What guitar player influenced you most?

Al Johnson · Post by **Al Johnson** » 18 Dec 2004 7:24 pm

Duke Ellington said there is only two kinds of music, good and bad.
Jimmy Bryant was not only very fast, his notes always said something.
Glen Campbell is just fast
Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant with 4 hands and I guess one brain. They certainly thought like one.
I've always liked to whistle but hardly anybody whistles anymore. They other day it came to me why, hardly anybody writes melodies. Funny but sad.
I know this is about guitar players, I always enjoyed Joe Pass. If you are able to hear some of the ballads that Tex Williams sang back in the forties, then you can enjoy some of the finest steel guitar magic ever from Joaquin Murphy. What a wonderful background artist.
I've always been a Merle Travis fan for many reasons.
These days we have more noise than music.
In my opinion. Al

Allen · Post by **Allen** » 19 Dec 2004 4:00 pm

That's easy for me.

Merle Travis
Joe Maphis
Marion Hammer (sp?)
Speedy West

Since I got to hang out with them in the mid 50's, they got me to love country music and the steel guitar. I was a snot-nosed early teenager when I got to hang out at their TV and live shows. My dad was a tv sponsor and announcer it those days.
Although it was 45 years later before I started to learn the PSG, I will never forget the influence they had on my love of the music.

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Allen Harry
Zum SD10
Nashville 1000

Daryl Stogner · Post by **Daryl Stogner** » 19 Dec 2004 6:54 pm

The neat thing about this post is that it lists so many great pickers both 6 string and steelers! So now I'll add a few names to the list for posterity purposes at least.

Guitar:
Don Rich
Joe Maphis
Gene Moles (Eugene's Daddy)
Roy Nichols
Bill Woods

Steel:
Norm Hamlet (w/Merle Haggard)
Jack Ansiel (no KL's just pedals and bar)
Bruce Pillow (40's and 50's bar only)
Tom Brumley
Mooney

Each of these guys picking had some influence on me, and tons of others as well.

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Daryl Stogner
My Website: www.davestogner.com/daryl/main.htm

Chuck Cusimano · Post by **Chuck Cusimano** » 19 Dec 2004 8:08 pm

I grew up with my dad playing for dances at least three nights a week, and as much as I loved the music (Western Swing) they played, I didn't get real interested in playing the Guitar untill I heard a Buck Owens song on the Radio. I didn't know who or what was making that sound, but I knew that it was the sound I wanted to make! Later on I found out his name was DON RICH!
and he was playing a Fender Telecaster. I think that answers the origional question posted here. HOWEVER, I have been influenced by nearly every Guitar player listed in the other posts thus far. I also used to watch The Wanda Jackson Show sometimes on T.V. and used to think Wayne Kemp was also a great Guitar Player, plus he always got to sing a song that he had written.

There is ONE man now that has become my favorite Guitar (six string)player in the whole world.
BRENT MASON can play any style he chooses!
His tone, and attack is outstanding. Though not my first inspiration, he now KEEPS me inspired.

As far as a Steel player goes, there is no one better than BUDDY EMMONS. There are a zillion good ones, but most of them copy Emmons when they play something he is famous for.

I recently watched some old tapes of the "BUCK OWENS SHOW" and Tom Brumley SHINES! He played so clean, and true! He was also the first Steel player I ever got to watch on t.v. on a regular basis. Boy! Thoes BUCKAROOS! Each one of them looked like someone you would want to get a chance to visit with. The Buckaroos were in my estimation the greatest small Band of their time.

Earl Yarbro · Post by **Earl Yarbro** » 20 Dec 2004 8:15 am

Tom Brumley, for sure. His tracts stay on my CD player to practice with. Also, Gary Carpenter's CD offers great practice on C6 and E9. Both are great players and gentlemen first class.

