What did you listen to "then" that influences what you play "now"?

[EllaMom]

It occurs to me that much of my music listening history is influencing what I choose to learn and play on guitar today. Is this true for you as well? If so, I'd be interested to know what you listened to and how it influenced you, especially as a kid and teenager. I didn't always have a choice about what the family listened to or watched on TV...I was just a kid. But it's interesting how parental choices are influencing me today.

I'll go first:

Great American Songbook: my folks, Dad in particular, loved to listen to Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como. I'm drawn to this today and in fact it's what I'd like most to learn...those songs from the 30s, 40s especially.

Traditional Country: my Mom was a big fan of Chet Atkins, Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Merle Haggard, Johnny Gimble. I continue to love to listen to this genre, but am not so interested in playing it. Still, the strong melodies and rhythms have stuck with me.

Lawrence Welk: Lawrence Welk?!?!?! Yep. We spent many weekends with the grandparents, who always...ALWAYS watched LW. I had no choice. It's funny....those old shows still air today. Takes me right back when I find one. What influences me here is the easy listening style, kind of like macaroni and cheese for the ears! Believe it or not, this is why I think I prefer to play music that soothes, especially ballads and the like.

Heavy metal/rock: Then I began to choose my own music....Black Sabbath, Styx, Supertramp, Eric Clapton, Frank Zappa, Ted Nugent, Eagles. Later in my teen years and early 20s I began to review record albums and rock concerts for the local paper. I was always mesmerized by the guitarists. They played electric guitars for the most part, using a pick. I don't have an electric guitar (never played one, in fact) and retired my picks a couple of years ago. But this is where guitar music really hooked me. It just took me a few decades to follow up by learning how to play one.

What about you?

[tbeltrans]

I grew up with The Beatles, which I seem to remember first hearing in 1963 and then seeing on Ed Sullivan (we have a really big shew tonight...).

Around The Beatles was everybody else on Top 40 at the time. Casey Kasem was a local DJ on KRLA, which was one of the big Top 40 stations out of Pasadena at the time (I grew up in "the valley"). The other was KHJ.

Later, Hendrix and all the psychedelic stuff came along. Amidst all the noise, there were some quieter musicians that I seemed to gravitate towards, such as Donovan and others. On some albums, there would be an acoustic guitar track, and that always stood out for me. Jefferson Airplane with Embryonic Journey, Doobie Brothers with Busted Down Around O'Connely Corner and Slack Key Soquel Rag, Duane Allman with Little Martha, are some that immediately come to mind. I really liked John Denver's Late Spring, Early Fall, When Everybody Goes To New Mexico from the Rocky Mountain High album.

In the Army in 1970, a lot of people were listening to Black Sabbath, Blood Rock, Grand Funk, Jethro Tull. That stuff was OK - until I got back from Vietnam. Then I simply couldn't stand all the pounding in pop and rock anymore. I thought my tastes had changed, but recently discovered I do have service-connected hearing loss, so finally an explanation!

While I was initially stationed stateside, a guy in our barracks from Hawaii played a solo instrumental version of "Yesterday" on his classical guitar (everybody had those cheap guitars from the PX and most folks sang folk tunes). That one guy really blew me away. Unfortunately, he left soon after, so I never got to learn about that style and nobody else played like that.

Anyway, after that I tended to gravitate toward much quieter music. There were "beautiful music" stations that had various orchestras and instrumental ensembles playing the various pop tunes of the day. Then later, along came Earl Klugh. I didn't like all the pounding in much of his music, but he did a couple of solo guitar albums that I still enjoy listening to, as well as the two Late Night Guitar albums.

When Windham Hill and Narada came along, I really enjoyed their solo guitar and solo piano albums. So for me, it has been a combination of playing standards and pop tunes on guitar, as well as a bit of poking around in the open tuning areas, which has never been really comfortable for me for some reason.

Tony

[rick-slo]

As a kid, to say age fourteen, it was almost all classical music. Later on some bluegrass, some jazz, a bit of pop, and fingerstyle stuff.

[EllaMom]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

I grew up with The Beatles, which I seem to remember first hearing in 1963 and then seeing on Ed Sullivan (we have a really big shew tonight...).

Around The Beatles was everybody else on Top 40 at the time. Casey Kasem was a local DJ on KRLA, which was one of the big Top 40 stations out of Pasadena at the time (I grew up in "the valley"). The other was KHJ.

Later, Hendrix and all the psychedelic stuff came along. Amidst all the noise, there were some quieter musicians that I seemed to gravitate towards, such as Donovan and others. On some albums, there would be an acoustic guitar track, and that always stood out for me. Jefferson Airplane with Embryonic Journey, Doobie Brothers with Busted Down Around O'Connely Corner and Slack Key Soquel Rag, Duane Allman with Little Martha, are some that immediately come to mind. I really liked John Denver's Late Spring, Early Fall, When Everybody Goes To New Mexico from the Rocky Mountain High album.

