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To comment on our Greatest Guitarist 2005 Poll please email us: we'll be posting some feedback on this site shortly
At last the wait is over and we can reveal the results of our Great Rock Guitarist Debate 2005. Due to the huge quantity of results we enlisted the assistance of the Zimbabwe Election Council in order to secure a fair result. Over the last month it seems like the internet traffic has doubled every day for this poll. The results certainly came in thick and fast. Our man on the scene at the mainframe collection office is the legendary former editor of The Catholic Herald, Jeff Barton "We thought the 2004 debate was intense, but this year, without doubt, we've had the most critical debate in rock history. We've had over 50,000 votes cast. It's quite complicated as this year it was decided to utilise the Proportional Representation System advocated by the Liberal Democratic party. Mostly this was introduced because of complaints by Steve Vai fans last year that there wasn't a fair enough overall representation as they felt Steve often registered as a 2nd favourite. The results have been verified by the Zimbabwean Election Monitoring Commission who have flown in especially for the month. The counting began at midnight on October 1st. The results took just 6 hours to come through, amazing. We're going to list every guitarist who has polled over 1% of the vote."
First off then, the winner again is the incomparable Ritchie Blackmore. Even though our Ritchie hasn’t hardly played any rock since the mid 90’s, he is still rated as the best of the bunch. Well done Ritchie!
We tried to get an interview with Ritchie, however he was unavailable for comment due to recording commitments.
Here are the results in full....
|
Player |
% of Vote |
Fan Comments |
|
Ritchie Blackmore |
14.10% |
"Simply, you
are a Guitar God". |
|
Stevie Ray Vaughan |
12.50% |
“Missed but never
forgotten. Without doubt, the greatest player of all time. A technical
genius”
|
|
Jeff Beck |
8.78% |
“My favourite player, who never fails to impress.. Hi Ho
Silver Lining still rocks after all these years”
|
|
Steve Morse |
8.20% |
“I thought the world would end when you left Deep Purple.
Come back, all is forgiven”
|
|
Jimi Hendrix |
6.30% |
“An inspiration to every player, no matter what style of music
you follow”
|
|
Eric Clapton |
5.70% |
“The Riffs Master – enough said”
|
|
Dave Gilmour |
4.80% |
“Great Player, but what a tight sod. I wish he’d be a bit
more generous with his cash”
|
|
Jimmy Page |
4.10% |
"Sadly missed, you’ll never be forgotten”
|
|
Randy Rhodes |
3.90% |
“We’re all on a Crazy Train – you are the man, and
you always will be”
|
|
Eddie van Halen |
3.70% |
“For heavens sake, I wish you’d use a plectrum. I could
lend you one if you’re so desperate"
|
|
Brian May |
3.70% |
“Full chunky riffs and a full chunky head of hair – what a
player!”
|
|
Joe Satriani |
3.10% |
“You are truly awful, but compared to Steve Vai,
you’re a mega rock god. In view of this, you get my vote”
|
|
Yngwie Malmsteen |
2.70 |
“I can dissimilate your playing, but I cannot dissimilate
you name”
|
|
Gary Moore |
2.20% |
I’ve been
following you since Bradford 1979. I looked up at you from the front row and
you drenched me with sweat – I haven’t bathed since. |
|
Angus Young |
2.10% |
“He can play on two strings what Ritchie Blackmore
would need six for. Come to think of it, Angus only uses two
strings – aaaaargghhhhh!”
|
|
Mike Oldfield |
1.80% |
“My all time hero; your technique is indestructible”
|
|
Dimebag |
1.60% |
“Since you left the music biz, a large void has been
created. Come back quickly, rock guitar needs you”
|
|
Pete Townsend |
1.60% |
“Yes
indeed!" |
|
John Williams |
1.30% |
“For once, I’d wish you’d plug into a Marshall and blow
them all away”
|
|
Tony Iommi
|
1.30% |
“Why is the rock
press always taking about Lemmi when they should be talking Lommi!
I’m your biggest fan, ever; I’ll never forget you on top of
Buckingham Palace”
|
|
Alex Lifeson |
1.30% |
“The greatest ever – I’m in no Rush (ho-ho) to listen to
anyone else”
|
|
The Edge |
1.10% |
“Just like his
name, he plays on the edge – speed, skill and taste, sets you aside from any
other player I’ve heard”A O Flattery, Perth Aus |
|
Jan Cyrka |
1.10% |
“What a nose; forget about the playing; what a corker!
How did you fit on stage with that appendage?”
|
|
Rickey Medlocke |
1.00% |
Donnington 1980 – the greatest day of my life.
Your playing was an an inspiration”
|
To comment on our
Greatest Guitarist 2005 Poll please email us: we'll be posting
some feedback on this site shortly
A short
selection of Peoples contributions follow: Favourite guitarists are in black
type, least favourite in red type.
|
Contributor |
Guitarist |
Comment |
|
John Blackburn |
Curt Cobain |
Curt was bloody awful, can't understand
the fuss |
|
Ivan Dwiddlewright |
Joe Satriani Ritchie Blackmore |
What is it with you guys.
Why do you hate Joe Satriani so much.
