You younger guys need to check out Roy Buchanan and Freddy King.
I'll second that. Roy Buchannon was...there may not be a word for it...awesome, phenomenal...also a tele player. Incredible player, and the couple of times I managed to see him on video he did all that just standing there barely tapping his foot...If you've never heard Roy, look for Green Onions, that song alone will get you hooked. Hung himself in a jail cell...that really sucked...
I'm not that familiar with Freddy King, but i know he was a great player.
I remember this guitarist thread happening a while back too and you guys did it again...nobody has mentioned either of the other two guitar players who made their leads sound like they just grew there, which is what I like best.
Gilmour, of course is the master and already mentioned, but...
George Harrison
Mark Knopfler
George was the original, everything he ever did sounded like it just grew there, Knopfler is damn close to Harrison and Gilmour in that respect too.
And believe it or not, Paul McCartney, who can play just about anything and has done several songs completely by himself, most notably "Maybe I'm Amazed" and I think "Ballroom Dancing" as well, at least the video he made with it points in that direction.
Influences? now that's a different story...
Johnny Winter
Duanne Allman
Billy Gibbons
David Gilmour
Joe Walsh
Eric Clapton
Jimmy Page
Robin Trower
Van Wilks
And others have had an influence on my playing in great or small ways.
Oh yeah, I remember watching Roy Clark as a kid too...Glenn Campbell show was it? as well as Hee Haw...Hee Haw was too stupid, it was hard to sit through just to see Roy play a little, but the occasional Roy Clark and regular John Hartford made Glenn Campbell's show worth watching...
EDIT: Damn, how did I forget...Jeff Healey...