Jimi Hendrix

I had no idea who Jimi Hendrix was at first. He wasn’t on MTV in the late 80’s or early 90’s when I started playing guitar. I had a friend who was obsessed with his music. One of the great things about music in those days, was how many times we would hear the same album repeated. Now I know this might sound like torture for a Post-Millennial, but this is how things were at that time. You would actually listen to the music, and talk about it, and think about what you are listening too. The more you listen to it, the more you love it.

Hendrix just kept getting better each time. If you saw him perform live, you know he wasn’t thinking about the notes, scales, chords. He was in the moment. (Yeah, I know he was on drugs, but he still knew the guitar better than anyone at that time)

Hendrix was creative, making sounds on the guitar no one knew how to make. He played notes that didn’t fit, but he made them work. Carlos Santana called it the Blues From Mars.

Another thing I noticed was that he performed live, he never played his songs the same exact way twice. That showed that he was comfortable enough playing by ear.

The Beatles

We would drive 30 minutes to school each morning while my Mom listened to Oldies on the radio. Every other song was by The Beatles, because every other #1 hit in the 60’s was by the Beatles.

It was more than the great songs that has inspired me. It’s mind boggling that they wrote so many hits at a time that people thought guitar music was on a decline. They practically invented Rock & Roll as we know it.

The question that remains a mystery to me is: “How do you write so many hit songs when there is nothing similar to be inspired by”

I read a book entitled “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell recently that helped me understand what it takes be that innovative and achieve that level of success.

Before the Beatles broke out, they got one of their first gigs playing 8+ hours a day for 7 days a week at a nightclub. This gig went on for about a year, and this is where they mastered their craft. So much playing was crammed into a very short amount of time.

So there are three key elements that came together for their success.

Natural talent – it’s difficult to deny that some people have more natural talent than others. But talent alone will not produce success

Opportunity – Would the Beatles have achieved that level of excellence without the opportunity to get paid playing 60 hours a week? (Plus the likelihood of John, Paul, George and Ringo coming together at that time.)

Effort – If you are working on your craft 60+ hours a week, you will be perfecting your craft.

I think most people fail to consider how much work an “expert” has to do before a big show. Same applies to world-class athletes, and business people. That to me is inspiring.

Stevie Ray Vaughan – (SRV)

I could watch YouTube videos of SRV all day long. Another master of the guitar, so much that he could play incredibly difficult licks with ease. In my opinion, he was the absolute best blues guitar player ever. He could mimic Hendrix, Clapton, B.B. King, and everyone else, and made it his own.

When he was still in HighSchool, he was performing nightly at “The Funky Monkey” from 10:00pm-6:00 am, then going to school in the morning. Similar situation to the Beatles.

If you know his story, you know he had many reasons to give up, but he never let failure stop him from reaching the top.

The Police

I remember hearing The Police on the radio when I was young, Sting’s voice always stood out to me as unique, and I was always intrigued by the clean tones of Andy Summers guitar. Their songs all have a beat that you can move to, and fun to sing along with. Again, their story is strong too, unfortunately their time together was limited because of their inability to get along, probably because Sting is a complete narcissist… but he played keyboard with his feet while singing and playing bass, so that helps.

Fortunately the were somehow able to reunite in 2008, but I don’t think that could last very long

https://youtu.be/I36-lWjIZnU