What was your guitar/bass epiphany ?

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grimtraveller

grimtraveller

If only for a moment.....
Can you remember the moment, the song, the album that first tweaked your interest in the acoustic/electric guitar or bass ? Even if you didn't directly realize it at the time, looking back, could you say what and when it was ?

As far as the bass guitar is concerned, it's a combination over a six month period of Keith Richards on "Street fighting man" and Bill Wyman on "We love you", Roger Waters on "Chapter 24", "Matilda mother" and "Take up thy stethoscope and walk", John Paul Jones on the guitar solo bit of "The Wanton song", and Nick Simper on "Mandrake root". I'd never really noticed the bass up till then. Those pieces really made me turn my head.

As far as the acoustic guitar goes, it's from David Bowie's "Space Odditty", just after the "planet earth is blue and there's nothing I can do" bit. I just love that little bit of guitar, followed by the little claps. About 15 years ago, I heard the producer of the song, Gus Dudgeon, say he hated that bit. He felt it should be a really grandiose WOW moment but for him it was so wimpy. I wanted to jump through the telly and slap his head ! That little bit was the moment I fell in love with the acoustic guitar.
 
Yeah. A couple moments, really.

First, the "Hey, this whole 'music' thing is something that I kind of dig" epiphany... It's tough to pin an exact moment on this one, but I can at least trace it to the album - the Stones' "Beggar's Banquet." Really, a lot of the stones- I remember my dad having that and "Sticky Fingers" as records around the house, and there just being something kind of evil and subversive about it. The dilapidated graffiti covered toilet, the shot of (presumably) Jagger's crotch with the working zipper on the fly of the jeans... It was just somehow very "adult" and the music was raunchy enough to match. At the time when all my peers were listening to slick, over-polished 80s pop and early rap, the fact that the Stones were the complete antithesis completely hooked me. I could tell early on that whatever "rock and roll" was, I liked it. To this day, "Beggar's Banquet" is still my standard of what a rock album should be - even the filler is pretty damned good ("Parachute woman... Won't you land on me tonight?")

Second, the move from music in general to the guitar... I can point this to two experiences. First, another vague album-oriented one - my dad had a copy of a Chess Records "Muddy and the Wolf" compilation that he'd play a lot when I was growing up. Side one was Muddy Waters with the Paul Butterfield blues band, and side two was taken from Wolf's London sessions, with Eric Clapton on lead and the Rolling Stones rhythm section backing him up. The Muddy Waters material wasn't bad, but (barring a lethally good live version of "Long Distance Call") wasn't spectacular, but I fell in love with the second side of that album, and something about the sound of the lead guitar really spoke to me. Then, after that, my dad one day came home with this tape of Jimi Hendrix he'd picked up when he saw it on sale somewhere, saying "this guy was popular when I was growing up, and was known as a hell of a guitarist. I didn't really like much of his other stuff, but you've GOT to hear this song of his called "Purple Haze." He popped it in, and I just recall thinking, in slightly less adult language (since I was probably 13), "shit, how cool must it be to be able to do that with a guitar." A couple tracks later, we sort of looked at each other and reassessed my dad's opinion of the rest of his stuff, since by the time we hit "Voodoo Child (slight return)" we were digging the hell out of the rest of the music too. That track in particular stuck with me, as it was basically a six-minute guitar solo in the form of a blues tune. What really drove the experience home was coincidently a couple months later a partner of his' son had picked up the guitar, and played us the first couple minutes of that track on his guitar. Seeing someone I knew play that had me hooked, and I just thought guitars were the coolest fuckin' things ever at that point.

