Greatest artist still alive

[Mikeymac]

I think this thread is a better indication of our collective, average age  

Indeed.

If I may stick my neck out, a younger artist who gets lampooned a lot but is actually a great songwriter, singer, and guitar slinger - who I almost cringe to admit I like (most of the time) is John Mayer. You can't deny his success, whether you like his style, etc. I'm probably not a big fan of his personal lifestyle and politics, but that would be true of many artists already mentioned in this thread...

...give a listen

[L07 Shooting Star]

Paul McCartney and Ringo.

Yup.  The list is still pretty long.  Did anyone mention Willie yet?  Booker T Jones?

[unclrob]

Steve Cropper,Ry Cooder,David Lindly,Stephen Stills,Bonnie Raitt.

[Walkerman]

Yup.  The list is still pretty long.  Did anyone mention Willie yet?  Booker T Jones?

You will notice Paul and Willie in my OP.  Now, I know there are lots of good artists  today ..... But I am referring to the "Giants."  And I believe there is currently no one on the scene that is even close to being their equals.  And I wonder if there ever will be.  I think part of what made these guys so great was the times they were part of.  The sixties was a decade that had so much going on, and music was more integrated into our lives then than it ever was before, or ever has been since.  Anyhow, JMHO.

[ducktrapper]

Seems to me that once we've gotten around to naming everyone who is still alive, the thread becomes as meaningless as, "What's the best string?"   

[Queequeg]

I won't pretend to know who the greatest artist is. And I hope you don't consider this a thread jack.
But looking at the greatest year, consider 1971, when there were so many great artists who were so productive.
The Allman Bros.-Fillmore East
Aretha Franklin-Live at the Fillmore
The Band-Cahoots
Beach Boys - Surf's Up
Carol King-Tapestry
Cat Stevens- Tea for the Tillerman
C, S, N & Y-4 Way Street
David Bowie-Hunky Dory
David Crosby-If I Could Only Remember My Name
Doors-LA Woman
Elton John-Madman Across the Water
Genesis-Nursery Crime
Harry Nilson-Nilson Schmilsson
Issac Hayes Theme from Shaft
James Brown-revolution of the mind
James Gang-Thirds
James Taylor- Mudslide Slim and the Blue Horizon
Jefferson Airplane-Bark
John Hartford-Aero Plain
John Lennon-Imagine
King Crimson-Islands
Laura Nyro-Gonna Take a Miracle
Little Feat-eponymous
Mahavishnu Orchestra.-Inner Mounting Flame
Marvin Gaye- What's Goin On
Miles Davis-Live/Evil
Pink Floyd-Meddle
Rolling Stones-Sticky Fingers
Santana-III
Sly & the Family Stone-There's a Riot Goin On

[ducktrapper]

I won't pretend to know who the greatest artist is. And I hope you don't consider this a thread jack.
But looking at the greatest year, consider 1971, when there were so many great artists who were so productive.
The Allman Bros.-Fillmore East
Aretha Franklin-Live at the Fillmore
The Band-Cahoots
Beach Boys - Surf's Up
Carol King-Tapestry
Cat Stevens- Tea for the Tillerman
C, S, N & Y-4 Way Street
David Bowie-Hunky Dory
David Crosby-If I Could Only Remember My Name
Doors-LA Woman
Elton John-Madman Across the Water
Genesis-Nursery Crime
Harry Nilson-Nilson Schmilsson
Issac Hayes Theme from Shaft
James Brown-revolution of the mind
James Gang-Thirds
James Taylor- Mudslide Slim and the Blue Horizon
Jefferson Airplane-Bark
John Hartford-Aero Plain
John Lennon-Imagine
King Crimson-Islands
Laura Nyro-Gonna Take a Miracle
Little Feat-eponymous
Mahavishnu Orchestra.-Inner Mounting Flame
Marvin Gaye- What's Goin On
Miles Davis-Live/Evil
Pink Floyd-Meddle
Rolling Stones-Sticky Fingers
Santana-III
Sly & the Family Stone-There's a Riot Goin On

I sure do notice that too many of them are gone.

Duane Allman and Berry Oakley
Rick, Richard and Levon
Carl and Dennis Wilson
Bowie
Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek
Nilsson
James Brown
Paul Kantner and Spencer Dryden
Hartford
Lennon
Lowell George and Ritchie Hayward
Marvin Gaye
Miles
Syd Barrett and Richard Wright
Brian Jones

[carruth]

And the greatest musician of the last century was..............Louis Armstrong. 

[rockstar_not]

There may not be giants because of the leveling of the popularity field due to social media and the Internet. Really ok with that, but it does take away from the collective social experience of music to some degree.

[DaveyO]

one of the best I think is Peter Frampton.
great player and songwriter
dave

[photodork]

I'd like to suggest a couple of names.
my all time favourite mark knopfler, George Benson and Bruce Cockburn.

[rockstar_not]

The title of this thread implies something that isn't necessarily true: that the greatest artists are all dying off and that there's no hope for future artistry.  At least the 'still alive' comment seems to point that way.

It's very likely the greatest artist still alive is being born right as we read this thread. 

Now, if the thread title stated something about 'Who do you feel is the greatest artist that was popular in our youth?' then there is an eventual end and the 'still alive' comment applies.  In reading the original post, I think that's the sentiment being sought.

