My Guitar Story

The following will serve as the definitive guide for anyone who ever cares to know about the music that made me the guitarist I am today. This blog entry corresponds with a playlist that I posted on Spotify, which you can find here::

https://open.spotify.com/user/mmperez684/playlist/0psvdZXt6uLAXabdHEUoXX?si=OF1QRltoS5G9DUU_HKgMXA

I know 41 songs is a lot for a playlist but, honestly, the challenge in making this was keeping the list this short. I also want to point out that the order of songs is in no way indicative of any personal preference; I’d probably be working on this list for months if I tried to do it that way. Rather, I just placed these songs in an order that made sense to my ear. That’s all.

Without further ado, here is the guitar music that made me who I am:

1.  “All Along the Watchtower” - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Jimi Hendrix)

This song is my Big Bang. It’s not just my favorite guitar song nor is it merely my favorite Hendrix song: To this day, it’s my favorite recording of all time.  To me, what makes Hendrix unbeatable as a guitarist is his combination of skill and imagination.  His raw skills on the guitar were amazing but the truth is there are a few guitarists who could match his skill and ability.  No one can match his imagination, though.  To me, the solos in this song are the greatest examples of that otherworldly combination.  I could happily spend the rest of my life chasing what I found in this song.

2.  “The Rain Song” - Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page)

Jimmy Page is a key role model to nearly everyone who has picked up an electric guitar since 1970.  I was no exception, especially as a kid.  I worshipped Zeppelin.  However, whereas many fans love Jimmy Page because of his lead riffs and solos, I chose this song because to me Page’s genius was as a composer.  I’m actually not a fan of his live recordings because I think when he played live he tended to get too fast and sloppy.  But when he recorded he had the technical prowess and the studio experience which allowed him to create these epic, spellbinding guitar symphonies.  This one is my personal favorite.

3.  “Sweet Sixteen” - B.B. King

The blues is my foundation and probably my greatest love.  B.B. King was King of the Blues.  Guitarists across generations bow at his feet because of the power he could wield with a single note.  He hardly ever played a solo that wasn’t perfect.  In this live recording, you get a very real, visceral sense of the kind of smoldering emotion and raw sexuality he could generate just by bending the strings in his own inimitable way.

4.  “Minor Thing” - Red Hot Chili Peppers (John Frusciante)

John Frusciante is second only to Hendrix as an inspiration and an influence on my musical journey.  Hendrix was my idol, but Frusciante taught me how to play guitar. I spent my first 10 years with the instrument copying everything he ever did.  He is a brilliant soloist and I’ve ripped off more of his melodies than anyone else’s, but his biggest influence on me is as a rhythm guitarist.  The Chili Peppers’ sound is generated from Flea’s incredible and wholly unique bass playing.  By going off of that, Frusciante created a style of rhythm guitar that is just as beautiful and unique.  I chose this song because it offers a sampling of all the things that I love about him.

5.  “Roadhouse Blues” - Albert King

B.B. King was the blues guitarist that the casual pop fan could recognize.  Albert King was the blues guitarist that other blues guitarists answered to.  Guys like Clapton, Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughan would stop everything just to hear him play.  There are legends about him giving Hendrix “a lesson in the blues,” and Clapton unashamedly rips him off in a few of his most famous early solos.  This song is one of his greatest live recordings.  It is electric blues power in all its purest, rawest glory.  To hell with things like technique, effects, or any superficial bullshit.  Just plug in, dig way down deep, and give it all you got.

6.  “First Time I Met the Blues” - Buddy Guy

Most everything I said about Albert King also applies to Buddy Guy, a blues guitar god who is every bit on the level of guys like the Kings.  Buddy is a Chicago legend, as well, and he still owns a very famous blues bar downtown.  Whereas guys like Albert and B.B. blew you away with their bends and their touch, Buddy’s guitar solos were blues fireworks.  Lots of people can play fast, but very few can do so while staying on rhythm and not sacrificing any emotion.  When you hear a guy like Buddy pull it off – which is very rare – it leaves you with your jaw on the floor.