What finally made me pick it up, though, was Nirvana's "Unplugged" album. I first heard it when I was 15, and at the time had been almost exclusively listening to "classic rock" from my dad's record collection. I'd tuned out contemporary music, since so much of it REALLY sucked in my youth (Boys to Men, Vanilla Ice, Tiffany, MC Hammer, etc). The cover of "Where Did you Sleep Last Night" that closed that album absolutely floored me, though - in many ways it was really the perfect bridge for me, since I was already listening to a fair amount of blues, so hearing an alternative rock singer basically scream out the last half of that on an acoustic guitar just hooked me. And Kurt wasn't even really much of a guitarist, was the big revelation, when a friend of mine picked up the guitar about that time and taught himself a couple Nirvana songs. Suddenly, guitar went from this exotic thing to something even guys like me could do, and I figured if my friend could do it, then so could I. So, I picked up my dad's acoustic and started trying to figure some stuff out. He caught me at it one night when he walked past my room, thought I had "unplugged" on, and stuck his head in only to find me picking out a (very rough) rendition of the "Plateau" octave riff on his old Gibson. He's a complete music nut too, so once he got over his shock that it was actually me and not a CD player, he was incredibly encouraging, told me to play the thing whenever I wanted, and pretty much just encouraged me to have a blast.

The rest, as they say, is history. :D
 
I am mainly a bass player today, but in '76 was still a struggling but pretty decent gtr player. After hearing Eric Johnson and Stevie Ray Vaughan I knew I would never get "there", understood the language but would never be able to speak it, if you will. I just quit guitar but still played string bass in school. I got placed into the jazz band at school and had an electric bass thrust upon me to play. About the same time I was exposed to Jaco Pastorius, Alphonso Johnson, Stanley Clarke and Ralphe Armstrong and something clicked---I could do this!
About the same time I also caught the recording bug, absorbing everything possible.
 
Moving Pictures, Rush. Man, that album opened my eyes to so many things I didn't know were musically possible. :eek: Particularly "Red Barchetta" and "Limelight"....those songs blew my mind. :D

I used to be such a massive Rush fan. Saw 'em live in summer of '07. They kicked ass, though Geddy can't sing the old, castratedly high-pitched songs anymore.

Now it's rare for me to listen to progressive rock. I'm more into gay-ass indie, electronica, and hip hop. :spank:
 
Interestingly enough, I never had that kind of epiphany and I've considered myself a guitarist for something like 42 years.

I started out as a drummer and I think I was a pretty good budding talent on the drums. But a group of my buddies got a band together and needed a guitarist and told me, "You're playing guitar." So I did.

I've been doing it ever since.
 
Electric Guitar - Borstal Breakout - by Sham 69 & Misfits - Legacy of Brutality Entire Album.


Acoutstic - Dirty Old Town - by The Pogues.

Bass - Hoboken - by Operation Ivy.

Drums - Social Distortion. But i still can't play the fucking things... :mad:
 
I can’t recall having any one epiphany moment…but there was a period in the early-mid 70s when I was listening to a lot of Blues/Rock (Clapton, Zeppelin, Johnny Winter, Neil Young, etc)…and that’s when I really began to see guitar as a lead instrument of substantial merit.
 
DrewPeterson7 said:
First, the "Hey, this whole 'music' thing is something that I kind of dig" epiphany... It's tough to pin an exact moment on this one, but I can at least trace it to the album
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Albums wise for me it was "Maybe tomorrow" by the Jackson 5. I was 10 at the time and although we'd had albums in the house (I remember "Sweet soul music" by Arthur Conley and one called "Wreck a pum pum" which I've since discovered was an early reggae/ska thing by Prince Buster with lines like 'My dick is in a terrible state....' and 'My dick is getting the better of me/Look in my pants front and you will see' on the title track ! And this was from 1968 ! ) I never really listened with both ears because I liked pop and those shitty compilations that weren't even the original artists and some of the people on the covers of albums we had just looked like old men and cute women - but cute the way my mum had looked in the 50s. My Dad had thousands of classical recordings he'd taped from the radio and he played them every day but as a kid it all just morphed into one sound for me.. Anyway, this cousin of ours came to live in England and for my older sister's birthday, she gave her this J5 LP. We tried to listen to it once but we weren't in the mood so it stayed in these drawers for months.
Then on easter day '73, for some reason I cannot remember, I got up early to go and chomp on some easter eggs and decided to play this Lp on this little record player that our Uncle Roland had built us. He was fantastic and technically, out of this world. Anyway, I listened to the first side....and listened....and listened. There were 5 songs on the first side and I listened to it for five hours ! It absolutely blew me away. I stopped only to watch the soccer (never missed 'The big match' at 2 !) then listened to the other side. If the first side turned me upside down, the 6 songs on the second side did things to me that no music had up to that point. Usually after watching the football some of my friends and I would go and play football for hours but I didn't that day. I spent the whole day listening to that LP. I spent much of the rest of 1973 listening to that LP.
 
