2 legendary guitarists Jerry Garcia wasn’t a fan of

One of the most distinctive guitarists of his generation, Jerry Garcia was a fundamental part of the Grateful Dead‘s sound. The band went down in Rock history as one of the most successful touring acts of all time, with some of the highest-grossing tours in history. Unlike practically every other group that achieved similar touring success, they never sold as many albums, making them quite unique.

Their success was largely built on their legendary live performances mainly in the United States, Jerry being an important part of. Throughout his career, Garcia named many artists who influenced him and whom he admired, but he also revealed a few whose playing he wasn’t particularly fond of.

The 2 legendary guitarists Jerry Garcia wasn’t a fan of

Eddie Van Halen

When asked in the mid-80s if he listened to guitarists like Eddie Van Halen, Jerry said: “Not seriously, no. Because I can hear what’s happening in there. There isn’t much there that interests me. It isn’t played with enough deliberateness. It lacks a certain kind of rhythmic elegance that I like music to have, that I like notes to have. There’s a lot of notes and stuff. But the notes aren’t saying much, you know. They’re like little clusters.”

“It’s a certain kind of music which I understand on one level. But it isn’t attractive to me. (…) But young players, even if they’re really brilliant technically, there’s a thing like a guy like John Lee Hooker or somebody like that who can play two or three notes so authoritatively on a guitar. There’s like 60 years of real mean person, right, who can scare the pants off you in one or two notes played with such immense authority and such soulfulness. There’s that, and that’s a real thing. For me, I’d much rather hear something like that than a lot of facility,” Jerry Garcia said in an interview with Frets magazine in 1985.

Jerry Garcia played with Sammy Hagar

At that time, Van Halen was between singers, as David Lee Roth had left the band after the success of the album “1984”. That year, they welcomed Sammy Hagar into the group. In 1986 they released 5150, their first album with the new vocalist. There are no records of Eddie Van Halen mentioning the Grateful Dead, but his bandmate Sammy Hagar was a fan of the band and had the chance to perform with Jerry Garcia.

That happened in 1989, when Hagar was still a member of Van Halen, at Sweetwater, Mill Valley, California. They performed the Freddie King song “I’m Goin’ Down” with a band that also had Annie Sampson, Jeff Burton and Pete Sears. Hagar is a really good friend of the Dead’s drummer, Mickey Hart, and had him play on his 1997 solo album “Marching to Mars”. He also interviewed the drummer on his TV show “Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar”.

John McLaughlin

The second guitarist that Garcia wasn’t a big fan of was the British John McLaughlin. He is best known for being the leader of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. “I don’t really like Mahavishnu. I don’t like John McLaughlin’s playing. It’s too stiff. Technically, I admire it – he can do things that are difficult to do, his execution is remarkable.”

“But the way it ends up sounding is nervous and agitated rather than energetic. And also I like music that has more beauty to it and more soulfulness. You know, I’m not a really competitive dude, and I dug it for what it was. But listening to it at home, it’s just not the kind of thing that moves me that much. I do think that it’s possible to suggest emotion without using devices that are traditionally harmonic.”

He continued:

“I don’t think you have to be restricted to particular tonal things to have that. In other words, it’s not a question of cliche, it’s whether the attitude of the playing is soulful. There’s no other word to describe it. It’s possible for a player to play modern and to also move you.” he told Peter Herbst in 1974.

McLaughlin is one of the pioneers of Jazz Fusion and his music often combines Jazz and Rock with many other styles like World music, Western Classical and Flamenco. During his career he recorded with many artists such as Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Graham Bond, James Taylor, Stanley Clarke, Herbie Hancock and Carlos Santana. Until 2026 he released 18 studio albums and 8 live records.

McLaughlin has been voted the “Best Jazz Guitarist” multiple times over the years by specialized magazines. He is one of the most respected guitarists in the genre. John and Garcia were born in the same year, 1942. But the American musician started his career a little earlier, in 1960, three years before John.