7.  “Texas Flood” - Stevie Ray Vaughan

The first time I saw a TV recording of Stevie playing this song, it threw me up against a wall.  I was only 13 and I’d never seen that kind of emotion from any sort of musician.  I was sure he was the best guitarist who had ever lived (I discovered Hendrix a year later).  Of all the countless guitarists who have pursued the Hendrix standard, Stevie came the closest to reaching it.  He didn’t have Jimi’s imagination or overall talent as a musician, but when he played a blues solo there was no one who could mess with him.  John Mayer called Stevie “the ultimate guitar hero” and I’m not one to argue that.

8. “La Bamba” - Los Lobos/Ritchie Valens

I began playing the guitar when I was 12. That marked the beginning of my all-encompassing obsession with music. Long before that, though, a spark was lit by a movie that was iconic among Latin families in the 1980s and 90s. La Bamba came out in theaters when I was three years-old. Ignoring that I was probably way too young to see it, I became obsessed with all things La Bamba from the moment I watched it. Some of the most popular photos of toddler Johnny Romero feature me with a plastic toy guitar, pretending to be Ritchie Valens. Even still, I can’t watch or hear Los Lobos’ performance of the title track without choking up. That spark became a fire that still rages on.

9.  “Statesboro Blues” - The Allman Brothers Band (Duane Allman)

I was late in discovering The Allman Brothers Band but Duane Allman is still one of my favorites.  He was a slide guitarist, and that’s why he intimidates the hell out of me.  Slide guitar is a gorgeous technique that I just haven’t spent a lot of time with. The players who are proficient at it are absolute bad asses to me.  Duane is probably the greatest slide player in the history of rock guitar.  In this song you can hear the unbelievable control and command he has of his instrument.  It makes his guitar come alive and he completely outshines every other player in a band of bad ass musicians.

10.  “Subway Train” - New York Dolls (Johnny Thunders)

Johnny Thunders is one of my guitar anti-heroes.  Along with Keith Richards, he is the ultimate Rock ’n’ Roll junkie guitarist.  He was a devout heroin addict throughout his brief life, which is why his bands never lasted long and why there aren’t many good recordings of his work.  What he did leave behind, though, was amazing.  The New York Dolls helped create punk by stripping Rock ’n’ Roll down to its essentials, and Johnny was the perfect guitarist for them.  His lines were simple and straightforward, played with a lazy, sloppy rhythm and grimy guitar tone that I find irresistible.  He’s one of the reasons why a part of me hopes I never take a formal guitar lesson.  I want my guitar to have that Johnny Thunders edge and I don’t ever want to lose it.

11.  “Down on the Street” - The Stooges (Ron Ashton)

The Stooges are another one of the bands that helped create punk rock.  In their case, it was sort of an accident.  Iggy Pop was a drummer who couldn’t swing a beat like the blues drummers he loved, so he created a rhythmic style that was based in blues but with a straightforward, stripped down beat.  Ron Ashton forged a sound on the guitar that followed the same principles.  He was a bad ass guitarist who couldn’t quite make the guitar sing or cry like the blues greats, so he just turned up the volume and wailed.  In any heavy song that I play I’m usually trying to incorporate the attitude and the rhythm of The Stooges.

12.  “The Fly” - U2 (The Edge)

I hate that in recent years U2 has become sort of cheesy and Bono has become more of a punchline than an icon because U2 are always one of my absolute favorite bands.  Few guitarists have inspired me to play the way The Edge has. He is one of the best rhythm guitarists in history and, as a lead guitarist, he has an otherworldly ear for melody. In the tradition of guys like B.B. King and George Harrison, The Edge is a guitarist who never wasted a single note.  Except The Edge also has Hendrix’s affinity for guitar effects, so the sounds he produces are wholly unique.  In the last 15 years you’ve really started to hear his influence in bands like The Killers, Coldplay, or even Walk the Moon, but there is no one else quite like him.  This song is my favorite because it’s a killer sampling of all the things that make him so great.

