Wolf, couldn’t agree more with everything you said above. Sonny Landreth and David Lindley, two unfairly-overlooked guitarists. Bill Frisell’s recent Guitar in the Space Age album is a gas! Clapton’s playing just keeps getting deeper, and Beck is still without peer. I saw him on his first U.S. solo tour in ’68, and he’s even better now.
Robben Ford stopped in San Jose on his journey with his brothers (drums and mouth harp) from very Northern California to Los Angeles in the late 60’s, living and playing around town (and the whole Bay Area) for a couple of years, including with Charlie Musselwhite for awhile. Every guitarist I knew went to watch and listen to him play every chance they had, some of them almost quitting playing after hearing him. And that was over 45 years ago! He ended up playing with both George Harrison and Miles Davis; who else can say that?!