The following is a list of 100 of the most consistently enjoyable/creative rock or soul guitarists of all-time, listed in alphabetical order along with the band they are associated with (note: in some cases I listed the band and then the guitarists) and their most essential guitar song (or album). In some cases I couldn’t think of a particular song but included them to reward an overall body of work. Every one of these guys are worth hearing, though I’d hardly call this list definitive.
Aerosmith (Joe Perry, Brad Whitford) - “Back In The Saddle”
Jan Akkerman (Focus) - “Hocus Pocus”
Duane Allman (Allman Brothers Band, Derek & The Dominos, sessions) - "Layla"
Allman Brothers Band (Dickey Betts, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks) - “Mountain Jam”
Martin Barre (Jethro Tull) - “Aqualung”
Jeff Beck (Yardbirds, solo) - “Cause We've Ended As Lovers”
Adrian Belew (King Crimson, Talking Heads, David Bowie, solo) - "Stay" (live from David Bowie's Stage)
Richie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow) - “Highway Star”
Michael Bloomfield (Butterfield Blues Band, Electric Flag) - “East West”
Tommy Bolin (Billy Cobham, James Gang, Deep Purple, solo) - "Post Toastee"
Peter Buck (R.E.M.) - “Seven Chinese Brothers”
Roy Buchanan - "Home Is Where I Lost Her"
Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac, solo) - “Never Going Back Again”
Randy California (Spirit) - “I Got A Line On You”
Mike Campbell (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) - "Running Down A Dream"
Jerry Cantrell (Alice In Chains) - “Angry Chair”
Eric Clapton (Yardbirds, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and The Dominoes, solo) - "White Room"
Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins, Zwan) - “Starla”
Steve Cropper (Booker T. and the MGs, too many soul sessions to mention) - “Green Onions”
Dimebag Darrell (Pantera)- "Cemetary Gates"
Dave Davies (The Kinks) - “You Really Got Me”
Buck Dharma (Blue Oyster Cult) - "Don't Fear The Reaper"
Al DiMeola (Return To Forever, solo) - "Race With The Devil On A Spanish Highway"
The Edge (U2) - “Where The Streets Have No Name”
John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival) - “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”
Robert Fripp (King Crimson, David Bowie, Brian Eno, The Roches, solo) - “Baby's On Fire”
Rory Gallagher - "Tattoo'd Lady"
Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead) - “Dark Star”
Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) - “La Grange”
David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) - “Comfortably Numb”
Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac) - "Rattlesname Shake" (live)
Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead) - “Paranoid Android”
Steve Hackett (Genesis, solo) - "Firth of Fifth"
George Harrison (The Beatles, solo) - “Let It Be”
Eddie Hazel (Funkadelic) - “Maggot Brain”
Jimi Hendrix - “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”
Josh Homme (Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age) - "No One Knows"
Steve Howe (Yes) - “Starship Trooper”
Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) - “Wheels Of Confusion”
Iron Maiden (Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Janick Gers) - "Prowler"
Ernie Isley (Isley Brothers) - “That Lady”
Eric Johnson - “Cliffs Of Dover”
Judas Priest (Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing) - "Beyond The Realms Of Death"
Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo) - “I Heard You Looking”
Terry Kath (Chicago) - “25 or 6 To 4”
Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) - “Sultans Of Swing”
Robbie Krieger (The Doors) - “Peace Frog”
Alvin Lee (Ten Years After) - “I’m Going Home”
Alex Lifeson (Rush) - “Limelight”
Lynyrd Skynyrd (Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, Steve Gaines) - “Freebird”
Yngwie Malmsteen (Steeler, Alcatrazz, solo) - "I'll See The Light Tonight"
Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music) - Country Life
Johnny Marr (The Smiths) - “How Soon Is Now?”
Doug Martsch (Built To Spill) - “Broken Chairs”
J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.) - “Kracked”
Brian May (Queen) - “Liar”
Jim McCarty (Mitch Ryder, Cactus) - "You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover"
Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) - “Alive”
Roger McGuinn (The Byrds) - “Eight Miles High”
John McLaughlin (Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra, solo) - “Meeting Of The Spirits”
MC5 (Wayne Kramer, Fred “Sonic” Smith) - “Baby Won’t Ya”
Megadeth (Marty Friedman, Dave Mustaine, Chris Poland) - "Hangar 18"
Metallica (Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield) - “Fade To Black”
Ronnie Montrose - "Bad Motor Scooter"
Steve Morse (Dixie Dregs, solo, Kansas, Deep Purple) - "Punk Sandwich"
Bob Mould (Husker Du, Sugar, solo) - “Helpless”
Bill Nelson (Be Bop Deluxe) - "No Trains To Heaven"
Ted Nugent - "Stranglehold"
Ozzy's guitarists (Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee, Zakk Wylde) - "Mr. Crowley"
Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds, sessions) - “Stairway To Heaven”
Prince - “Purple Rain”
Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones) - “Sympathy For The Devil”
Robbie Robertson (The Band, Bob Dylan, solo) - “Unfaithful Servant”
The Rolling Stones (Brian Jones, Ron Wood, and especially Mick Taylor) - "Sway"
Mick Ronson (David Bowie, Ian Hunter, solo) - “Width Of A Circle”
Carlos Santana - "Black Magic Woman"
Joe Satriani - "Satch Boogie"
Tom Scholz (Boston) - "More Than A Feeling"
Neal Schon (Santana, Journey) - “Look Into The Future”
The Scorpions (Uli Jon Roth, Michael Schenker, Rudolph Schenker, Matthias Jabs) - "Sails Of Charon"
Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) - Loveless
Slash (Guns n’ Roses) - “Sweet Child ‘O Mine”
Slayer - (Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman) - "Angel Of Death"
Sonic Youth (Lee Renaldo, Thurston Moore) - “The Diamond Sea”
John Squire (The Stone Roses) - The Stone Roses
Steely Dan (Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Elliott Randall, Larry Carlton, Walter Becker, Denny Dias, Rick Derringer) - “My Old School”
Stephen Stills - "Season Of The Witch"
Television (Tom Verlaine, Richard Lloyd) - “Marquee Moon”
Kim Thayil (Soundgarden) - “Fell On Black Days”
Thin Lizzy (David Bell, Scott Gorham, Brian Robertson, Gary Moore, Snowy White, John Sykes) - “Emerald” (live)
Richard Thompson (Fairport Convention, Richard and Linda Thompson, solo) - “Shoot Out The Lights”
Pete Townshend (The Who) - "Naked Eye"
Robin Trower (Procol Harem, solo) - “Repent Walpurgis”
Stevie Vai (Frank Zappa, Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, Whitesnake, solo) - Passion and Warfare
Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen) - “Eruption”
Stevie Ray Vaughn - “Scuttle Buttin'”
Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter (Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, sessions) - "Sweet Jane" (live)
Joe Walsh (solo, James Gang, The Eagles) - "The Bomber"
Leslie West (Mountain) - "Mississippi Queen"
Johnny Winter - "Fast Life Rider"
Angus Young (AC/DC) - “Whole Lotta Rosie”
Neil Young - “Like A Hurricane”
Frank Zappa - “Muffin Man”
