Rolling Stone’s New Guitar Gods
Published by Woody February 20th, 2007 in Music Musings.
In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, they outlined the new guitar gods of our generation. Gracing the cover are John Frusciante, Derek Trucks and no other than John Mayer. Mayer can certainly play the guitar. By no means I am saying he is not worthy of being on the list. I just have a tough time taking him serious.
Many nights, I come home from work and my wife will be watching one of the TV rags such as E News and/or Access Hollywood. Routinely Mayer is on regarding his “relationship” with Jessica Simpson. Maybe it’s just the music snob in me but I have a tough time placing the “guitar god” tag on him when he is so immersed in pop culture and the most newsworthy aspect of his life is who he is screwing.
Anyway, David Fricke did round out the list with a pretty diverse crowd. While it wouldn’t be my twenty, it does show he put some thought and effort into it, unlike that lame 100 Greatest solos list. Here’s the rest of the mentions:
Nels Cline, Wilco
Luther Dickinson, North Mississippi Allstars
Chuck Garvey & Al Schnier, moe.
Warren Haynes, Allman Bros/ Govt Mule
Jim James & Carl Broemel, My Morning Jacket
Adam Jones, Tool
Kaki King
Mike McGready & Stone Gossard, Pearl Jam
Tom Morello, Rage Against the Machine/ Audioslave
Ed O’Brien & Johnny Greenwood, Radiohead
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Mars Volta
Matt Pike, Sleep and High On Fire
Jack White, White Stripes
The one name that stood out as a glaring omission was Doug Martsch of Built To Spill. One that I think will be on there in a year or so is Parker Griggs of Radio Moscow. Anybody else think of a glaring omission?
You know, it doesn’t come through much on the albums, but Brit Daniels of Spoon does some very cool guitar work live. The “My Mathematical Mind” he did to end the show last time I saw them was worth the price of admission alone. He actually spiked his pick after and what might seem a little hokey in the telling felt thoroughly deserved at the time.
He might be too old to be the new guard (and Wilco is already represented) but Jeff Tweedy has really honed his craft and does equally well with the band or solo.
I’m kind of confused I guess. Warren Haynes is no spring chicken. How old can a new guitar god be? If Warren is on there, why isn’t Trey or The Edge?
How about Robert Randolph? Mato Nanji from Indigenous is also incredible. I’m sure I’ll think of more “new” guys.
I just looked at that cover shot too. Is Mayer wearing tons of makeup or is it just me? By the looks of that pic, I’d say he’s not into Jessica Simpson or any other woman, for that matter.
PJ Harvey
OZ: The Edge sucks, they need matt bellamy on that list
Trey Anastasio!
the edge rules -
Haynes- YES - excellent player
dickinson are pretty good- dickinson is really good-
moe : guys are good- but not legendary or godlike
my mornign jacket(obvioulsy the list maker is into the new music jam- and modern pyshedlic scenne) are pretty underrated - but not groundbreaking
tool- for fools
mike mcready- worst compliment i ever got from a legit guitar player that i sound like mike mceready- and acted like it was a good thing- I HATE MCREADY!!!!!- ever since that comment- ive been radically trying to sound diffeernetc and wokred on my playing like never before- made me extremely upset-not even joking - i ve been depressed biout my playing all week- mccready sux)
morello- total toolbox- or shall i say- digital cicuit board
radiohead- great
jack white - i like his style and nonosense playing- so - he’ll do for now
What about Robert Randolph?
A pretty serious omission if you ask me…. Especially considering the inclusion of Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, Nels Cline and other so-called Jam Band (ish) artists…
all i have to say is that i for the most part disagree with matt where he said that tool is for fools yet “The Edge” rules. i just have to say that that comment is ridiculous, adam jones and tool in general are some of the most amazing musicians in music today, the way that their music is composed and created is astounding compared to todays standards of sit in a studio for a month give it to a producer and mass market it.
im sorry that tool doesnt make such shitty music as the most amazing single every made “Vertigo” or “The Saints Are Coming”
i am in no way trying to trash U2 or their capabilities as musicians, but come on they are sell outs, and egotistical at that. labeling ureselves the best band in the world is a stretch with any band. i just dont think that edge’s guitar playing has in any way ever been groundbreaking on any level, the band as a wholes music has been riveting and inspiring to many, but i cannot say i have ever in my life met someone who said “damn, u know why i started playing music? cuz of the edge” or “man have you heard the edges amazing new riffs off the new album?” im sorry the edge should be no where near this list but should be somewhere in a top 100 guitar players of all time.
