One more thought:
I suspect that these lists are built with an eye toward the future. That is, the authors don't want to set themselves up to look foolish. Sins of omission are better than commision (except for political correctness.)
Add a female to prevent sexist critiques. Cover ethnicity. Nod a little to non- manistream (i.e. non blues/blues based) styles. Mainly, however, they want to stay in the middle of the fairway. Add the very famous, very influential, or very hip/cult choices. It becomes easy for guys like Howe, Buckingham, or Terry Kath to slip between cracks like these, because pop and prog players are effectively subject to a quota.
That approach explains (for me) a lot of this list.
Marty
I suspect that these lists are built with an eye toward the future. That is, the authors don't want to set themselves up to look foolish. Sins of omission are better than commision (except for political correctness.)
Add a female to prevent sexist critiques. Cover ethnicity. Nod a little to non- manistream (i.e. non blues/blues based) styles. Mainly, however, they want to stay in the middle of the fairway. Add the very famous, very influential, or very hip/cult choices. It becomes easy for guys like Howe, Buckingham, or Terry Kath to slip between cracks like these, because pop and prog players are effectively subject to a quota.
That approach explains (for me) a lot of this list.
Marty