Ted Nugent shares his thoughts on the best rock guitarists

While Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page are often thought of as rock’s best guitarists, Ted Nugent has some differing opinions.

In an interview with Forbes, The Nuge shares that he believes ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons rivals the trio with his playing.

“Even as subtle as Billy Gibbons is, he does Beck, Clapton and Page better than Beck, Clapton and Page, as far as I’m concerned,” he says.

Nugent describes Beck, Clapton and Page as “okay,” acknowledging they are “top dogs,” but, notes, “they’re no better than Jim McCarty from Cactus and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.”

He adds The Yardbirds, the band Beck, Clapton and Page played in together, “were intensely influential to any guitarist who’s ever lived. But they’re no Jimi Hendrix or Eddie Van Halen.”

Asked why he thinks the trio get such accolades, Nugent shares, “Mostly because songs have a vastly more powerful impact on music lovers than individual instrumentalists do. The songs from The Yardbirds, and Clapton with Cream, are propelled almost solely by guitar lines. In three-piece groups like Cream, each member delivers equal impact, but the guitar is the theme of the song.”