Ah, rockstars— If we had a nickel for every time we cared too much about their opinions, we'd live in mansions like they do. While we may not always agree with (or want to hear) their opinions about the world at large, there's probably value in what they think of their peers. After all, it's a select group. Honest-to-goodness rockstars are a dying breed, literally. It goes without saying, but we'll say it anyway: They don't make 'em like they used to. So, without new rockstars getting churned out each year, we've got to pay further credence to the ones who came before. 

Specifically, today, we're looking at an old article in Musician magazine. This one, published in 1990, featured a wide array of topics in an interview with George Harrison. The former "Quiet One" was very happily no longer a Beatle and had spent 20 years releasing satisfying (and sometimes top-selling) solo work. 

When the interviewer asked Harrison about his opinion of his own guitar playing, Harrison shifted the focus by comparing himself unfavorably to Eric Clapton, and Albert Lee.

He then brought up Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, and had the following thoughts to share:

"I think Keith [Richards] is one of the best rock ’n’ roll rhythm guitar players. I don’t think he’s very good at lead. But this is what I feel about myself too: What we do is make records, and the records have some good guitar parts on them. I like Keith enormously, I think he’s great, but he’s not Albert or B.B. King. Anyway, the main thing about him is that he has the confidence,” George said. “So even if it’s not perfect, he doesn’t care.”

So, kind of a backhanded compliment, we suppose! If anybody knows the six-string, it's Harrison, so maybe his opinion holds some weight here. But, is he underrating his rock 'n' roll peer?  Was the Stones' guitarist better than George Harrison thought? 

Here's one sentence from the article that should maybe have us dismissing anything Harrison had to say that day:

"Well, I’m certainly not a guitar hero."

We declare he's full of baloney!