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The Greatest Guitar Riffs

• 16th Feb 2011

I love rock lists and polls. They bring songs to mind that you haven’t heard in a while and always cause discussion, and even arguments, amongst fans.

So when I saw that Gibson Guitars had carried out not one but two surveys to find the number one guitar riff of all time I was excited.

The first poll was conducted amongst a group of music editors and writers. The results were posted over several days on the Gibson website and many of the expected guitarists featured heavily.

The top 50 includes four riffs each from Led Zeppelin and the Beatles, three from Jimi Hendrix and two each from AC/DC, Eric Clapton, Guns n Roses and Van Halen.

The top spot went to Keith Richards’ instantly recognisable opening to (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones, with Ritchie Blackmore’s classic Deep Purple riff from Smoke On The Water coming in second.

I wonder if there was a little bias at play here – Richards created his unique sound with a Gibson distortion pedal while Blackmore famously played a Fender Strat.

Most of the top tracks come, not surprisingly, from the world of heavy metal, although Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana and The Beatles’ Day Tripper both make the top ten.

The second poll was carried out amongst readers of Gibson’s website and it produced a different result.

The number one riff this time around came from Saul Hudson, better known as Slash from Guns n Roses. Sweet Child O’ Mine, which was in twelfth place in the expert poll, was the fans favourite. In second place was I Feel Fine by The Beatles, which was a bit of a surprise to me.

The electric guitar is the heart and soul of rock music. And the great riffs make classic songs as familiar to us as the lyrics do. My vote for the top guitar riff would go to Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page for Whole Lotta Love, which was the third most popular in both polls.

But I’m sure many will disagree.