What person/band motivated you to pick up the guitar?

[jfromel]

For me I think it was Daniel Ash (Bauhaus, Tones on Tail, Love and Rockets), that got the ball rolling for me, I still remember the first time I heard "In the Flat Field" and thought yeah that's guitar I want to play.

Bauhaus version of Ziggy Stardust is pretty great as well.

I didn't start getting into main stream players until I had been playing a few years and started listening to the guys that influenced the guys that influenced me, Beatles, Clapton, Hendrix, Page.

Great thread

[melodichaotic]

Bill..nice call on this thread makes you wonder why it hadn't been posted before.

Well, easily and without question I can remember my brother and I listening to a 45 of "Hey Jude" and "Revolution" that our uncle gave to us, when I was 6 years old, and of course we'd always play the "Revolution" side and absolutely FREAK on Lennon's intro and ripping rock and roll scream--that started the DNA re-arranging process for me.

A year or so later, I "discovered" my parent's album collection, and without prior knowledge, the first LP I pulled out was..."Sgt Pepper's", and it was game over--I must have played that record seemingly hundreds of times, so at a very early age the bar was set VERY high as far as song writing, vocals, diversity and great guitar tones.

I mean of course the solo guitar intro to SPLCHB was killer--cutting and stinging with great attitude and tone, and I LOVE how the solo and rhythm guitars just meld together--add to that Ringo's FAT sounding toms, and Paul's killer vocal...done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoJGDC10lZw

Paul's solo on "Good Morning Good Morning", another ripping gem(killer snare drum sound as well)...solo at 1:17

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmOecBHVhLg

but probably the one most affected me is the hauntingly beautiful solo on "Fixing a Hole"...absolutely lyrical and poetic in and of itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0I2ZrBuFdQ

I mean they crammed SO much into a 2 1/2 minute song.

I then took 3 lessons from my aunt and I think my only reason for not continuing was that my guitar was plastic and went out of tune if you looked at it wrong!

Here's another gem from the amazingly under-rated band "Sweet", who my brother and I have been huge fans of since this single came out in '72--I mean "Little Willy" was cool for that bubblegum pop of the early 70's, but the flip side "Man from Mecca" just FLOORED us--great intro riff, great performance--just listen to the 2nd 1/2 of the solo after the harmony line--absolutely SCORCHING

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW9xIkRO19A

Their guitarist Andy Scott whom we met back in the 90's at the Stone Pony, is a great player, writer, and has gotten some of the BEST recorded hard rock tones ever. Just listen to these intros:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjJwb34_HcA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgAk3rwl1lo

and there's many others--of course in '75 there was "Kiss Alive"..a staple for sure, but the first Kiss record my cousin turned me onto was "Hotter than Hell" and I thought it was some sort of a bootleg from a freak-show of a band, but some defining moments, especially this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr2B7_OvTks

Then Zep, Aerosmith, and Sabbath shortly followed, and anything else that was the order of the day(ZZ Top, Foghat, Cheap Trick,etc)--also started getting into some of the progressive stuff(Yes, Floyd, King Crimson, ELP, Return to Forever, etc) as well.

I played piano from 10-12 and got really good but lost interest because my aunt(same one who briefly taught me guitar) wanted me to start doing recitals, and I lost interest--it wasn't until about 1 1/2 later that I picked up the guitar because two of my cousin's were playing and I was tired of playing air guitar...

Main influences were Jimmy Page on every level--guitarist, producer, writer, riff monger, recorded tone monster etc--"Zep II" I played religiously...

Steve Howe was a big influence and a great compliment to Page for all different reasons--classical, jazz influences, and completely different approach--"Fragile" was the counterpart to Zep II..that one racked up MANY spins--just listen to this awesomeness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvU6dttJb-k

my favorite off that disc

Brian May...goes without saying--was also a hug Queen fan from '75--"Sheer Heart Attack" completed the early trifecta along w/ "Zep II" and "Fragile"..how could it not with this as the opening track:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdUKi3_QntE

at 2:35 starts the awesome, gutsy and vibey middle section.

