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Who is your influence?


LarryUK

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I'm 53 and I was influenced by the music my parents played. Guitar man by Elvis got me interested in playing. Then It was T.Rex and Mick Ronson (Bowie). Steve lukather was my 'Hero' once I began to play though and still is.

So, who got you into guitar?

What sparked you into playing?

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I'm 53 and I was influenced by the music my parents played. Guitar man by Elvis got me interested in playing. Then It was T.Rex and Mick Ronson (Bowie). Steve lukather was my 'Hero' once I began to play though and still is.

So, who got you into guitar?

What sparked you into playing?

Seeing a cutaway drawing of Lennon's Rickenbacker in the 'Eagle' (a UK comic - Dan Dare!!) was just fascinating when I was a kid. I loved the sound of the guitar on all those 60s singles - 'The Last Time' and 'Satisfaction' by the Stones, the early Kinks, 'Friday on My Mind' by the Easybeats and so many more. Then Hendrix hit and it was 'Purple Haze' which completely amazed me.

My heroes were Paul Kossoff and Peter Green because they were very cool, both played LPs and I saw them both from up VERY close.

When Jimi passed I looked for what I wanted in jazz, dug Larry Coryell and McLaughlin and all that fusion.

But I didn't start playing properly, seriously, until my 21st birthday; my aunt gave me £30 and I went to Maxwell's in Woking and bought a Yamaha FG180 (wish I still had it) and 2 Johnny Smith books.

And I'm still learning, still trying. More now than ever before as I can see the end of the line coming up!

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It would be difficult for me to say who my main influences are because I have such varied musical preferences. It would be one thing if I copied/transcribed the music of any one player most, but as it is, I'd say I'm influenced by everyone I enjoy listening to.

 

My favorite guitar players are: Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Herring, and Tony Rice.

 

My favorite musicians are: Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, and Joe Zawinul.

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Hello! Seems like we had a similiar thread recently... :D

 

The two musician whose technics and style I can recognize on my playing are Randy Rhoads and Gary Moore.

 

I just wish I would be just 1/100th as good as they were. [lol]

 

Also, subconsciously I pick up things from others, which doesn't necessary makes me happy. Like Zakk Wylde's pinch harmonics. Can't get rid of them.

 

Cheers... Bence

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For me it was Mick Ronson, then Ritchie Blackmore, Mick Box and Jimmy Page. Then Clapton and any number of blues players.

 

However it was Steve Hackett's classical guitar work with Genesis that did it for me and made me want to play.

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I'd say it was a recognition that I wanted a portable piano to play any and everything with both melody and backing chords - and a bit of hanging around the folkie bunch "back east" in '61-'62 convinced me that the guitar was far preferable to any otherwise available options.

 

m

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The ones that I was the most inspired by when I was learning the ropes was Jeff Beck, Ritche Blackmore, Jimi, and Dicky Betts/Duane Almann

 

Years later, guys like Alex DeGrassi, Micheal Hedges really caught my attention (extraordinary alternate tuning acoustic finger-style players)

 

I started playing piano about 8 years ago, and there's a whole other cast of characters that I owe my inspirations too.

 

/KB

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When I started I wanted to be either Kirk Hammett or Slash. By the end of high school I had been corrupted by players like Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore, Lou Reed/Sterling Morison, Kevin Shields, John Frusciante, and Justin Broadrick. Now I go through phases on what I listen to and that tends to influence my song writing more than anything. I also have players I place on an alter and I love to listen to, but know that their playing is so many light years beyond mine, my simpleton, hamhanded playing cannot be influenced even if I wanted it to (like trying to teach a Neanderthal how to work a smart phone). These cats include Mike Bloomfield, Nels Cline, and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez.

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Interesting to see everyone's influences. My all time guitar influences throughout my life are Clapton & Knopfler, Mayer & Bonamassa are also two of my big influences.

 

The 4 named above are my main guitar 'heroes' but there are so many others I could mention.

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First was Gary Moore, then Kirk Hammet, Yngwie, Steve Vai (for the love of God), Satriani; then I have had my phase Zakk Wylde.