13.  “Leave Me Alone” - New Order (Bernard Sumner) 

I would call Bernard Sumner another one of my guitar anti-heroes.  He is an absolute genius of minimalism and simplicity.  I could probably teach anyone how to play a few of the riffs in this song in about 10 minutes.  But that’s part of the point.  As one of the premier New Wave bands, New Order were born out of the punk movement.  So although this isn’t punk music, the punk ethic of making beautiful things out of simple ingredients most definitely applies.  The guitars in this song are stripped of any effects and the riffs are about as technically basic as it gets.  Yet Sumner finds these gorgeous melodies and in this song he layers those melodies to produce a truly sublime sound.  You can practice playing fast and technical and eventually you’ll get somewhere.  You can’t practice what Bernard Sumner does.

14.  “War Pigs / Luke’s Wall” - Black Sabbath (Tony Iommi) 

Tony Iommi is credited (along with Jimmy Page) with inventing Heavy Metal guitar.  As a young guitarist, I always preferred punk to metal. But even though you were far more likely to find Stiff Little Fingers in my CD case than Iron Maiden, I’ve always worshiped Tony Iommi like the inimitable guitar god he is.  Like Black Sabbath, he is a rare true original.  You can hear his blues and jazz influences, but the leap he took to create his guitar sound is really extraordinary.  I think most rock guitarists have a bit of an evil streak somewhere.  We all want to be a little mysterious, a little dangerous.  That’s why anyone who plays hard rock has to know Tony Iommi’s music.  Few guitars were ever more dangerous than his.

15.  “If You Want Blood (You Got It)”- AC/DC (Angus Young & Malcom Young)

One reason why AC/DC is one of my favorite bands is because it features two of my favorite guitarists.  Everyone knows about Angus, who is one of the most iconic lead guitarists in history with his wild solo riffs, schoolboy costume, and insane stage antics.  Far fewer people recognize his brother Malcom, but it is Malcom’s guitar that is really the foundation of AC/DC’s sound.  Malcom is pretty much the perfect hard rock rhythm guitarist.  Just listen to the opening of this song.  Three basic chords but played with epic authority and with AC/DC’s patented hard rock funk. When you hear Malcom’s power chords your head just starts banging on its own.  You can’t help it.  THAT is how you know you’re a bad ass rhythm guitarist.

16.  “Maggot Brain” - Funkadelic (Eddie Hazel)

Funkadelic was the experimental, psychedelic wing of George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic empire.  While I love Parliament, Funkadelic is one of my 10 favorite bands ever and Eddie Hazel is a huge influence on me as a guitarist.  He was one of the first of Hendrix’s countless guitar offspring, and in turn he became a big influence on guys like Prince and Frusciante.  This song is one of the most famous guitar solos in rock history.  It’s one that I’ve spent countless hours working on alone in my room, and I know I’m hardly the only one.

17.  “Moonage Daydream” - David Bowie (Mick Ronson)

Mick Ronson was one of my very first guitar heroes.  I discovered Bowie early on and while I loved him and his music, I also couldn’t understand why no one ever told me about his guitarist.  Mick’s guitar was unassuming and laid back, so it allowed Bowie the full spotlight, but that unassuming approach is why he had one of the coolest guitar sounds in rock.  His solos were gorgeous and melodic, but his rhythm is what really inspired me.  He was one of those rhythm guitarists who was so good that he always sounded like a lead guitarist.  His tone was perfect and his strums were always on point.  I still think he doesn’t get the credit he deserves.

