The Top 4 Blues Guitarists Of All Time

The greatest guitarists of all time - a long-standing and inflammatory debate, and not one which can be presented and settled within the paragraphs of this short blog. Instead; here are four trailblazers who pioneered, reshaped or moved the bar - giving players around the world cause to reassess the instrument and raise their game.

Taking the time to understand and truly listen to the finer nuances of the greats is also the perfect way to influence your own playing and stay motivated.

Here are four such Blues guitarists; their style, influence and some good reasons to immerse yourself in their music before grabbing your guitar and crafting your own path to greatness!

I know; an all too obvious choice. But, it is easy to forget the way this gentleman has shaped every aspect of the modern electric guitar. Pre Clapton, the world of guitar solos were of the cleaner, Rockabilly variety. During the early 60s, the shock waves of Rock n Roll were still being. Clapton was the first electric player to breakthrough and evolve the possibilities of the guitar; turning his amp up, using gain in a musical way and creatively mic’ing his cabs in the studio to create ambience and space. Essentially all the ingredients which now make up the modern electric guitar tone.

If you’re looking for further evidence of Eric’s enduring impact; take a look at the smooth, unwound finish of your guitar’s G string. Using a banjo G string instead of the standard wound variety, Clapton literally reinvented the modern string gauge as we now know it so he could bend with ease.

Within the first few years of serious practice (he dabbled as a youngster but returned to the guitar at the age of 13) he achieved virtuosity. After being dismissed from art college at the age of 16 he began to perform and busk professionally and in 1963 he got his break with the Yard Birds. He has often credited his accelerated development to his habit of constantly recording himself on his Grundig reel to reel and listening back, correcting the parts in his playing which he disliked.

‘Slow Hand’ - Now, Clapton, over the course of his career gained a reputation for his musical restraint. Young Clapton, however, was a fiery, technical acrobat. Take a listen to ‘Have You Heard?’ from the famous Blues Breakers ‘Beano’ album. The 1-minute solo is a perfect example of his emotional and often aggressive playing. Notes are pulled and pushed with microtonal bends, and he delivers some finger melting runs - all within the context of the music. And this is the true root of his genius. Much like his contemporary Peter Green. Clapton was able to craft and build a solo, using dynamics and speed to add both tension and excitement, As a soloist, he really was the first to ‘tell a story’ with his solos; building drama and using his technical prowess to a musical end.

It is said that Clapton was given an extended solo on ‘Have You Heard?’ as a means of showcasing his full talents as John Mayall knew of his impending departure.

The nickname ‘Slow Hand’ is actually not a reference to his playing. During his formative years, Clapton would regularly break strings and change them on stage. His British audiences developed the habit of ‘slow hand-clapping’ to fill the silence whilst he quickly restrung and thus, the nickname stuck.

We often picture, the now iconic, image of Eric Clapton looking dapper with suit and Strat, but during his early days he was an exclusive Gibson a player, using an SG or Les Paul to achieve his, self-titled, ‘Woman Tone’. it has been suggested that this sound was the perfect positioning and combination of volume and tone controls. He switched to Strats in 1969. His association with Fender being strong due to him being the very first British player to adopt the Stratocaster. If you would like to create that early Clapton tone - a Marshall JTM turned up loud will also help.

To recognise his contribution to the guitar Eric Clapton is the only person in history to be inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame three times!

The Fleetwood Mac frontman, prior to his slide into obscurity was one of the most talked about Blues players pioneering the instrument during its heyday, Nicknamed the ‘Green God’, BB King is famously quoted as saying that Green had ‘The sweetest tone I’ve ever heard’ and that his playing gave BB ‘cold sweats’.

Peter Green was a professional player by the age of 15 and was initially known as a bass guitarist. His lead guitar work displayed intricacies and melodic control which had rarely been heard on the electric guitar. For a prime example of this - check out his solo on the cover of Freddie King’s ’The Stumble’, recorded when Green was at the tender age of only 21!

The world truly noticed Green when he temporarily filled in for Eric Clapton’s duties in John Mayall’s Blues Breakers. Becoming a permanent member in 1966. Slow and soulful as Green was, he was capable of jaw-dropping blues virtuosity. Check out the Blues Breakers instrumental ‘The Supernatural’. His ferocious performance on this recording was said to be a means of reassuring fans who were unhappy with Eric Clapton’s recent departure.

He formed Fleetwood Mac in 1967 and this saw his playing develop further to span genres of psychedelia and rock and in 1969 he sold more records than The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined!

This new style gives us the chance to hear some of Green’s finest playing. Often soloing over more sparse musical backdrops, he created texture and drama (often over empty space!). He became a master of sustain and dynamics with a tone never heard before and this became the prime influence for players such as Gary Moore and Joe Perry. A perfect example of this is the wah solo on ‘So Many Roads’. It is both rhythmically intricate and dynamic, with a flurry of syncopated scalar runs which serve to shape and build tension.