Earl Hensley · Post by **Earl Hensley** » 24 Dec 2004 8:19 pm

guitar players;
DANNY GATTON
ALBERT LEE
CHET
CLIFF GALLOP

steel players
MY DEAR FRIEND, SPEEDY WEST
CURLY CHALKER
L.T. ZINN
DOUG JERNIGAN
JOHN HUGHEY
BUDDY E.
WALTER HAYNES
DON HELMS
HERB REMINGTON
LLOYD GREEN
JR KNIGHT
KEYTON ROBERTS
BILLY ROBINSON
AND SO ON AND SO ON,

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 24 Dec 2004 9:40 pm

George Harrison certainly did play some great stuff, which will linger in peoples' minds forever. And he certainly gets my vote for "Most Improved Guitar Player". The progress he made from the Hamburg and early BBC recordings to the Beatles first album in such a short time is nothing short of astonishing. But from all I've read and heard about the Beatles, I wonder how big a part Paul had in helping George come up with those memorable lines, especially in light of that fact that George imported Eric Clapton to play on one of his own compositions. I suspect that Paul, creative genius that he is, hummed or played lines and licks that he wanted George to play on at least some of the Beatles songs. Not dissing George; I loved what he did. I even had a Country Gentleman back in the 60's.

C#

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 24 Dec 2004 10:21 pm

I think you are right, Cal. Also, many of those memorable lead lines in the Beatles were played by both Paul and John. Again, not to take away from George, who was a great guitar player and fantastic songwriter, but many of those 'Beatles lead lines' were a group effort.

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www.tyack.com

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 25 Dec 2004 5:27 am

Great thread!..Roger McGuinn
Clarence White
Hughie Thomasson
Jerry Garcia
Jimi Hendrix
Eric Clapton
John and George
John Fogerty
Duane and Dicky
all 3 guitarists in Skynrd
ANYONE using an electric 12
Anyone playing 60's surf music
Leslie West
Mark Knopfler
Ray Flack
Any of the Nashville session cats from the 70's till today.. They are ALL great players
Anybody that can play better than ME!!!

Steel.. Tom Brumley
Buddy Cage
Rusty Young
Pete Klienow
Bruce Bouton
JD Maness
Lloyd Green
Jerry Garcia
Skunk Baxter
John Call
All the Nashville cats!
ANYONE who plays better than me! bob

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 25 Dec 2004 6:37 am

To elaborate ...

Wes Montogomery because he was so endlessly musical. I love the way practicaly every improvisation he ever recorded really builds and develops in a way that's logical yet so unique. I've heard few musicians in any genre who could build excitement the way Wes could. The subtle syncopations in his music are fantastic.

Gabor Szabo was completely unique. His tone and hungarian roots mixed with jazz, Indian music, and 60's pop in a really compelling way. In an age of speed, he let tone and taste lead.

Bola Sete was a nylon strong powerhouse. He played some of the most joyous and rhythmically-charged Bossa & Samba I've ever heard. Joao Gilberto's comping style is the essence of the Bossa Nova but Bola adds an excitement that Joao doesn't have. It was really weird when I saw a Carlos Santana DVD where he showcased these three guys as his personal influences. I thought they were mine!

Who didn't grow up in the 60's, hear the Beatles and be changed forever? The guitar parts that George, John and Paul played were perfect for showcasing the songs - and their worst songs are still so much better than most pop muisc of the last 20 years.

[This message was edited by Andy Volk on 27 December 2004 at 12:21 PM.]

John Bechtel · Post by **John Bechtel** » 25 Dec 2004 10:42 am

Glenn;
Remember Charlie Hess, in Phila., Pa.? One of the early fellows with an Echo-Plex!

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“Big John” Bechtel
’49/’50 Fender T–8 Custom
’65 Re-issue Fender Twin-Reverb Custom™ 15”
click here click here

Mark Lind-Hanson · Post by **Mark Lind-Hanson** » 27 Dec 2004 11:12 am

Jerry Garcia, Richard Thompson, & Clarence White primarily, and Duane Almman to a lesser extent. And I want to also mention Simon Nicol of Fairport Convention, Jimi Hendrix (please, what guitarist wasn't?), and George Harrison.

