http://www.spin.com/articles/spins-100-greatest-guitarists-all-time

6 Prince

The show-ending jam at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony is rarely more than a lazy circle jerk, but such is the brilliant flamboyance of Prince's guitar playing that, with his epic solo on George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at the 2004 HoF show, he hijacked the entire event, and made it his own spectacular wank session. Then, as always, Prince's gloriously brash playing — by turns funky, fluid, and screaming — set the benchmark for six-string swagger.

Most Heroic Moment: "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man." D.M.

Good find - thanks for sharing - love the comment about Half Of Fame performance - not too shabby mentioning ICNTTPOYM guitar solo, although there are better examples

Countdown to some negative comment being made (this is the org after all) 5....4.....3.....

Oh my goodness.

I was trying to recall the other day, what was the point where I went from being vaguely aware of Prince to being "a Prince fan".

I had completely forgotten, but that was it, that Hall of Fame performance.

I was (and am) a fan of Eric Clapton - I taught myself the guitar by learning every song on the 24 Nights live album - and have long thought When My Guitar Gently Weeps is a great litmus test for a guitarist. It's a wonderful song because you can't really mess it up, yet it also has a tune that leaves room for somethng special. (George is my favourite Beatle, obviously.)

So when I spotted the Hall of Fame video with names like Steve Winwood, I thought this should be good but didn;t pay much attention to Prince being there. Then I clicked play. And Prince just blew me away. His playing in many ways exemplifies the appeal of Eric Clapton, the original guitarist on WMGGW, in that tone and phrasing are paramount. Technically speaking, most of the things he does are not that challenging. It's putting the pieces together with such a sense for the feel and emotion of the music that is so rare.

I think that video may also be responsible for my ongoing habit of buying stylish but somewhat unnecessary hats, but the main thing I can blame it for is my Prince fandom.

He did his thang on the RRHOF Congrats to Prince and he is worthy

Hope the side-by-side pictures of him and PJ Harvey is an indication of them doing something together soon.

Wishful thinking.

Most of this list is a feeble attempt, by Spin, to seem hip and relevant. The list of artists missing from this list is a fucking joke. That being said, it's nice to see Prince get his due.

True aficionados have known since Do Me, Baby how much he enjoys a "spectacular wank session."

CuriousPoses said:

Oh my goodness.

I was trying to recall the other day, what was the point where I went from being vaguely aware of Prince to being "a Prince fan".

I had completely forgotten, but that was it, that Hall of Fame performance.

I was (and am) a fan of Eric Clapton - I taught myself the guitar by learning every song on the 24 Nights live album - and have long thought When My Guitar Gently Weeps is a great litmus test for a guitarist. It's a wonderful song because you can't really mess it up, yet it also has a tune that leaves room for somethng special. (George is my favourite Beatle, obviously.)

So when I spotted the Hall of Fame video with names like Steve Winwood, I thought this should be good but didn;t pay much attention to Prince being there. Then I clicked play. And Prince just blew me away. His playing in many ways exemplifies the appeal of Eric Clapton, the original guitarist on WMGGW, in that tone and phrasing are paramount. Technically speaking, most of the things he does are not that challenging. It's putting the pieces together with such a sense for the feel and emotion of the music that is so rare.

I think that video may also be responsible for my ongoing habit of buying stylish but somewhat unnecessary hats, but the main thing I can blame it for is my Prince fandom.

You are a fan of Eric Clapton, and Eric Clapton is a fan of Prince, and here you are - welcome!

I like your username - CuriousPoses. I wonder where/how he came up with that phrase - it's very literary.

This list is total crap.

Not having Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton, BB King and Jimi Hendrix on the Top 10 not even on the Top 100 but having Jam Master Jay on #10 and Kurt Cobain on #4 is just LOL so the list can´t be taken

serious and is a big joke.

As they say in the epilogue, they have an eye on "outsiders" but then u just can´t call it the

"100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and put Prince on #6.

Putting Kurt Cobain in front of Prince is just a slap in his face.

This list is hilarious. Jam Master Jay is definitely a better guitarist than _____ ?????

LMFAO................. Spin gets worse and worse.

And the guitarist from My Bloody Valentine is better than Prince. And Thurston Moore is better than Hendrix and Prince. Hahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Stupid fucking article!

[Edited 5/6/12 6:00am]

I can't possibly take this article seriously.

nursev said:

He did his thang on the RRHOF Congrats to Prince and he is worthy

Glad to hear him getting his props

This article, is bullshit.

"Skrillex is a great guitarist, he may not play guitar but he sure has some good riffs" Well then I guess Beethovan was the first Guitar virtuoso then, and Little Richard was a shredder.

And Kurt Cobain at number four? That's tantamount to putting Tom Waits at No. 4 on a vocal list, other than Prince and Kurt I haven't heard any songs by these pack of jokers and I really don't want too

Another list with no mention of Joe Satriani

To be honest, there are a lot of good musicians on this list that most lists usually overlook. I can't take a list that doesn't place Hendrix near the top too seriously, but I can certainly appreciate leaving out all the typical choices like Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Eddie Van Halen etc. Did those guys ever do a record worth listening to? Why should they be held in such high regard? At least this list acknowledges guitarists that have made significant contributions to music as an artform, such as Arto Lindsay, Steve Albini and Derek Bailey.

mzsadii said:

nursev said:

He did his thang on the RRHOF Congrats to Prince and he is worthy

Glad to hear him getting his props

Me too

novabrkr said:

BlackandRising said:

Hope the side-by-side pictures of him and PJ Harvey is an indication of them doing something together soon.

Wishful thinking.

Don't think it's an indication of anything but that's the best part of that list

Love them both!

who is number 1? i can't be bothered going through each page.

flyorra said:

who is number 1? i can't be bothered going through each page.

Lee Ranaldo & Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth)

muirdo said:

Another list with no mention of Joe Satriani

Or Richard Thompson.

novabrkr said:

To be honest, there are a lot of good musicians on this list that most lists usually overlook. I can't take a list that doesn't place Hendrix near the top too seriously, but I can certainly appreciate leaving out all the typical choices like Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Eddie Van Halen etc. Did those guys ever do a record worth listening to? Why should they be held in such high regard? At least this list acknowledges guitarists that have made significant contributions to music as an artform, such as Arto Lindsay, Steve Albini and Derek Bailey.

I agree with you about Arto Lindsay, Steve Albini and Derek Bailey. Big time! But you ask if the others made anything worth listening to.

I think early Van Halen has some pretty good albums.

Joe Satriani's self titled album produced by Glyn John is one of my all time favorite albums minus the one track that he sings on.

And Yngwie Malmsteen I just pass on; does nothing for me.

Genesia said:

muirdo said:

Another list with no mention of Joe Satriani

Or Richard Thompson.

I hadn't noticed he wasn't in it.

When these lists come out I always tend to look for

Prince

David Gilmour

Neil Young

Joe Satriani

Jack White

Slash......I can't even recall seeing on that list.

Jimmy Page.

Eric Clapton wasn't even on that list

I read entry number 100 and didn't bother going any further.

CuriousPoses said:

I read entry number 100 and didn't bother going any further.

All these lists are entirely subjective anyway.

But they do prevoke debate which surely can't be a bad thing.

Sure, but when the 100th greatest guitarist of all time doesn't even play the guitar, you can tell the writers are just being silly for the sake of it.

CuriousPoses said:

Sure, but when the 100th greatest guitarist of all time doesn't even play the guitar, you can tell the writers are just being silly for the sake of it.

well there's that too.

It's a bad list. BUT the comments are an amusing read.