Opinion: who earned the honor of most famous or best left handed guitar player?

[Duffy]

That's it. Who in your opinion has earned the prestigious honor of being the most famous or best left handed guitar player of all time?

Hopefully this will be interesting to find out a lot of opinions.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Well, Hendrix seems the obvious answer. Him or Bob Geldof. (nah, Hendrix it is).

 

[mainestratman]

Please no one say Cobain.

 

[marnold]

Albert King has to be right up there

 

[Zip]

For the 'famous' part, don't forget Sir Paul McCartney.

 

[Bow]

Jimi Hendrix

Cobain and a 20 Gauge was the best thing that happened to music in 1994

 

[Jimi75]

The boy from Seattle of course.....Jimi, not Kurt :-)

 

[Eric]

Jimi Hendrix

Cobain and a 20 Gauge was the best thing that happened to music in 1994

Wow. I may be biased because I actually *like* grunge, but that's pretty cold.

 

[Robert]

Jimi of course. He was also the best at playing behind his neck and playing with his teeth... :)

 

[sumitomo]

Roach Mulligan! Sumi:D

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Wow. I may be biased because I actually *like* grunge, but that's pretty cold.

+1

 

[Bow]

Wow. I may be biased because I actually *like* grunge, but that's pretty cold.

Alice in Chains
Soundgarden
Pearl Jam
Temple of the Dog

all rock

 

[Heywood Jablomie]

Elliot Easton is way up there, IMO.

 

[woodchuk]

There's only one possible answer - me! :D

Just kidding! No contest - Jimi Hendrix. When you consider the time period in which he performed, it becomes evident that he reinvented the guitar. He redefined its possibilities in the world of musical performance. Whether or not you like his music, he at least deserves credit for that, which is a whole lot more than the vast majority of guitarists can claim. Personally, I think there are players that are clearly inspired by him today who have surpassed him - if not in technique, then at least in being able to integrate technique with musicality. But the players today have 40 more years of recording technology to help them achieve this. For his time, there was no other. Hendrix started a school that no one else has ever graduated from, and probably never will.

 

[R_of_G]

McCartney. Listening to the Beatles as a kid is where I first learned how melodic an instrument the bass can be. Plus, Paul played plenty of guitar on the records.

 

[Iago]

Jimi. Besides the revolutionary music (as if it wasn't enough! :D), whenever they show something about him on TV here they have to mention he was left-handed and had to play the guitar upside-down. You never hear this about Paul MacCartney or any other left-handed player; many people don't even know he is left-handed, and that includes many Beatles fans.

Curiosity: Jimi played guitar left-handed, but he used to write with his right hand, what actually makes him a right-handed person.

 

[R_of_G]

...many people don't even know he is left-handed, and that includes many Beatles fans.

I wonder what those people thought was going on when they'd look at a picture/video of the Beatles playing. Did they never wonder why Paul's guitar faced the other way?

 

[Iago]

Most people just listen to the music and don't care to much about watching/paying attention to videos. They are able to identify Beatles songs, they can sing along, but ask the major audience "Who's the left-handed Beatle?" Many people will mistake it.

 

[Bloozcat]

Who's the first one that always comes to mind holding a right handed guitar, left handed?

Jimi, hands down.

 

[Retro Hound]

Albert King, Dick Dale. Jimi is probably the most well known though.

 

[Duffy]

Left

Blooz,

I have to say that McCartney is to me the first, without doubt, left handed guitar player to come to mind, Hendrix closeby in the shadow. But, has he earned the honor of being the best and most famous? It is for us to decide.

 

[R_of_G]

Blooz,

I have to say that McCartney is to me the first, without doubt, left handed guitar player to come to mind, Hendrix closeby in the shadow. But, has he earned the honor of being the best and most famous? It is for us to decide.

I suppose what it boils down to is whether the question is to find the left handed guitarist who is most famous or the guitarist who is most famous for being a left-handed guitarist. In the former case, it's Paul, without question. Otherwise, it's Jimi.

 

[Lev]

Curiosity: Jimi played guitar left-handed, but he used to write with his right hand, what actually makes him a right-handed person.