Peter Green’s ’59 Les Paul has become a legend in its own right, becoming dubbed his ‘magic guitar’. It gave a nasal, out of phase tone which was uncharacteristic for a heavy-bodied Les Paul whilst still retaining its endless sustain. According to Green, no magic was involved and the, much-coveted, tone was the accidental incorrect refitting of the neck pick up. He had removed the humbucker after watching Eric Clapton perform an entire gig using only his bridge pick up. when refitting the pick up, he mistakingly postponed it with the poles facing the wrong way! The world’s most famous Les Paul was purchased by Green for $300 and later sold to Gary Moore for the exact same amount. Kirk Hammett of Metallica now owns the guitar and parted with a staggering $2 million for the privilege.

Peter Green was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame in 1998.

It is a fair comment that no blues player in history has spanned so many genres and styles, before reinventing himself as a well seasoned bluesman. Whether it is his Jazz Fusion work with mid 1970s group Colosseum II or his later, post Thin Lizzy, heavy metal period. All of this combined to produce a an unrivalled blues player during the early 1990s. Moore had become disillusioned with his musical direction and sought to re connect with his childhood influences of Eric Clapton and Peter Green.

Bringing with him, the attack and high gain tone of his former rock years, Moore reinvigorated blues guitar with gut wrenching vibrato and moments of technical brilliance. His connection to the blues was rooted in integrity and he is noted as one of the few rock crossover players to place feel before technique. The result was old school blues phrasing with the danger of unbridled rock technique and soulful feel. The world had already had a taste of Moore’s incredible playing due to the 1979 single ‘Parisienne Walkways’ reaching the UK Top 10.

Another pivotal performance (and indeed impact on his playing) was the 1990 recording of ‘Oh Pretty Woman’. During the sessions Albert King listened to Moore’s solos and instructed him to try again but ‘Play every other lick’. He later stated that this was the single most important piece of advise he was given by any player.

Any doubter’s of Gary Moore’s authentic and heart felt approach to the blues need look no further than his live performance of ‘The Thrill Is Gone’ performed alongside BB King himself. Listen to him matching the master lick for lick and it is clear that Moore had found his true calling as a guitarist. You will also note from his live performances and improvisation that Moore was a big exponent of following the chords and made every effort to really form a melody which complimented the notes from the underlying harmony of the chord progression. Something we can possibly attribute to his time as a Jazz Fusion player.

His tone came from the marriage of his 59’ Les Paul (purchased from Peter Green) and Marshall JTM-45 driven hard with his, now famous, placement of an Ibanez Tubescreamer between guitar and amp. He was also known to employ the use of a Marshal Guv’nor pedal for extra gain and sustain. His Fiesta Red 61’ Strat is almost as famous as his Les Paul and was used on numerous recordings and live shows.

If you want to hear stock blues lines and licks in a different context, there is no better inspiration than the playing of Carlos Santana. His band fused Latin, Jazz and African percussion to create dense and rhythmically involved pieces of music to which Santana would overlay his untamed brand of blues solos. He was a pioneer in bringing outside elements to his music and even dipped into the world of free jazz and Indian influences with the 1974 album ‘Illumination’ which he recorded in collaboration with Alice Coltrane; the widow of late Jazz virtuoso John Coltrane.

Matching his early influences of BB King and John Lee Hooker to his native Latin music with which he surrounded himself; Santana developed the ability to play phrases which were both melodically simple and, in contrast, rhythmically complex. The Latin element also contributed to his note choice and he interwove Dorian and Harmonic Minor tonalities with his common position blues lines. Hi s sense of harmony also developed after, teenage rock virtuoso, Neal Schon (who later became the leading guitar force in the band ‘Journey’) joined the band in 1971 and allowed Santana to develop twin guitar parts and melodies.

His early playing is wonderfully untamed and, as previously mentioned, his chief concern is rhythm. His phrases are a perfect masterclass in timing and doing a lot with very little. Equally his softer playing is perfectly controlled and dynamic. A prime example of this is ‘Samba Pa Ti’ in which he pushes the placement of his licks covers a huge dynamic range in response to the music.

From a tonal point of view Santana has always believed in the ‘less is more’ approach. He achieves his sound through carefully selected amps as opposed to chains of pedals. He is reported to use main main amplifiers: a Mesa Boogie MK1, Dumble Overdrive Reverb and (recently) a Bludotone. The thinking behind the 3 amp approach is that (according to the man himself) each amplifier represents a singer’s choice of voice - head, nasal and chest, which a vocalist will utilise for the tasks of subtle and powerful delivery. Santana uses a three way switcher on stage to access each ‘vice’ of his playing depending on the dynamic or mood of the music. Whilst not a big fan of effects, he has been known to use an Ibanez Tube Screamer and occasionally a Big Muff for the added sustain for which he is famous.

With a similar approach to Gary Moore, Santana achieves his singing lead tone when playing live by tuning his amp up to performance level prior to a show and walking around the stage to find the perfect spot for musical feedback. This area is then marked with tape and becomes the centre for all of his live solos.

His choice of guitars is diverse and, in the early 70s, Santana’s go to was a Gibson SG. He switched to, the now collectable, Yamaha SG 175B between 1976 and 1982. His custom PRS Custom 24 with which he is now so widely associated made its appearance in 1982 and became the first PRS production signature model.

If you would like to witness the moment which really defined the impact Carlos Santana had on the world of music; check out his performance at Woodstock, where the audience were treated to the 11 minute instrumental ‘Soul Sacrifice’.

** Last edited for freshness 25/2/2021 **