GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE MAY 1999
Who do you consider the most important guitarists of our time?
Jeff Beck:
Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, I suppose. Jimmy Page, too, although he was sort of an ambassador for riffs and mystique, rather than an innovator.
Django Reinhardt is still the best guitarist, and there's no question about that, ever. Stevie Ray Vaughan was great, of course. He had a large chunk of Hendrix in him, and Hendrix carried a big chunk of Buddy Guy. In 1959, Buddy was doing all of that showbiz stuff, playing around with the guitar and teasing the audience with it. T-Bone Walker used to do that, too. He used to finish off his act by playing with one hand while carrying his amp off with the other. I thought that was the coolest thing in the entire universe when I saw that.
Albert Lee is still the king of that kind of country stuff, and I don't hear enough of it. And Jennifer (?) is going to be monstrous. I can't wait for her to get out and do her thing.
But Eric has just become phenomenal. There's no one else like him with an electric guitar. Even though he sings non-rock songs these days, he's still a great influence on rock guitar. I'm proud that he's British. And, of course, Hendrix still has more of a bark even though he has been dead for nearly 30 years. It's astonishing, the interest in someone who only had an 18-month to two-year career. It's amazing.
This interview was first published in Guitar Player magazine, May 1999.
Photo: Val Wilmer
love this Facebook comment by Murray Munn
"Seminal thoughts. Can't believe this guy is gone; he seemed immortal, having a laugh no matter what the gear--souped-up car, amped-up mode, or, no doubt ... he had further interests. Interesting he (said he) thought Django the best. Me, I think there's no best ... Django couldn't play Jimi couldn't play Jeff Beck, who couldn't play Robert J who/ couldn't play Knopfler couldn't play Drake couldn't play Jansch couldn't play Eric couldn't play Gatemouth couldn't play Renbourn couldn't play Segovia ... there're infinite styles and talents and fingers and souls and who's to say."
He’s not wrong . . .
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