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Guitar Greats
by Univideit Gauitin
http://www.guitarsuniverse.com

There have been numerous guitar greats in the world. It is
often debated as to who were the greatest exponents of
playing guitar. Every guitar enthusiast has his own list
of guitar greats. It is not easy to determine what makes
great guitar players.

One man who is a hot favorite of every guitar player is the
blues guitarist named Robert Johnson. He was a great
exponent of playing guitar. It is believed that in a time
span of just one year, he began playing guitar, mastered
the art and became a legend. Quite unbelievable! There are
also rumors that Johnson had some sort of pact with the
devil. Nevertheless, his greatness has been confirmed by
many great guitar players.

Rumors abound about how he made the deal with the Devil in
the Deep South. Johnson did not do much to dispel this
notion. Instead his songs like Crossroad Blues and Me And
The Devil Blues further stoked suspicion. The legend
strengthened even further by his death in 1938 at the age
of 27. Nothing is known about the cause of death, whether
it was poisoning, stabbing or the Devil claiming his soul.

It is a coincidence that the other great guitarist after
Johnson also had an early death. This great was Jimi
Hendrix, considered by many as the greatest guitarist to
ever grace the Earth and the man who revolutionized the art
of playing guitar. However, he was popular for his other
activities also,which included playing solos behind his back
or with histeeth and famously setting his guitar on fire.
It is believed that he was oblivious of the fact that what a
great musician he was.

Hendrix was an all-round musician, equally adept at blues,
rock and jazz. Believe it or not, he only had a bassist and
drummer in his live concerts. He was a great exponent of
playing guitar and very innovative as well. Being left
handed, he re strung his guitar upside down.

Like all legends, stories about Hedrix are legion. He was
famous for covering other bands songs in concert and on
record. Sometimes he would do his cover of a track before
the original band had managed to perform it live, as was the
case with the Beatles 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club
Band'. Though he couldn't read or write musical notation,
it's said that a single listen to a new song was enough for
him to be able to play it. He is also one of a very small
number of musicians who earned the approval of the hardest
man to please in the history of popular music, Miles Davis.

The guitar player takes central stage in so many forms of
music that the guitar greats in most people's minds aren't
just rock or bluesmen. Jazz players like Django Rheinhardt,
classicists like John Williams, or flamenco guitarists like
Paco de Lucia feature on many lists. Is it any wonder no-one
can really agree?

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