31Ry Cooder

Ian Dickson/RedfernsRy Cooderonce likened his playing a sublime amalgam of American folk and blues, Hawaiian slack-key guitar, the Tex-Mex zest ofconjuntoand the regal sensuality of Afro-Cubanson as "some kind of steam device gone out of control." Cooder's life on guitar has been distinguished by a rare mix of archaic fundamentals and exploratory passion, from his emergence as a teenage blues phenomenon with Taj Mahal andCaptain Beefheartin the mid-Sixties to his roots-and-noir film soundtracks and central role in the birth and success of the 1996 Havana supersessionBuena Vista Social Club. As a sideman, Cooder has brought true grit and emotional nuance to classic albums by Randy Newman, theRolling StonesandEric Clapton. Cooder is also a soulful preservationist, keeping vital pasts alive and dynamic in the modern world. A good example: the nightBob Dylanshowed up at Cooder's house asking for a lesson on how to play guitar like the bluesman Sleepy John Estes.Key Tracks:"Memo From Turner," "Boomer's Story"

32Billy Gibbons

Lorne Resnick/RedfernsBilly Gibbons was a guitarist to be reckoned with long before he grew that epic beard. In early 1968, his psychedelic garage band, the Moving Sidewalks, opened four Texas shows for theJimi HendrixExperience. According to local acidrock lore, Hendrix was so impressed by Gibbons' facility and firepower that he gave the young guitarist a pink Stratocaster as a gift. Gibbons has since glibly described what he plays with his four-decade-old trio,ZZ Top, as "spankin' the plank." But from the muscular boogie of "La Grange" and the gnarly offbeat shuffle of "Jesus Left Chicago" to the synthlined glide of Eighties hits "Legs" and "Sharp Dressed Man," Gibbons' guitar work has been religiously true, in its thunderbolt attack and melodic concision, to his Texas forebears (Freddy King, Albert Collins) and the electric-Delta charge ofMuddy Waters. "You can definitely make someone wiggle in their seat a little bit," Gibson says of his solos, "if you know where you're heading with it and end up there."Key Tracks:"Jesus Left Chicago," "La Grange"

33Prince

Frank Micelotta/Getty ImagesHe played arguably the greatest power-ballad guitar solo in history ("Purple Rain"), and his solo on an all-star performance of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" duringGeorge Harrison's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2004 had jaws on the floor. But he can also bring the nasty funk like Jimmy Nolen and Nile Rodgers (listen to the groove magic of "Kiss") or shred like the fiercest metalhead ("When Doves Cry"). Sometimes his hottest playing simply functions as background see "Gett Off" and "Dance On."Princegets a lot ofHendrixcomparisons, but he sees it differently: "If they really listened to my stuff, they'd hear more of aSantanainfluence than Jimi Hendrix," he once told Rolling Stone. "Hendrix played more blues, Santana played prettier." ToMiles Davis, who collaborated with the Purple One toward the end of his life, Prince was a combination of "James Brown, Jimi Hendrix,Marvin Gaye... and Charlie Chaplin. How can you miss with that?"Key Tracks:"Purple Rain," "Kiss," "When Doves Cry"