The following content is related to the July 2012 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.
Ask 10 guitar players who epitomized the sound of 20th-century blues guitar and you might get 10 different answers. Ask the same question about gospel guitar and the list is likely to shrink to one: Roebuck "Pops" Staples.
Despite the brilliance of sanctified guitarists like Blind Willie Johnson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, nothing says amen quite like the sound of Pops strumming a deep, tremolo-heavy open chord.
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“I get asked, ‘What’s it like being a one-hit wonder?’ I say, ‘It’s better than being a no-hit wonder!’” The Vapors’ hit Turning Japanese was born at 4AM, but came to life when two guitarists were stuck into the same booth
“Let's play... you start it off now, Stevie”: That time Stevie Wonder jammed with Stevie Ray Vaughan... and played SRV's number one Strat
![[L-R] George Harrison, Aashish Khan and John Barham collaborate in the studio](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/VANJajEM56nLiJATg4P5Po-840-80.jpg.webp)
