musicarticle

Keith Richards

2009-04-30T05:56:00.000-07:00

Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English guitarist, songwriter, singer, record producer, and a founding member of The Rolling Stones. As a guitarist, Richards is mostly known for his innovative rhythm playing. In 2003 Richards was ranked 10th on Rolling Stone magazine's "Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".According to britishhitsongwriters.com he is the twenty fifth most successful songwriter in U.K. singles chart history based on weeks that his compositions have spent on the chart.

With songwriting partner and Rolling Stones lead vocalist Mick Jagger, Richards has written and recorded hundreds of songs, fourteen of which Rolling Stone magazine lists among the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Early life

Keith Richards, the only child of Bert Richards and Doris Dupree Richards, was born in Dartford, Kent. He is of Welsh and French Huguenot ancestry. His father was a factory labourer who was slightly injured during World War II.

Richards's paternal grandparents were socialists and civic leaders. His maternal grandfather (Augustus Theodore Dupree), who toured Britain in a jazz big band called Gus Dupree and his Boys, was an early influence on Richards's musical ambitions and got him interested in playing guitar.

Richards's mother introduced him to the music of Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, and bought him his first guitar — a Rosetti acoustic — for seven pounds. His father was less encouraging: "Every time the poor guy came in at night," Richards says, "he'd find me sitting at the top of the stairs with my guitar, playing and banging on the wall for percussion. He was great about it really. He'd only mutter, 'Stop that bloody noise.'" Richards's first guitar hero was Scotty Moore.

Richards attended Wentworth Primary School, as did Mick Jagger; the two knew each other as schoolboys, and lived in the same neighbourhood until Richards's family moved to another section of Dartford in 1954.From 1955 to 1959 Richards attended Dartford Technical School (now named Wilmington Grammar School), where choirmaster Jake Clair noticed his singing voice and recruited him into the school choir. As one of a trio of boy sopranos Richards sang (among other performances) at Westminster Abbey in front of Queen Elizabeth II - an experience that he has called his "first taste of show biz."

In 1959, Richards was expelled from Dartford Technical School for truancy, and the headmaster suggested he would be more at home at the art college in the neighboring town of Sidcup. At Sidcup Art College Richards devoted his time to playing guitar after he heard American blues artists like Little Walter and Big Bill Broonzy. He swapped a pile of records for his first electric guitar, a hollow-body Höfner cutaway. Fellow Sidcup student and future musical colleague Dick Taylor recalls, "There was a lot of music being played at Sidcup, and we'd go into the empty classrooms and fool around with our guitars. ... Even in those days Keith could play most of [Chuck Berry's] solos." Taylor also remembers Richards experimenting with various drugs at Sidcup: "In order to stay up late with our music and still get to Sidcup in the morning, Keith and I were on a pretty steady diet of pep pills, which not only kept us awake but gave us a lift. We took all kinds of things - pills that girls took for menstruation; inhalers like Nostrilene, and other stuff. Opposite the college there was this little park with an aviary that had a cockatoo in it. Cocky the Cockatoo we used to call it. Keith used to feed it pep pills and make it stagger around on its perch. If ever we were feeling bored we'd go and give another upper to Cocky."

One morning in 1961, on the train journey from Dartford to Sidcup, Richards happened to get into the same carriage as Mick Jagger, who was then a student at the London School of Economics.They recognized each other and began talking about the LPs Jagger had with him -- blues and rhythm & blues albums he had acquired by mail-order from America. Richards was surprised and impressed that Jagger not only shared his enthusiasm for Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters, but also that he owned such LPs which were extremely rare in Britain at the time. The two discovered that they had a mutual friend in Dick Taylor, with whom Jagger was singing in an amateur band called Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys. Jagger invited Richards to a rehearsal and soon after Richards also joined the line-up. The group disbanded after Jagger, Richards, and Taylor met Brian Jones and Ian Stewart, with whom they went on to form The Rolling Stones (Taylor left the band in November 1962 to return to art school).

By mid-1962 Richards had left Sidcup Art College in favour of pursuing his fledgling musical career and moved into a London flat with Jagger and Jones. His parents divorced about the same time. Richards maintained close ties with his mother, who was very supportive of his musical activities, but he became estranged from his father and didn't resume contact with him until 1982.

