Tony Iommi Names His Favourite Five Guitar Players

[@generaljj71]

Tony Iommi's first and favorite guitarist was Hank Marvin of the shadows

[@garethparr9482]

Correct!

[@miraposajehano4309]

This is bullshit....the most important influence in Iommi's career is Django Reinhardt as he has repeated numerous time throughout his career. When Iommi lost the tip of his right hand index in a manufacture accident, it was Reinhardt music that convinced him that he could still be a guitar player.

[@AlbertoJorgeSoares]

He lost the tips of his right middle and ring fingers, not the index.

[@shipsahoy1793]

@@AlbertoJorgeSoares he probably said digits lol

[@AlbertoJorgeSoares]

@@shipsahoy1793 lol

[@per-hakansvahn8044]

And certainly not Van Halen who was a generation behind Iommi.

[@mmestari]

Yes in a way. But not in sense that you can hear it from his music.

[@awickedtribe]

Reading the comments, I thought I would point out this is about Iommis' FAVORITE guitarists not influences. Two entirely different subjects. Just because EVH came much later doesn't mean Tony can't rank him as a favorite guitarist.

[@kevinhewitson3536]

I always remember Iommi voting for Alvin Lee (1st) and Blackmore (2nd) in an early 70's musicians poll (Melody Maker I think)

[@redbarchetta8782]

No one, and I mean NO ONE, sounds like Tony. What a great guitarists.

[@warren4110]

If this was from the man himself, I’d believe it. As it is, I think it’s rubbish! I know that both Hank Marvin and Joe Pass were very influential to him.

[@MagusRealm]

Tony has mentioned joe pass many times in interviews.

[@michael_caz_nyc]

So many phenomenal guitar players (in many genre's). In no particular order for me: Tommy Emmanuel, Guthrie Govan, Steve Howe, Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Alex Lifeson, David Gilmour, Jimmy Page, Andy Summers, Robin Trower, Allan Holdsworth, Al Di Meola, Steve Stevens, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Nile Rodgers & Tony Iommi . . . (however) There is No Best / There is No Greatest = it's who moves and inspires you.

[@honus20]

A bunch of my all time faves in that group. And a whole bunch more.

[@Oldfatbastard57]

Please throw in Glen Campbell Roy Clark and Jerry Reed

[@ronaldmorgan7632]

Shout out to Steve Howe.

[@rblauson]

Peter Greene

[@michael_caz_nyc]

@@ronaldmorgan7632 Howe was voted "Best Overall Guitarist" in Guitar Player magazine five years in a row (1977-1981) and in 1981 was the first rock guitar player inducted into the Guitar Player Hall of Fame.

[@sashasavisha146]

I expected to see Django Reinhardt. Van Halen toured with Sabbath on the last studio album before Ozzy left, and Iommi was impressed with Eddie. I can hear a similarity to Clapton in Tony’s solos. Lots of blues. Holly, Berry and Hendrix were great players. I’m sure he was impressed with the Beatles too. Good list.

[@libroslectores5611]

THANKS TONY I.....you showed the way

[@richardrincon3090]

I'm very happy and proud to say.I'm a left-handed guitar player.Just like Tony iommi and Jimi Hendrix.And yes I do have a broken finger on my right hand that I could barely use

[@allanmakela3011]

Iommi hits the right notes,a very melodic player,dramatic,but not a shredder deluxe

[@garyowen4602]

Jimmy page solo on no quarter live will never be beaten

[@timetraveller3063]

Agree..it's fecking beautiful and sublime

[@SEKreiver]

Also, almost all of 'Zep I' had to have been a big influence on the Sab sound.

[@shipsahoy1793]

I seem to remember he really liked jazz and heavy blues guitar.. if he was ever enamored with Buddy Holly or Chuck Berry, I'd have to say he was a little kid at the time. This video appears pat & contrived.🫨

[@mimetics]

Wes Montgomery -- Tony's jazz live solo's!

[@msaintpc]

Mr. Iommi put the 'H' in heavy, and contrary to this video it was actually Blue Cheer's rendition of 'Summertime Blues' and 'Screaming Jay Hawkins "Put A Spell On You", that blew his mind. Blew mine too.

