Rock has endless subgenres and variations, making it very difficult to pit bands against one another. How do you compare a ’50s crooner with an ’80s metal head? The only thing really uniting them is the instrumentation of their songs, although they used them in entirely different ways. Nevertheless, people love to start a “who’s better than who” debate, especially when it comes to guitarists. Every generation since rock’s inception has had a premier guitar player—one musician who stands above all the rest. Listeners have their favorites, as do their fellow musicians. Paul McCartney has been a stalwart fan of one guitarist. He once called this particular player better than many people’s “best guitarist” pick, Eddie Van Halen.
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The Guitarist Paul McCartney Thought Was Better Than Eddie Van Halen
Van Halen gets major props from rock fans, as he should. His playing was revolutionary, giving hard rock an expert edge. As such, many musicians and listeners alike have praised the guitar hero.
Paul McCartney has even praised Van Halen for his playing in the past, but not without putting it into perspective. There is one guitar player that the former Beatle thought not even Van Halen could touch: Jimi Hendrix.
Paul McCartney on Jimi Hendrix
McCartney and Hendrix’s careers overlapped significantly. As anyone who ever saw Hendrix in his prime will be sure to tell you, his guitar playing was transcendent to watch. McCartney was one of the lucky musicians who witnessed this. While speaking of his love for the guitarist, McCartney pitted him against the younger Van Halen.
“I have very fond memories of Jimi,” McCartney once said. “I mean, Van Halen’s great, I love Eddie Van Halen. But I still think Jimi was the best.”
Despite McCartney staying firm in his belief that Hendrix is one of (if not the) greatest guitar players ever, he still gave credit where it was due.
“I like Eddie Van Halen as a player,” McCartney added elsewhere. “He gets it right quite often. I like a lot of heavy metal guys because they wind it up. What I usually like in a heavy metal band is the guitar player. But when it’s just miles of scales, I lose interest. I like some of the hot sounds.”
Because guitar players’ requirements in every era differ greatly, it’s hard to compare them. There really is no way to be objective about it. McCartney, like all of us, has his subjective favorites and sticks by them. Revisit one of Hendrix’s most iconic guitar moments below.
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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