Forget technique, who's the "scariest" guitarist?

By scariest I mean the one who creates a tone & ambience in the guitar that goes right down into your bones and taps that sense of the existential angst of existence. I don't mean frightening or evil exactly, which is why I haven't listed, for example, Jimmy Page.
Also haven't put Hendrix on here even though I think the sound he gets out of the guitar on Machine Gun on the Band of Gypsies album epitomizes what I'm thinking of -- because Hendrix is so much more.

I've included the other option of course to avoid making it a push poll & so that I can be educated or reminded of someone I haven't thought of.

[LuLu550]

1. Zappa

n/t

[Drifter]

3. Hear Hear ...

If you're cute, maybe you're beautiful. There are more of us ugly motherfuckers than you are. Hey ...

Cheers
Drifter

[LuLu550]

4. It was a complement

what he could do with a guitar was unnatural...scary, even...

[edzontar]

8. It is, of course, Mr. Frank Zappa

Ferocious, audacious, musical.

[BlueEyedSon]

2. Belew

[Screaming Lord Byron]

6. Yeah, Belew, Kevin Shields, Thurston and Lee from Sonic Youth,

Dave Navarro, Joey Santiago, Jonny Greenwood,

[NoPasaran]

5. That would me moi

If you judge by people running away in terror!

[Warren Stuart]

7. Stevie Vai

"Bad Horsey" weird, absolutely weird, scary weird. So weird in fact that they named the Wah Wah pedal used in the song after the song.

Say what you want about him (he was always a little too girly looking for my tastes), but he plays with an astonishing command and control of his instrumant. He is truly a master.

[phillybri]

27. A second for Vai...

His sound is just sick!!!

[Beaker]

9. Tommy Bolin

nt

[DS1]

10. Dimebag Darrell

Although this will likely be his only vote.

11. so far excellent -- give me more!

I almost put Zappa and Moore and Renaldo on the list, but decided to hold back just to let Other have its due. & so I could put a couple not usually thought of.

[Saudade]

12. Sonny Sharrock

No doubt.

14. sonny is on

the box set of Tribute to Jack Johnson by Miles Davis that just came out. (He's not on the original album) turns out he was in the studio sessions, after all. McLaughlin does some pretty scary stuff on that album and the box set also.

[Saudade]

15. True

McGlaughlin was pretty scary in those sessions.

Sharrock with Last Exist is quite terrifying.

[jimbo fett]

13. Michael Hedges -- in a mellow sort of way.

[Whitacre D_WI]

16. Wray.

Listen to "Deuces Wild," and then tell me I'm wrong.

18. I'm not saying you're wrong!

I'm not saying who my vote goes for (I vote for them all, really), but I did put Link at the top of the list, if that means anything.

[BurtWorm]

17. Alex St. Clair and Zoot Horn Rollo

of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band

[Squeech]

19. Scary monsters

Lotta good answers so far.

And props on you for including John Cippolina, who's been a hero of mine for years. Although I think you can argue that the scariest work in the Quicksilver oeuvre was actually Duncan's-- all that overdubbed flamenco madness in "Calvary," for instance.

Which leads me to the notion that some guitar solos are scary because the music is scary. As a case in point, I would point to Robin Trower back in the Procol Harum days, specifically the solo in "In Held Twas In I" (after the "Autumn of my Madness" bit) and all over the Home album ("Whiskey Train," "About to Die," "Whaling Stories," etc.). I'm not saying Robin isn't a redoubtable guitarist, but I don't think he reaches the same depths of terror in his solo work, despite that his take on the blues is way more emotional than formal.

Same goes for Tom Verlaine. I think his solos work because his riffs give him so much emotional energy to build on. You could put Richard Thompson in that category too.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Fred Frith (Henry Cow/Art Bears/Aqsak Maboul/Golden Palominos, and a remarkable solo career too). Much of his composed music has the same property as above, that the harmonic vocabulary is already pretty scary. He's also an amazing free improviser, however, and in that medium he can still be scary-- and yet he can also be tender, or goofy, or parodistic. He's probably my favorite guitarist in the world anyway.

