The soundtrack of our lives.....

[CDaughtry]

I graduated high school in 1975. I didn't get seriously into music, or guitar, until I was around 15(circa 1972). My first "impact" concert was seeing Grand Funk. Even though they were really good, I enjoyed the warm up band, Bloodrock, much more. Indeed, to this day, Bloodrock's incredible guitar player, Lee Pickens, has been a huge influence on me.
As the months and years of high school progressed, I got into lesser known guitar players than the big four(Clapton, Hendrix, Beck & Page). I really dug Buck Dharma from Blue Oyster Cult, and I was really into the various guitar players for Alice Cooper. I was really taken with the guitar players in Thin Lizzy. Those guys still send chills down my spine to this day. It wasn't until later that I really got into the "Big Four"...most notably Clapton.
I always had a preference for the "lesser" known guitar players. Even today, when I hear one of those old songs from my youth, I can't NOT smile.
Let's hear about the soundtrack of your youth.

[Tripower455]

Funny...... I graduated HS in '83 and was around the same age when i got serious about music. The British groups got me first. The Beatles, Who, Stones etc. and I've been hooked ever since.....

[JGD5150]

I've been heavily into music since 9th grade. The Beatles grabbed me early, then the Stones and especially Led Zep. Van Halen in 10th grade, and I picked up the guitar soon thereafter. My first year of college I got heavily into Clapton, then SRV. I've worked my way back through the greats of blues & classic rock from then to the present day (I'm 39). Lately I've been listening to lots of Robben Ford, Roy, and The Who.

[angus99]

Graduated high school in '68, but had been moving away from my parents' style of music for at least 7 or 8 years before that and moving into things like Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, the Beach Boys and the Beatles. Being in college around the turn of that decade was just one long musical orgasm. My first real concert was Grand Funk (where a girl I knew ruptured an ear drum) followed immediately by Tull, Chicago TA and countless others. The Beatles and the rest of the British Invasion, along with CSNY, CCR and -- hell -- even a lot of the top 40 from that era were my soundtrack. A great time to come of age and hard to explain to someone who wasn't there.

One regret: I didn't start getting serious about actually learning guitar until a few years ago. But it's really cool--even at my age--to learn a new riff and realize that's how they did that!

angus

[Mark Ray]

I graduated HS in '77. I started playing in '75. Here are a few of my early influences:

FOGHAT-Peverett & Price (RIP) to this day influence my playing

BLACK OAK ARKANSAS-Not many people talk about them anymore, but I was a total fan of that band. The players worked well as a team

LYNYRD SKYNYRD-Come on, I'm in the south!

MOLLY HATCHET-Another 3-guitar army band

OUTLAWS-The original "Guitar Army"

GRAND FUNK RAILROAD-Absolutely wore the grooves out of those lp's

MONTROSE-The first album, my band played 6 of the 8 songs

Mark

[Don L]

early '80s for me... AC/DC, Rush, Ozzy, The Police, Def Leppard, REM, Talking Heads, etc. and... U2!!!

[shallbe]

When I heard the first Zeppelin and Hendrix records in jr. high, I was mesmerized. I graduted in '79.

The players that really did it for me early were:

Page
Trower
Montrose
Beck
Howe
Morse

Page and Trower were the only of that group I never saw live in their heyday.

I was also heavily influenced by Eddie Money's first and truly great guitar player, Jimmy Lyon. Jimmy played all over the first three records and never had a bad sound or played a bad note.

I was also really into Waddy Watchel, Steve Hnter/Dick Wagner and The Spiders from Mars.

[TNJ]

High School, eh? I graduated in '75.
The first half of the 70's...I was a huge fan of Mike Allsup of 3 Dog Night. Vastly underrated player.
A friend turned me onto Hendrix when I was a Sophomore...the first song I ever heard from him was Ezy Rider. After that, Machine Gun. It was almost too much for a 15 year old at the time. I also dug Grand Funk...especially the American Band and Survival albums.
From there, Eagles, Uriah Heep, Joe Walsh and James Gang, Zep, Allman Bros, Guess Who, BOC, Aerosmith, Mountain, Santana, Emerson/Lake/Palmer, Montrose, Bloodrock (and LPG...remember them, CD?), Babe Ruth, Queen, Deep Purple, Ursa Major, Yes, Jethro Tull, etc.

I dug them all, and still do.

