The sad part of this Poll is that it makes it look like MD was all about a bunch of songs, and not the incredible original artist that he was. 

MD is more valuable in the 1960's for having added an individuality that was not there in music ... where as AH is at least 10 years later, and he was only a part of the development of several guitar materials, as opposed to the time and place that MD did his work.

Polls like this are fun, but in my book, sometimes take the music out of its context ... and all of a sudden considering MD just another guitar player (... you know what I mean!) is not what MD did, or was about. MD made many a guitarist going crazy possible, unless we think that eventually that would come to pass, anyway. But it didn't ... it took MD and many others that were free lancing like crazy to show us what could be done with music ... and rock music, was almost 10 years  BEHIND ... MD ... 

In terms of the history of the music, MD holds a place that so few others will EVER come close to ... unless we look at it all as just a bunch of songs for the radio ... in which case MD's material gets, mostly ignored, because some folks don't like his arrays to the kitchen, garage, football field, stars, studio and every where else we can think of! ... you see ... the riff gets lost in it ... (hehehe!) 

Hi,

As an artist that advanced the way and style that was about music AT THE TIME, MD is not only progressive, he is way ahead of his time compared to others.

In a music history course, with the various time periods listed, in the sequence of things, MD would not only be progressive, he would be an originator like so few others! But if you look at it, vua the lens of PA's definition, then MD is not prog, and never will be, but then ... that definition is not about music and its history .... at all!

Hi,

I think, today (!!!!!), that DB was more "melodic" and far easier to handle and listen to than what MD did in a lot of his concerts. His work, was not exactly about "melody" in the 1960's ... and that is something that takes a very different ear to get adjusted to ... and at the time, a lot of jazz, specially the early experimental stuff out of Europe, was completely opposite the "melody" ideal, which has ... sadly ... been relegated to "pop music" and not much else.

Jazz, originally, or at least it seems to me, was more about being very different from the current music stuff at the time, classical music and pop music, until the late 1960's when a bunch of "easy listening" folks showed up doing some jazzy things ... that probably would not be considered "jazz" 10 years before.

One other slight detail ... DB could be said to be about a "riff" ... I'm not sure that we will find that MD was stuck on a riff, or an idea ... he moved from that moment once he played some of it, thus, effectively breaking the pattern into ... yeah ... sometimes I think there was no pattern at all!