In 1963 Richards dropped the "s" from his name and used the professional name "Keith Richard", which Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham considered more suitable as a show business name.

Musical career

Guitar playing

Richards's guitar playing shows his fascination with chords, his love of rhythm guitar, and his assumed role of catalyst to spur the band while he is, in his words, "oiling the machinery." He conspicuously avoids attempts at virtuosity, which he calls "the fastest-gun-in-the-west sort of thing." Chuck Berry has been a constant inspiration for Richards throughout his career. His first band Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys played many Berry numbers, and Jagger and Richards were largely responsible for bringing Berry and Bo Diddley covers into The Rolling Stones' early repertoire. Jimmy Reed and Muddy Waters records were another early source of inspiration, and the basis for the style of interwoven lead and rhythm guitar that Richards developed with Brian Jones. Jones' replacement guitarist Mick Taylor worked with The Rolling Stones from 1969 to 1974. Though Richards enjoyed and worked well with him, Taylor's virtuosity at lead guitar led to a pronounced separation between lead and rhythm guitar roles, notably onstage. In 1975 Taylor was replaced by Ronnie Wood, marking a return to the style of guitar interplay that he and Richards call "the ancient art of weaving". Richards has said the years with Wood have been his most musically satisfying period in the Rolling Stones.

During the 1967/68 break in the Rolling Stones' touring, Richards began experimenting with open tunings. These tunings were most commonly used for slide guitar, but Richards explored their use in rhythm playing, developing an innovative and distinctive style of syncopated and ringing I-IV chording that can be heard on "Street Fighting Man" and "Start Me Up". He particularly favours a five-string variant of open G tuning (borrowed from Don Everly of the Everly Brothers), using GDGBD unencumbered by a low 6th string; several of his Telecasters are tuned this way, and this tuning is prominent on numerous Rolling Stones tracks, including "Honky Tonk Women," "Brown Sugar" and "Start Me Up".Richards uses standard 6-string tuning as well, but his experimentations in open tunings have coloured how he plays in standard tuning.[citation needed] In the late 1960s, Brian Jones's declining interest in guitar left Richards to record all of the guitar parts on many tracks, including slide guitar, which had been Jones's speciality in the band's early years.

Richards — who owns over 1000 guitars, some of which he has not played but was simply given[citation needed] — is often associated with the Fender Telecaster, particularly with two 1950s Telecasters outfitted with Gibson PAF humbucker pickups in the neck position. Also notable was the 1959 Bigsby-equipped sunburst Les Paul that he acquired in 1964, which was the first "star owned" Les Paul in Britain. Since 1997 a Bigsby-equipped ebony Gibson ES-355 has served as one of his main stage guitars. Even though Richards has used many different guitar models, in a 1986 Guitar World interview he joked that no matter what model he plays, "give me five minutes and I'll make 'em all sound the same."

In 1965 Richards used a Gibson Maestro fuzzbox to achieve the distinctive tone of his riff on "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"; the success of the resulting single boosted the sales of the device to the extent that all available stock had sold out by the end of 1965. In the 1970s and early 1980s Richards frequently used guitar effects such as a wah-wah pedal, a phaser and a Leslie speaker, but he mainly relies on combining "the right amp with the right guitar" to achieve the sound he wants.

Richards considers acoustic guitar to be the basis for his playing, and has said: "Every guitar player should play acoustic at home. No matter what else you do, if you don't keep up your acoustic work, you're never going to get the full potential out of an electric, because you lose that touch."Richards's acoustic guitar is featured on tracks throughout the Rolling Stones' career, including hits like "Not Fade Away", "Brown Sugar", "Beast of Burden" and "Almost Hear You Sigh". All the guitars on the studio version of "Street Fighting Man" are Richards on acoustic, distorted by overloading a small cassette recorder microphone, a technique also used on "Jumping Jack Flash".

Vocals

Richards's backing vocals appear on every Rolling Stones album; and on most albums since Between the Buttons (1967), he has sung lead or co-lead on at least one track (see list below). Richards views the vocal training he got in his choirboy days as part of his professional arsenal, and has said of his own singing: "It's not the most beautiful voice in the world anymore, but the Queen liked it, when it was at its best ... It's not been my job, singing, but to me, if you're gonna write songs, you've got to know how to sing."