18.  “Crossroads” - Cream (Eric Clapton)

Despite the fact that this is a guitar player’s list and Eric Clapton is on the short list of greatest rock guitarists ever, you can’t discuss Cream without beginning with its rhythm section. Clapton ended up getting most of the attention and credit, but he has always said that when he was in Cream he was just trying to keep up with his drummer, Ginger Baker, and his bass player, Jack Bruce.  Those guys were really were that good. Recording technology sucked when this song was recorded so you can’t hear the drums and bass as well as you should, but if you focus on the rhythm section you'll hear pyrotechnics that no other rock rhythm section in history can match.  It propels Clapton to his greatest solo on record.  He rips of blues riffs at a blistering pace as he tries to keep up with Jack and Ginger.  The thing is, he pulls it off because he's Eric Clapton.  Never once does he lose control, and that kind of command is mesmerizing to hear. He’s like a master surgeon operating at the highest level.

19.  “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl” - The Beatles (George Harrison)

I had a really hard time picking which George Harrison song I wanted to include here.  I landed on this one because it’s everything I love about him.  The guitar solo is simple, it’s cool as hell, the rhythm is flawless, and the melody is so beautifully catchy.  If I were to cover this song I wouldn't change a single note in the solo.  I wouldn't dare.  I think one of the best things you can say about George is that he was perfect for The Beatles.  The greatest musical group of all time needed a guitar player, but not just any guitar player, and George was more than up for the job.

20.  “I Fought the Law” - The Clash (Joe Strummer & Mick Jones) 

More of my punk idols.  The Clash have been in my all-time Top 5 since high school, and I adore the sound that Joe Strummer and Mick Jones created together.  Either of them could play rhythm or lead and the chemistry they had together was incredible to hear.  One reason why I love them so much is because, to me, they always sound like two juvenile delinquents raising hell in the garage, except they're delinquents who can PLAY.  No one is more Rock 'n' Roll than The Clash.

21.  "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" - Ramones (Johnny Ramone)

Johnny Ramone is one of the ultimate guitar anti-heroes.  For three decades playing with the Ramones he only did one thing: Play power chords with a machine-gun downstroke strum.  But by doing that one thing the way he did it, he invented and perfected punk rock guitar.  And his one trick is a lot harder than it sounds.  I always tell people that I didn't become a real rhythm guitarist until I became proficient on Ramones songs.  This song that I've picked is one of the most fun songs in the world to play.  Every time I play it, I'm 15 years old again.  Johnny Ramone has inspired thousands like me who needed someone to show us that you don't have to shred like Hendrix or Eddie Van Halen to play some bad ass rock guitar.

22.  "Honky Tonk Women" - The Rolling Stones (Keith Richards) 

You may have heard, but Keith is the fucking man.  If/when he dies, someone will make the case that he is the most important or influential guitarist in Rock 'n' Roll.  I'm not here to make that case, but I wouldn't want to argue against it, either.  If nothing else – and of course there's lots more – no one else's guitar ever had more swag than Keith's.  This song is a perfect example.  Keith's guitar is unbeatably cool and cocky.  Its rhythm is perfectly slurred, like it's coming on to you at a grungy dive bar.  Every rock guitarist has learned something from him, but no one else can play like Keith.

23 “Purple Rain” - Prince

To me and to most musicians I’ve known, Prince was the Eighth Wonder of the World, so gifted and skilled that the standards he set and the body of work he left behind seem unfair to the rest of us. And, weirdly, I think that is the main reason why he is often underrated as a guitarist. I think most people simply can’t wrap their heads around the idea that one of the best singers, songwriters, dancers, singers, and bass players in the world could also be a bona fide guitar god. I still have trouble accepting all that myself.

24. "Bigmouth Strikes Again" - The Smiths (Johnny Marr)

Johnny Marr is so maddeningly gifted.  He's another of those rare guitarists whose rhythm is so good and so aggressive it stands out as though he is playing lead guitar.  This song is a perfect example. The acoustic rhythm is mesmerizing, and even the lead riffs are more like rhythmic shapes that supplement the overall sound rather than trying to stand out on their own.  What drives me crazy is that I have a hard time playing his songs.  I still can't play them as well as I want.  Johnny was one-of-a-kind, which is why his guitar was a cornerstone to the sound of one of the best and most important bands of his generation.

