Who were the pivotal musical influences for you?
- Thread starter Dogsinplastic
- Start date
Scott Powell
Blackmore Wannabe
Deep Purple for me. the interplay between Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore and the solid Rhythm section of Roger Glover and Ian Paice is my musical foundation: Music written in Fourths,the use of the Natural and Harmonic Minor Scales has carried me a LONG ways musically
wok
Unholy Meat Obelisk
Dave is a lot more fluid and fast, but his solos are a bit random. Adrian's solos are always pre-written and are very well-structured, interesting and within the context of the song
Dexter Inferno
Serious error
Scott Powell
Blackmore Wannabe
The Monkees made me pick up a guitar when I was 6.
My biggest influences have been:
Gary Rossington
Billy Gibbons
Joe Perry
Brad Whitford.
I guess that explains why I only seem to be able to play Les Pauls.
My biggest influences have been:
Gary Rossington
Billy Gibbons
Joe Perry
Brad Whitford.
I guess that explains why I only seem to be able to play Les Pauls.
mongooz
.
first was Clapton during the early cream days.
then there were a bunch of guys I had a passing interest in, but never really tried to latch on to.
then came SRV. blew me away. got to see him twice and met him once. it was Stevie that brought me back to really listen to Jimi, especially his bluesy stuff.
since then, there have been guys that I really like and listen to and swipe a lick or three from:
Dangerous Dan Toler
Glenn Pavone (RIP).....The Cyclones from Pittsburgh
Chris Duarte
Warren Haynes
then there were a bunch of guys I had a passing interest in, but never really tried to latch on to.
then came SRV. blew me away. got to see him twice and met him once. it was Stevie that brought me back to really listen to Jimi, especially his bluesy stuff.
since then, there have been guys that I really like and listen to and swipe a lick or three from:
Dangerous Dan Toler
Glenn Pavone (RIP).....The Cyclones from Pittsburgh
Chris Duarte
Warren Haynes
Dogsinplastic
avuncular to no one
I suspect that for the majority the most influential music is that heard when one first starts listening. I consider myself to be blessed to have been born at a time that meant that when I was first really getting excited by what was happening in popular music, what was most happening (in London, at least) was the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
I can see the logic in this, but for me the basis of starting this thread was the music/musicians that changed your thinking. As such I was thinking more about the folks that changed your thought process and had you trying new and different things. The folks that initially inspired me were who established anything I may have that can be called a style. But it's the folks that came later that helped realize that there was so much more. There have been others as well from a thought process perspective, but I don't play as often or anywhere near the level I used to.
Elias Graves
Common misfit
Talking purely guitar, I have a bit of a weird collection of influences.
Adrian Smith/Dave Murray - to me the perfect combination of classic metal riffing and melodies. Never too much.
David Gilmour - leads that stick in your head, and I always dug his fx work.
John Fogerty - sometimes simple is the key.
Lukather - quite the knack for short and to the point leads (the anti-Gilmour in that sense).
Steve Hackett - incredibly creative player. Sometimes being a bit weird with what you play or the sounds you choose can be the ticket.
Paul Gilbert - more recent influence, but he reminded me that you could be a great player, but above all doing music should be FUN.
As for acoustic playing my main one would probably be Ian Anderson.
Probably forgot quite a few as well.
I'm always shocked by how many people can't remember these.
Guess I shouldn't be any more. It's common enough.
Elias Graves
Common misfit
Venom always makes me want to have convulsions, frothing at the mouth, coma and death.
mattburnside
***hole. Major ***hole.
First...John Fogerty. I heard "Old Man Down the Road" and had to know how to do that. Oh, wait, he was in another band? Creedence What What? Well, better go check that out.
Buddy Holly? Who's this four-eyed bastard? Well, damn if he can't play up a storm.
At the time, I was told "start on acoustic" and then I saw Clapton positively ripping it up with Carl Perkins on Showtime and said "oh...shit. THAT."
Then I went through the phase that many suburban white boys go through where Led Zeppelin is not only a great band, but THE ONLY BAND.
Then the obligatory late '80s shred phase; learned a bunch of Satriani, etc. Still held in high regard.
Then The Clash/Ramones/The Police. Less, being more, is more.
Then Jeff Beck and Ty Tabor. Wow, sometimes more is more, and being able to pull out of a skid and making it sound like skidding was the idea all along...damn, that's an art form, innit?
Then Richard Thompson. "Wait a minute. There's a bunch of extra picking going on here. You mean it's OK to use all those right-hand fingers I was wanting to use all along?"
Then Chet Atkins/Jerry Reed...holy shit, time to erase the board and start over.
Buddy Holly? Who's this four-eyed bastard? Well, damn if he can't play up a storm.
At the time, I was told "start on acoustic" and then I saw Clapton positively ripping it up with Carl Perkins on Showtime and said "oh...shit. THAT."
Then I went through the phase that many suburban white boys go through where Led Zeppelin is not only a great band, but THE ONLY BAND.
