Who’s The Greatest Rock Guitarist?

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The foundation of the concept of the rock guitarist lay in the consolidation of the small group with drums, bass, lead and rhythm guitars, plus, maybe a keyboard. Groups like The Shadows, The Ventures and Dick Dale’s Dell Tones made young men go out and buy guitars and sit in their rooms for hours practicing. When The Beatles became the first small group to gain international attention from people of all ages, the guitar reached the height of its popularity.

If we think about who we consider to be the world’s greatest rock guitarist, names from the sixties and seventies, like Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton immediately appear in our heads. Indeed, most people who vote in polls about this sort of thing seem to go for Hendrix – a guitarist who had a very short life about forty years ago.

These are guitarists who became famous when loudness was king of rock guitar and flashy technique was its gay partner, but what about the guitarists whose names are not generally known, even though they were with popular bands? Pete Ham of Badfinger springs to mind, or Jerry Miller of Moby Grape.

Mike Campbell, Tom Petty’s guitarist for about a zillion years is admired by many guitar players but unknown to the general public.

Here’s Mike Campbell in guitar hero mode: