Who is the greatest rock guitarist?

A better question is "where are all the new great rock guitarists?" When I think of all the people who qualify as guitar gods not one of them became popular after 1990. Most of them became popular before 1970. Why don't bands recruit, want, or feature outstanding lead guitarists anymore?

In fact, I can only think of one currently popular performer who is even known as a good guitarist. John Mayer is a pretty good guitar player though he is mostly known for writing and singing good pop songs. The Edge (U2) is really a rhythm guitar player, though a very good one. The same is true for the guitarists who have played with the Red Hot Chile Peppers. Derek Trucks is a good guitar player influenced heavily by blues as well as jazz and gospel and he deserves to be more popular than he is. Johnny Lang is in the same boat.

So is it that people aren't learning to play exceptionally well anymore or is the popular music industry the culprit? A few large record companies control most of what we hear. If they don't think guitar gods will sell we won't hear them. Let's hope that the current popularity of Guitar Hero video games spurs interest in playing the real thing.

My personal favorites include, of course, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman (slide), Dicky Betts, and Jimmy Page. But my most favorite has always been Carlos Santana because his solos are so melodic and fit so well in the songs of which they are a part. And though I'm not always crazy about their music I have the utmost respect for the guitar talents of Brian May, Slash, Eddy Van Halen, and Jeff Beck.

I also like a few guitarists whose popularity never matched their talent. Ry Cooder is a roots music player who is frequently outstanding. David Bromberg is another folk/roots kind of player who also plays rock guitar very well. I'll save blues guitarists for another post.