On stage, Richards began taking a regular lead-vocal turn in 1972, singing "Happy" (from the album Exile on Main Street). "Happy" has become viewed as one of Richards's signature songs, featured on most Rolling Stones tours ever since, as well as on both of Richards's solo tours. From 1972 to 1982, Richards routinely took one lead-vocal turn during Rolling Stones concerts; since 1989 he has normally sung lead on two numbers per show. Each of the band's studio albums since Dirty Work (1986) have also featured Richards's lead vocals on at least two tracks. During concerts on the two final legs (autumn 2006 and summer 2007) of The Rolling Stones' Bigger Bang Tour, Richards set his guitar aside to sing his 1969 ballad "You Got the Silver" without self-accompaniment. Prior to that he had occasionally switched from guitar to keyboards in concert, but these concerts were the first time since his choirboy days that Richards appeared on stage armed with only his voice.

Other instruments

Richards has played bass on about two dozen Rolling Stones studio recordings, from "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" (1966) through "Infamy" (2005). One unusual instance was when he and Bill Wyman joined forces to play the bowed double bass on "Ruby Tuesday" (1967) — Wyman did the fingerboard work while Richards manned the bow. The rest of Richards's bass-playing contributions have been on tracks including "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (1968), "Sympathy for the Devil" (1968), "Live With Me" (1969), "Before They Make Me Run" (1978), "Sleep Tonight" (1986) and "Brand New Car" (1994). He has also played bass on stage on a couple of occasions: with The Dirty Mac in 1968 (see "Recordings with other artists", below) and on "Sympathy for the Devil" at a Rolling Stones concert at Madison Square Garden in June 1975.

Richards's keyboard playing has also been featured on several Rolling Stones tracks, including "She Smiled Sweetly" (1967), "Memory Motel" (1976), "All About You" (1980), "Thru and Thru" (1994) and "This Place Is Empty" (2005), among others. He sometimes composes on piano — "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" and "Let's Spend the Night Together" are two early examples; and he's said of his keyboard playing: "Maybe I'm a little more accomplished now — to me it's just a way of getting out of always using one instrument to write." Richards played keyboards on stage at two 1974 concerts with Ronnie Wood, and on The New Barbarians' tour in 1979; and 1977 and 1981 studio sessions featuring his piano and vocals have been well documented, though never officially released.

Richards has also contributed percussion to a few Rolling Stones tracks, including the floor tom on "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and bicycle spokes on "Continental Drift" (1989).

Songwriting

Richards and Jagger collaborated on songs in 1963, following the nearby example of the Beatles' Lennon/McCartney and the encouragement of Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, who saw little future for a cover band. The earliest Jagger/Richards collaborations were recorded by other artists, including Gene Pitney, whose rendition of "That Girl Belongs to Yesterday" was their first top-ten single in the UK. Richards recalls: "We were writing these terrible pop songs that were becoming Top 10 hits. ... They had nothing to do with us, except we wrote 'em."

The Rolling Stones' first top-ten hit with a Jagger/Richards original was "The Last Time" (1965); "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (also 1965) was their first international #1 recording. (Richards has stated that the "Satisfaction" riff came to him in his sleep; he woke up just long enough to record it on a cassette player by his bed.) Since Aftermath (1966) most Rolling Stones albums have consisted mainly of Jagger/Richards originals. Their songs reflect the influence of blues, R&B, rock & roll, pop, soul, gospel and country, as well as forays into psychedelia and Dylanesque social commentary. Their work in the 1970s and beyond has incorporated elements of funk, disco, reggae and punk. Richards has also written and recorded slow torchy ballads, such as "All About You" (1980).

In his solo career, Richards has often shared co-writing credits with drummer and co-producer Steve Jordan. Richards has said: "I've always thought songs written by two people are better than those written by one. You get another angle on it."

Richards has frequently stated that he feels less like a creator than a conduit when writing songs: "I don't have that God aspect about it. I prefer to think of myself as an antenna. There's only one song, and Adam and Eve wrote it; the rest is a variation on a theme."

Richards was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1993.

Record production

Richards has been active as a record producer since the 1960s. He was credited as producer and musical director on the 1966 album Today's Pop Symphony, one of manager Andrew Loog Oldham's side projects, although there are doubts about how much Richards was actually involved with it. On the Rolling Stones' 1967 album Their Satanic Majesties Request the entire band was credited as producer, but since 1974, Richards and Mick Jagger have frequently co-produced Rolling Stones and other artists' records under the joint name "The Glimmer Twins", often in collaboration with other producers.