But the fact is that there are great artists being born every minute and the privilege we have living in these times is that we have the joy of discovery through the internet, instead of being given a limited menu through the major record companies and who they decide will be popular.

[Caleb]

Something I've been thinking of recently is that it's not as big a deal to be a great guitar player as it once was.  Just browse YouTube and you'll see thousands of young people playing very well.  It's almost boring at this point to watch it, at least for me.  I saw a clip the other day of a teenage girl playing a Steve Vai tune note for note.  That would've blown my mind a decade ago, but at this point it's just the way it is.

One thing is that we have the opportunity to see all these folks playing in their bedrooms via the Internet, where years ago that just wasn't possible. But the Internet has also created the ability for people to learn online and get a lot better than in times past, when a person might go over a certain piece for months and never nail it. But now you can see someone do it, and voila!, you have it down.  It seems to have cheapened things a bit.  

[ducktrapper]

Something I've been thinking of recently is that it's not as big a deal to be a great guitar player as it once was.  Just browse YouTube and you'll see thousands of young people playing very well.  It's almost boring at this point to watch it, at least for me.  I saw a clip the other day of a teenage girl playing a Steve Vai tune note for note.  That would've blown my mind a decade ago, but at this point it's just the way it is.

One thing is that we have the opportunity to see all these folks playing in their bedrooms via the Internet, where years ago that just wasn't possible. But the Internet has also created the ability for people to learn online and get a lot better than in times past, when a person might go over a certain piece for months and never nail it. But now you can see someone do it, and voila!, you have it down.  It seems to have cheapened things a bit.  

Sure. Technique has become cheap and, in itself, unimpressive. Soul has always been rare, does not depend on technique and makes you feel something regardless of style. By the way, guys like Steve Vai always left me cold.   

[tuffythepug]

Sure. Technique has become cheap and, in itself, unimpressive. Soul has always been rare, does not depend on technique and makes you feel something regardless of style. By the way, guys like Steve Vai always left me cold.   

Me too.  Satriani doesn't do it for me either.  Flash and showmanship take a backseat to the sublte genius of someone like Mark Knoffler in my humble opinion

[ducktrapper]

Me too.  Satriani doesn't do it for me either.  Flash and showmanship take a backseat to the sublte genius of someone like Mark Knoffler in my humble opinion

Agreed although I don't mind some of Satriani's work. Actually, as it turns out, if you want to be content as a player, regardless of ability, your favorite guitarist should be yourself.  

[Caleb]

I'm not a shredder or a fan of it, really, but I do believe Vai plays with plenty of soul, and showmanship for that matter.  Me, I'm a lifelong amateur, mediocre player and like it that way.

[Danny]

I'd like to suggest a couple of names.
my all time favourite mark knopfler, George Benson and Bruce Cockburn.

Mark Knofler deserves to be considered for sure. Someone who had/has an impact on me is Justin Hayward. In 1967 he brought the Moody Blues to a whole new level. He and John Lodge are still out there touring.

[ducktrapper]

I'm not a shredder or a fan of it, really, but I do believe Vai plays with plenty of soul, and showmanship for that matter.  Me, I'm a lifelong amateur, mediocre player and like it that way.

It's all a matter of taste after all and it's silly to dispute taste. I didn't mind some of the things he did with Zappa. Of course, Frank ran a band with an iron hand and operated with controlled chaos. I just remember seeing Vai play with a three neck guitar and I couldn't stop myself from laughing at how ludicrous it was. But that's just me. Great oogly moogly!   

[rockstar_not]

I've had the fortune of being to Guitar Town in 2009 and 2015 at Copper Mountain Resort, CO.  In 2009, Tommy Emmanuel was the headliner for the acoustic day.  Insanely good.  Just plain silly good and looked like he was having a blast.

This past year, my wife got us tix for Guitar Town as a surprise present to me after all these years of wanting to go back but for whatever reason could not.

It's a small festival, attended by perhaps 5000 people.  Vai was the headliner for the electric day.  I was quite looking forward to it.  I had seen Vai on the Malmsteem/Satch/Vai G3 tour way back when.  I liked Satch the best out of those three back then.

This past year, we stayed for about 3 songs of Vai's set because it was simply punishingly, brutally loud.  If there was any virtuosity demonstrated, it was unfortunately masked by the main PA speakers being driven to mechanical clipping for the entirety of his set.  I had earplugs with me, which I had worn most of the day through several other electric guitarists' sets with some enjoyment. 

Robben Ford played immediately before Vai and his set was pretty loud, but with earplugs, it was musically enjoyable and the mains were not in break-up.

Vai on the other hand, the crackle of speaker clipping matched the goofy faces he made the whole time.

My favorite of the electric day was a guy from the UK called Matt Schofield.  Really classy heavy blues.  Definitely check his stuff out if you are a Bonamassa fan.

I dig the melodic instrumental guitar rock, but I think there are several that out Vai, Vai and Satch these days.  One guy from Bulgaria is my favorite the past 10 years or so, Dimitar Nalbantov. Just a better composer from a sense of melody and interesting changes in the songs.  He writes songs that would have been great in the late 80's early 90's movie themes:  Here's an example of just such a song https://youtu.be/vZw220v4YQQ

Dimi's stuff is great for long road trips as a soundtrack that has no lyrics but locks in with the scenery in sublime ways.