Of course there was Eddie back in '78, causing the global "What the f*&k?!?" factor with "Eruption" from "VH I", usurping and ousting "Stairway" as THE staple overplay in guitar stores everywhere

again, MANY spins from that disc--got every VH record as it came out from "VH 1" to "1984"

"Spanish Fly", from "VH II" however, to me, is more ass kicking and was the, then ultimate silencer to all the doubter and disbelievers of the day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDsa4uDM3zU

Still absolutely KILLS!

...and then, on the 3rd day there was Jeff Beck--"Cause we ended as lovers", "Led Boots" were the first tunes I learned and that opened things up BIG time--out of the three with Page and Clapton, he's been the ONLY one who has continually gotten better each decade--have seen him quite a few times over the years.

Clapton has some shining moments in the 70's, '80's, '90's, to present day, but sorry, he was never better than in a tense raw trio with cranked Marshalls where EVERY note counted.

Stevie Ray--I wasn't feeling it when he first came out--of course I knew he was great, but I was too into progressive players in the 80's..Steve Morse, Eric Johnson, Vai, etc--wasn't until the late 80's/early 90's that it really started hitting me and REALLY affecting me.

Lastly, there was Hendrix...honestly there were always the staple tunes that were great, but I didn't actually truly CONNECT, until 1990 when I got a compilation CD of BBC radio show performances that just blew me away...played catch up from there--some of my all time favorite Hendrix tones were from the Band of Gypsys live at the Fillmore--some of his BEST playing here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEpHaa459Hw

[melodichaotic]

Forgot to mention most importantly of late(last several years):

Tommy Immanuel...probably one of THE FINEST guitarists on the planet--just listening is a HUGE inspiration and motivation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo8U20LicdU

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNZL7Gkq ... re=related

[hawaii121]

Hats off to Bill again, this and the switch cleaning video are solid contributions to the site!

I almost hesitate to share mine, because for the amount of time guitar has been in my life I should be killing it, but instead I buy gear so I don't have to face the truth!

After dancing and sliding in my PJ's with feet to the sound of the Beatles, I picked up my first guitar when I was 5. It was a classical, I WANTED an electric! I took lessons for a little bit and then tinkered with it over the next 7 years until I finally got my electric.

Starting in middle school, I played about 3 hours a day for 4 years or so and kept my feet in both a heavy metal band and a new wave band (it was the early 80's). The new wave band gave me opportunities at age 14 to play some clubs in Washington DC. This was all good an fine until my parent actually came to see us one night. I guess the scene of a 14 year old with 18 and 19 year old girls and booze all over the place didn't sit well... Don't know why that would matter... but I was no longer allowed to do these gigs (without sneaking out) . Anyhow, I ended up being a more typical teenage player for the next two years (school events, parties), but got waaaaaay to into the party side of being a musician and got too focused on beer and girls to keep up my practice. After some less than glorious moments, I sold my gear to buy more beer ! This essentially ended my playing for about 8 years.

After about 8 years completing my undergrad ... My parents bought me a Martin acoustic, I played for a while, wrote a few songs, played a few open-mikes, but this time I was distracted by windsurfing, surfing, kitesurfing, and tow-in surfing (I had moved to Hawaii) and had kind of given up on my guitar dreams. Anyhow, I couple of really bad sports injuries got me picking up my guitar again and I ordered an electric, bought a cool amp, started buying NOS tubes, sold my crappy BOSS pedals for Fulltone stuff, sold my Fulltone stuff for Wampler and Trex, sold those for Mad Professor, came across BJFE/Evidence Audio, handwired vintage amps, fell madly in love with the tone hunt, and figured out that I could still be a kick ass guitar player by the time I'm sixty - WATCH OUT (inspired by my grandfather's relationship with trumpet playing - similar story). And here I am after 34 years since the first time I picked up a guitar. Like odog, I know very few covers all the way through. I am soooo not the campfire guitar guy, but more of a rock out in my own world, zen out on a riff kind of player. I play with some other musicians a bit, but don't get out and gig hardly at all. I do have some interest in developing a persona that I take around to open mike nights where nobody knows me, that might happen!