S.
j

[Strat335]

Graduated in '77 in Spring, Tx. Players that played my soundtrack:

For rock....
Trapeze
Robin Trower
Outlaws
BB King
Eric Johnson..first saw him in '78 or '79
Doobie Bros
Marshall Tucker
many others

Merle Haggard for country, not only Roy Nichols playing, but guests like Eldon Shamblin and Grady Martin

[madaxeman]

UFO......When I heard Schenker, that totally changed everything as far as how I thought about playing lead guitar. UFO are my Beatles.

[loudboy]

Graduated HS in '75 and MY first real rock concert was GFR, Closer To Home Tour, in fall of '70. Other big ones throughout HS were: Stones ('72) Zeppelin ('73) Tull (many) ELP (many) TYA/Procol Harum, Yes (Topographic Oceans) RTF (Romantic Warrior)

My folks were also very into music - my earliest memories are of Chet Atkins and Les Paul LPs being played around the house. I actually saw Les Paul and Mary Ford at the Dutchess County Fair, when I was 3 1/2 YO. I distinctly remember it, and my sis has his autograph on a piece of paper - looks just like the headstock decal!

Then came a heavy Kingston Trio (saw them live) and Hootenanny/Mighty Wind period, through early grade school.

I was fortunate enough to have an older sister (Class of '79) who was heavily into music, so I got in younger than most my age. Started big w/Sgt. Pepper's and the Monkees, and all the great Top 40 radio back then. Probably 1967 or so. Ed Sullivan, Smothers Brothers, Glen Campbell and Johnny Cash all had great musical guests, too. Then came Cream, Hendrix and LZ, and it was all over. <g>

I learned how to play bass, and played my first paying gig in the summer of '70 at 13 YO and have been in a band ever since, except for a few breaks. Had a Marshall 50W halfstack and an SG, when I was a HS sophomore - paid for with gig money.

This, along with the fact that I usually played w/older guys, made me a little bit of a music snob, during HS - I wasn't into the Aerosmith/BTO/Montrose stuff too much, as I was more of a Stones/Who/Hendrix guy. Also HEAVILY into Yes and ELP and King Crimson for a few years, and some fusion like Weather Report/RTF, although I never felt the urge to play/learn that style in a band.

CSNY and Neil in particular were huge and still are - saw many iterations of them back then.

Off to college and punk/new wave was happening Ramones to start with. Still heavily into Neil and Springsteen appeared around then. Then Tom Petty, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, The Clash, The Jam, Rockpile, etc. I sort of went back to rootsier stuff and have stayed there, especially in the bands I've been in. Steve Earle, Joe Ely, Lyle Lovett, Buddy and Julie, as well as a lot of female singer/songwriters - Shawn Colvin, Emmylou, Patty Griffin.

[GuitarsFromMars]

I was out of High School in '74...TDN,Seatrain(with an unknown Elliot Randall),Elton,Edgar,Montrose,Johnny Winter,Zep,Clapton,Jeff Beck,Chicago Transit Authority,Costello,Rundgren,Guess Who(all 3 versions),Buchanan,Gatton,Starland Vocal,Emmylou,Springsteen,JoeJackson,YES,Trower,
James Gang,Tower of Power,Santana,Outlaws,Allmans,Skynyrd,Aerosmith,Br omberg,
Who,Stones,Doobies,VanHalen,BTO,Steppenwolf,MTB,Ur iah Heep,BOC,ELP,Deep Purple,
but I digress...

[puckhead]

Grad 88 - Van Halen, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Ozzy were in heavy play.
when trying to impress the ladies, it was more of The Cure, The Cult, The Smiths, etc.

[katuna]

Graduated in '84. My soundtrack was The Birthday Party, Tav Falco's Panther Burns, The Gun Club, The Cramps, Black Flag, 45 Grave, The Velvet Underground, New York Dolls, Hanoi Rocks, Flipper, X, The Germs, The Dream Syndicate, The Joneses. Still listen to all of these bands (maybe not Hanoi so much).

[kayemmsee]

welp. lessee . .

i graduated in 1992 so for me it was (in no particular order)

-Led Zeppelin (as a middle class kid from the 'burbs, this is mandatory)

-Shawn Lane (some live disc with Mao on the cover)

-Hiram Bullock (from some bootleg Jaco stuff my high school music teacher gave me)

-Page Hamilton

-Marc Ribot

-John McLaughlin

-John Frusciante

that's all i can think of for now