Jimi Hendrix s Red House, from Experience Greatest hits, my age somewhere between 13 & 15, the walking bass line caught my attention, so did the guitar as well. Blues is my groove that I play, electric guitar, later in life; I learned the bass line to that song, done a version, but the tune simply doesn't dance, but other blues foundation progressions have and will with me.

Drums that kick butt and have some attitude would be won't get fooled again, the Who from Who's Next album, Kieth Moon was the heart beat to that band. Pete Townsends guitar work on The Who live at Leeds sort caught my interest that rock guitar lives.

Seen many concerts during the seventies, tapered off during the eighty's, some big shows moments of trues musical magic where few far and between. Maybe listening to albums that were edited mixed overdubbed had some could explain the musicianship expectations of this concert participant, then so was experience of getting a grip on making music happen
 
I don't feel i ever had an epiphany moment either.I just really liked the sound of the distorted electric guitar.I grew up with my mom listening to classical music and opera and my dad liked country.I grew up on 80's rock n roll and metal.

I remember when i was kid i took an old tennis racket and cut all the stings off but the six in the middle.I was intrigued with the sounds of rubber bands stretched out across the kitchen cabinet knobs.I once as a kid thought about building an electric guitar out of some metal pieces and wire and even thought of attaching a powercord.Thank god my sister deterred me from that one.

When i was 15 i knew a kid in school who was selling his electric guitar.I asked my mom if i could buy it and she NO.I could get an acoustic like my oldest sister and learn songs like 'on top of old smokie','the meatball song', 'amazing grace' etc..

I wanted to ROCK.So i bought it anyway.Then a month later i bought an amp and my folks were in hell.Never had much support from the folks or family over the years but i struggled and to learned to play.

I'm still playing 25 years later.I play a little bass for recording purposes and while i'm no drummer,i can program beats.The only epiphany i have is that throughout all life's trials and errors,all the partying and good times,somewhere along the line i actually became a musician.
 
For acoustic guitar, my moment was hearing "Vaseline Machine Gun" by Leo Kottke at age 12. After a childhood of country music and oldies, it opened up my eyes and my love of guitar. I hadn't yet started playing, and it cemented my desire to take it up.

I spent the next year begging my parents for lessons.... :)
 
cashcohen said:
For acoustic guitar, my moment was hearing "Vaseline Machine Gun" by Leo Kottke at age 12. After a childhood of country music and oldies, it opened up my eyes and my love of guitar. I hadn't yet started playing, and it cemented my desire to take it up.

I spent the next year begging my parents for lessons.... :)
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You know, the whole 6- and 12- String Guitar LP is AMAZING. God damn, his playing makes me cry and dance at the same time. "The Driving of the Year Nail" is an astonishing tune as well. And "Ojo". And all of 'em.
 