also i didnt know that you needed to sell a million albums to be able to be on that list. for example with the 2 guitarists from moe they are both amazing musicians and their style of play with the guitar is amazing and if you ever go to one of their shows you become amazed with their play. i can tell you from personally going to a U2 show that edge is not in the least bit creative in his play. he plays the same thing you hear on the album, there is no ad live or special style of play.
and for you to trash tom morello is amazing, because he is the most blessed muscian in music today. i have seen him play live and am seeing him later this year at bonnaroo when he performs as the nightwatchman. for you to say that he sucks shows that you have no idea in my opinion what a guitarist or musician truly is. it has nothing to do with money but what your music does for people and how skilled you are at what your doing. i mean robert johnson or stevie ray vaughn were never famous till after they died. or the hundreds of amazing jazz and blues musicians in clubs across the country and that inspired music back in the early 1900’s .
go listen to your top 40 chart toppers
lol and if you disagree with me which some of you most certainly will feel free to respond.
I love the top 3 selections personally, and Tom Morello, Mike Mcgready, Stone Gossard, Adam Jones, are all great picks in my opinion (although I dont think pearl jam should get two, thats kinda dumb). To say that Morello and Jones are no good as someone did is so dumb i cant beleive it. This person forgets that being a guitar god requires the ability to come up with great riffs, and these two are unparralleled at coming up with monster riffs. Yes, they use distortion and sound board devices but the guitar play still clearly shows through. Seeing that you play guitar, I recommend that you try playing their riffs with no distortion and youll see that they sound great in their own right. As for Trey Anastasio, that is a joke, im so glad he was ommitted. All the guy does is jam on notes in a geometric way that has no valid musical structure. They guy literally never comes up with an actual guitar riff and his jamming is something that is so unmelodic and repetitive that it is rediculous. I agree with others that Haynes is a little old, Jack White is terribly overrated (talented, but not a “guitar god” by any means–most of his songs have completely elementary guitar play, especially his popular ones), Mars volta, Radiohead etc. are good bands but the guitar play isnt really that explosive in either. Robert Randolph is the most obvious omission in my opinion, simply because they put people from moe. and north mississippi on there and randolph combines structure and jams in a way that those guys just cannot. Also the guy from soulive is much better at the jam thing than those other guys. People may attack me but I gotta say that Dave Navarro is kind of a bad omission even tho hes a little out of the limelight now, because that guy can flat out play and his genre is underrepresented in the list. Also the guy from Incubus really really really needs to be on that list in a big way. something that annoys me about the list and peoples comments is that popular jam artists are too quickly assumed to be great guitarists. Granted most of them are good, but theres a reason why fruschante is on that list, and its musical structure not just jamming that makes his play so good. The guy from Wilco is good, but some of the jam band selections are talented guys who put no effort into composing good music to jam off (they could jam off a madonna cover if they wanted). Guys like Jimmy Page and even Hendrix were great first because of their ability to write quality guitar parts, then play off them. Alot of these guys dont do that at all.
All I have to say it’s pathetic to think anyone is a guitar god, Everyone makes a big deal about all these guys and its the same licks and riffs with twists that thousands of guitarists have played. If it wasn’t one it would be another, whoever the media pushes in your face, while the man jamming in the subway or on the sidewalk in the middle of nowhere writes a piece of music better then any of these named.
well,the people with true talent the ones that can listen and learn,like adam jone’s, tom morrello.them both and some other’s ofcourse,CAN put there magical finger’s”only a few keep in mind” on the guitar and kickass!!!!!!! but john mayer hahahaha!!!!!!!! no!!!!no!!!!!! john is not a guitar god blah bullshit,he play’s like a freshmen.NOT A GUITAR GOD LOL.funny shit people are saying these day’s.put john up against adam and we will see who’s guitar god,and age differ dosen’t matter talent is talent goddamnit.
lol yes thats what im talking about
lol yes thats what im talking about, sadea great comment
it just pisses me off,john’s not a real artist he’s an imposter.(and his music bites ass)anyways even a retard can see true skill from the heart,a real person,yet a musian/artist.
peace
And moderators, please allow my comment. You know it’s good. And not only that, but right.
ohhhh,arron you just don’t have good taste in music,and if you don’t got the talent it’s nobody’s fault.tool is fuckin awsome,you don’t see them going anywhere there still here in your face.proving that they passionate about what they do.all of them maynard,adam,justin,and danny. long!! live!! TOOL!!!!,no matter what non talented retard’s like you say!!!!!
