At a recent gathering among, now several former friends, the lighthearted discussion about the usefulness (or uselessness, in my opinion) of masks took a quick and heated turn to an intense discussion on who is the greatest musician(s) of all time. Beatles vs. Stones. Hendrix vs. Clapton. Jesse and the Rippers vs. The Partridge Family.
Okay, we didn’t debate the last example because, obviously, there is no debate because it’s Jesse and the Rippers – hands down. But, we did try to find agreement on who the best of the best was or is or ever will be. The smarter faction clearly understood that The Beatles were the all-time greatest, not only for their music, but also for how they changed music forever... and in a good way. Not like how Coldplay ruined music forever.
As settled as that discussion was, we were never able to gain any common ground on the greatest guitarist of all time. And I don’t blame a single point of view on the three finalists we landed on: Clapton, Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Although, Jimmy Page, Slash Van Halen and David Gilmour all entered the discussion, it was clear that our final three were the correct final three.
The discussion inevitably led to another debate: Can a determination of “the best in music” even be objective? For example, who decides what the qualifiers are? Are some of those qualifiers even measurable? Does overall impact and reach have any weight? Number of albums sold? Expert opinions? All can be argued to be factors, but again... what is the weight of each and who determines them?
So, I can leave you with this. The Beatles are the greatest overall band/musician of all time and the top three guitarists are Clapton, Hendrix and Vaughn (in no particular order of course).
Have a nice day.
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