I believe Mark Knopfler is the opposite, left-handed but plays right handed.

 

[pes_laul]

Jimi. Besides the revolutionary music (as if it wasn't enough! :D), whenever they show something about him on TV here they have to mention he was left-handed and had to play the guitar upside-down. You never hear this about Paul MacCartney or any other left-handed player; many people don't even know he is left-handed, and that includes many Beatles fans.

Curiosity: Jimi played guitar left-handed, but he used to write with his right hand, what actually makes him a right-handed person.

I'm left handed but I play guitar righty. Same things with drums too

 

[LeadedEL84]

Left,left,left,right,left

Yes ,I am in lock step with the Jimi Army. Hendrix was very famous for being a left hand guitarist. Look at any image of him and you will see that upside down righty Strat strung left handed. The image of the upside down,large,CBS style headstock is such a classic image associated with 60s psychedelic music,Woodstock,and Mr. James Hendrix. He was famous enough to inspire generations of guitarists with his innovation and style. While his style may have been his #1 innovation his status as a lefty is such a big part of the image that is ingrained into his fame. He even inspired the developement of a model of Stratocaster with lefty neck and reverse slant bridge pickup to try to recreate his unique sound from his lefthandedness. All for right handed players that can't make the high fret stretch with the upside down body but want the Jimi mojo. We were just beginning to see the depths of his talent when he passed on.
There may be other very notable left handed guitarists but none that can match Jimi in all those catagories.

It never really occured to me that Albert King and Dick Dale were lefties. Two great talents. McCartney is definately a notable lefty but can't top Jimi on the list.

While not in the same ballpark for widespread fame or being noticed as a lefthand guitarist, I have to give Otis Rush an honorable mention for his talent and innovation. If you listen to what he was doing in the period of 1956-1963 or so he was very much an innovator well ahead of his time. He is not underated by those who know and listen to him but he doesn't really get the credit deserved. He was a big inspiration for some of the best such as Hendrix ,SRV ,and Jimmy Page. It's funny that we have guitar players coming onto the scene now who derived their licks from guys like Kenny wayne Sheppard,Chris Duarte,John Mayer,(and the like) who derived their licks from guys like Hendrix,SRV,and Page who derived alot of their licks from guys like Albert King and Otis Rush. Not that it is exactly linear. There is much cross generational influence going on within that line. What it boils down to is this: Listen to Otis Rush from the early days and you will hear many familiar licks and rudiments that are on new or fairly new blues rock songs that sound fresh and cutting edge today. For this reason I have to vote for Otis Rush as the stealth candidate for most influential left handed guitarist.
IMHO
Jimi Hendrix is the most overtly famous ,talented, innovative,and influential left handed guitarist.
Otis Rush is the most covertly influential left handed guitarist. Albert King would have to make the list too.

 

[Bloozcat]

I suppose what it boils down to is whether the question is to find the left handed guitarist who is most famous or the guitarist who is most famous for being a left-handed guitarist. In the former case, it's Paul, without question. Otherwise, it's Jimi.

It is a compound question with multiple answers.

There's the matter of technicality. Paul McCartney was for much of his career and certainly his most visible years, a bass player. We didn't see him with an actual 6-string guitar in his hands until near the end of the Beatles.

Jimi became the famed left handed guitar player in just three years before his untimely death in 1970. Paul McCartney became known around the world in 1964 and continues on today. So that's 3-years of exposure for Jimi and 46 years of exposure for Paul. Who's the more famous and accomplished left handed guitar player based upon that comparison? Who had the greatest impact on guitar playing based on that comparison? And I'd argue that Paul's fame was more as a song writer/composer singer than as a guitar player. Famous for being a lefty, yes. Famous for being "the best" left handed guitar player, no. Very few us as guitar players have sat with guitar in hand trying to play like Paul. But, every one of us wanted to play like Jimi.

I remember listening to Are You Experienced for the first time when it was released in 1967. There had never been anything even close to it in terms of the new ground it broke. And as evidence of Hendrix's lasting impact on the guitar world he's still revered as one of the greatest (and by some the greatest) guitar player of the 20th century. He did this in just 3-years of fame...