[@AmericanShia786]

I certainly agree with the comment that the guitarist who most influenced Tony Iommi was Django Reinhardt, the Jazz guitarist who played very fast despite not being able to use two of his fingers. Jazz is my first love, so the omission of Django Reinhardt in the video is very disappointing. As for Van Halen being a major influence, that is quite likely. However, Van Halen's influence would have come after Iommi made his mark. I'm a Tenor Sax player who got exposed to Heavy Metal by good friends. I came to like Ritchie Blackmore on my own, but Tony Iommi and Jeff Beck were two guitar players introduced to me by friends. I appreciated Jeff Beck for his Jazz / Rock playing. Ritchie Blackmore was much more exciting for me than Jimmy Page. Iommi's playing was fun to listen to. It was hard for me to admit that I was a Black Sabbath fan as a teenager, but I really got into their first 4 albums, and even liked what followed, including Never Say Die, which wasn't Heavy Metal, but was still a good album. I did like the two albums with Ronnie James Dio, whom I had liked with Blackmore's Rainbow. The album with Ian Gillan surprisingly didn't appeal to me. Then life happened and I didn't pay attention to new Rock very much. But, I can say that, for me, Tony Iommi is Black.Sabbath. I can imagine others replacing the other three original members. However, no Iommi would be the end of Black Sabbath. Lastly, until age 60, I though the first lines of Electric Funeral were "Three Specks in the sky warn you your gonna die ..." only to learn on the Internet that the first word was "reflex". That was a quite amusing piece of information.

[@Ukraine_Rocks-OK]

Love Tony's guitar in the Gypsy

[@PotrzebieConolly]

Well, supposedly this video was based on an interview Tony did in 2020, so if Django, Hank Marvin, and Joe Pass weren't mentioned in the interview I wouldn't expect them to be in this video. I doubt he said anything that would suggest his journey to stardom was inspired by Eddie Van Halen , since he already had a decade of successful albums before the first Van Halen album. Tony may well have complimented Eddie in 2020. I haven't read the interview, so this video may be completely off-base. Some direct quotes would have made a difference, but I'm giving it a thumbs down.

[@donbladsoe]

GATTON, BREAU, DJANGO, WEST, SCOTTY ANDERSON.

[@lastmanstanding9389]

Pete Townsend influenced them all, especially Jimi Hendrix.

[@aschule5684]

Pete never gets the credit he's more than earned he's very powerful and a song writing genius! Love Pete

[@Southbound63]

I was lucky enough to see Van Halen on their first British gigs supporting Sabbath. What a gig two rows from the front.

[@bobfrankish8883]

Me too. I remember it well. Those were the days.

[@Southbound63]

@@bobfrankish8883 they sure were, the bands they now call classic rock. Great times but it has left my hearing impaired but it was worth it.😀😀😀👍👍

[@bobfrankish8883]

@@Southbound63 Yes, same here. There's a down side to everything I'm afraid.

[@royphillips7435]

Gallup , Moore , Janes are probably the real heavyweights of pure rock guitar players , without these 3 there would probably be no guitar groups from the 60s onwards albeit watered down versions !

[@andreweaves7975]

1. jimi 2. jimmy 3. srv 4.evh 5. prince

[@rblauson]

Peter Greene

[@aschule5684]

Not sure if this video is about Tony's "influences" or just favorite guitar players but EVH wasn't someone Tony was even aware of until VH opened for BS on the Never Say Die tour at the very end of BS's time with Ozzy right before he was fired. I'm certain Tony was definitely impressed once he was aware who he was but Eddie was far too young to have been an influence on him to play obviously.

[@RobertWeingher]

I don't know what is your source of information, i saw a lot of interviews with Tony Iommi about his influences, in all of them he mentioned Hank Marvin and the Shadows and of course Django Reinhardt, in one case he was asked to name the 5 best guitar players of all times and Tony mentioned Jimi Hendrix among the five and i asked myself what the heck? i can understand the influence of Eric Clapton from a logical point of view, he was more of a rocker in the sixties, i can also understand the influence of Eddie Van Halen, also David Gilmour said that Eddie Van Halen was a big influence on him, though they all play different styles and have different tone and sound, i believe that Tony Iommi mentioned Jimi Hendrix just as lip service, so people would not attack him with the question how he was not influenced by Jimi Hendrix? believe me that there are a lot of guitar players who are not influenced by Jimi Hendrix and some of them also believe that he was a boring guitar player.

