ha ha hah.

ok im not a lady in the house but i must say this for clarification.

though patti smith is certainly a superimportant creature

janis joplin was a rocknroll supernova

in fact patti smith's "elegie" in "horses" refers to her as well as jimi hendrix, jim morrison, etc.:

I just don't know what to do tonight,
My head is aching as I drink and breathe
Memory falls like cream in my bones, moving on my own.
There must be something I can dream tonight,
The air is filled with the moves of you,
All the fire is frozen yet still I have the will, ooh, ah.
Trumpets, violins, I hear them in the distance
And my skin emits a ray, but I think it's sad, it's much too bad
That our friends can't be with us today.

her group allowed patti to engage in free noise jams before sonic every surfaced & she adopted this cool le flaneur persona ala baudelaire, but on the other hand, Kim plays the guitar with her heels, delivers vocals with attitude & sweetly equally well, & is the woman rock bassist.

yes yes kim is awesome, but "most important" i think not. perhaps
"most important right now"? ok i agree. ah, always imprecise semantics getting on the way of internet discussions... the thread starter wasn't specific!

as far as women with guitars

Kim Gordon rules them all

Patti Smith, Chan Marshall, Kim Gordon.

chan marshall may be the second or third most important woman drunk in rock n roll

janis joplin wins that title hands down.

and I would venture to argue the case that janis was a blues singer cloaked in rock trappings

cheeto for president. and funny crack about chan-- sad but true.