The most notorious guitarists from the 1960s include Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, and several others. Like all musical giants do, they block the limelight from getting to the smaller figures. Not willingly, that is, because they just can’t help being so popular to a certain degree. That being said, here are three cutting-edge guitarists from the 1960s we’ve bet you’ve forgotten about.
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Rory Gallagher
Jimi Hendrix, arguably the greatest guitarist of all time, once had a reporter ask him, “How does it feel to be the greatest guitarist in the world?” “I don’t know, go ask Rory Gallagher,” he replied. If you don’t want to hear our comments on Gallagher, then that comment from Hendrix alone should move you to check out the highly underrated Irish guitarist, Rory Gallagher.
To help quicken your Rory Gallagher search, we suggest you listen to these four songs: “Tattoo’d Lady”, “Bad Penny”, “I Fall Apart”, and “Bullfrog Blues”. When it comes to blues music, there is no foreign guitar player who plays it better than Rory Gallagher. We’ll leave you with that, and that alone.
Sterling Morrison
If you are a die-hard Velvet Underground fan, then you probably think this selection is ludicrous. However, in a relative sense, Sterling Morrison is incredibly underrated compared the the mega-giants we mentioned above. Regardless, without Sterling Morrison, we might not have the Velvet Underground, and we surely wouldn’t have their incredibly identifiable sound.
While Morrison surely contributed to the majority, if not all, of the band’s songs, some of his more notable contributions reside on “I Heard Her Call My Name”, “Pale Blue Eyes”, and “Sweet Jane”. If you know of Sterling Morrison, go and revisit his work. If you don’t, then you’re welcome for the new discovery.
Barbara Lynn
Being a solo guitarist in the 1960s was not super common. Despite that, one of the greatest guitarists of the decade was the Texas-born rhythm and blues solo act, Barbara Lynn. During her career in the 60s, she redefined not only the instrument of the guitar, but also the so-called societal “standards” of what it meant to be successful during the decade.
Lynn’s more popular singles from the 1960s include her No. 1 hit “You’ll Lose a Good Thing”, as well as “Oh! Baby (We Got a Good Thing Goin’)” and “This Is The Thanks I Get”. If you’re stuck in the cycle of listening to Hendrix, Clapton, and Harrison, then you can break it if you press play on one of Lynn’s many great singles.
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