25. "Comfortably Numb" - Pink Floyd (David Gilmour)

I'm not nearly as big on Pink Floyd now as I was as a kid, but David Gilmour remains one of my favorites.  Unlike a lot of his contemporaries, he hardly ever played too fast, but he still played some of the most epic guitar solos on record.  He has an incredible ear for melody and an uncanny knack for bending and sustaining notes to create these crazy soundscapes and evoke these powerfully vivid emotions and images.  The second guitar solo in this song, for instance, is the soundtrack to a descent into madness.  Gilmour takes you exactly where he means to go; the kinds of places that are inaccessible to mortal guitarists.

26. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead (Jonny Greenwood & Ed O'Brien)

Jonny Greenwood seems untouchable to me when I consider his full body of work.  He's trained and educated as a symphonic composer but even as “merely” a guitarist he has versatility and range that are astounding.  It’s almost like he has been a different guitarist on each Radiohead album and he's been impossibly good in each version.  This song blew my mind when I first heard it.  The guitars achieve the best combination of technical skill and sonic imagination since Hendrix, and I think this song is essentially the “Stairway to Heaven” of the 90s.

27. "Samba Pa Ti" - Santana

It probably comes as no surprise that Carlos Santana is one of the most important influences I've had as a musician.  He's a proud Latino who is in love with Rock 'n' Roll and blues guitar and he was the first to show the world that it's OK and it makes sense to be all those things at once.  As a kid who felt so out of place in Illinois, where I was separated from my family and culture and surrounded by white people who I couldn't relate to, discovering Santana and his music was a massive inspiration to me.  In a way, his music made sense of me.  Santana made it OK for me to be me.  And it didn't hurt that he has one of the most iconic guitar sounds of all time.  Like B.B. King, Carlos only needs one note and you know instantly who's playing.  This instrumental is simply one of the prettiest guitar sounds you'll ever hear.

28. "November Rain" - Guns N' Roses (Slash) 

Just like Guns n' Roses weren't some average hair band, Slash ain't no typical hair band shredder.  He's the real deal, and there's an argument to be made that he singlehandedly saved rock guitar in the late 80s.  His ear for melody gives his guitar one of the most distinctive voices in hard rock and he has the technical chops to shred with the best of them.  His music can stand on its own and then some, but with Slash it's about the full package.  One reason why I picked this song is because of its classic music video.  I'll never forget watching it on MTV when I was in elementary school.  It was the first time a guitarist really grabbed me and didn't let go.  Seeing those aerial shots of Slash playing this epic guitar solo in that big, open field was like watching Superman or Michael Jordan.  Slash was a guitar superhero and he made me want to be a superhero, too.

29.  "Roll Over Beethoven" - Chuck Berry

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame writes that if anyone can claim to have invented Rock 'n' Roll, it's Chuck Berry.  He is most definitely the first Rock 'n' Roll guitar hero.  In this song, for instance, you hear a full sampling of the things that would become the template and instructions for every Rock n’ Roll guitarist to follow.  Rock, metal, punk, funk, you name it: If it is played on an electric guitar, it can be traced back to Chuck Berry.  That's why I firmly believe that if you don't understand that you owe everything to Chuck Berry, regardless of which genre you play, then you don't deserve to hold an electric guitar.  Not to mention that to this day Chuck's riffs sound as rad and as rocking as ever.  He's the King.

30. "Going Down" - Jeff Beck Group

Jeff Beck was a contemporary of Hendrix and Clapton and though he didn't become nearly the pop star that those two did, any guitarist who knows their shit knows that Jeff Beck could go toe-to-toe with Jimi or Eric any day of the week.  I don't think I've ever heard a guitarist who has more tricks up their sleeve.  When I listen to his solos I hear a guitarist who has obsessed over this instrument to the point that he knows its capabilities better than anyone.  This song is a great example.  There are several points where what Jeff is playing isn't even musical, really, but it sounds so cool and perfect. If anyone on this list is a "Guitarist's Guitarist," it's this guy.

