List of slide guitarists

Slide guitarists are musicians who are well-known for playing guitar with a "slide", a smooth, hard object, held in the fretting hand and placed against the strings to control the pitch.[1] Beginning with guitarists in the American South and Hawaii in early 20th century,[2] slide guitar styles have developed in a variety of musical settings, including blues, country, and rock.[3] Most slide guitarists may also perform with guitars using traditional fretting techniques; additionally, some also play various types of steel guitars.[4]

List

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

List of slide guitarists, showing name, birth year, death year, origin, primary genre, and reference(s)

Name	Birth year	Death year	Origin	Primary genre	Ref(s)
Duane Allman	1946	1971	Tennessee	Southern rock	[5]
Kokomo Arnold	1901*	1968	Georgia	Acoustic blues	[6]
Barbecue Bob	1902	1931	Georgia	Acoustic blues	[7]
Jeff Beck	1944	2023	England	Rock	[8]
Elvin Bishop	1942		California	Rock	[9]
Black Ace	1905	1972	Texas	Country blues	[10]
Mike Bloomfield	1943	1981	Illinois	Electric blues	[11]
Willie Brown	1900	1952	Mississippi	Delta blues	[12]
R. L. Burnside	1926	2005	Mississippi	Hill country blues	[13]
Joe Carter	1927	2001	Georgia	Chicago blues	[14]
George Cassidy	1936	2023	Belfast	Jazz	[15]
Sam Collins	1887	1949	Louisiana	Country blues	[16]
Ry Cooder	1947		California	Americana	[17]
CeDell Davis	1926	2017	Arkansas	Delta blues	[18]
David "Honeyboy" Edwards	1915	2011	Mississippi	Electric blues	[19]
John Fahey	1939	2001	Washington, D.C.	Folk	[20]
Frank Ferera	1885	1951	Hawaii	Hawaiian music	[21]
Rory Gallagher	1948	1995	Ireland	Blues rock	[20]
Billy Gibbons	1949		Texas	Blues rock	[20]
Peter Green	1946	2020	England	Electric blues	[22]
John P. Hammond	1942		New York	Electric blues	[23]
George Harrison	1943	2001	England	Rock	[20]
Earl Hooker	1930	1970	Mississippi	Chicago blues	[24]
Son House	1902	1988	Mississippi	Delta blues	[25]
J. B. Hutto	1926	1983	South Carolina	Chicago blues	[26]
Bo Weavil Jackson	Unknown	Unknown	U.S.	Country blues	[27]
Elmore James	1918	1963	Mississippi	Chicago blues	[28]
Blind Lemon Jefferson	1893	1929	Texas	Country blues	[11]
Blind Willie Johnson	1897	1945	Texas	Gospel blues	[29]
Robert Johnson	1911	1938	Mississippi	Delta blues	[30]
Brian Jones	1942	1969	England	Blues rock	[11]
Joseph Kekuku	1874	1932	Hawaii	Hawaiian music	[21]
Alexis Korner	1928	1984	France	Electric blues	[31]
Leo Kottke	1945		Georgia	Folk	[20]
Lead Belly	1889	1949	Louisiana	Country blues	[11]
Furry Lewis	1893*	1981	Mississippi	Country blues	[32]
John Littlejohn	1931	1994	Mississippi	Chicago blues	[33]
Robert Lockwood, Jr.	1915	2006	Arkansas	Delta blues	[34]
John Mayall	1933	2024	England	Electric blues	[35]
Mississippi Fred McDowell	1904	1972	Tennessee	Delta blues	[36]
Blind Willie McTell	1901*	1959	Georgia	Country blues	[37]
Steve Miller	1943		Wisconsin	Rock	[38]
Muddy Waters	1913	1983	Mississippi	Chicago blues	[39]
Hambone Willie Newbern	1901	1965	Tennessee	Country blues	[4]
Robert Nighthawk	1909	1967	Arkansas	Chicago blues	[40]
Jimmy Page	1944		England	Rock	[20]
Charlie Patton	1891	1934	Mississippi	Delta blues	[41]
Dan Pickett	1907	1967	Alabama	Country blues	[42]
Rod Price	1947	2005	England	Rock	[43]
Keith Richards	1943		England	Rock	[44]
Johnny Shines	1915	1992	Tennessee	Chicago blues	[45]
Jeremy Spencer	1948		England	Electric blues	[11]
Houston Stackhouse	1910	1980	Mississippi	Country blues	[45]
Tampa Red	1904	1981	Georgia	Urban blues	[46]
Eddie Taylor	1923	1985	Mississippi	Chicago blues	[47]
Hound Dog Taylor	1917*	1975	Mississippi	Electric blues	[48]
Mick Taylor	1949		England	Blues rock	[44]
Ramblin' Thomas	Unknown	Unknown	Louisiana	Country blues	[49]
U Tin	1931	2019	Myanmar	Burmese classical, folk	[50]
Joe Walsh	1947		Kansas	Rock	[51]
Sylvester Weaver	1897*	1960	Kentucky	Country blues	[52]
Casey Bill Weldon	1909	Unknown	Arkansas	Country blues	[53]
Bukka White	1909	1977	Mississippi	Delta blues	[54]
Big Joe Williams	1903	1982	Mississippi	Delta blues	[47]
Alan Wilson	1943	1970	Massachusetts	Electric blues	[55]
Johnny Winter	1944	2014	Texas	Electric blues	[56]
Oscar "Buddy" Woods	c.1890*	1950*	Louisiana	Urban blues	[57]
Zoot Horn Rollo	1949		California	Rock	[58]
An asterisk (*) denotes that other sources give different dates, origin, or style.