Since the 1980s Richards has chalked up numerous production and co-production credits on projects with other artists including Aretha Franklin, Johnnie Johnson and Ronnie Spector, as well as on his own albums with the X-Pensive Winos (see below). In the 1990s Richards co-produced and added guitar and vocals to a recording of nyabinghi Rastafarian chanting and drumming entitled Wingless Angels, released on Richards's own record label, Mindless Records, in 1997.

Solo recordings

Generally resisting sustained ventures outside of The Rolling Stones, Richards has released few solo recordings. In 1978 he released his first solo single: renditions of Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run" and Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come". In 1987, after Jagger had put The Rolling Stones on hold in order to promote his solo albums, Richards formed the X-pensive Winos with new co-writer Steve Jordan, who had drummed on some tracks on Dirty Work and in the band Richards assembled for the documentary Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll (see below).

Besides Steve Jordan, the X-pensive Winos included Sarah Dash, Waddy Wachtel, Bobby Keys, Ivan Neville and Charley Drayton. Their first album, Talk Is Cheap (which also featured session musicians Bernie Worrell, Bootsy Collins and Maceo Parker), went gold and has remained a consistent seller. It spawned a brief US tour - one of only two that Richards has done as a solo artist. The first tour is documented on the Virgin release Live at the Hollywood Palladium, December 15, 1988. In 1992 Main Offender was released, and following a "warm-up concert" in Buenos Aires, the X-Pensive Winos (including a new member, backing vocalist Babi Floyd) toured Europe and North America.
(from Wikipedia)

Mickey Jones

2009-04-30T05:54:00.000-07:00

Mickey Jones (born June 10, 1941 in Houston, Texas) is an American musician and actor. Jones' career as a drummer had him backing up such artists as Trini Lopez and Johnny Rivers. In 1966, he was the drummer backing Bob Dylan on his world tour, replacing the aggravated Levon Helm, with the other members of what would become The Band. This tour included the infamous bootlegged "Royal Albert Hall" concert. Later Jones joined the band The First Edition with Kenny Rogers and recorded several international hits.

After the break-up of The First Edition in 1976, Jones concentrated his career as a character actor where he's made dozens of appearances in films and television. Jones starred in the short lived 1980 spin off television series Flo as Chester, and is well known in the science fiction community for his role as Chris Faber in the mini series V . Mickey Jones also had a recurring role on the television show Home Improvement.

Selected filmography

Films

* Necrosis (2009)
* High Desert (2007)
* Corners (2007)
* Simple Things (2006)
* Penny Dreadful (2006)
* No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005)
* Iowa (2005)
* The Fighting Temptations (2003)
* Shattered Lies (2002)
* Vice (2000)
* The Last Best Sunday (1999)
* Sling Blade (1996)
* Tin Cup (1996)
* Drop Zone (1994)
* Dutch (1991)
* Total Recall (1990)
* Homer & Eddie (1989)
* The Couch Trip (1988)
* Talking Walls (1987)
* Nadine (1987)
* Extreme Prejudice (1987)
* Hunter's Blood (1987)
* Savage Dawn (1985)
* Starman (1984)
* National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
* Wrong Is Right (1982)

Television

* Flo (1980-1981)
* V: The Series (1984-1985)
* V: The Final Battle (1984)
* Misfits of Science (1985)
* Baywatch (1990-1992)
* Home Improvement (1991)-(1999)
* Northern Exposure Heroes (as Chris' deceased mentor, Tooley) (1992)
* Married... with Children (1996)
* Entourage (2007)
* The Incredible Hulk
* an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard (year unknown).
* an episode of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction (year unknown).
* an episode of Rockford Files (year unknown).

