Battle of the Canadian guitarists?

All these guys are fantastic players. I would normally have a tough time deciding had you not mentioned Rik Emmett within your list.

I remember seeing a young Pat Travers long before anyone really knew who he was playing with Ronnie Hawkins band during the early 70's at 'The Gaslight' in Toronto....amazing player. I've followed his solo career closely ever since, and own all of his earlier works on vinyl...big fan. Ditto for Frank Marino...seen him four times with Mahogany Rush between 1973-78, and twice in the early 80's fronting his own band...awesome to see live, great performer. Of all the guitarists that seemed to emulate Hendrix during the 70's, he's my fave.

Besides being a fan of Kim Mitchell's solo work released during the 80's/90', I was/am also a huge fan of the 70's group 'Max Webster', as their frontman was Kim Mitchell. I remember seeing him for the very first time at an impromptu jam with Frankie Soda around 1974 prior to Max's first LP being released. He was doing many things that night so few guitarists were capable of at the time, other than the likes of Harvey Mandel and Phil Keaggy. A year later I saw Max Webster open for Rush in Toronto...and they continued to do so for the next couple years. I was fortunate enough to see Alex and Geddy jamming with Max Webster on stage on more than on occasion as well. Kim is an incredible player, and not mentioned enough in this forum, if at all. Alex Lifeson is very good too...but not in the same league as the other players you've listed...just my opinion. But as for sheer virtuosity...the only one in your list would be Rik Emmett. The man can play any style flawlessly...jazz, blues, metal, classical. Until you've seen him playing these styles in a live setting (without Triumph), then some persons might not understand what I'm talking about...and no doubt disagree. I've seen him with Triumph several times over the last 30+ years or so, and believe me...he doesn't really show what he's capable of with that band, as great as they are. So yep...it's Rik for me!

Here's Rik jamming with Steve Morse a few years back...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3XdLlLBvm4

You've missed a few other notable Canadian guitarists from the 70's...one of my all time favorites being Walter Rossi...

Here's a great playlist featuring this phenomenal player...including all of his work fronting the short lived early 70's Montreal power trio known as 'Charlee'...give it a listen, as I think you'll enjoy this stuff:

http://www.imeem.com/people/aKgj4Hs

Besides playing the lead guitar on the original version of Buddy Mile's 'Them Changes' (the song), and being a full fledged member of Wilson Pickett's band during the late 60's...here's the goods on Walter...an excerpt taken from my review of the self titled 'Charlee' LP over at Rate Your Music'...I've seen half a dozen blogs over the last few years since I wrote the review rip me off word for word...but trust me, these words are mine, Lol. My user ID is Dr. Progenstein, and my review is eighth down the list...

http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/charlee/cha...

A couple other notable players whom I feel deserve mention here are Randy Bachman and the late Domenic Troiano...

Randy...sadly a very underrated guitarist who plays a mean jazz guitar too. Most don't realize this, and seem to only associate him with hits like "American Woman" or "Takin' Care of Business". Keith Emerson actually wanted to form a band with Randy after his departure form The Guess Who...but Randy had other ideas (BTO)...Keith would wind up settling for Greg Lake...'ELP', Lol.

Domenic Troiano...

Wow could that man play! Too bad the only thing most people know him for outside of Canada is for replacing Joe Walsh in 'The James Gang'...definitely NOT the best example of his virtuosity! You should check out his playing while with the late 60's Toronto bands 'Mandala', and later 'Bush'...their only album (released in 1970) is quite good.

Here's a few things from Dom's solo career during the mid-late 70's...

Burning at the Stake...

http://www.imeem.com/people/iWsurYO/music/oHY_D3QJ...

War Zone...you might have to be logged into your imeem account (if you have one) in order to hear these two songs...

http://www.imeem.com/people/aKgj4Hs/music/xOT7J8OF...

Road To Hell...

http://www.imeem.com/people/aKgj4Hs/music/2MqMx3BX...

I could mention dozens of other great Canadian guitarists that most here have never heard of...but I guess that's because I am Canadian, and most of what get's discussed in this forum is either that of American or UK in its origins.

Thanks for asking this thought provoking question!

Canadian Guitarists

Alex Lifeson

Myles Goodwyn

Frank Marino

take care

dave

It has to be Pat Travers , this guy has been about for ever . An excellent guitarist who was inspired by the God of guitar "Jimi Hendrix"

Alex with Rik as a close second.

I was on Yahoo Answers for something else, then this question was displayed on the sidebar...

Pat Travers..boom,boom out goes the lights..oh hell yeah!! :)

Alex lifeson :D