscribers! Congrats! (or is KZfaq rounding-up the number?)