What was the first guitar sound that made you want to play?

[Riverside]

I was a late-comer...

 

For me, it was the vibrato laden lick from "Born on the Bayou" by CCR.

 

I just had to know how that sound got made.

 

How about you?

[Silenced Fred]

Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground by White Stripes

[Artie Owl]

As usual it's AC/DC and 80's power rock, metal, whatever you want to call it.

 

Ironically since I can't really turn my amp up to 11 I play mellow blues stuff mostly and classic 70's rock.

[ChanMan]

My cousin Kathy played guitar, so I wanted to.

 

I guess that means HER tone.

 

But the first commercial rock sound was this

 

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

[ksdaddy]

 

And I still have the album. About the time I first heard it, my older brother had a brand new sonic blue '66 Mustang and a Heathkit amp with reverb and tremolo. Warped me forever.

 

But what drove me completely bonkers, never to return to any semblance of sanity, lucidity, or social grace, was an instrumental version of "These Boots are made for Walkin'" by this guy:

 

[bigneil]

the first guitar sounds that i remember making me think "i like that, i wanna learn to play!"

 

was the guitar playing in 'Alright now' by 'Free'

 

 

I just love that dirty crunchy sound and the lead part although fairly simple, has got some nice vibrato.

[Tman]

The beginning riff of "Up around the bend" by CCR. I just thought,"That is so cool, I gotta learn it".

[Riverside]

I think the seed was sown at the opening of the new Sears store in town, maybe in 1964.

 

There was a band playing surf music out front, and while I was mesmerized, I couldn't understand what was going on.

 

I watched the TV, saw the Ed Sullivan show, etc., but never wanted to hop on until later.

 

I guess I missed a lot.

[milod]

Well...

 

I had heard a lotta acoustic pickin' as a kid. I knew eventually I'd want to get a guitar long before the time was right. I was still playing trumpet, including in combos my last two years of high school.

 

Hanging out at the Club 47 in Cambridge, Mass., got me going on the folkie side and probably got me into my first guitar as a classical one...

 

But... I had a '50s jazz album with Ruby Braff on cornet. Mundell Lowe did guitar. Milt Hinton on bass. Can't remember who was on drums.

 

It was all "standards" with a bit of improv and... It's my favorite stuff to play for myself yet today on solo guitar and was my favorite to do trumpet back then.

 

m

[jaxson50]

I have a black 'n white photograph of my first meeting with my father. I am about 8 months old, sitting in a baby walker (probably unsafe and toxic). I am looking up at my dad with my fingers stuffed in my mouth, eyes beaming, smiling from ear to ear.

Dad is playing his old Harmony arch top and singing to his new son who was born while his ship was on patrol of Korea..I can just about bet he is playing a Hank Thompson, or Autry, or Sons of the Pioneers...

[jnastynebr]

As much as I would like to say it was a bare chested Page with a sunburst slung down to his knees, I cant truly claim that. If there was one song that got me to pick up my Dad's 60s Melody Maker, this is it:

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

I am not a GnR fan today, and have not been one for some time, but I literally wore out Appetite and Illusion tapes back when I was 10-12. It didn't take me long to get into Zeppelin and Floyd, but back when I struggled to finger a G with my un-seasoned fingers, I wanted to be Slash.

[duane v]

For me it was a song by Ricky Ricardo.... Can't remember off hand what song it was, but I just thought it was cool

[lespaulj45]

About 40 years ago I walked into the Ritz Tavern and they had a reel to reel tape deck and I heard "It hurts me too" by Elmore James-I was hooked

[LarryUK]

The intro to 'get it on' by T. Rex.

Great Les Paul sound. It made me want one and at only 15 I bought a Les Paul Custom.

[DanvillRob]

For me it was a song by Ricky Ricardo.... Can't remember off hand what song it was, but I just thought it was cool

 

 

You got a lot of 'splainin' to do, Lucy!

 

If we're talking about the first record... it was Apache by Jorgen Ingmann.

[SG FAN]

The roar of Tony Iommi's SG in the beginning of "Iron Man" that's what did it for me. Sounded like the hounds of hell the first time I heard it.

[Sinner 13]

I too started my musical life as a "drummer" at age 4, played traditional (underhand?)

but as time wore on and I realised that I would never get a kit as a gift, my dad and granddad were both pickers, so I decided that it would be much cooler to be like them.

I got my first acoustic at age eight, electric at 12, that was the summer I was introduced to SRV.

It's all water under the bridge from there.

[sparky scott 29]

Simple: Jimmy Page, as well as David Gilmour early '70's..

[davidl]

It was Whole lotta love by Zep, of course.

 

Dave

[BT Bob]

It was Whole lotta love by Zep, of course.

 

Dave

 

+1

 

With the intro to Subtitute by The Who a close second.

[Tman5293]

For me it was Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train. Heard it for the first time when I was nine and decided that I wanted to play guitar.

[cookieman15061]

This was it. I was four. They were on Sullivan.

By Christmas of that year had both a guitar and a drum set.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExkGvuaD6p4

[Shnate McDuanus]

Musta been Alex Lifeson, probably "Spirit of Radio" or "By-Tor and the Snow Dog."

[mcmurray]

Appetite for Destruction - All of it.

[WahKeen]

Diddely diddely diddely diddely.... Something like that.