Who made you want to play??

  • Thread starter Thread starter King Elvis
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Re: Eric Clapton

AlChuck said:
Well, it was the Beatles that I first noticed and wanted to emulate...

Then my year-older guitar-playing next-door-neighbor told me, "Here, if you like the Beatles, check these guys out... George Harrison plays on one song..."
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Yep, for me it was the Beatles - and specifically George Harrison. When I saw him in Hard Days Night with that big ass Gretsch Country Gentleman, I knew that's what I wanted to play.
Still haven't got one yet, though...:(
Then on to Clapton, Steve Howe, Brownie McGhee, Johnny Winter, Neil Young, and I never looked back

mike
 
Oh, and once I heard John Prine, I knew that I wanted to write songs...
 
I can't say that anyone really inspired me, as well, only that I remember asking Santa Claus for one of the acoustics, in the Sears Christmas catalog, and it was under the tree, come Christmas morning.

As for current inspirations...George Harrison, Roger McGuinn and Tom Petty are the reasons I want a 12-string Rickenbacker - Leo Kottke being my fave, on acoustic 12. For the sounds I'm creating, toward when I finally start recording songs...think Jimi Hendrix covers Dick Dale (perhaps with a bit of Nugent thrown in, for flavor).

My first exposure to Nugnet was hearing "Journey To The Center Of The Mind," by Amboy Dukes. I always thought Nugnet was using a whammy bar, until I saw the VH-1 show about him...he was bending the note at the neck!
 
Unsprung said:
I can't say that anyone really inspired me, as well, only that I remember asking Santa Claus for one of the acoustics, in the Sears Christmas catalog, and it was under the tree, come Christmas morning.
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I forgot to mention...My nephew has been wanting a guitar, for maybe a few months now. Although it's been in the back of my van (outside) for about 2 years, I'm gonna give it a good once-over (straightness and all that). If things look good enough, I'll restring it, and that'll be his birthday present, next month. 8)
 
no guitar hero just needed a way to write songs...and up until i learned what i can do on the guitar i was a drummer....its hard to sit around and play drums by yourself...lol...plus guitars are easier to pack to a party!
 
Jimmy Page- "How many more times" off Zep 1-That song had it all-cool wah wah, heavy riffs, violin bow--When I heard his overdubbed dual solo sections I thought he was doing it all at once-it just blew my little 12 yr old mind.
 
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At first it was my Dad and his friends. They'd come to our house for jam sessions when I was REAL young. Later I realized what they were doinf was essentially Merl Travis so that's where I focused. Then I discovered Steve Howe.....................
 
When I was about 10 yrs old, I inherited a Gibson f-hole acoustic from my brother.....he NEVER played it. At that time, the Beatles were the hottest thing around, but a lot of groups were emerging that inspired me to start writing songs. Hell, I didn't even know how to play the guitar when I wrote my first song....."Do the fish".
Never did really get much air time, LOL.



bd
 
The first thing I heard that made me want to pick up a guitar was Jerry Reed playing "Lord Mr. Ford." I think I was about 6 years old. But, before I could do any of that fast country picking I discovered Muddy Waters and that's where I've stayed.
 
The Beatles were just totally awsome on every level. 33 years after they broke up and they are still the yardstick that everything is measured by. No one can even try to make an argument to the contrary. The excelled on every level. To the music fan, you know their music and you cant help but love it. It still sounds fresh today!! To the musician, think about it, when they first met John could barely play guitar. He was playing banjo chords on guitar!!! 10 years later they were crafting awsome chord changes like GIRL or MICHELLE. As a guitarist it is not even about soloing, their chords structures were amazing!!! Listen to JULIA off of the White Album!!! And John and Paul could play anything, guitar, bass, piano...you name it. Now if you do wanna get into solos, just check out AND YOUR BIRD CAN SING!!!, fantastic dual guitar solos!!! By '66 they gave up all touring to just concentrate on studio work!!!??? That was unheard of at that time. George Martin is a great producer, but, the music, the vision, the sound...it was all theirs. They didnt hand half finished stuff to Martin and tell him "fix it in the mix" They had it all planned out and done. He got the sound from their heads on tape. Lets get back to the songs for a second, who else do you know that can take two totally different songs with different feelings and tempos and melodies and put them together and make it work?? Listen to A DAY IN THE LIFE to see what I mean....damn I am long winded this morning!!! I just love em!!!!
 