 

Since 10 years, things have changed, Clapton, Billy Gibbons, the 3 Kings, Howlin' wolf, Muddy Waters.

 

Things are changing :)

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George Harrison and Ace Frehley.

 

While I later discovered much more technically able players such as Hendrix, Page, EVH, Angus Young, Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee, Zakk Wylde, Leslie West, Alex Lifeson, Michael Schenker, Brian Robertson, and Gary Moore (although Angus and Robbo aren't really that technical and Page puts the slop in sloppy), nothing touches my soul more than these two. Well, maybe Hendrix, or Alex Lifeson on the earlier Rush albums, but these two touch me. In more than one way too. Whereas Schenker is more or less a "guitar hero to me", Ace and George are my true heroes. Screw Superman, I want Space Ace!

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...Ace Frehley...

You don't say! We'd never have guessed, kaleb!

 

[laugh]

 

Actually I think Ace is a hoot and he has a great sense of humour ("actually I'm a plumber"......[lol]) and if, as was suggested just the other day, there are those people who have a hatred for all things KISS then it's fitting that there is a balancing force somewhere on this - or any other convenient - planet.

 

[thumbup]

 

P.

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I first heard Scotty Moore playing behind Elvis in '57, and that was all she wrote for me. Then I found the Ventures, Later it was Howard Roberts, Roy Buchanan, Tommy Emmanuel, Johnny Winter, Chet, Doyle Dykes, Tom Bresh. The list goes on. So many good musicians...and yet......... JMO

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Jimmi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Clapton when he was with Cream, specially the WHeels of fire album, Peter Frampton when he was with Humble Pie... Tom Scholz for his tone and melodic leads, Gary Moore for his feeling, Kurt Cobain for his raw energy... But the guys that really got me into music were the Beatles... They opened the doors for all the rest.

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You don't say! We'd never have guessed, kaleb!

 

[laugh]

 

Actually I think Ace is a hoot and he has a great sense of humour ("actually I'm a plumber"......[lol]) and if, as was suggested just the other day, there are those people who have a hatred for all things KISS then it's fitting that there is a balancing force somewhere on this - or any other convenient - planet.

 

[thumbup]

 

P.

 

Hell yeah! I'd rather hear him tell jokes and one-liners between songs rather than Paul Stanley's time-wasting banter (which got old a long, long time ago). My bass player absolutely hates KISS, but even he likes Ace (and some of his solo music outside of KISS. We do "Snow Blind").

 

Interestingly enough, I had kinda gotten out of KISS for a while (I was listening to more bluesy stuff, Bonamassa, etc, at the time), but seeing Ace last year got me way into it again. KISS (as in Gene and Paul. Eric and Tommy are great, I just don't agree with the makeup politics) can't play anymore. Ace still has it. Sure, he's getting up there and he doesn't tour as heavily as he used to (which KISS does), but he's still the man and his band (which features younger cats that have the balls and energy that left Paul Stanley years ago) sounds kickass. He does a lot of older KISS songs, like "Shout It Out Loud" and stuff (which I kinda don't care for cause' I'm tired of the same KISS hits and he has a lot of solo material that he never plays), and his versions sound more KISS than the current KISS.

 

And, I'm pretty sure Ace hates everything KISS aside from the music, his history with the band, and the fans. You don't see/hear him talking about how "cool" the KISS dolls were.....The whole overkill merchandising thing is one of the reasons he has left the band twice.

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John Lennon and George Harrison were my first big influences but when I first heard Jimi Hendrix he bacame my biggest influence and it was then that I started practicing in earnest often over 10 or 12 hours a day. Chris Britton of The Troggs was a huge influence as was Pete Townshend.When I'm playing rhythm the Britton/Townshend influence is quite obvious but when I'm playing lead the Hendrix influence is pretty evident as I adopted his style of bending and hand vibrato and other bits of his technique.I don't consciously try to emulate him but I have listened to his music so much that I couldn't help but adopt a lot of his style by osmosis.

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