BEST RHYTHM GUITARISTS

[Tweedville]

John Lennon......

Well this guy plays it all but his rhythm is great.

Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits)

[AlChuck]

Pete Townsend
Eric Clapton (no, really, listen to his rhythm playing on Derek and the Dominoes' Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs)
Jeff Beck (again, I know he's known for his exceptional lead playing but I think that great lead players are often great rhythm players too)
Keith Richards
Andy Summers
The Edge

[Jon X]

Both of those are good.

I'll say Van Halen, cause his rhtyhm playing gets overlooked due to the rest of his playing.

I've never heard anyone play rhythmic stuff on acoustic like Doyle Dykes. Makes me wanna puke to see him do on one guitar live what I would have trouble doing with two guitar parts.

And SRV of course, but even his rhthym playing is more of a hybrid style, so I don't know if that would count.

[Gidge]

Richie Sambora
Vito Bratta
Jimi Hendrix
Eddie Van Halen
Eric Johnson

[gibs]

Pete and Keith..........gibs

[Elco]

Alex Lifeson
Andy Summers
Malcolm Young

[Jon X]

I didn't think much of Andy Summer's playing until I starting learning a few Police songs several years ago. Most of it wasn't as easy as he made it sound.

[Tom Hicks]

Best all time - Jean "Django" Reinhardt (can you play a tremolo gliss?)
Conventional Wisdom - Pete Townsend,Kieth Richards
Dark Horse - Angus Young

Tom

[Tweedville]

Right on with Knopfler and Townsend........"Live at Leeds" by the Who is a textbook for rhythm and playing in a trio.Mark Farner plays good rhythm too.

[effedupstrat]

I wanted to just post my favorites, but then I thought about it for a little while longer and decided instead to pose a question. Why as guitarists do we make such a strong rhythm/lead distinction? You never hear, "so and so is a great rhythm pianist". Isn't it about the song as a whole?

peace.

Because the rhythm quitar is usually overshadowed by the lead guitar. And every once in a while you say hey "that's some groov'n rhythm guitar playing."

Just like you don't say that's a great rhythm pianist, it's not too common to hear that's a great lead pianist.

And yes, in the end it is about the song as a whole.

[mikemoritz]

Townshend, and Dave Matthews

[willypriv]

To repeat, Townsend for sure. Also Bob Wier. It's almost an artificial distinction between lead and rhythm. There's usually this division of labor if 2 guitars are playing together, but it seems to me that most of us are playing both at some time in any given song. And in some ways, it's harder to play really good rhythm chops...much easier to mess up by overplaying, etc. Anyway, most great lead players got there via rhythm, and they're usually wonderful at both.

[Tweedville]

Lennon had this original style of riffing.......Remember the rhythm on "All My Lovin"? I don't know many guitarists who can do it without dropping their pick,or having it turn around in their hand.Also, "I Dig A Pony" from Let It Be,and "I'm So Tired" from the White Album.One other thing that is noteworthy....the cool riff at the beginning of "I Feel Fine".I wrote it off as Harrison on his Gretsch....but there is a clip of the Beatles performing this tune on the Anthology Series,and Lennon plays the riff!

[major240]

I'll take Townshend over Richards, only because I'm a bigger fan of The 'Oo. Pete's the better songwriter (oh,oh...could be another thread there...)

[little z]

here it is folks, my most humble opinion of (just some) of the greats!!![IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER]
1.JAMES HETFIELD- METALLICA
2.KERRY KING AND JEFF HANNEMAN- SLAYER
3.AL JOURGENSEN- MINISTRY
4.STEPHEN CARPENTER- DEFTONES
5.ANGUS YOUNG- AC/DC
6.KIRK HAMMETT- METALLICA
7.DAVE MUSTAINE- MEGADETH
8.(SENSING A THEME HERE???)LOVE THE HEAVY FAST SH*T
9.HILLEL SLOVAK(R.I.P.)- RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
10.JOHN FRUSCIANTE- RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
11.WALTER SCHRIEFFELS- QUICKSAND
12.ADAM JONES- TOOL
13.MIKE NESS- SOCIAL DISTORTION
14.IAN MC KAY- MINOR THREAT/FUGAZI
15.ROBERT JOHNSON
16.ERNIE C- BODY COUNT
17.SLASH- GUNS & ROSES
18.PETER BUCK- R.E.M.
19.THE EDGE- U2
20.JIMI- NEED I SAY MORE???
21.I THINK YOU GET THE POINT (TOO MANY MORE TO NAME)

[Krystof01]

Many of the guitarists mentioned are great but there is only one undisputed king rhythm guitar player-Keith Richards, that's an end to this thread, it better be.

[Tweedville]

haha...........Richard is good,the king of the R&B rock groove.
Believe it or not,Bob Dylan plays a strong rhythm.John Fogerty,also.Remember all the rhythm-driven stuff by the Doobie Bros. in the '70s? Long Train Runnin',Listen To The Music (one of my all time favorites).

[GT]

Don't forget Mark Farner(Grand Funk), I sound like Homer. Doh!!

Any one who has the live album will agree.

[Wide Awake]

Tweedville-

I think Long Train Runnin' was the first song I ever learned. Only about 26 years ago ! I'm feeling old now.

Mike Rutherford of Genesis is a great rhythm guitarist. He was a great bassist at one time too but got lazy or something later in his career.

I'm not a Rolling Stones fan but Ron Wood has a gift for rhythm.

Frank Gambale is good too. His album Passages is full of inventive chord progressions. He is known for fast solos and sweep-picking technique, but he is so much more than that.

[Emeric]

Surprised no one mentioned Jimmy Page. Sure his lead playing is sloppy but great. His rhythm playing is where he really shines for me, in particuliar the acoustic tunes.

[Krystof01]

Don't start on jimmy, that's a whole new thread, apparently he has a bad back at the moment and carn't play (on stage anyway)-get better soon jimmy.

[Tweedville]

As previously mentioned,Mark Farner indeed!
Page is a good rhythm player.....a groovemeister."Ten Years Gone" from Physical Grafitti is well written and played.I thought his soloing started to go a little downhill after Houses of the Holy,but he has always been all about composition and layering (however,I did buy a bootleg in Sioux City Iowa in '74-----the concert was recorded on the III tour,and he and Plant were ON).

[peter miller]

yeah
knopfler,pete townsend.
bruce springsteen I've heard do real solid rythum.