Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" may be the song most music store employees wish was never written. The crunchy opening chords, dreamt up by Mr. Blackmore, have served as a launching point for the non-careers of literally millions of wannabe guitarists. Ritchie, of course, has had a phenomenal career. Listen to Machine Head (1972) for some of his best riffs.

73) Allan Holdsworth

Jazz fusion would not be the same without Allan Holdsworth, and particularly his groundbreaking SynthAxe work. Holdsworth gained some of his early fame replacing John McLaughlin in Tony Williams' Lifetime, and Williams certainly knew what he was doing when he hired the young guitarist. Holdsworth has released many solo albums since then. Eddie Van Halen always raved about him too, and that ain't a bad endorsement. Check out his Road Games (1983), Metal Fatigue (1985), and his more recent Sixteen Men of Tain (2000).

74) Albert King

A unique voice in the blues, Albert King played his guitar strung upside down, allowing him to achieve a tone and a bending technique unlike contemporaries such as B.B. King or Buddy Guy. King's playing was easily the strongest influence Stevie Ray Vaughan had - his solos drip with Albert's licks. And his 1967 Born Under a Bad Sign release was one of the most influential albums on all blues/rock guitarists of the day, and consequently, since that day.

75) Leo Kottke

All he ever wanted was to be an instrumentalist, but Leo Kottke was forced by record label heads and managers to sing. Still, his playing shone through, and his fingerpicking and 12-string work through the '70s and '80s made him an acoustic linchpin and cult hero. Check out his 1971 release, 6- and 12-String Guitar.

76) Dick Dale

The King of Surf Guitar is still a bombastic performer five decades removed from his heyday in the Newport Beach, California, music clubs where he first gained a following (including the future members of the Beach Boys). Another dude who strings his guitar upside down, Dale's fondness for quick tremolo picking and Eastern scales are as synonymous with surf guitar as a fully cranked reverb unit. Dale was also hugely involved in the evolution of the early Fender guitar amps, particularly in their ability to play LOUD and to accurately reproduce the notes he played at breakneck speed. For this he's sometimes called the "Father of Heavy Metal" as well. If you've seen the 1994 Quentin Tarentino movie "Pulp Fiction," you've heard Dick Dale - his hit "Miserlou" was used in the movie's opening scene and spurred a huge career revival for Dale.

77) Jennifer Batten

Jennifer has been tapped by both Michael Jackson and Jeff Beck to stand beside them onstage - and not just for one-off gigs, but for years at a time. You can hear her on Beck's Who Else record. She's as hot a fretster as one could hope to find, her light-speed finger-tapping being the technique many early fans latched on to. Watch for her clinics at a store near you.

78) Muddy Waters

Muddy Waters is often credited as the originator of the modern band as most rock fans know it today: guitar, bass, drums, vocals. Prior to his 1940s personnel arrangement, groups were often larger, typically including horns as the main lead instruments. Muddy stripped it down to the raw basics, fired it up with his biting slide work and rough, emotive vocals on a collection of tunes nearly all destined to become blues standards - though many were actually written for him by bassist Willie Dixon. Everyone from Jimi Hendrix to the Rolling Stones credited Waters for the huge influence he provided, and the Chicago blues scene, which remains vibrant to this day, might never have happened had it not been for the energy and vision Waters provided.

79) T-Bone Walker

A pioneer of the electric blues, T-Bone Walker basically wrote the game-plan for every amplified blues guitarist to follow - and the classic tune "Stormy Monday." A complete showman, he jumped, bounced, and did the splits while soloing, lessons perhaps learned from his stints with Cab Calloway, or the traveling medicine shows he ran off with as a boy. Walker was the original link between electric blues and the raw acoustic sounds he heard on the Mississippi Delta as a child. In his teens Walker learned at the feet of Blind Lemon Jefferson, who he lead by the hand from club to club while Jefferson played for tips. B.B. King has always credited Walker as one of his biggest influences.

80) Scotty Moore

If Elvis is the King, then Scotty Moore is his knight in shining armor. It is Moore's blend of country and blues guitar riffs that enlivened all of Elvis' early hits, right from his first cuts for Sun Records through his move to major label RCA and the ensuing blowup of his career into legendary status. Afterwards referred to as rockabilly, Moore's stylish licks were a huge influence on all the English cats who became legends later: Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards. Search out any collection of Elvis' original Sun recordings to hear the best of Scotty Moore.

