Tuesday, June 17, 2008

New reader poll: Best American blues-rock guitarist of the 1960s (and you can't pick Hendrix!)

Okay, the new Traveler Blues reader poll is now in the sidebar at right. (For results of our first poll, click here.) The question: Who was the greatest American blues-rock guitarist of the 1960s? (And no, you can't pick Hendrix. That just wouldn't be fair. I truly don't understand how people can place him in any category other than "greatest popular musician of the Twentieth Century," but that's just me.)

The choices for this new poll: (1) Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers and scores of sessions for artists at Atlantic Records, (2) Mike Bloomfield, who played with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and his own group the Electric Flag, as well as with Bob Dylan and Al Kooper, (3) Johnny Winter, the Texas blues wizard who had a solid solo career that began in the late '60s, (4) the amazing Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the M.G.'s and an endless list of Stax Records sessions (and if you think he wasn't a blues player, just listen to this album he cut with Albert King and Pop Staples), and (5) the definite wild card of the bunch, Henry "Sunflower" Vestine of Canned Heat.

Yeah, we left out a few contenders, like Ry Cooder (who I don't think could really be classified as a "blues" player, per se), Jerry Garcia (whose finest blues material is from the early '70s, which is the only reason he's not on this list), and Dickey Betts. Any other beefs with our list? Let us know. Just don't let it keep you from voting...
Posted by Dave at 11:01 AM

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