Simon Nicol harldy gets any credit, but his style of playing (qv: "Angel Delight", Fairport Convention) pretty much breaks so much ground for almost every "Celtic" rock band to come after. This album was recorded just afte rRichard Thompson left them, so almost ALL the guitar work is his. I can;t say enough about this, but it is for English folk rock what bluegrass picking is to country music, and it seems to pretty much start there, at that particular point.
But: you'd have to like English folk rock to begin with! I happened to like them ever since I ran across them in 1969 or 70.
I also happen to love Dylan's music a lot too. Larry Campbell is a decent pedal steel player, but doesn't play in quite the same style I happen to be evolving toward (more licks and lead runs, than backgrounds).And he's pretty good with anything with strings too.
Garcia was a much better guitarist than steel player, but he WAS good for someone who took it up after having begun as a six string player, and he DID wake up an awful ot of people, like myself & I imagine not a few of you, to the instrument.
And I really like Ravi Shankar, too, though he's a whole other ballpark...

Terry Edwards · Post by **Terry Edwards** » 27 Dec 2004 1:42 pm

Ok, when I consider the very first songs I learned on my brand new 1966 Silvertone (Sears/Danelectro) I have to give credit to:

Nokie Edwards - Walk Don't Run (has anyone tried this on steel?)

Chuck Berry - Johny B Good (cause you ain't no guitar player if you can't play this).

Terry

Stephen Gregory · Post by **Stephen Gregory** » 5 Oct 2006 7:06 am

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 5 Oct 2006 7:45 am

James Burton. On the Ozzie and Harriet show and on the Ricky Nelson records. His solo on "Hello Mary Lou" got electric guitar under my skin for life. It still gets me just as much today after listening to it I don't know how many times over the last 45 (!) years (hundreds in the first couple of years alone).
There are plenty of other influences, of course, but hearing James made me want to play electric guitar in the first place--influence doesn't get more than that!
But I should also give credit (blame?) to The Beatles for making me think I could.

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 5 Oct 2006 7:53 am

Just noticed this thread is from 2004! I didn't have a computer then.

Mike Shefrin · Post by **Mike Shefrin** » 5 Oct 2006 8:32 am

Jazz guitar: Wes Montgomery
Joe Pass
Johnny Smith
Tal Farlow
Hank Garland
Pat Martino

Classical guitar: Andres Segovia

Flamenco guitar: Paco DeLucia

Rock guitar: Jimmy Page
Jeff Beck
Eric Clapton

Pedal Steel Guitar: Lloyd Green
JayDee Maness
Rusty Young
Doug Jernigan
Paul Franklin

Jim Hankins · Post by **Jim Hankins** » 5 Oct 2006 10:10 am

Mike`s influences are noted in an excellant Cd he has. As for me : Michael Schenker

Howard Tate · Post by **Howard Tate** » 5 Oct 2006 10:25 am

Do you mean besides Roy Nickols? I got a lot of good ideas from Mickey Baker's book, other people have told me it was worthless, but it helped me.

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Howard

Nathan Delacretaz · Post by **Nathan Delacretaz** » 5 Oct 2006 11:31 am

I'm very late to the party when it comes to country & steel, but as for guitarists:

Eric Johnson (rock wiz)

Wayne Krantz (avant garde solo stuff, worked w/Billy Cobham, Leni Stern, and Steely Dan)

Ty Tabor (from metal band King's X)
[This message was edited by Nathan Delacretaz on 05 October 2006 at 12:34 PM.][This message was edited by Nathan Delacretaz on 05 October 2006 at 12:34 PM.]

Pete Young · Post by **Pete Young** » 5 Oct 2006 12:14 pm

If I had the money I put in the jukebox to hear Les Paul I could buy a new amp. There were many others after but Les was the first and the main, for me. I listen to Les and Mary today and I still get turned on.

