An Amazing Three Part History of the Most Influential Guitarists Between the Years of 1929 and 1989

Musician and music essayist Rick Beato put together an amazing series about the world’s most influential guitarists. Because the subject was so big to tackle, Beato split it into three separate parts.

The first part spotlights guitarists from 1929-1969, which includes such talented musicians as Andres Segovia, Julian Green, Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, BB King, Albert King, Django Reinhardt, Jim Hall, Dick Dale, George Harrison, Steve Cropper, Chet Atkins, Glen Campbell, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Peter Green.

In this episode I discuss the guitar players that every serious guitarist should know between 1929-1969. A comprehensive guide of styles covering Classical, Blues, Jazz, Country and Rock & Roll. …The first episode entitled ‘The Guitar in 1929 through 69′ focused on the development of the guitar spanning the genres of classical blues, country rock and jazz guitar. Part Two was actually split between two videos, the first was the guitar in 1970 through 79. The decade of Legends would focus mainly on the genres of blues country rock and was immediately followed by guitar gods of the 70s that video explored the more eclectic guitars of the 70s …’The Guitar 1980 through 1989: Guitar Heroes’ i’ve decided to focus solely on rock and metal guitarists.

The second part encompasses the time frame between 1970 and 1979 including Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, Roy Buchanan, Pat Metheny, Joe Pass, Jerry Reed, Duane Allman, Terry Kath, Peter Frampton, Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa, Tommy Iommi, Brian May, Pete Townshend, Eddie Van Halen, Mark Knopfler and the late great Randy Rhoads.

The third part focuses on guitar heroes from 1980-1989 which Beato categorized into four categories: innovators shredders, blues and super shredders. The super shredders category includes Yngwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt, Tony MacAlpine and Buckethead. In the blues category were guitarists Brian Setzer, Gary Moore and Richie Sambora. The shredders include Phil Collen, Dimebag Darrell, Adrian Vandenberg, Vito Britta, George Lynch and Jake E. Lee. The innovators included Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Neal Schon, David Gilmour and Joe Satriani.