Words by Jesse Serwer, Martei Korley and Sherman Escoffery—
In contrast to some other genres, reggae guitarists don’t necessarily enjoy greater status or celebrity than their cohorts in the rhythm section. Everyone who owns a non-Bob Marley reggae LP knows Sly and Robbie; a considerably smaller portion of folks know Bob and the Riddim Twins‘ preferred six-string partner, Earl “Chinna” Smith (at right in the above pic, with fellow JA guitar great Ernest Ranglin). To help you put a name and face to some of your favorite reggae licks, we’ve compiled a guide to the style’s best and most influential guitarists.
where is Lamont Savory , , Robert Dubwise Brownie ?
Great list!! Would love to have seen Alva “reggie” Lewis, Hux Brown, Dougie Bryan, Andy Bassford, Tony Chin, Jah Jerry, Geoffrey Chung and some others included….10 is so hard fi choose…
i agree with Tubes , Great List …10 is so hard to choose , Dalton Browne , Danny Browne ,Mickey Chung , Gibby and the list goes on
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We love the feedback, Mikey Chung should get props for saving Peter Tosh’s life alone, when he caught a rock that some hooligan hurled toward Peter when they opened for the Rolling Stones!
First of all, it’s a top ten list and you have twelve guitarists on it. That’s bad enough. Second, what qualifies you to judge? Are you a working musician in the idiom? A producer, engineer, or artist? Third, what criteria did you use to determine the best? Number of sessions played? Opinions of fellow musicians at their level? Or just the ones you enjoy most? As a fellow guitarist, I’ve performed or recorded with eight of the twelve mentioned, and seen the other four live from the wings. I agree with most of your choices, but a top ten guitar list that omits Hux Brown, Mikey Chung, and Dougie Bryan is, in my opinion, flawed. And where is Willie Lindo? When I was working sessions in Jamaica during the eighties he was as busy or busier than any of us.
No Hux?!! Naw man not cool.