Other scary improvisers include Henry Kaiser, Eugene Chadbourne, Nick Didkovsky, Davey Williams, and all the other guys who owe much of their lineage to Derek Bailey. This is all weird Knitting Factory type stuff, so your mileage may vary, but in a lot of ways it's the scariest stuff out there.

21. How could I forget Chadbourne???

... possibly the scariest & I've seen him at the Knitting Factory

[Whitacre D_WI]

22. He's much scarier when playing the electric rake.

n/t

23. LOL

another time I saw him doing a banjo duet with Tony Trischka-- a Thelonious Monk medley on banjo. Now THAT was truly scary:nuke:

[XNASA]

20. Andy Gill

Andy Gill's style back in his days with Gang of Four is tapped into my subconcious.

Palm muting with reverb. Over the top distortion with screaming sustain.

I really dig Andy's playing. Punk, political, funky and scary. All at the same time.

[mitchum]

24. Tie between Hubert Sumlin and Robert Fripp...

"Smokestack Lightning" and "Baby's on Fire"

[BigBigBear]

25. Fripp, Buckethead, Ed Wynne, Frith, "Blood" Ulmer

McLaughlin (in his distortion days), Sonny Sharrock, Jeff Beck.

31. Ulmer

is playing in NYC tonight. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go see him. I'll report back.
(unless I go see Mike Patton with John Zorn, I'm leaning towards Ulmer though)

[BigBigBear]

34. Enjoy

Reggie Lucas, Mike Stern and Bill Connors (RTF era) have also had their tweeter-tearing moments.

Roy Buchanan is one of my favorites (had the privilege of interviewing him back in the 80's - a real gentleman), as is the late, great Danny Gatton.

[ronzo]

26. For me, it was Roy Buchanan

just plain wicked.

:scared:

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

29. Well then get yourself some Ronnie Earl...he's got the tone

and the shred..listen to Greenlight and tell me you don't hear shades of Buchanan in it.

[Zomby Woof]

35. I saw Earl live some 5 or 6 years ago

I have his "Colour of Love" album, and thought it would be fun to catch him at my favorite dive in Seattle.

He just blew me away beyond my wildest expectations. The single most powerful blues guitarist I had seen since SRV in 1985.

You could have peeled me off the floor like a ZombyDecal at the end.

I have a tremendous regard for Ronnie Earl.

[Zomby Woof]

41. When A Guitar Plays The Blues

His 1985 Alligator Records release, is pure fire. It smokes beyond anything else he did.

What can you say about a guy that Jeff beck paid homage to on his best album, and was once nearly offered a spot as the first American member of the Stones?

[Bundbuster]

56. Roy, fore sure

Saw him up close right before he hung himself (booze demons), and he shook me to the core...bent the strings right off the neck.

[rucky]

28. Kevin Shields or Dean Wareham

[Dees]

30. Neil Giraldo is pretty darn scary.....n/t

.

[sendero]

32. The thing I always like about Fripp...

... is that he can shred loudly or quietly. To me, shredding loudly is relatitively easy. Few can shred quietly.

Alas, Mr. Fripp has done little shredding since, say the early 90s.

I guess intense music is pretty much a younger man's game :(

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

33. Some you know- some you don't

My all-time favorite guitarist is a guy bu the name of Doyle Dykes..so much so, I bought his guitar from him..A Taylor prototype that became one of their models

you can hear a sample here (he's acoustic - but the samples really don't do him justice..he shreds and was one of Chet Atkin's favorite players)

http://www.doyledykes.com/doyle/store/music.htm

On the electris side, it's a Kentuck by the name of Ben Lacy

again samples are here DO CLICK ON CASHMERE..yes CASHMERE...a chord melody of the Zeppelin song.

http://www.benlacy.com/downloads.html

However..when it comes to tone, style and flavor..it is the post Ventures solo work of Nokie Edwards, their lead guitar player.

