Kevin's guitar heroes

Dear Angel,
I think I know who you are!
My guitar heroes are many and varied. Starting with a guy from Coventry, my home town, called Rod Felton, when I was 15 and started going to local folk clubs Rod was there singing and playing in a unique way. He was the first person I ever saw using a drop D tunung or a DADGAD tuning. It had never occured to me that you could do that. Dave Cooper who I played with in Dando Shaft was another hero. Highly original, beautiful chords, very influential. Of course Bert and John, they influenced music not just the guitar.
I lived in Loa Angeles for a few years and got to hear a lot of the more funky and jazzy side of the guitar, Phil Upchurch and Cornell Dupree, being amongst them. But probably the ones I liked to listen to most were Earl KLugh and George Benson. Some people think that George is a bit cabaret sometimes, but if you watch him on Youtube playing take five or even last year in Belfast playing Danny Boy, you'll see the guy is a monster with more energy, technique, imagination and joy than most.
The4r are a few but I could probably fill a page with players that I love
kevin