Hmmm. Well, now that I’m seeing my last comment in it’s full entirety, I’m going to try reposting the comment I put up on Mar 12th, 2007 at 9:46 am that didn’t show completly (the one Sadea was too fuckin’ stupid to read entirely, even when it was only half).
——————————————————
From Mar 12th, 2007 at 9:46 am :
Nice one Matt. Very clever. “Tool - for fools”. That took all of your brain power, didn’t it? I lawled. But what the fuck do I expect from an Indie blog website? Just about as bad as those damn emos. Seriously, learn guitar and the skill it takes. Three notes making up a simple, repeated riff in all yer favorite bands isn’t skilled guitar playing. (Matt: “I
Hey Sadea, what’s your e-mail? Maybe if I e-mail it to your ass you’ll have no choice but to read the whole thing.
So I’ll ask you one more time. How is John Mayer an imposter? Here, I’ll provide a definition of ‘imposter’ to help ya out.
im·pos·tor
–noun
a person who practices deception under an assumed character, identity, or name.
Also, im·post·er.
[Origin: 1580–90;
oohhh!!!! my god, the whole time your trying to belittle me, telling me i suck,and i don’t know this. i don’t really care. i bet your some old fat guy that stay’s in his basement. wearing a tool t-shirt,and you automatically think it make’s you a fan,what a loser. exaclly john suck’s,he’s a fraud he just doe’s it to make money,not because he is passionate about what he does. ok no! tool is not just good their “great”. like i said before moron’
“john play’s like a freshmen” and his music is money making crap.
alright “dude” and quoting what i say is not pissing me off either i stand by what i say.
and you won’t here from me i’m tired of fighting,congrat’s you win!!! you have no life “good for you” i’m going to go grab a beer. oh yeah and john think’s he has a chance with jessica simson.lol
Come on dude. Give me some facts or reasons to believe “he is just in it for the money”. He has too much of skill of playng the guitar “just to do it for the money”. The type of music he even plays isn’t a money grabber. If he was just in it for the money, he would go for emo, or other lame rapid growing music genres that are much more simple and make a whole lot more money and publicity. Mayer is playing a type of music that isn’t heard in the mainstream of this generation much at all. Have you ever seen him play? You can tell just by looking at him by his actions and expressions while he plays that he is VERY passionate. If he was just in it for the money, he would find something else easier to do instead of mastering the guitar. NO ONE picks up a guitar and says, “Hmm… I wanna play this thing because it’ll get me a bunch of music!” You CAN’T be a good musician if all you do is care about the money. You have to like playing. Try listening to Mayer first, which I can tell you obviously haven’t (singles on the radio don’t count).
… And the old “fat guy living in a basement insult”. -_- First, I’m not old, I am 17. Seond, I’m not fat by any means. And lastly, you’re right, me wearing a TooL shirt doesn’t make me a fan… I wear the shirt BECAUSE I’m a fan.
How the fuck can you stand by what you say when even YOU don’t know what the hell you are talking about. Quit being a fuckin’ pansy and branch out to other music besides Tool. All you are is a straight, band fanboy. TooL rocks. I know. They are my favorite, but quit using them as a standby for your lame ass statements and excuses.
Correction: “Hmm… I wanna play this thing because it’ll get me a bunch of ~music!~”.
Music was suppose to be “money”, not music. My bad there.
Anywho. Here, read about Mayer before you talk music out of your ass.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mayer
yeah sedea you seriously dont have any clout to talk about this. Mayer’s music may not be your cup of tea, and in fact it is not mine either. But there is literally not one person out there who can play guitar for real and who doesnt acknowledge that mayer has got serious talent. Sure he plays pop music and his songs arent as explosive as say tool or rage or those bands, but the guy knows his music really amazingly well and he is the closest thing to clapton that we have seen in our era. The comparisons to clapton are also warranted, because clapton was in many ways an immitator too. If you watch interviews with the man hes always explaining how he took blues riffs and adapted them for his most famous songs. That doesnt mean hes not one of the best guitarists ever. Again, your entitled to your opinion but you clearly dont play the instrument or have any understanding of music, all your doing is calling mayer a fag and pretending that this is proof of his being a bad guitarist. you are really dumb.
as a side bar, i think these were some bad ommissions:
the guitarists from incubus, 311 and blues traveller, as well as robert randolf and especially kenny wayne shepherd
This is even worse than the 100 list.