31. "Big Love" - Fleetwood Mac (Lindsey Buckingham)

Lindsey Buckingham is rather unique on this list because, honestly, I can't play most of his music.  He has some of the best finger picking technique in rock guitar and my finger picking is pretty rudimentary, to put it nicely.  Nonetheless, he's been one of my favorite guitarists since I was 12.  Regardless of my ability to play the music, I can't resist a guitarist who is that good and whose music can evoke such powerful emotions.  No better example, I think, than this version of this song.  To this day I struggle to fathom that this entire performance is just one man.

32.  "Kiss Kiss" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Nick Zinner)

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are probably my favorite band from this century and no guitarist in the last 15 years has inspired me to play more than Nick Zinner.  He is such a unique combination of skills and attributes.  He's a certifiable New York art punk and a passionate noise junkie and his guitar wears those colors proudly.  Yet he also has true guitar hero chops along with a pop fan's ear for melody and hooks and he likes to channel all those qualities to produce sounds you often don't expect from a guitar.  There isn't any one song that really sums up all his gifts, so I picked this song because it's one where he just lets it rip.

33.  "Cicatriz E.S.P." - The Mars Volta (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez)

I heard the Mars Volta for the first time when I was 22 and I'll never forget my reaction.  For the next 3 days I couldn't pick up my guitar.  The things that I'd heard Omar play were so far beyond anything I was doing that I thought, "I'll never catch him, so what's the point?"  Eventually I became less scared of Omar, and a big part of that was learning that he was close friends with my idol, John Frusciante.  That's part of why I picked this song.  John does a guest spot during the extended jam in the middle of the song.  If you listen you can hear two guitars.  John's guitar is a little more subdued and his rhythm and melodies are a little smoother.  Omar's guitar is the louder guitar whose rhythm can be a little more choppy and frenetic.  During that extended jam, John and Omar are just going back and forth playing off each other.  As a guitarist, that section is like candy to me; two of my heroes locked in sonic sibling rivalry.

34. “In Bloom” – Nirvana (Kurt Cobain)

I’m a guitar player who grew up in the 1990s. Kurt Cobain was on this list before I ever picked up a guitar. I was six years old when Nevermind was released and the music and videos from that album are imprinted on my memory forever. It was everywhere and I couldn’t get enough of it. I was too young to understand any of it, but I couldn’t resist the sound of Kurt Cobain’s power chords, especially in this song. It’s a symphony of bomb blasts and fireworks. After I’d been playing guitar for a while I came to understand that Kurt was actually pretty limited – from a purely technical sense – on the guitar. It actually made him more amazing to me. If the music is in you then it’s not about what your fingers can or can’t do.

35. “Killer Queen” – Queen (Brian May)

I adore Brian May as one of the most singular and completely unique guitarists I’ve ever heard. He’s a math and engineering prodigy who built his own guitar. He prefers to play with a U.S. dime piece instead of a pick. Those are just a couple of the factors which add up to one of the most inimitable and instantly recognizable guitar sounds in Rock n’ Roll history. In this song I’ve picked, you hear a beautiful sampling of things so many things that so many guitarists have tried to rip off. I’m not totally sure why, but no one can touch Brian May and what he brings to the table as a guitarist.

36. “Sahib Teri Bandi – Maki Madni” – The Derek Trucks Band

Derek Trucks is another slide guitarist who – quite literally – descended from the family tree of Duane Allman. Derek’s father played drums for The Allman Brothers Band and Derek essentially grew up as a touring musician. He’s been known as a guitar prodigy since his early teens. He’s completely unique among guitar heroes, though, not just because he plays with a slide but most especially because of how he uses it. His guitar is not an inanimate instrument; it is one of the most beautiful voices you’ve ever heard. A Derek Trucks guitar solo is a siren’s song. And a big part of his genius is how he has married blues melodies and shapes with traditional Indian music. Derek is another guy who just scares the hell out of me, he’s so good.

