I love these differing perspectives. For me, the dominant feature of Hendrix was his ability to do stunningly new things with his guitar and amp, but in my opinion, Beck did all that and more. However, by not having that front man persona, he was largely unnoticed. He did some absolutely stunning reworks of some classics, kbut his own creations, although brilliantly played, were less notable musically. I agree that Page had impressive creative genius and put together a large body of extremely fine music. His guitar playing was usually (not always) spot on. Clapton was a puzzle to me. I loved his Cream years (huge Jack Bruce fan here), but as a blues guy, he just didn't convey what true blues greats did, either with his guitar work, his arrangements, or his singing. Last time I saw him perform he was in Austin, and some of our local talent joined him and, in my estimation, outshone him. I also find it sad that the rock and roll industry seems to have limited the discussion of true standout guitarists to Clapton, Hendrix, and Page. Even in the world of rock, there are certainly several of comparable prowess. Enlarge it to include jazz guitarists, and the list gets much longer. If Jeff's untimely death does one positive thing, hopefully it encourages people, especially my generation (post WW II), to seek out and appreciate a greater breadth of musicians.