Then the obligatory late '80s shred phase; learned a bunch of Satriani, etc. Still held in high regard.
Then The Clash/Ramones/The Police. Less, being more, is more.
Then Jeff Beck and Ty Tabor. Wow, sometimes more is more, and being able to pull out of a skid and making it sound like skidding was the idea all along...damn, that's an art form, innit?
Then Richard Thompson. "Wait a minute. There's a bunch of extra picking going on here. You mean it's OK to use all those right-hand fingers I was wanting to use all along?"
Then Chet Atkins/Jerry Reed...holy shit, time to erase the board and start over.
Peeker
jerkass
which is exactly what I want my music to do to people.
so I'm on the right track, is what yer sayin'...
el diablo
I'll take an A for $1000, Alex.
As mattburnside noted, the influences often seem to walk backwards. I started playing guitar because of the tv show "Hee Haw". Not because I liked the music, they just seemed to have fun (Buck Owens and Roy Clark). Then I somehow saw Bowie in his Thin White Duke phase on tv , I couldn't look away, and that was it. I started playing in earnest. Later, mix in Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and the one album that exposed me to everything.. The Isle of Wight/Atlanta Pop festival 1970 album. Jimi, Johnny Winter, Allman Bros, Cactus, Miles and many others. Opened my eyes big time.
All of that took me later to Muddy Waters "Fathers and Sons". And here I am.
All of that took me later to Muddy Waters "Fathers and Sons". And here I am.
jamesp
poster child
My big sister Jan played guitar. She played Peter, Paul and Mary, Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot... lots of folkie stuff. My other sister and I would sing along at first. When Jan wasn't playing her guitar I'd try to work out what I'd watched her play. Once I got a guitar of my own we did a duo act for awhile. Churches, school talent shows, just anywhere we could play. Then she went off to college and without anyone to play with I stopped playing, something I've done many times since. One night, completely out of the blue, Dad took me to see an act playing at the college chapel.
The act was two guys playing interesting arrangements on these big jumbo Guilds, and they sang fantatic harmony together, like the Everly Brothers only with bigger voices. They played a mix of original and cover songs and I was blown away that just these two guys could have such a huge live sound. At that point I was maybe three years away from learning what "One Toke Over the Line" actually meant. I don't think my Dad ever found out. Years later I asked him what possessed him, a cool jazz, Miles, Chet Baker kind of listener, to take me to see Brewer and Shipley at the college, but he didn't even remember the show. One of the college kids had taped the show. I got a copy and learned every song, note for note. Now I struggle not to use those licks! ;-) I've had a ton of influences and phases since, but if I hadn't seen them that night I doubt I would've kept playing.
The act was two guys playing interesting arrangements on these big jumbo Guilds, and they sang fantatic harmony together, like the Everly Brothers only with bigger voices. They played a mix of original and cover songs and I was blown away that just these two guys could have such a huge live sound. At that point I was maybe three years away from learning what "One Toke Over the Line" actually meant. I don't think my Dad ever found out. Years later I asked him what possessed him, a cool jazz, Miles, Chet Baker kind of listener, to take me to see Brewer and Shipley at the college, but he didn't even remember the show. One of the college kids had taped the show. I got a copy and learned every song, note for note. Now I struggle not to use those licks! ;-) I've had a ton of influences and phases since, but if I hadn't seen them that night I doubt I would've kept playing.
James Franciscus
Kick Henry Jackassowski
I feel like I've been playing forever. I've gone through entire phases of long term adulation of dozens of guitarists that barely come up on my radar anymore. The guitarists that I was able to gain the most insight from coupled with good comprehension was Robben Ford, Jimi Hendrix, Paul Gilbert, Django Reinhardt, and Andy Summers.
Psychotronic
Bored Silly
There are lots of players I love that I don't think influenced me much if at all (Jeff Beck, Vai, Satriani, Blackmore). The ones that I think DID, though (and why):
Jimmy Page ['nuff said]
Peter Frampton [tone and taste] <<<< disclaimer: although I love tasty players, I really don't consider myself one at all.
Mick Taylor [tone and taste]
EVH [not for the usual reasons, as I'm not much of a tapper or whammy bar guy -- more for the intensity with which he plays, and his approach to tone]
Elliot Easton [great approach to PARTS]
Andy Summers [chordal approach, use of effects]
Paul Gilbert [chops]
Gary Moore [another guy that played with an intensity that really grabbed me]
Jimmy Page ['nuff said]
Peter Frampton [tone and taste] <<<< disclaimer: although I love tasty players, I really don't consider myself one at all.
Mick Taylor [tone and taste]
EVH [not for the usual reasons, as I'm not much of a tapper or whammy bar guy -- more for the intensity with which he plays, and his approach to tone]
Elliot Easton [great approach to PARTS]
Andy Summers [chordal approach, use of effects]
Paul Gilbert [chops]
Gary Moore [another guy that played with an intensity that really grabbed me]