His site is here but no samples *sniff*

http://www.nokieedwards.org/biography3.htm

But when it comes to mainstream music...tone style and the ability to haunt with his notes...the winner is Carlos Santana...there isn't anyone doing it as well as consistently and as long as him.


OF those gone and departed...Segovia could get me with every note.

[pdx_prog]

46. Doyle Dykes

is absolutely amazing...!

Holdsworth scared me a couple of times.....you could be listening to him and you would have to stop and say, "what the hell was that?"

Shawn Lane from Memphis (recently deceased) could blow your damn mind....specialy on "powers of ten"...

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

49. He's a really great guy too and was never formally trained

so he's never transcibed his own stuff..hard to believe given all the musical genres he's crossed. In fact..hard to believe it's only ONE guitar playing.

[underpants]

36. Bucket head

'nuff said.

37. THANKS for all the names

That was the reason for the poll in the first place. I'm off work for the day in a few minutes and since I only access the internet at work, I won't be seeing this list for a few days. Hopefully there will be more guitarists for me to check out when I get back.

[Zomby Woof]

38. I'll add Neil Young

The loudest guitarist I have ever seen, and the best master of feedback since Hendrix. His tone can be spotted a million miles away, and always gives me chills during his darkest moments, like "Tonight's The Night".

I love Sumlin of course, and Buddy Guy.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

39. Of Young's stuff "Like a Hurricane" is the only one that does that

for me.

[Zomby Woof]

40. that's my favorite by him

Should have mentioned it. Seeing it live brought tears to my eyes.

I don't consider him the "scariest" guitarist, but everyone else stole my answers so I wanted to add a new name, lol.

[maveric]

59. Cortez the Killer!

Another scary axe-piece.

[Selwynn]

42. Frederich Thordendahl --

Lead Guitarist for Meshuggah, classically trained, but known most famously for he and the bands polyrhythmic insanity, and his very avant-guarde soloing, including a couple solos that are 12-tone rows (I love those.)

He's quite amazing to see live.

[Character Assassin]

43. Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins, king of reverb and effects

No synthesizers were used for almost everything they ever did; it was all treated guitar effects.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

44. Seconded. n/t

[Bertha Venation]

45. Phil Keaggy -- rumor has it

that he cut off his middle finger, right hand, because it got in the way when he flat-picked.

[mitchum]

47. also Blixa Bargeld and Mick Harvey and Rowland Howard (during.....

their Birthday Party days)

[Zuni]

48. Robert Johnson, hubert Sumlin, Mike bloomfield

Mike Bloomfield is utterly wicked on the axe. His vibrato really is scary.

Hubert Sumlin (guitarist for howlin' Wolf) attacks the blues like a serial killer on a cheap hooker.

Robert Johnson is just downright eerie

But Peter Green has the spookiest, most haunting, most 'supernatural' sound of any guitarist I have ever listened to.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

50. How could I forget Stanley Jordan! The guy puts you in a trans!

with everything he plays

[LastKnight]

51. Other: Tom Morello

best current day guitarist, weather hes doin metal, or softer rock...

cobain is ok, wasnt an amazing guitarist, but an amazing songwriter...

-LK

[leftist_rebel1569]

54. Second that

Honorable mention to Adam Jones, guitarist for Tool. Most underrated guitarist out there, imo.

[MrSlayer]

52. Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman smoke all these guys.

They are THE monsters of guitar.

[NashVegas]

53. Nathan Larson/Craig Wedron

By the third listen, Shudder to Think's Pony Express Record made my ovaries ache.

[Orrin_73]

55. Eddie Van Halen

kucinich.us

deanforamerica.com
clark04.com
sharpton2004.org

Tom DeLay:"I challenge anyone to live on my salary" <$158,000 a year>

[maveric]

57. Jimmy Page

Back in the day. he was said to have worshipped satan for his skills.
He was one scary motherf***er!

Robert Johnson was another. He sold his soul to the devil to be the best guitar man in the world.

[MrScorpio]

58. Kazumi Watanabe

This is a men who can make his guitar talk... Words