Music Videos

* Sunset Blvd (song) (2005)
(from Wikipedia)

Eric Clapton

2009-04-30T05:49:00.000-07:00

Eric Patrick Clapton CBE (born 30 March 1945) is an English blues-rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer. Clapton has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Yardbirds, of Cream, and as a solo performer, being the only person to be inducted three times. Often viewed by critics and fans alike as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, Clapton was ranked fourth in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #53 on their list of the Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Although Clapton has varied his musical style throughout his career, it has always remained grounded in the blues. Yet, in spite of this focus, he is credited as an innovator in a wide variety of genres. These include blues-rock (with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and the Yardbirds) and psychedelic rock (with Cream). Additionally, Clapton's chart success was not limited to the blues, with chart-toppers in Delta Blues (Me and Mr. Johnson), pop ("Change the World") and reggae (Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff"). One of his most successful recordings was the hit love song "Layla," which he played with the band Derek and the Dominos and Robert Johnson's "Crossroads", which has been his staple song since his days with Cream.

Career

Early years

Clapton was born in Ripley, Surrey, England, the son of 17-year-old Patricia Molly Clapton and Edward Walter Fryer, a 25-year-old soldier from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Fryer shipped off to war prior to Clapton's birth and then returned to Canada. Clapton grew up with his grandmother, Rose, and her second husband Jack, believing they were his parents and that his mother was his older sister. Their surname was Clapp, which has given rise to the widespread but erroneous belief that Clapton's real surname is Clapp (Reginald Cecil Clapton is the name of Rose's first husband, Eric Clapton's maternal grandfather). Years later, his mother married another Canadian soldier, moved to Canada and left young Eric with his grandparents in distant Surbiton. Clapton received an acoustic Spanish Hoya guitar for his 13th birthday, but found learning the steel-stringed instrument very difficult and nearly gave up. Despite his frustrations, he was influenced by the blues from an early age and practiced long hours to learn chords and copy the music of blues artists that he listened to on his Grundig Cub tape recorder.

After leaving school in 1961, Clapton studied at the Kingston College of Art but was dismissed at the end of the academic year because his focus remained on music rather than art. Around this time Clapton began busking around Kingston, Richmond and the West End of London. When he was 17 years old Clapton joined his first band, an early British R&B group, called "The Roosters". He stayed with this band from January through August 1963. In October of that year, Clapton did a brief seven gig stint with the Engineers.

1960s

The Yardbirds and the Bluesbreakers

In 1963, Clapton joined The Yardbirds, a blues-influenced rock and roll band, and stayed with them until March 1965. Synthesizing influences from Chicago blues and leading blues guitarists such as Buddy Guy, Freddie King and B. B. King, Clapton forged a distinctive style and rapidly became one of the most talked-about guitarists in the British music scene.The band initially played Chess/Checker/Vee-Jay blues numbers and began to attract a large cult following when they took over the Rolling Stones' residency at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond. They toured England with American bluesman Sonny Boy Williamson II; a joint LP, recorded in December 1963, was issued belatedly under both their names, in 1965. In March 1965, just as Clapton left the band, the Yardbirds had their first major hit, "For Your Love", on which Clapton played guitar.

It was during this time period that Clapton's Yardbirds rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja recalled that whenever Clapton broke a guitar string during a concert, he would stay on stage and replace it. The English audiences would wait out the delay by doing what is called a "slow handclap". Clapton told his official biographer, Ray Coleman, that, "My nickname of 'Slowhand' came from Giorgio Gomelsky. He coined it as a good pun. He kept saying I was a fast player, so he put together the slow handclap phrase into Slowhand as a play on words".

Still obstinately dedicated to blues music, Clapton was strongly offended by the Yardbirds' new pop-oriented direction, partly because, "For Your Love", had been written by pop songwriter-for-hire Graham Gouldman, who had also written hits for teen pop outfit Herman's Hermits and harmony pop band The Hollies. Clapton recommended fellow guitarist Jimmy Page as his replacement; but, Page was at that time unwilling to relinquish his lucrative career as a freelance studio musician, so Page in turn recommended Clapton's successor, Jeff Beck. While Beck and Page played together in the Yardbirds, the trio of Beck, Page, and Clapton were never in the group together. However, the trio did appear on the 12-date benefit tour for Action for Research into Multiple Sclerosis, as well as on the album Guitar Boogie.