[@dannyzuehlsdorf3697]

buddy holly? NO. Lucifer? YES

[@aschule5684]

@@dannyzuehlsdorf3697 if Lucifer is meant as a reference to the devil Lucifer and the devil are 2 seperate entities. Lucifer often gets associated with the devil however they are not the same

[@evanherb5900]

Really would have been more compelling coming from Tony himself instead of this dumb AI voice.

[@gunnarkarlsson195]

van halen was a toddler when iommi was in his peak.

[@sswulffable]

And your point ?

[@chriscoughlin9289]

WTF? Eddie was 14,15 when Sabbath broke. Perhaps a year or two younger during Iommi's brief Tenure with Tull. What nonsense

[@SGED392]

@@chriscoughlin9289right Eddie was likley in the beginnings of the Holdsworth meets Blackmore style of his

[@ronnash2924]

@@chriscoughlin9289 Van Halen opened for Black Sabboth in 1978 on Black Sabboths 10th anniversary tour. I saw the show at Madison Square Garden in NYC . Interesting fact :: Van Halen was the only opening act that I have seen that did an encore, they played the whole 1st album and DLR said they didn't have any other songs so they did Mississippi Queen as the encore

[@roboi2241]

What, Iommi was at his peak in the 1950s when Eddie Van Halen was a toddler? Please enlighten us as to what a peak 9 year old Iommi's catalogue was in the 50s rock n roll era when little Eddie was toddling around seeing as he's only 7 years older than Van Halen. It hasn't come to light after all these years

[@alanthorne3921]

Where was Django and Hank?

[@Michel-r6m]

As of recently saw Brian May talk about going to a gig Van Halen opening for Black Sabbath in Munich (?). Tony and Brian seem to get along pretty well 👍

[@AlbertoJorgeSoares]

Yes...and May said they had given a hard time to Sabbath...lol.

[@aschule5684]

Tony and Brian are very good friends

[@Chris-wj8fz]

Wise very wise..so I went to.the Louvre and saw Mona Lisa...it's crap...beauty in eyes and ears of beholder..for me a boomer of 72 it is always Peter Green

[@trevorgwelch7412]

Robin Trower Yngwie Malmsteen Tonino Baliardo

[@CCCowboy]

⚡😎⚡

[@AlexanderArsov]

Classic clickbait. Thumbs down!

[@dcjway]

Luv AI

[@janemcewan2194]

No one can touch Django. Ever.

[@chriscoughlin9289]

@roboi2241 What would be the point in trying? Who’s stupid enough to want to build a career on the claim of being ‘The Next Charlie Parker’ or ‘The Next Art Tatum’? You - or your management team - would have to be brain dead.

[@skeletonmakesgood]

This channel is AI generated garbage, and so is this video. If Tony saw it he would be laughing.

[@gj8683]

AI-generated text. Zzzzzzz

[@guesser7]

Van Halen copied Steve Hackett.

[@zemlidrakona2915]

What? LOL!

[@chriscoughlin9289]

Yep - Steve's tapping is on display throughout his fretwork on Genesis Live - as it was during the performance that I caught of the 1975 tour of 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway'

[@zemlidrakona2915]

@@chriscoughlin9289 Van Halen sounds nothing like Steve Hackett, regardless of whether Hackett tapped or not. In fact a lot of people tapped before both Van Halen and Hackett. But Van Halen's style was widely copied.

[@chriscoughlin9289]

@@zemlidrakona2915 And Iommi sounds nothing like Greeny - another player that Iommi - and virtually everybody else on the British Blues revival scene - cites as a profound influence. Just ask the guys in Priest - who have covered 'Green Manalishi' for decades. What's your point?

[@chriscoughlin9289]

@@zemlidrakona2915 If there are 'a lot' then it should be no problem to cite them and their popularity. Popularity on a scale of, say, Genesis circa 1974-75 - whose 'Lamb' tour sold out in minutes. Quit with the idiocy - I never contended that the guy INVENTED the technique - as countless critics assert without a backward glance when talking about Eddie and his legacy.

[@TimSpangler-rd6vs]

Jesus is God