Who are the most underrated guitarists?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by SurrealCereal, Dec 16, 2016.

  1. SurrealCereal

    SurrealCereal Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    I searched and was surprised to not find a general thread on this topic, only threads focusing on one specific guitarist.

    What guitarists do you find to be underrated?

    My pick is Glen Buxton from the Alice Cooper band.
     
    DooDee, Sean, RebLhoj and 15 others like this.
  2. CCrider92

    CCrider92 Senior Member

    Location:
    Cape Cod, MA
    Two that immediately popped into my mind are Adam Granduciel of The War On Drugs and Dave Rawlings, partner of Gillian Welch.
     
  3. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    Larry LaLonde, I think is underrated (that he's next to Les Claypool doesn't help).
    East Bay Ray from the Dead Kennedys is a great player, especially for a punk player.
     
    ism, PinkIsTheSky, vonwegen and 8 others like this.
  4. detroit muscle

    detroit muscle MIA

    Location:
    UK
    Elliot Easton from The Cars.
     
  5. gpg6212

    gpg6212 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    USA
  6. stetsonic

    stetsonic Forum Resident

    Location:
    Finland
    Malcom Young comes to mind first - he's one of the best rhythm players in rock as far as I'm concerned. Right up there with Keith Richards in getting the tempo and groove just right.

    Of course, I'd also like to see people like Deniz Tek, Sonic Smith and Bob Mould get more recognition for their amazing talent and style.
     
  7. Scooter59

    Scooter59 Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Shore, MA
    Rick Witowski from Crack the Sky.

    [​IMG]
     
  8. Avenging Robot

    Avenging Robot Senior Member

    Ron Asheton!
     
    vonwegen, Reever, mr.datsun and 18 others like this.
  9. the sands

    the sands Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oslo, Norway
    John Lees - lead guitarist of Barclay James Harvest.
    Raymond McGinley - lead guitarist of Teenage Fanclub.
    Dave Gonzalez - lead guitarist of The Paladins.
     
  10. ...without question Vini Reilly of The Durutti Column. Contemporary of Ian Curtis of Joy Division on Factory Records late 70s / early 80s.....now only big in Japan or so it seems ...



    The Factory Music Film "24 Hour party People" closes with :-

    "From God. And the Lord said unto Tony: Vini Reilly is due a revival. You might think about a Greatest Hits. It's good music to chill out to."
     
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2016
  11. sheffandy

    sheffandy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sheffield, UK
    Francis Dunnery when he was a member of It Bites, I saw them live a few times in the '80s and he is such a talented musician and singer.
     
  12. Phil Keaggy isn't terribly well-known outside of Christian Rock fans.
     
  13. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    Dave Alvin
    Gerry Leonard
     
    vonwegen likes this.
  14. Stone Turntable

    Stone Turntable Independent Head

    Location:
    New Mexico USA
    WTF does “underrated” mean for the guitarists being mentioned? All from acclaimed, best-selling, highly esteemed, popular, mostly hugely successful and/or legendary bands that *nobody* to the best of my recollection is running down, dismissing, criticizing, damning with faint praise, or saying anything that equals underrating them.

    I’d be fine if the idea was to namecheck and extoll guitarists that aren’t talked about enough for their creativity, technique, style, whatever. Or just say you love them and highly recommend listening if you’ve missed their work, that you wish they were more famous, remembered by more people....

    But this “underrated” thing is just a plague of bull$hit. It’s a crime to plaster that word all over somebody’s good reputation unless you can back it up with some actual evidence than somebody is talking about these guitarists in a negative or unfair fashion.
     
  15. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    I've seen videos of him, and I hate Christian rock for how gutless and preachy it is, but that guy is a great talent.
     
  16. My favorite Keaggy album is The Wind And The Wheat. It's all instrumental.
     
  17. Erik Tracy

    Erik Tracy Meet me at the Green Dragon for an ale

    Location:
    San Diego, CA, USA
  18. Curveboy

    Curveboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    James Dean Bradfield

     
  19. The Killer

    The Killer Dung Heap Rooster

    Location:
    The Cotswolds
    I'm with you on the underrated stuff, they're the one's we probably haven't heard of.
     
    mark winstanley and mikedifr0923 like this.
  20. YMC4

    YMC4 EVthing or Nothing

    Location:
    The Valley, CA.
    this guy...

    [​IMG]

    'Luke'.
     
  21. Culpa

    Culpa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    Robyn Hitchcock!
     
  22. trebori

    trebori Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rochester, NY
    Lee Underwood - guitarist for Tim Buckley from Goodbye And Hello through Starsailor. He occasionally worked with him after that.

    Some of my favorite work of his is on Happy Sad (I really love his solo on Strange Feeling and his backing work on Buzzin' Fly) and throughout Starsailor. He subsequently went on to be a writer and critic and wrote some interesting stuff. He did some later recordings (80s-90s) that bordered on being New Age and unfortunately weren't that interesting.
     
  23. SurrealCereal

    SurrealCereal Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    It's pretty simple. Underrated in this context just means that you don't feel that they have gotten their due respect as a guitarist. Yes, most of them come from respected bands, but few of them get remembered as great guitarists in their own right.
     
  24. YMC4

    YMC4 EVthing or Nothing

    Location:
    The Valley, CA.
    or this guy...

    [​IMG]
     
  25. Juan Matus

    Juan Matus Reformed Audiophile

    Me, I don't think I am even rated.
     
    Sean, BDC, mark winstanley and 12 others like this.

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