I suppose this makes me seem both old & MOR & it's really tempting to lie & put in some demi god like hens tooth players but I'm a westie - just a suburban boy so hey:
Bass - When I heard the single Black Knight by DP. Bass RIFFs caught my attention. I started playing bass in 74 and have basically been a bassist since then BUT I only realised I could "play" bass about 5 years ago.
Acoustic Guitar - in '75 when I 1st listened to Joan of Arc from Leonard Cohen's Songs of Love & Hate. Nylon string arps - along with La las. I still can't quite get that arp right. The real epiph came when my mate Eric taught me Am & Em - my 1st chords.
Electric Guitar - I was quite late coming into that domain but to be perfectly honest I got the urge to make noise when I saw Led Zep doing dazed & Confused on the Atlantic Supershow on the old televisual thing in the early 70's. I bought my 1st electric in 79 when I was 22 I didn't buy a real GUITAR amp until last year - always used my bass amps.
My biggest epiphany came in 85 when a friend & High School Music Master loaned me a 4 track cassette porta studio. It was then that I realised how much fun it was to do Musical Meccano.
 
I could have been Ted Nugent from the Cat Scratch Fever album or Lindey Buckingham's, I'm So Afraid.
 
It was the bass line to that cop show. You know, that '80s one. No, not HSB, that was Larry Carlton. He plays guitar. I saw him in concert once, he played that tune. He played "Smile" too.

Anyway, whatever that show was, I never learned the bass line. There was some kid in the neighborhood who did, but far as I know, he never got in a band :confused:
 
mshilarious said:
It was the bass line to that cop show. You know, that '80s one. No, not HSB, that was Larry Carlton. He plays guitar. I saw him in concert once, he played that tune. He played "Smile" too.

Anyway, whatever that show was, I never learned the bass line. There was some kid in the neighborhood who did, but far as I know, he never got in a band :confused:
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Barney Miller! It's real tough to get old huh MSH.


Mine was insents and peppermints by the strawberry alarm clock.


:cool:
 
mshilarious said:
It was the bass line to that cop show. You know, that '80s one. No, not HSB, that was Larry Carlton. He plays guitar. I saw him in concert once, he played that tune. He played "Smile" too.

Anyway, whatever that show was, I never learned the bass line. There was some kid in the neighborhood who did, but far as I know, he never got in a band :confused:
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Was it by any chance "Barney Miller" ?
 
Guitar - Any Ramones album. I had em all by 1987 when my buddy Monty showed me a powerchord. I already knew how to isolate and listen for specific things in music, so with that "skill" and my powerchord, I could figure out and play along to Ramones records. I'm not really any better to this day, but I can downstrum like a mofo.

Bass - The Clash and The Who really got me interested in bass. For a guy that couldn't hardly play, Paul Simonon wrote awesome bass lines. Of course John Entwistle was the man, but he was way too good to look up to when I first picked up a bass. There was no way I could do what Entwistle did, so Simonon was a more realistic bass role model. Figuring out and understanding the bass lines on London Calling was my bass "moment". This was around 1989. And again, I'm not really any better than I was back then.

Drums - I first sat behind a kit around the same time I learned some bass - 1989. My cousins had given my younger sister a 4 pc kit. I don't even remember what brand it was. It was old. Anyway, she was a headbanger chick, and she wanted to play drums, so she got some. She was terrible and hardly ever played. And when she did try to play, I made so much fun of her that she lost all interest. Meanwhile, I had a plan. I had figured out enough limb independence from drumming on my desk or lap during school to be able to jump on her kit while she was gone and play simple beats. My mom heard me playing her drums, and suggested that I just take them over because she never played them. No problem. Into my room they went and out again came the Ramones records. I didn't really learn any chops, but I learned some speed and stamina. I got to the point that I could play along with live Ramones records without falling apart. I guess that was my drumming moment. And like guitar and bass, I'm not really any better now than I was back then.
 
Barney it was, but not of the purple dinosaur variety. "Night Court" had a cool line too, as I recall. It was like the decade of the bass, those two plus Bakithi Kumalo. And of course the mellow bass tapping stylings of Sheehan :laughings:

Simonon does rule as well, although maybe more '70s than '80s. Ah heck, I love Combat Rock, who am I kidding . . . :p Especially the flip side. "Inoculated City" is a great tune :cool:
 
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