Which Guitarist squandered their talent the most?

Motorik said:
Recorded 2 great albums , and then wasted his thirties on pathological substance abuse and letting down a succession of friendly people trying to help him (often losing them a lot of money) and no music to show for it.

Jimmy Bryant is another one who squandered tremendous talent.
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I think that he recorded some fantastic work throughout his career. I’ll confess that much of it was posted posthumously, but some of his best recordings were in the mid-70s (Cabin Fever) and the mid-80s (Live at Bourbon St.) — It’s magical stuff, and I think they’re better than his 60s recordings.

He was an addict through pretty much all of his life, his life was a perpetual mess, and he never had a great career for any number of reasons. So on that criteria…

But his playing and his music didn’t really decline.
 
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It’s not fair to call it squandering…

But Wes Montgomery came to mind. An incredible talent with a really weak discography because he recorded muzak because it paid a lot better and supported his family.

Then there’s George Benson who’s an absolute monster who has barely recorded anything worthwhile in his entire life, but got rich doing it.

I also feel similarly about Derek Trucks. 20 years ago, he was a child prodigy with enormous potential and looked like he was going to get better and better. He didn’t do anything interesting. He just kept cashing those cheques playing with the ABB and touring with his family. He’s always seemed to have his career and life together, and I certainly can’t judge him for that…

But man.
 
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Flamencology said:
It’s not fair to call it squandering…

But Wes Montgomery came to mind. An incredible talent with a really weak discography because he recorded muzak because it paid a lot better and supported his family.

Then there’s George Benson who’s an absolute monster who has barely recorded anything worthwhile in his entire life, but got rich doing it.

I also feel similarly about Derek Trucks. 20 years ago, he was a child prodigy with enormous potential and looked like he was going to get better and better. He didn’t do anything interesting. He just kept cashing those cheques playing with the ABB and touring with his family. He’s always seemed to have his career and life together, and I certainly can’t judge him for that…

But man.
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All good choices. But I don't think any of them were writers, so unless you've hitched yourself to someone who can write....
 
Flamencology said:
It’s not fair to call it squandering…

But Wes Montgomery came to mind. An incredible talent with a really weak discography because he recorded muzak because it paid a lot better and supported his family.

Then there’s George Benson who’s an absolute monster who has barely recorded anything worthwhile in his entire life, but got rich doing it.

I also feel similarly about Derek Trucks. 20 years ago, he was a child prodigy with enormous potential and looked like he was going to get better and better. He didn’t do anything interesting. He just kept cashing those cheques playing with the ABB and touring with his family. He’s always seemed to have his career and life together, and I certainly can’t judge him for that…

But man.
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I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels that way about George Benson. Maybe I should check out his live albums because I listened to some of his studio albums and they’re fucking awful.
 
Flamencology said:
It’s not fair to call it squandering…

But Wes Montgomery came to mind. An incredible talent with a really weak discography because he recorded muzak because it paid a lot better and supported his family.

Then there’s George Benson who’s an absolute monster who has barely recorded anything worthwhile in his entire life, but got rich doing it.

I also feel similarly about Derek Trucks. 20 years ago, he was a child prodigy with enormous potential and looked like he was going to get better and better. He didn’t do anything interesting. He just kept cashing those cheques playing with the ABB and touring with his family. He’s always seemed to have his career and life together, and I certainly can’t judge him for that…

But man.
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disagree on Trucks but I get why your say it. I really like butter.
 
jp_nyc said:
I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels that way about George Benson. Maybe I should check out his live albums because I listened to some of his studio albums and they’re fucking awful.
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Here’s Benson in 2020, making a special guest appearance for a Boots Collins recording.

Ah, what could have been…

 
Dexter Inferno said:
Yeah, one of the first that came to mind. Peaked really early and hasn't really done anything of note since the first Blue Murder album almost 35 years ago.
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I know you don't care for them, but I enjoyed when he fronted Thin Lizzy. They were a tribute band without Phil, but still.
 
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Andrew Sak said:
I know you don't care for them, but I enjoyed when he fronted Thin Lizzy. They were a tribute band without Phil, but still.
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I can see that. I was more thinking of his overall career, which has been fairly non-existant for decades now, apart from the Lizzy tribute shows. And more due to a series of poor decisions, failed auditions and stuff like that rather than substance abuse. A couple of singles which pretty much nobody's heard over the last 20 years isn't exactly productive. Such a shame, as he's a brilliant player at his best.
 
George Harrison

Listen to him smoking all over the Live at the BBC album and then relatively slumming it lead guitar wise on the Beatles normal work.
 
Knox in Box said:
George Harrison

Listen to him smoking all over the Live at the BBC album and then relatively slumming it lead guitar wise on the Beatles normal work.
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I’m not sure about that. Dude put some indelible parts on some of the most beloved singles and LPs in the rock canon and caught a second wind to craft a signature slide sound that is pretty recognizable as the “George Harrison thing” when other people cop it. Oh, and he became a pretty damn good songwriter.

If anything, dude squandered his potential as a songwriter/record-maker and touring performer in the later 1970s and 1980s because he was bitchy and preachy and contrary and an introverted weirdo who couldn’t be bothered because he was more into race cars and film. But, I mean, he’d been to the top of the mountain and just seemed to lack the insane, insatiable ambition and energy of his buddies Paul and Bob.
 
One thing I learned from the Get Back doc was John Lennon was a much better guitar player than I realised. At one point he basically invents stoner rock 30 years early. Didn't see George do anything interesting like that.
 
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I don’t understand Derek Trucks placement. He’s the best slide player on the planet revered by all who simply know. His slide playing intonation has been spot on for ever. He steers a 13 or 14 piece band that puts out some of the best jam music of the times. Along with his crew makes up about 23 to 25 people he’s been taking care of, business wise, for a long time. He’s just 44 years old. I just listened to Revelator and Made Up Mind again last week. Just incredible listening. He’s a huge talent and success in the industry. Plus, never been a junkie, never been a drunk, never been an asshole.
 
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