Clapton joined John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, in April 1965, only to quit a few months later. In the summer of 1965, he left for Greece with a band called The Glands which included his old friend Ben Palmer on piano. In November 1965, he rejoined John Mayall. It was during his second Bluesbreakers' stint that his passionate playing established Clapton's name as the best blues guitarist on the club circuit. Although Clapton gained world fame for his playing on the immensely influential album, Blues Breakers, this album was not released until Clapton had left the Bluesbreakers for good. Having swapped his Fender Telecaster and Vox AC30 amp for a 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar and Marshall amplifier, Clapton's sound and playing inspired a well-publicised graffito that deified him with the famous slogan, "Clapton is God". The phrase was spray-painted by an admirer on a wall in an Islington Underground station in the autumn of 1967. The graffiti was captured in a now-famous photograph, in which a dog is urinating on the wall. Clapton is well reported to have been embarrassed by the slogan, saying in The South Bank Show profile of him made in 1987, "I never accepted that I was the greatest guitar player in the world. I always wanted to be the greatest guitar player in the world, but that's an ideal, and I accept it as an ideal". The phrase began to appear in other areas of Islington throughout the mid-60s.

Cream

Clapton left the Bluesbreakers in July 1966 (to be replaced by Peter Green) and formed Cream, one of the earliest supergroups. Cream was also one of the earliest "power trios", with Jack Bruce on bass (also of Manfred Mann, the Bluesbreakers and the Graham Bond Organization) and Ginger Baker on drums (another member of the GBO). Before the formation of Cream, Clapton was all but unknown in the United States; he left the Yardbirds before "For Your Love" hit the American Top Ten, and had yet to perform there. During his time with Cream, Clapton began to develop as a singer, songwriter and guitarist, though Bruce took most of the lead vocals and wrote the majority of the material with lyricist Pete Brown. Cream's first gig was an unofficial performance at the Twisted Wheel in Manchester on 29 July 1966 before their full debut two nights later at the National Jazz and Blues Festival in Windsor. Cream established its enduring legend with the high-volume blues jamming and extended solos of their live shows.

In early 1967, Clapton's status as Britain's top guitarist was rivaled by the emergence of Jimi Hendrix, an acid rock-infused guitarist who used wailing feedback and effects pedals to create new sounds for the instrument. Hendrix attended a performance of the newly formed Cream at the Central London Polytechnic on 1 October 1966, during which Hendrix sat in on a shattering double-timed version of "Killing Floor". In return, top UK stars including Clapton, Pete Townshend, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles avidly attended Hendrix's early club performances. Hendrix's arrival had an immediate and major effect on the next phase of Clapton's career, although Clapton continued to be recognised in UK music polls as the premier guitarist.

It was with Cream that Clapton first visited the United States. They went to New York in March 1967 for a nine show stand at the RKO Theater. They returned to New York to record Disraeli Gears from 11 May 1967 – 15 May 1967. Cream's repertoire varied from soulful pop ("I Feel Free") to lengthy blues-based instrumental jams ("Spoonful") and featured Clapton's searing guitar lines, Bruce's soaring vocals and prominent, fluid bass playing. Baker's powerful, polyrhythmic jazz-influenced drumming backed up Clapton and Bruce, securing Cream as a power trio.

In 28 months, Cream had become a commercial success, selling millions of records and playing throughout the US and Europe. They redefined the instrumentalist's role in rock and were one of the first blues-rock bands to emphasise musical virtuosity and lengthy jazz-style improvisation sessions. Their U.S. hit singles include "Sunshine of Your Love" (#5, 1968), "White Room" (#6, 1968) and "Crossroads" (#28, 1969) - a live version of Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues." Although Cream was hailed as one of the greatest groups of its day, and the adulation of Clapton as a guitar hero reached new heights, the supergroup was destined to be short-lived. The legendary infighting between Bruce and Baker and growing tensions among all three members eventually led to Cream's demise. Another significant factor was a strongly critical Rolling Stone review of a concert of the group's second headlining U.S. tour, which affected Clapton profoundly.

Cream's farewell album, "Goodbye", featured live performances recorded live at The Forum, Los Angeles, 19 October 1968, and was released shortly after Cream disbanded in 1968; it also featured the studio single "Badge", co-written by Clapton and George Harrison, whom he had met and become friends with after the Beatles had shared a bill with the Clapton-era Yardbirds at the London Palladium. The close friendship between Clapton and Harrison resulted in Clapton's playing on Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" from the Beatles' White Album. By all accounts the presence of an outsider, especially of Clapton's calibre, had the effect of bringing peace to the disharmonious band. In the same year of release as the White Album, Harrison released his solo debut Wonderwall Music that became the first of many Harrison solo records to feature Clapton on guitar, who would go largely uncredited due to contractual restraints. The pair would often play live together as each other's guest. A year after Harrison's death in 2001, Clapton helped organise the tribute concert, for which he was musical director.