References

1. AllMusic 1996, pp. 402–403.
2. AllMusic 1996, pp. 403–404.
3. AllMusic 1996, pp. 371–372.
4. AllMusic 1996, p. 405.
5. AllMusic 1996, p. 372; Eder, Bruce. "The Allman Brothers Band: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
6. AllMusic 1996, pp. 8–9.
7. AllMusic 1996, p. 12.
8. AllMusic 1996, p. 372; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Jeff Beck – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
9. AllMusic 1996, pp. 17–18.
10. Komara 2004, p. 84.
11. AllMusic 1996, p. 372.
12. Ankeny, Jason. "Willie Brown – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
13. AllMusic 1996, p. 39; Skelly, Richard. "R.L. Burnside – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
14. AllMusic 1996, p. 46.
15. "Van Morrison Discover Brighton". 2024-08-29. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
16. AllMusic 1996, p. 57.
17. AllMusic 1996, pp. 57–58.
18. Bush, John. "CeDell Davis – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
19. Herzhaft 1992, pp. 104–105; Dahl, Bill. "David "Honeyboy" Edwards – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
20. Madsen 2005, eBook.
21. AllMusic 1996, p. 371.
22. Allan, Mark. "Peter Green – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
23. AllMusic 1996, pp. 101–102.
24. Shadwick 2001, p. 304.
25. Komara 2004, pp. 465–467.
26. Shadwick 2001, p. 312.
27. AllMusic 1996, p. 404.
28. Shadwick 2001, p. 315.
29. Herzhaft 1992, pp. 177–178.
30. AllMusic 1996, pp. 140–141.
31. AllMusic 2003, p. 234.
32. Shadwick 2001, p. 405.
33. Herzhaft 1992, pp. 208–209.
34. AllMusic 1996, p. 407; Dahl, Bill. "Robert Lockwood, Jr. – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
35. Prown & Newquist 1997, p. 34.
36. Shadwick 2001, p. 355.
37. Herzhaft 1992, pp. 230–231.
38. AllMusic 2003, pp. 402–403.
39. Shadwick 2001, p. 431.
40. Shadwick 2001, p. 367.
41. AllMusic 1996, pp. 208–209.
42. AllMusic 1996, p. 213.
43. Madsen 2005, p. 43; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Foghat – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
44. Roth 1975, eBook.
45. AllMusic 1996, p. 407.
46. Shadwick 2001, p. 407.
47. AllMusic 1996, p. 406.
48. Shadwick 2001, p. 408.
49. AllMusic 1996, p. 250.
50. Ives, Mike; Nang, Saw (February 17, 2019). "U Tin, Burmese Slide Guitar Master, Dies at 87". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
51. Prown & Newquist 1997, p. 110.
52. Shadwick 2001, p. 427.
53. Herzhaft 1992, p. 359.
54. AllMusic 1996, p. 408.
55. AllMusic 2003, pp. 96–97.
56. Shadwick 2001, p. 443; Ruhlmann, William. "Johnny Winter – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
57. Herzhaft 1992, pp. 387–388.
58. AllMusic 2003, pp. 98–99.

Sources

• Erlewine, Michael; Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Koda, Cub, eds. (1996). "Artists". All Music Guide to the Blues. San Francisco: Miller Freeman Books. ISBN 0-87930-424-3.
• Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas, eds. (2003). "Arists". All Music Guide to the Blues (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Backbeat Books. ISBN 0-87930-736-6.
• Herzhaft, Gerard (1992). "Artists". Encyclopedia of the Blues. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 1-55728-252-8.
• Komara, Edward, ed. (2004). "Artists". Encyclopedia of the Blues. New York City: Routledge. ISBN 978-1135958329.
• Madsen, Pete (2005). Slide Guitar: Know the Players, Play the Music. San Francisco, California: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1476853222.
• Prown, Pete; Newquist, Harvey P. (1997). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Hal Leonard. ISBN 978-0793540426.
• Roth, Arlen (1975). Traditional, Country and Electric Slide Guitar. Oak Publications. ISBN 978-1783234936.
• Shadwick, Keith (2001). "Artists". The Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues. London: Quantum. ISBN 978-0-681-08644-9.