Actually a day in the life maintains the tempo... what a great song, much like everything else they wrote.

Carlos
 
Not to disrespect the Beatles who I think the world of. I've loved them since I was a very young kid and would sing Yellow Submarine (I think I was about 3) but I was thinking about the "two dfferent songs inside a song and make it work AND sound fluent and awesome" idea and I know a few bands that sound great in doing that like Camel in songs like "Lady Fantasy" and "For Today", Rush in so many of their songs, Dream Theater (check out "Change of Seasons", that's seven songs in one) ELP, and Genesis.
Carlos
 
At the very begining it was Carlos Santana. I was pretty blinded by him for a couple of years, and I didn't want to hear anything else.

Then a friend lent me Jeff Becks Wired! OMG! I flipped....
Then I got into Steve Howe and Stevie Ray.

Finally, my gutar instructor gave me a recording of "Return to Forever's" first album. (chick corea, stanley clark, al dimeola ect..) and I was floored! I bought all of DiMeolas albums soon after.
 
The Ventures playing "Walk Don't Run" and Laurence Welks' guitarist Neal LaVang (he was the first person I ever saw or heard using a "talk box", and this was is the late 50's!)

Yep... been playing a loooong time now...
 
I was pretty singly focused on the Beatles, from an early age,...

which is really the start of me wanting to play. I used to fashion mock guitars out of pie tins, rulers & rubber bands. I used to fashion mock drum sets out of pots, pans, lids and pillows, and played them with knitting needles. Anything that would give me that 'thwack' sound. At the age of 6, that was the best I could do.

Then came my post-10 years and early teens.

After having been primarily focused on the Beatles for so many years, I next discovered Neil Diamond. Then, fairly soon thereafter I discovered Deep Purple, and it quickly cascaded into liking bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep, ZZ Top & Robin Trower. Before too long I was also into the Rolling Stones, The Who, Pink Floyd, Santana, Jimi Hendrix & David Bowie. This was all by the age of 13.

I still like the same kind of music and the same bands. They have never let me down, except a certain Bowie album called "Never Let Me Down", which let me down, indeed. Otherwise, I still listen to the same basic stuff, & throw in there Bob Dylan, the Ramones, the Beatle's solo works, & a few more contemporary bands like U2.

That pretty much wraps it up into a neat little package, for me.;)
 
I got tired of just listening to DMB songs - I wanted to actually learn how to play them....so there's your answer.
 
Have you guys ever gone back and listened to the early stuff?? When rock first started?? there is some killer stuff from back in the early to mid-50's. Elmore James doing DUST MY BLUES and BLUES BEFORE SUNRISE. Bill Haley's ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK??? The solo on that thing is rippin'!!! Clean and fast. The guy who played that solo, Danny Ciderone, just to prove it was no fluke played the same damn solo on another Bill Haley song called ROCK THE JOINT. Ever hear the solo on Elvis' HOUND DOG?? Scotty Moore is running scales all over that thing and it is BAD A**!!! Chuck Berry??? I know he played the same riff over and over but, damn. Turn up JOHNNY B GOODE and listen. The interplay between the axe and the piano!!! Buddy Holly!!! The dude could rock the axe big time. If you want to talk about shredding, the first rock guitar shredder was a guy named Cliff Gallup who played with Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps in '56 and '57. If you have never heard him you are doing yourself an injustice. This guy was rippin it up all over those tunes!!! Cool jazzy runs and stuff, the band screaming and hollaring behind him!!! Its Rock and Roll BABY!!!!
 
Jorma Kaukonens solo on "Somebody To Love", but I think I was already trying to play by then.

Tell it King, Tell it!!!!! The man speaks the truth!
 
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