12 May 1990
In the New Musical Express of 12 May 1990 they asked a bunch of guitarists to name their three favourite guitarists. John obliged and gave three names quoted below. It is amusing to see that the only one who cites John Martyn as his favourite is David Gavurin of The Sundays.
• Who is, of was, the greatest guitarist of 'em all? FRED DELLAR put the question to every existing ace axeman of part-time strummer who came within hailing distance of the Fredphone. Bluesmen, heavy heroes, '60s legends, household names, indie who-are-theys – all were invited to list their top three all-time guitarists and, if possible, add a note or two explaining why they'd made their choices.
Billy Bragg phoned in to express amazement that he was being included amid all the 'real guitarists'. Pete Townshend seemed considerably unchuffed with the whole idea, eventually leaving a message saying that he didn't want to take part, while one indie strummer reported that he didn't mind indulging but couldn't really think of three other guitarists!
Despite these and other setbacks, the NME hotline continued in operation until a final listing had been achieved and, not surprisingly, Jimi Hendrix was acclaimed six-string king, edging out Keith Richards (Err, five string king? – Ed) and Neil Young by a fair margin. So how did your particular hero vote? A glance below reveals all. Twang!
[...]
(The Sundays)
1 John Martyn
2 Johnny Marr
3 Mississippi John Hurt
[...]
1 Frank Usher
He's a legend in lnnerleithen. Scotland, but not anywhere else. He's currently playing with Fish and he's the best!
2 Davey Graham
A brilliant and very influential acoustic guitarist. Without him, people like Donovan and Simon & Garfunkel and others, just wouldn't sound the way they do.
3 Paul Kossoff
The first and best of the Heavy Metal boys.
[...]
So how did the plectrum poll fall? Well, by awarding three points for every first choice, two for the second and one for the third, we came up with the not altogether surprising fact that in 1990, JIMI HENDRIX is still adjudged top dog with a tremolo arm.
But looking down the list, you'll notice some surprising omissions, like THE EDGE (not one vote!), blues legends BB KING and MUDDY WATERS, old troopers like SANTANA, JEFF BECK and MARK KNOPFLER. And if you're a Heavy Metal guitarist, the message seems to be, nobody loves ya bay-beeee!
Of course, musicians are notoriously fickle and fashion-conscious folks, so next week, RON WOOD might have made it into the hall of fame. But until then, the gurning gladiators of rock guitar – we salute you!
1 Jimi Hendrix
2 Keith Richards
3 Richard Thompson
4 Neil Young
5 Django Reinhardt
6 Tom Verlaine
7 Stevie Ray Vaughan
8 Ry Cooder
9 Dave Gilmour
10 Pete Townshend
11 John Lee Hooker
12 Johnny Marr
13 Jimmy Page
14 Charlie Christian
15 George Harrison
16 Scotty Moore
17 Eddie Van Halen
18 Prince
19 Eric Clapton
20 Paco De Lucia
sitenotes:
For what it's worth: John gets a mention (one). Still, amazed by the relative absence of John McLaughlin (one vote), and Steve Stills (zero mentions).
This article was published in the NME of 12 May 1990 on page 18-20 and was discovered by John Neil Munro.