37Mick Taylor

Michael Putland/Getty Images"I was in awe sometimes listening to Mick Taylor,"Keith Richardswrote in his memoir. "Everything was there in his playing the melodic touch, a beautiful sustain and a way of reading a song." Taylor was only 20 when theRolling Stonesrecruited him from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers as the replacement for Brian Jones in 1969. His impact, on masterworks such asExile on Main StreetandSticky Fingers, was immediate. The down-and-dirty slide on "Love in Vain"; the jaw-dropping precision on "All Down the Line" (where his playing brilliantly mimics the sound of a harmonica); the extended, Latin-jazz-inflected coda on "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" it's no accident that Taylor's stint coincided with the Stones' most consistently great recordings. "He was a very fluent, melodic player... and it gave me something to follow, to bang off,"Mick Jaggersaid of Taylor, who left the band in 1974. "Some people think that's the best version of the band that existed."Key Tracks:"Can't You Hear Me Knocking," "All Down the Line"

38The Edge

Paul Bergen/RedfernsA lot had already been said about the guitar by the time the Edge picked it up. His secret is that he taught himself to play that's why he's so unique. He's got such an innovative mind: EveryU2album that I've been involved with had a new sound from the Edge. There's not a lot of strumming in his playing; he's very much a servant to the melody. He focuses on the interplay between his guitar andBono's vocals. The Edge is a scientist, and a poet by night; he's always got a little rig at home. He'll take home a Larry Mullen drumbeat, then come back into the studio the next morning and say, "Bono, I have one for you" and present "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," with a simplejank-a-jankDublin/Bo Diddley riff that spearheads the entire direction of the song. He's dedicated to note-taking. He and his guitar tech, Dallas Schoo, document every detail of his sound what pedals, what pickup he used anything that he thinks he might use. There's a breakdown about two-thirds of the way through "Mysterious Ways," before the song goes into symphonics, that, for me, is up there with the greatest James Brown guitar parts or one of the greatest horn lines played by Tower of Power. It's not really a riff it's a moment. It brings me to tears whenever I hear it. By Daniel LanoisKey Tracks:"I Will Follow," "Pride (In the Name of Love)," "The Fly"

39Steve Cropper

David Reed/RedfernsPeter Buck has called Steve Cropper "probably my favorite guitarist of all time. You can't think of a time when he really ripped off a hot solo, but he just plays perfectly." Cropper has been the secret ingredient in some of the greatest rock and soul songs: As a teenager, he had his first hit ("Last Night") with the Mar-Keys; he went on to spend most of the Sixties inBooker T. and the MGs, the Stax Records house band that played on hits by Carla Thomas,Otis ReddingandWilson Pickett. Since then, his spare, soulful playing has appeared on records by dozens of rock and R&B artists, including a stint in the Blues Brothers' band. Think of the introduction to Sam and Dave's "Soul Man," the explosive bent notes in Booker T.'s "Green Onions" or the filigreed guitar fills in Redding's "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" they all bear Cropper's signature sound, the quintessence of soul guitar. "I don't care about being center stage," says Cropper. "I'm a band member, always been a band member."Key Tracks:"(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay," "Green Onions," "Soul Man"