Damn. A question for the ages.

jeezus louizus...there's no question in my mind.  STEVIE all the way.  jimmie PALES in comparison, alive or no.  dude, are THESE the things that keep you up at night?!  ;)

sometimes..........BUT to add to the fray, yes, Stevie's WONDERFUL-even HE thought Jimmie was better!  Jimmie's incredibly tasteful, not flashy...

DUH.... STEVIE!!!!!!

i have that disk. why compare, it is all awesome. the less we compare and the more we appreciate all of it, the more life embraces us and kisses us with her abundance!

My point exactly, queenie...thanks!......

Ohhhh, good question.  I don't think as one better then the other.  Stevie was a showstopper, Jimmie is more of a rounded player.  I prefer Stevie's playing and songwriting myself.  I have 2 of Jimmie's albums.  I like the first one.

Stevie was the person that made me want to start playing guitar.  He is all that I used to listen too.  Good subject!!!

well, sheeeeeet.  i guess you told ME!  ;)

I don't know about better, but I prefer Jimmy's voice stylin's..." heaven done called another blues stringer back home..."

hey, LOOK, people!  i like 'em BOTH!.....BOTH!.....i'm not saying one bro is/was better than the other!...

The surest way in the world to get my brother all riled up and frothing at the mouth (teehee!) was to calmly state that Jimi Hendrix was the greatest guitarist that ever lived, hands down.  My brother feels that Stevie was far superior to Hendrix. 

I preferred Hendrix but I think it might be a little bit of an "apples and oranges" comparison.  I haven't heard enough of Jimmie's playing to say if he was better than Stevie or not.  Stevie was great, though.

I don't know either of them...

i saw the t-birds open up for stevie ray once.... jimmie was definitely more skilled, but stevie ray was the better showman.

Stevie's style was otherworldly.  He had IT. 

I like em both. How's that for wishy-washy? The evil mountain that claimed Stevie is about 45 minutes away from here.

Wow - finally a subject of interest!!  My thought on the matter is similar to some of the above.  I love Jimmie and Stevie both.  Stevie had a air about him that was just so cool.  He was the meaning of "cool".  He played like it was nothing and it just bowled everyone over.  Jimmie is also super cool and very classy.  They do have different playing styles though - but I don't believe there is really a comparison there - it's 50/50. 

I also think more people would SAY they liked Stevie more because he's dead - you know, as an honor type thing.  But I grew up listening to Stevie and I have a ton of respect for him and if I had to make a choice on which one I LIKED better (not who played better) - I'd go with Stevie just because I know his stuff more.  Sorry I wrote so much!

I didn't even know Stevie had a brother!