Surely it can't be just because he is American. I have put Ritchie as my
least favourite guitarist just to partly wind you up, but also because I just
cannot understand what is so good about "Smoke on the water"
anyway. It's only 4 notes! Big deal. Joe could play around 500 notes in the
time it takes your Ritchie to play that bloody riff. I've given the website a
crap mark as well. Serves you right! |
|
Smashed Executive |
Frank Zappa |
Zappa - could play the tits off an aging
whore and still be inventive |
|
|
Jan Akkerman |
I like Jan, he
has great muscles in his fingers. |
|
Half AC Klarke |
Mike Oldfield Joe Satriani |
There is really only one great guitarist
in my book and that's Mike Oldfield. You have to really watch is odd
fingering techniques and strange tonal qualities that he produces from the
guitar. He is the best. |
|
Jethro Tull |
Jim Brodie |
having witnessed what can only be called the
biggest joke in history (aka. Adalangst live) their
can only be one choice as to the worst guitarist. It was the worst guitar
playing i have ever heard and the only time in the
gig that anything vaguely musical left Brodies
guitar was when his wig fell over his eyes!!! [Editors note: although we allow
any comments on this site, our solicitors are examining this entry and will
be in contact with Jethro shortly] |
|
|
Hamish Stuart |
Hamish from the Average White Band, in |
|
pconnolly |
Bill Clinton |
Bill on my hate list. useless on Sax and
worse on guitar |
|
Karen West |
Jeff West Eric Clapton Joe Satriani |
Jeff West is my big brother and he's
really great. |
|
Ralf Wrenger |
Ritchie Blackmore |
Ritchie is God, nothing more to say
really. |
|
David Pickles |
Steve Morse Steve Morses’s
Dog The Guitarist in Candice Night |
You can't be a God Of Guitar in Green
Tights |
|
phil.heines |
Pete Townsend |
Townsend is so underrated |
|
bournzilla |
Eddie Hazel David Gilmour Eddie Van Halen |
Eddie Hazel has the touch of Hendrix and
Gilmour has great taste. Both of these players know what/when to play and
what/when not to play. |
|
jcs4jbem |
Ritchie Blackmore John Sykes Angus Young |
always been a huge fan of ritchie.
|
|
iain culross |
Ritchie Blackmore: john petrucci justin hawkins |
blackmore is god. |
|
Perttu Huovila |
Ritchie Blackmore: Yngwie Malmsteen |
Yngwie Malmsteen, who really
listens to him and his Lightning speed" shit? Ritchie is my ultimate
guitar hero, yngwie on the
other hand is just trying to be a cheap copy of him. |
|
Matt |
Randy
Rhoads Slash |
Randy Rhoads had amazing technically
ability and invented neo classical shredding and influenced such players as I don't like Slash because he's not good
and very overrated as his leads are simple as can be, he ran out of riffs
after the first album, He's not innovative, He's not creative...quite simply
he's not good. |
|
rickard.brinck |
Ritchie Blackmore Yngwie Malmsteen |
He simply is (or was?) the best guitarist
in the world. Fast hands and everything, you know |
|
Goob |
Stevie Ray Vaughan Jimi Hendrix: Joe Satriani |
Stevie Ray in my eyes is a complete genius. He
has such an understanding and appreciation for the beauty that is the blues
and there is nothing i love more than sitting
around just listening to him play. And those who say that Hendrix is
overrated don't take the time to realize that he was the originator of great
guitar music. Before Hendrix there was nothing that sounded anything similar
to Hendrix, and today there are people that can play better than he did but
the man invented distortion and found the beauty in feedback and how to play
with sounds. He stuck nails into his amp to create distortion that wasn't
some effect that he just clicked on and off. The man was amazing and there is
no questioning that. I think people dispute this because they enjoy saying
that everyone else is wrong. |
|
Saint222761 |
Ritchie Blackmore |
Come on now...Ritchie (according to the
Purple Passages liner notes) turned 64 this year....(others
say he's 60 this year) Does your Grandpa rock like Ritchie?...as with age his
playing has improved. Vai, Satriani...half
his age and you don't hear Ritchie imitating them or stealing their licks now
do you? Give Blackmore the credit he deserves for turning us all on to some
classy playing. Those comments about his most recent stint with Purple MkII revisited....how many times can you play
"smoke" and still get excited? And from what I hear Gillian's a
hard bloke to get along with...Give him credit for Candice too...pretty hot
for a '64 yr old to bag! 0~;P |
|
Southern Comfort |
Don Barnes |
I picked Don Barnes of 38 special because
the guy is dam good. Him and Rickey Medlocke never get recognized on these list. The only
reason I picked Kieth Richards for least favourite
is because he is way over rated. Don't get me wrong he is good but I have
never heard him rippen it up like Eddie Van Halen,Jeff Carlsi,Stevie Ray
Vaughn or a country boy like Brad Paisley. What he plays is good but he's not
in the same league with some of them other guys. |
|
Thomas |
Django Reinhardt |
Ritchie Blackmore needs a smack in the
face |
To comment on our Greatest Guitarist 2005 Poll please contact us we'll be posting some feedback on this site
shortly