The most Broadly Influential Players In History

[wildcatter]

I was thinking about how some guitar players are "Musically" Influential like Eddie Van Halen and others or "Culturally" influential like Kurt Cobain but few players influence Playing, Culture and Fashion the way Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn do. I see young players dressing and playing just like them after all these years.

What are some other players that have had this level of impact on playing and culture?

Wouldn't really put SRV in that category honestly, but I would put George Harrison ( The BEATLES lead guitarist, HELLO) Buddy Holly, and for all the Mick Ronno Ronson really WAS "Beside Bowie", as well as who gave Bowie the balls to become Bowie...

 

[sinecrafter]

What are some other players that have had this level of impact on playing and culture?

Taylor Swift.

 

[Jay Jernigan]

Looks like it's everybody. Or, maybe, nobody.
Might be you.
Could be me.
Anything 's possible.

 

[Bastion Highwalk]

There’s loads of really great and musically influential cats mentioned here but I think the point was someone who transcends musical and musicians’ influence and has a bigger cultural impact overall.

 

[EllroyJames]

 

[Chester P Squier]

Chet Atkins:

Was with RCA records and from what I understand had a hand in some of Elvis Presley's early recordings.

Designed Gretsch guitars, as played by George Harrison of the Beatles. And many others, not quite so famous as George.

And also played the guitar rather well himself.

He also made country music palatable to people who live inside city limits and/or outside the south.

So, Chet Atkins.

 

[wildcatter]

Chet Atkins:

Was with RCA records and from what I understand had a hand in some of Elvis Presley's early recordings.

Designed Gretsch guitars, as played by George Harrison of the Beatles. And many others, not quite so famous as George.

And also played the guitar rather well himself.

He also made country music palatable to people who live inside city limits and/or outside the south.

So, Chet Atkins.

Not sure if he had the cultural or musical influence up there with the majority of the names being tossed around. Culturally he really was limited to just the country genera, and musically he is kinda an early version of Jeff Beck in that NO ONE else seems to be able to replicate just wtf he was doing when he played. No one, not even his fellow Yardbird Bro's or even Hendrix himself seem to be able to get the trem-bar/volume control at the same time with one hand mastery Mr Beck had (RIP) and no one else seems to be able to get that three-part played simaltaniously on one guitar "arraingement(? not sure wtf else to call what he was doing)" that Mr Atkins made sound easy...

 

[telemnemonics]

The "most broadly influential" are from before 1960 or '70.
After 1970 each became less broadly influential and more narrowly influential, because they were 90% rehashing players work from prior decades.
Van Halen was great and inspired lots of kids to tap but his addition to guitar was minimal in the big picture.
SRV was also great, but again, aside from kids who never seen a jumping picker grimace before, Stevie really added nothing to the guitar lexicon.
By the time Cobain churned out his riffs, it took a heluva lot more than what he did to even pull together a decent chunk of the past never mind forge any future styles.

Of course maybe the OP means broadly inspiring more than influential?
IDK, if I open a burger joint just like McDonalds and a kid has his first burger there then opens his own burger joint, who was the broadly influential burger joint creator?
Me or McD?

What made SRV seem so new was that industry guitar was all huge racks of FX, where Stevie brought us BACK to old time touch feel soul rhythm chops and Blues.
His work was influenced by greats of the past, but he is not a replacement for the past artists whose styles he copped.

Any more than Beatlemania was an influential band, even if kids hear Beatles there first.

I do not mean offense, I love Stevie because he was truly soulful.
But “broadly influential” to me means broad like the base of a pyramid or the foundation upon which everything else is built.

 

[telemnemonics]

Peter Buck of R.E.M.

Pete showed kidz that while playing an F chord is haaarrrd, if you work at it YOU CAN DO IT!

 

[Trenchant63]

1.Wes Montgomery: next evolution in jazz guitar playing after Christian and Reinhardt, helped usher in "easy listening jazz" with albums like "Tequila", reinforced the "cool" jazz look.

Not really. His pop/ easy listening jazz was near the end of his career. He changed jazz guitar out of the box and blew minds with his swinging lines octaves and chords before that. That is what made him legendary.

 

[telemnemonics]

Not gonna say Stan influenced many of us but he did add an annex to the foundation of guitar, upon which we could build, should we choose to accept. My attempt to add to his foundation was playing bass with my toes (while playing guitar with my hands), not unlike a great Hammond player I saw perform often with the bass keys under his feet.

 

[4pickupguy]

Segovia, Christian, Reinhardt, Atkins, Paul, Hendrix, Van Halen.
Roughly in that order, IMO.

Wow, would be hard to improve on this list. I saw Andre Segovia in 84’ in Houston (or was it Austin) on his 90th birthday and he was still killin’ it!

 

[Crafty Fox]

Here's a hot take: using the OP's criteria, the only answer is George Harrison.

Ain't nobody dressing like Segovia or Hank Marvin.

Last time I bumped into Hank (he lives nearby) he was dressed like me!

 

[Tom Grattan]

Anyone talked about this guy yet?
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Jesse Davis

Jesse Ed Davis was one of my favs