Darryl Hattenhauer · Post by **Darryl Hattenhauer** » 5 Oct 2006 1:31 pm

I really appreciate the names here of people I haven't heard of before. In that spirit, here are some people a lot of you might like:

Nobody mentioned Johnny A. ? Yes, that's his name. He's so good that after one indie CD, Gibson came out with the Johnny A model. Too bad he looks like something condemned by the health department.
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/music/artist/card/0,,409679,00.html

And Dave Gonzales of the Paladins, with a Guild mondel named after him.

No mention of Sandy Bull ? (guitar, steel, banjo, oud). You're hurting my feelings. And you might be hurt too if you hear him and realize you've overlooked him the last 40 years. No greater version of "Memphis" (though there may be some better ones)
http://www.headbutler.com/music/sandy_bull.asp
http://www.globalvillageidiot.net/bull.htm
http://www.headbutler.com/music/sandy_bull.asp
http://www.mp3.com/sandy-bull/artists/1613/summary.html
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/music/artist/card/0,,409679,00.html

Two who made Rolling Stone's best guitarist list: Ted Turner and Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash, known as the English Allman Brothers.

I'm I the only guy who like Willie Nelson's playing? Or Charlie Byrd?

I didn't see Duke Robillard's name, but I assume somebody mentioned him. If you haven't heard him, ya gotta. Sorta T Bone Walker

Others hardly mentioned, if at all:
Johnny Winter, Gabor Szabo, Bola Sete, Alvin Lee (Ten Years After)

Al Casey (who actually played some of that stuff we thought Duane Eddy played.)

How about those Windham Hill acoustic players? Or Darol Anger and Mike Marshall? Pierre Bensusan? Michael Gulezian?

And the English folk rock, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn (sp?).

One mention of Vance Terry? Also from Billy Jack Wills: Tiny Moore, played not only mando but fiddle, banjo, guitar and bass.

Were Auldrige, Christian, Thorogood, Zappa mentioned?

No mention of Ronnie Earl, Buddy Guy or Son Seals? Michael Jordan?

Newbie: Anthony Mazella: http://www.anthonymazzella.com/

As far as people who weren't great players but were influences, Loenard Cohen, Dave Guard, John Stewart, Tim Buckley, Richie Havens, Bo Diddly, Howlin' Wolf, Fred McDowell, Dave Van Ronk, Lightnin' Hopkins.

Hound Dog Taylor said "I can't play worth ---- but I sure make it sound good."

Frank Zappa said, "Elmore James kept playing the same lick over and over, but I get the feeling he meant it."

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"And if we obey God, we must disobey ourselves." --Father Mapple

David Wren · Post by **David Wren** » 5 Oct 2006 2:41 pm

Mike Bloomfield and Jim Messina.

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Dave Wren
'96 Carter S12-E9/B6,7X7; NV 112; Fender Twin Custom 15 ('65 reissue); Session 500s; Hilton Pedal; Black Box
www.ameechapman.com

Jim Sliff · Post by **Jim Sliff** » 5 Oct 2006 3:10 pm

Clarence White, Steve Howe, Bob Warford, Django Reinhardt, T-Bone Walker, Albert Collins, B.B. King, Duane Allman, Jeff Beck, Paul Johnson (Mr. Moto!), Mike Bloomfield, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jerry Garcia.

Mostly, my guitar playing sounded like me...but the influences that were the strongest were Clarence White and Steve Howe.

George Plemons · Post by **George Plemons** » 5 Oct 2006 5:50 pm

I know all of these famous people are influences but did any of these people really reach out to you and influence you?
The real influences are the local guys that you went to see and learn from.. like for me say Billy Dearmore, Junior Knight, Fuzzy Whitener, Gary Hogue, and a few others around here that I should recognize. Some of these you won't know but they are the real teachers that share their knowledge with anybody who is interested.