Who are my favorite guitar players? On the top of the list I'd have to put Neil Young and George Harrison. Of course Jimi and Stevie were pretty good too.
But there are a couple that make my list that you may not have heard of. Quite frankly, until I met my guitar player boyfriend Mike, I hadn't heard of them either.
Rory Gallagher was an Irish guitar player who didn't gain much more than a cult following when he was alive. (He died after complications from a liver transplant in 1995 at the age of 47.)
Rory's first band was called Taste and John Lennon was a big fan! Taste opened for Blind Faith on their one and only U.S. tour!
Rory didn't tour much in the United States as a solo act, and never even released a single..so radio airplay was pretty much non-existent. But somehow guitar players like Mike found out about him and Mike even got to see him live, when he played the Dane County Coliseum opening for Rush (in 1982).
This is the song he opened with at that Madison show.
The other guitar player is on the other end of the spectrum musically. Roy Buchanan was known for his mastery of the Fender Telecaster. He gained national popularity after PBS aired a special called Introducing Roy Buchanan (sometimes known as The Best Unknown Guitarist in the World.).
Sadly, Roy had his demons and hung himself in jail in 1988, but he left some pretty incredible music, influencing every one from Gary Moore to Jeff Beck.
If you believe the hashtag, #johnmayerisback!
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