h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As you said, it's impossible to list every great guitar player, but leaving out one of the very first electric guitarists (according to himself, he was already using amplification in 1935!) is a real oversight, IMO. T-Bone's influence cannot be overstated. And he wasn't 'just' a guitar virtuoso, but a consummate showman, too, dropping into splits, playing his guitar behind his neck or with his teeth. (Reminds you of anyone? And he was a far better singer than Hendrix, too...) Almost every axeman (or -woman) of note, from B.B. King to Eric Clapton or Prince, is endebted to the Texas Blues Balladeer.