In the Army in 1970, a lot of people were listening to Black Sabbath, Blood Rock, Grand Funk, Jethro Tull. That stuff was OK - until I got back from Vietnam. Then I simply couldn't stand all the pounding in pop and rock anymore. I thought my tastes had changed, but recently discovered I do have service-connected hearing loss, so finally an explanation!

While I was initially stationed stateside, a guy in our barracks from Hawaii played a solo instrumental version of "Yesterday" on his classical guitar (everybody had those cheap guitars from the PX and most folks sang folk tunes). That one guy really blew me away. Unfortunately, he left soon after, so I never got to learn about that style and nobody else played like that.

Anyway, after that I tended to gravitate toward much quieter music. There were "beautiful music" stations that had various orchestras and instrumental ensembles playing the various pop tunes of the day. Then later, along came Earl Klugh. I didn't like all the pounding in much of his music, but he did a couple of solo guitar albums that I still enjoy listening to, as well as the two Late Night Guitar albums.

When Windham Hill and Narada came along, I really enjoyed their solo guitar and solo piano albums. So for me, it has been a combination of playing standards and pop tunes on guitar, as well as a bit of poking around in the open tuning areas, which has never been really comfortable for me for some reason.

Tony

Oh man, I remember listening to KHJ. We lived in Pacific Palisades in '68-'70 or so. KHJ was a mainstay. A member of Cream lived a block or so away, though I was into the Monkees at that time! LOL

I really enjoy quieter guitar as well, Tony. I suppose if I'd picked up guitar in my 20s, my path would have been far different and what influences I would have paid most attention to.

[EllaMom]

Rick-slo, I wondered how many folks here were influenced by classical music. We never listened to it, so it wasn't part of my childhood. Same with jazz. Or blues.

[JonPR]

Short answer is: everything.

My parents weren't great music fans. We had a record player (this was a 1950s childhood) and I think they had maybe 6 records at most, and rarely played them. I remember Holst's Mars, and Harry Belafonte's Scarlet Ribbons - both of which had an effect on me: the former was impressive, while the latter made me feel like I was drowning in syrup... not altogether a pleasant experience (and the lyrics were spooky too).

I heard (a little) more variety on the radio (UK BBC) as a kid. Burl Ives and Frankie Laine are the stand-out names. I definitely preferred the latter.

The first time I heard what I might describe as "my" music - stuff that I connected with - would have been the Shadows, and guitar instrumentals in general (1961-63).

1963 (age 13) was when I really started waking up to pop music. The Beatles, obviously, although the Shadows were still more my thing. Then 1964, and it all started happening: the Stones, the Kinks, Yardbirds - and the Shadows were suddenly uncool.
1965 brought Donovan (my first real hero, who persuaded me I could be a guitarist myself), Dylan, the Who. It was serious now! I got my first real guitar (as opposed to pathetic attempts at making one myself out of scrap) that Xmas, and the following year (late '66) joined my first band (first gig a month later), began transcribing Bert Jansch tunes, the Incredible String Band, and got into jug bands and pre-WWII acoustic blues. Started writing my own (awful) songs.
Revolver turned me into a Beatles fan for the first time. And then in 67 it was Pink Floyd, psychedelia and Hendrix. Never cared much for Clapton, although I liked Peter Green (when he deviated from blues).

Got my first electric guitar in '69, joined a rock'n'roll band in 71. Then a Django-style band from 73-75. Then a jump-jive outfit from 77-81 (made my first and only record with them). Didn't start taking jazz seriously until the late 80s, when I began studying at various workshops and summer schools. Still played in rock, blues and folk bands in the meantime. Mainly the latter now, very little jazz.

[Gitfiddlemann]

I can say that my top three greatest guitar playing influences were Keith Richards, Paul Simon and Bob Dylan. I was a big Rolling Stones fan early on and drove my parents crazy ...I credit the Stones, and their album "December's Children", for initially igniting the guitar passion in me.
However, I wasn't able to get an electric, which is what I really wanted, and settled for an acoustic. (Stella knock off, <$20.) The guitar work of Paul Simon in particular is what sounded the best to me at the time, so I dove into it with a vengeance.
There were no TAB books back then specific to guitarists, just books with chord diagrams showing Eb, Bb.... Basically useless, and definitely not what Simon (or Dylan) was playing, so I learned everything by ear, as best I could.
I scratched many a records that way, ear stuck to the "stereo" and just playing it over and over again.
If only I had the resources then which are available today!, with YouTube and the music all tabbed out.
But I really think some of that hard work paid off in the long run, i.e. teaching myself how to play fingerstyle and developing a better listening ear. I don't regret any of it!