37. “Bulls on Parade” – Rage Against the Machine (Tom Morello)

So far in this piece, I’ve mentioned how John Frusciante is my greatest influence and Kurt Cobain’s music defined my early childhood. Even still, if you asked me to pick the greatest guitarist of the 1990s, I think I’d have to pick Tom Morello. Few guitarists since Hendrix have pushed the boundaries of rock guitar the way he has. What makes him such an idol for me, personally, is the fact that he could’ve just become another metal shredder. He has the chops and, when he uses them, it’s incredible. However, instead of pushing the limits of his fingers, he pushed the limits of his imagination. He’s given us so many examples but it’s hard to find a better one than this song.

38. “Amidinine” – Bombino

Here is where I’m going to offer a hot take: I can’t stand the music of Yngwie Malmsteen.

I’ve felt this way for a while but I could never quite put my finger on why until very recently, when I discovered Bombino. As I’ve mentioned, my greatest love is the blues and my earliest influences were the earliest Rock ‘n Roll songs. To my very uneducated ear, the genius of these forms of music is that everything begins with rhythm and builds from there. Previously, especially in European forms of classical music, the primary focus seemed to be more on melody and chord progression. Even though I play a melodic instrument – the guitar – I play forms of music which demand exciting and dynamic rhythms first and foremost.

When Yngwie Malmsteen and all his metal shredders from the 80s came along, they decided to pull the guitar back to the traditions of Europe. Yngwie was inspired by Hendrix and thought it’d be great to fuse him with fucking Paganini. Rhythm took more of a backseat once again as Yngwie and his brand of 80s shredders focused entirely on their intricate lines and classical melodies.

I appreciate the degrees of difficulty in the way Yngwie plays, but I want nothing to do with his guitar playing and I can’t stand what he did to the guitar.

Which brings me to Bombino, a guitarist who was born and raised in Africa and whose music fuses traditional music from Africa and the Middle East with the electric guitar playing of guys like Hendrix and Santana. Hearing Bombino in 2013 was a revelation for me. I had believed for so long that there was still new ground to explore with the guitar and that this new ground did not have to include any metal shredding bullshit. Guys like Bombino are – as B.B. King would say – going way, way back to the very beginning of the guitar to show us how to find that new ground.

39. “Wildman” - Sun Drug

I saw this band play at The Echo more than 10 years ago, when they were called “Vanaprasta.” They put on one of the most fun club sets I’ve seen in LA, but I lost track of them after that show. So I was delighted when this song was included in one of my playlists on Spotify about a decade later. I think it’s such a beautiful example of how the guitar still has something to say in modern music. The lines in this song are so simple but they deliver the kind of raw power and emotion that only the guitar can.

40. “Asshet Akhal” – Mdou Moctar

Mdou Moctar is another guitarist like Bombino who is breaking brand new ground in electric guitar playing by incorporating traditional music from Africa and the Middle East. Hearing this song was an experience unlike anything I’ve felt in years. Earlier, I described how hearing Omar Rodriguez from The Mars Volta made me too scared to pick up my guitar for almost a week. I thought I’d never feel that about a new guitarist ever again until I heard Mdou Moctar. He made it very clear how much work I still have to do and I love him so much for that.

41. "Machine Gun" - Jimi Hendrix

I picked this one, first of all, because my guitar story begins and ends with Hendrix.  I also picked it because this is the song that has been referred to as the "Holy Grail" of electric guitar playing by some of the most revered guitarists in the world.  It was also Miles Davis' favorite Hendrix song.  Miles was a notorious asshole who didn't have many close friends. But he came to love Jimi like a little brother and this song blew his mind.  My take on this song is that it's the closest Jimi would come to realizing his full musical vision.  Though he loved many forms and genres of music and was a tremendously versatile musician, at his core he was always a blues guitarist.  He always said that he wasn't good enough on guitar to capture the music the way he heard it in his head.  On this song, he takes the blues farther than anyone before or since.  I can't imagine how anyone could take it farther, but we are all compelled to try and this is the standard that Jimi set for us.