Top 10 Blues Guitarists

So now for the Top 10 Blues Guitarists of all time. This is a tough one because there are just so many good players. For the purposes of this list, I am not going to include "blues revival" guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix, Peter Green, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Robert Cray, Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, Steve Cropper and the like. They belong on a blues (or rock) list, but I'm looking more at the first 60 years or so of the 20th Century...the guys who inspired Slowhand, Jimi, Stevie Ray and the others.

1. Robert Leroy Johnson (1911-1938)
"Come On In My Kitchen", "Sweet Home Chicago", "Cross Road Blues" and others

2. Riley B. "Beale Street Blues Boy" or "B.B." King (1925- )
"The Thrill is Gone"

3. "Elmore James" Brooks (1918-1963)
"The King of the Slide Guitar"

4. George "Buddy" Guy (1936- )
Eric Clapton said, "By far and without doubt the greatest guitarist alive today"

5. McKinley "Muddy Waters" Morganfield (1915-1983)
"The Father of Chicago Blues"

6. John Lee Hooker (1917-2001)
"Boom Boom", 1991 inductee in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

7. "Albert 'The Velvet Bulldozer' King" Nelson (1923-1992)
"Born Under a Bad Sign"

8. Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (1910-1975)
"They call it stormy Monday, but Tuesday's just as bad"

9. Albert "The Ice Man" Collins (1932-1993)
"The Master of the Telecaster"

10. "Blind" Lemon Jefferson (1893-1929)
Popular blues singer of the 1920's, "See That My Grave is Kept Clean"

There are several honorable mentions, maybe too many to include, but here are some of them: Huddie William "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, Tommy Johnson, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Lonnie Brooks, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Tinsley Ellis, Son Seals, Otis Rush, Sonny Boy Williamson (Aleck "Rice" Miller), Freddie King, Magic Slim, Hubert Sumlin, Eddie "Son" House, Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins, Theodore "Hound Dog" Taylor.