[HHP]

Probably 3 people shaped what I like to play now. Tony Rice, Norman Blake, and Arty McGlynn.

[RodB]

For me it's a bit like JonPR - many influences that continue to come along.

Early on my older brother liked Jim Reeves, my parents listened to, played and sang hymns, I liked the Shadows at the time I was learning to pick out tunes on the guitar, so I played along with Hank, whilst at the same time captivated by the 'feel' of the music I heard from Segovia. There was also Duane Eddy, Chuck Berry... diverse I know! Perhaps all these influenced me in a way that I have always appreciated the melody and tried to bring this out in my playing.

Later I was greatly influenced by Stefan Grossman and his contemporary Ragtime / blues guitarists, then people like Leo Kottke, Martin Simpson, and more recently Franco Morone, just to name a few.

[Mr. Jelly]

What I play now doesn't seem to be what I was influenced by. At a closer look it may be. My first influence was Loony Tunes cartoons on TV. Jazz and classical things picked out by the 1950s beat cartoonists. Folk and Folk Rock came next that slid into John Mayall. Then Norman Blake and old time country rags and string bands. These influences come out in my finger picking old time country rags.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by RodB

For me it's a bit like JonPR - many influences that continue to come along.

Early on my older brother liked Jim Reeves, my parents listened to, played and sang hymns, I liked the Shadows at the time I was learning to pick out tunes on the guitar, so I played along with Hank, whilst at the same time captivated by the 'feel' of the music I heard from Segovia. There was also Duane Eddy, Chuck Berry... diverse I know! Perhaps all these influenced me in a way that I have always appreciated the melody and tried to bring this out in my playing.

Later I was greatly influenced by Stefan Grossman and his contemporary Ragtime / blues guitarists, then people like Leo Kottke, Martin Simpson, and more recently Franco Morone, just to name a few.

Franco Morone, that is a name we don't see around these parts.

I discovered him by just looking around on cdbaby.com for new artists to listen to. He has quite a few albums there for anybody interested/curious enough to check him out:

https://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/FrancoMorone

Tony

[RodB]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

Franco Morone, that is a name we don't see around these parts. ........

In particular I like his Celtic fingerstyle guitar stuff like Maire Dhall (Blind Mary)

[Kerbie]

I'm another with a wide variety of influences. My parents were big music fans and had great appreciation for a number of different genres. So, before I was a teenager, I had been exposed to jazz, classical, Broadway, pop and even opera. In my mid-teens, I had a wonderful learning experience and friendship with my piano teacher who lived 3 houses down the street. She was spectacular... had 2 grand pianos in her living room and she could bring George Gershwin to life!

Also in my teens, I had the good fortune to be the house percussionist for our local theatre, so I learned a ton about Broadway and how to master percussion in a cramped orchestra pit.

I was a little young for the Beatles in their prime and the rest of the British invasion. I didn't immerse myself in their music until the '80s following Lennon's death.

Because of my percussion background, I've always been attracted to interesting rhythms and that's still true today. I wouldn't trade anything about my early musical experiences. I enjoyed them all and I still like a wide variety of musical genres.

[EllaMom]

Originally Posted by Kerbie

I'm another with a wide variety of influences. My parents were big music fans and had great appreciation for a number of different genres. So, before I was a teenager, I had been exposed to jazz, classical, Broadway, pop and even opera. In my mid-teens, I had a wonderful learning experience and friendship with my piano teacher who lived 3 houses down the street. She was spectacular... had 2 grand pianos in her living room and she could bring George Gershwin to life!

Also in my teens, I had the good fortune to be the house percussionist for our local theatre, so I learned a ton about Broadway and how to master percussion in a cramped orchestra pit.

I was a little young for the Beatles in their prime and the rest of the British invasion. I didn't immerse myself in their music until the '80s following Lennon's death.

Because of my percussion background, I've always been attracted to interesting rhythms and that's still true today. I wouldn't trade anything about my early musical experiences. I enjoyed them all and I still like a wide variety of musical genres.

Oh yeah, Gershwin! I'm a huge fan. Genius. And show tunes...bigger than life melodies.

Funny, I've never paid much attention at all to lyrics...neither the words nor the stories being sung. I always listened to the vocals as if the voice was another instrument, the one carrying the melody.

Originally Posted by EllaMom

Funny, I've never paid much attention at all to lyrics...neither the words nor the stories being sung. I always listened to the vocals as if the voice was another instrument, the one carrying the melody.

Which is why I never cared much about story songs. I mostly don't care what the lyrics say as long as the music is there. If the music is not there, the lyrics will not make me like the song.