Too true. Long Live KoRn!
ADAM FUCKING DUTKIEWICZ FROM KILLSWITCH! EVEN THO A LOT OF PEOPLE CALL IT “SCREAMO” OR “EMO” OR WHAT_HAVE_YOU, LISTEN TO A LITTLE SONG CALLED BREAK THE SILENCE, EVEN IF THE HEAVIEST STUFF YOU LISTEN TO IS IN BLOOM BY NIRVANA. YOU CAN’T NOT BE AMAZED. ALSO, LAMB OF GOD’S GUITARISTS - I DONT KNOW THEIR NAMES - BUT BOTH OF THEM ARE GREAT
New Guitar Gods ?…..So why have they not iterviewed Jordan Rivers. He’s the best in the world right now. I guess Rolling Stone is chicken hearted and scared to admit that a rock,blues-Gospel guitarist and singer can whip any of the Rolling Stone Guitar Gods.
Jordan Rivers is better than any guitar player alive.
Funny,I heard Jessica Simpson has a crash on Gospel Guitarist Jordan Rivers, and John Mayer has a bnig headache?…..I wonder if this is true.
I also wonder if John Mayer is scared of Jordan Rivers. I mean Mr Rivers is a former Bodybuilder and 6 foot 2 inches tall and built like a real he man.
He’s also a far better guitarist than Mayer.
So who will Jessica Simpson pick……My buck says it’s Jordan Rivers.
I do not agree with the list overall, but I can honestly say that making a list of new ‘Guitar Gods’ this short is bound to disappoint just about anyone who takes guitar seriously. There is so much outstanding new talent out ther, that a list of 13 guitarists is bound to exclude several contenders who might achieve ‘Guitar God’ status.
Matt Pike is most definitely a worthy addition. He has all the necessary elements (massive talent, playing skill, innovation, presence on stage and ability to work an audience, and credibility through his past work). His music is not particularly popular, but that to me is not a hindrance.
Tom Morello is a good guitar player , not a ‘God’. He is more famous for his politics than his playing. He has lined his pockets by promoting socialism in a capitalist country. If he tried to do the same in an actual socialist country, he would be broke and obscure, publicity stunts in Cuba notwithstanding.
hey I found this web site …you should check it out…there is a new ledgend on the rise… http://www.topix.com/forum/us/TDB6KC540CAOJE88O
he is fresh and really cool check out how Jordan Rivers is Making a statement…
They forgot Robert Johnson and Franz Liste. Rolling Stone is like the music rag equivalent of Triumph of the Will.
The usual type of list.. It sucks. Want a new guitar god? Here is one.. Jeff Loomis ( I Omitted guys like Gilbert, Malmsteen and Batio since they are already gods)
Jake Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss of Umphrey’s Mcgee these guys aren’t are just as good as Chuck and Al.
Has anyone ever heard Brad Paisley…I love country and am biased but he’s by far the best in country and yea….youtube Mr. Policeman or throttleneck to see what i mean
Their original top 100 greatest guitar players didn’t include Django Reinhardt? Can we really take this magazine serious regarding guitar? I think not. John Mayer is a guitar player, but he is by no stretch of the imagination a guitar god!
I think it’s a pretty decent list but I think it was a bit ill-advised to make those the top three. I think Nels Cline, Jack White, Johnny Greenwood, and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez are doing a lot more to advance guitar technique in rock music than the top three mentioned. Admittedly I’m biased in favor of my contemporary heros (the first three) but I think the first three are more traditional in method, and they’re great at what they do but I think for the sake of illustrating the evolution of rock guitar they should have given more credit to the ones I mentioned (or really anyone else on the list).
Jordan Rivers? Huh? Is this a joke?
Mato Nanji (Indigenous)
John Mayer (sorry the dude can play… check out Austin City Limits with Buddy)
Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys)
Chris Duarte
John Mayer is out of his league in based on the rest of the list i think, and Matt Bellamy and maybe someone like Buckethead should be on there. And long live The Mars Volta and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez.
yeah long live Tome Morello.
also:
Mike McGready & Stone Gossard
Tom Morello
Ed O’Brien & Johnny Greenwood
Adam Jones
xDDDD