For now, I simply love the sound of players like Larry Carlton, live performances by Knopfler, Clapton and several other guys (and some John Mayer live stuff is really surprising), Joe Bonamassa, Robbin Ford, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page (I always have loved this guy), and the usual suspects. I spend a great deal of time simply tweaking with gear and finger technique trying to recreate sounds with no particular "song" objective.

Oh, and I spend too much time on this site! I have constant GAS!!!!! Aloha!

[bsic]

I almost hesitate to share mine, because for the amount of time guitar has been in my life I should be killing it, but instead I buy gear so I don't have to face the truth!

Uhm.. HELLO... meeee too

After dancing and sliding in my PJ's with feet to the sound of the Beatles, I picked up my first guitar when I was 5. It was a classical, I WANTED an electric! I took lessons for a little bit and then tinkered with it over the next 7 years until I finally got my electric.

Damn... a lot of Beatles influences on this site!!!

For now, I simply love the sound of players like Larry Carlton, live performances by Knopfler, Clapton and several other guys (and some John Mayer live stuff is really surprising), Joe Bonamassa, Robbin Ford, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page (I always have loved this guy), and the usual suspects. I spend a great deal of time simply tweaking with gear and finger technique trying to recreate sounds with no particular "song" objective.

I also dig mayer's stuff. I know he gets a lot of postage at places like TGP and all.. but I really do like his songwriting and guitar playing. A little annoying personality wise though

Cool to see Joe B in your list too- love his stuff!

And of course--- like you and Marty both said-- PAGE totally rules. If there ever was a great example of producer, songwriter, rocking guitarist, etc etc...

Oh, and I spend too much time on this site! I have constant GAS!!!!! Aloha!

Uhm.. again.. HELLOOOOOO me to

[thesjkexperience]

Donner, did you buy the Indian Reservation (Cherokee People) 45 too? I think we bought the same two 45s! Hmmm, maybe kids are so messed up today because they didn't get to stare at a 45 rpm record?

[melodichaotic]

Donner, did you buy the Indian Reservation (Cherokee People) 45 too? I think we bought the same two 45s! Hmmm, maybe kids are so messed up today because they didn't get to stare at a 45 rpm record?

It's simple...if you didn't grow up with 45's, you have genetic deficiencies that directly and adversely affect your neural network's basic and higher cognitive functioning....it's been proven!!

[thesjkexperience]

I actually remember trying to figure out the phonograph. I once took a pin and poked it through the small end of a paper cone (8.5 x 11" sheet) and putting the pin in the grooves. Damn if it didn't sound like a Victrola!

Now that I am older I can see how a squeezed crystal could improve fidelity, but Edison was quite the guy to figure it all out.

I liked the spiral of the old Capitol Beatles 45s best.

[melodichaotic]

I actually remember trying to figure out the phonograph. I once took a pin and poked it through the small end of a paper cone (8.5 x 11" sheet) and putting the pin in the grooves. Damn if it didn't sound like a Victrola!

Now that I am older I can see how a squeezed crystal could improve fidelity, but Edison was quite the guy to figure it all out.

I liked the spiral of the old Capitol Beatles 45s best.

Yeah, I've been to the Edison museum...talk about amazing putting yourself back in the day and coming up with that--genius.

You mean the orange and white spiral??

[strings2wood]

Hey Bill,
I just read Marty's threads and so much of it mirrors the PM I sent you.
Perhaps we were cloned in different hemispheres!
For the "old dogs" who don't know how to play songs all the way through,
Joe Walsh's advice was gold for learning new tricks:
"Get every Beatles album.
Learn to play every song by heart.
Then go listen to Crosby Stills and Nash.
Ignore what Stills and Nash are singing,
listen to Crosby.The elusive 4th."

If you do that,
there won't be a covers song you wouldn't
know how to play all the way through in seconds.Seriously.
It's hard finding work for guitarists who play half songs.
Either that or be the guy in the band that works everything out.
Before you've written the chords in,
you know how to play it by heart and you never need chords, lyrics etc.
Avoid tab and do it yourself, better ear training
and if it's covers- it ain't rocket science
as "Earache my Eye" says.
I bet Bobby D and many others around here can sit in and join the dots with any cover band.
The logic and repition becomes habit and opens doors for working as a fill in troubadour.
Great benefit for anyone from more playing and less typing.