81) Group Recognition: The Byrds - Roger McGuinn, Clarence White, David Crosby, Gene Clark, Gram Parsons, guitars; Chris Hillman, bass

For a short time in the mid-'60s, Los Angeles-based The Byrds were nearly as popular as English imports the Beatles and the Stones, groups they were both influenced by, and whom they themselves influenced. The Byrds successfully married folk and rock and scored numerous hits, easily recognizable for the jangly sound of McGuinn's Rickenbacker electric 12-string guitar. In the years to follow the group, with a changing cast that eventually included vaunted bluegrass guitarist Clarence White, more or less created the country-rock genre. White, along with Byrds drummer Gene Parsons, would also invent the B-Bender, a device now synonymous with country guitar playing and faux steel bends.

82) John Frusciante

Guitarist John Frusciante joined his favorite band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as a teenager, after the band had already recorded several albums and earned a sizable cult following, particularly on the college circuit. Frusciante's funky, psychedelic playing revitalized the group, reeling from the death of original guitarist Hillel Slovak, and lead them to their greatest successes. With the release of Mother's Milk (1989) and BloodSugarSexMagik (1991), and powered by Frusciante's guitar playing, the Red Hot Chili Peppers became one of the most important bands of the '90s.

83) Group Recognition: The Eagles - Don Felder, Glenn Frey, Bernie Leadon, Joe Walsh, guitars; Randy Meisner, bass and guitar; Timothy B. Schmit, bass

Largely credited with creating the "California Sound," of the early-'70s, the Eagles are the band that drove a million restless hearts West in search of sin, sun, and success. Their early, acoustic-based, country-rock hits spawned countless imitators, but as the band leaned more toward rock and less toward acoustic country, they virtually created the "Classic Rock" genre - a strain of music that reaches across generations as the definitive vein of commercially acceptable rock 'n' roll. Their Greatest Hits, (1971-75), with more than 25 million copies sold, is the only disc in competition with Michael Jackson's Thriller as the best selling album of all time. Hotel California (1976), which itself is approaching the 20 million mark, is also a classic.

84) Ace Frehley

KISS are the cartoon characters come to life who inspired a million guitarists to "Rock and Roll All Nite." Perhaps no other American band - with the possible exceptions of Aerosmith and Van Halen - impacted the hearts and minds of young guitarists as did KISS, and lead guitarist Ace Frehley was the six-string focal point. His smoking pickups added fire to a repertoire of classic riffs pulled straight from Chuck Berry and the ever-useful blues scale. Listen to the band's classic 1975 Alive! album for the best of Ace Frehley.

85) Robben Ford

Robben Ford has been a mainstay of the San Francisco jazz and blues scene since his teens, and has earned a solid reputation as among the most virtuosic of players on the circuit today. His continuing efforts to push straight blues beyond the aged progressions of old are probably his most commendable achievement. More players should be so adventurous with their compositional skills. Though his focus the past decade has been on blues and blues-rock, he is a fluent jazz improviser as well, as proven by his lengthy stint as a founding member of the Yellowjackets, his two tours with Miles Davis, and various side projects. He has also issued a couple of highly recommended instructional books/videos. Listen to Handful of Blues (1995) for some of Robben's best work.

86) Jim "Reverend Horton" Heath

Psychobilly probably got its name from the "Reverend" Jim Heath, of Reverend Horton Heath. His retro-rockabilly licks are played with all the fury of a modern day punk rocker, but there is no mistaking - Heath is a highly-accomplished guitarist. His nimble fingerpicking is informed by an encyclopedic knowledge of the guitar stylings of Scotty Moore, Bill Haley, Cliff Gallup, and all the greats of the genre. Yet he simply out-rocks even the legends of rockabilly. An awesome guitarist. Check out Spend a Night in the Box (2001) for some amazing chops.

87) Trey Anastasio

Trey and his Phish-mates toured long and hard, filling college campuses with their jazzy-folky improvisations for years and years, before ascending as the true heirs to the Grateful Dead throne, after Jerry Garcia's death in 1995. Keeping that jamming sensibility alive, indeed, re-invigorating the "jam band" as we know it today, is largely Anastasio's legacy.

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