Since their 1968 breakup, Cream briefly reunited in 1993 to perform at the ceremony inducting them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A full-scale reunion of the legendary trio took place in May 2005, with Clapton, Bruce, and Baker playing four sold-out concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall (the scene of their 1968 farewell shows) and three more at New York's Madison Square Garden that October. Recordings from the London shows were released on CD, LP, and DVD in September/December 2005.

Blind Faith & Delaney and Bonnie and Friends

A desultory spell in a second super group, the short-lived Blind Faith (1969), which was composed of Cream drummer Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood of Traffic and Ric Grech of Family, resulted in one LP and one arena-circuit tour. The super group debuted before 100,000 fans in London's Hyde Park on 7 June 1969. They later performed several dates in Scandinavia and began a sold-out American tour in July before their one and only album was released. The LP Blind Faith was recorded in such haste that side two consisted of just two songs, one of them a 15-minute jam entitled "Do What You Like". The album's jacket image of a topless pubescent girl was deemed controversial in the United States and was replaced by a photograph of the band. Blind Faith dissolved after less than seven months. While Winwood returned to Traffic, by now Clapton was tired of both the spotlight and the hype that had surrounded Cream and Blind Faith.

Clapton decided to step into the background for a time, touring as a sideman with the American group Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, who had been the support act for Blind Faith's U.S. tour. He also played two dates that fall with The Plastic Ono Band. Clapton became close friends with Delaney Bramlett, who encouraged him in his singing and writing. Using the Bramletts' backing group and an all-star cast of session players (including Leon Russell and Stephen Stills), Clapton recorded his first solo album during two brief tour hiatuses, fittingly named Eric Clapton. The album included the Bramlett composition, "Bottle Of Red Wine" and "Let It Rain". It also yielded the unexpected U.S. #18 hit, J. J. Cale's "After Midnight". Clapton went with Delaney and Bonnie from the stage to the studio with the Dominos to record George Harrison's All Things Must Pass in spring 1970. During this busy period, Clapton also recorded with other artists including Dr. John, Leon Russell, Plastic Ono Band, Billy Preston and Ringo Starr.

1970s

Derek and the Dominos

Taking over Delaney & Bonnie's rhythm section—Bobby Whitlock (keyboards, vocals), Carl Radle (bass) and Jim Gordon (drums)—Clapton formed a new band which was intended to counteract the "star" cult that had grown up around him and show that he could be a member of an ensemble. The band was called "Eric Clapton and Friends" at first, and the name "Derek and the Dominos" was an accident, which occurred when the band's provisional name of "Eric and the Dynamos" was misread as Derek and the Dominos. Clapton's biography, though, argues that Ashton told Clapton to call the band "Del and the Dominos", Del being his nickname for Clapton. Del and Eric were combined and the final name became "Derek and the Dominos".

Clapton's close friendship with George Harrison had brought him into contact with Harrison's wife Pattie Boyd, with whom he became deeply infatuated. When she spurned his advances, Clapton's unrequited affections prompted most of the material for the Dominos' album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. This album contained the monster-hit single, love song "Layla", inspired by the classical Persian poet Nezami Ganjavi's The Story of Layla and Majnun, a copy of which his friend Ian Dallas had given him. The book moved Clapton profoundly as it was the tale of a young man who fell hopelessly in love with a beautiful, unavailable woman and who went crazy because he could not marry her.

Working at Criteria Studios in Miami with Atlantic Records producer Tom Dowd, who had worked with Clapton on Cream's Disraeli Gears, the band recorded a double-album. The two parts of "Layla" were recorded in separate sessions: the opening guitar section was recorded first, and for the second section, laid down several months later, drummer Jim Gordon composed and played the elegiac piano part. The Layla LP was actually recorded by a five-piece version of the group, thanks to the unforeseen inclusion of guitarist Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band. A few days into the Layla sessions, Dowd—who was also producing the Allmans—invited Clapton to an Allman Brothers outdoor concert in Miami. The two guitarists met first onstage, then played all night in the studio and became friends. Duane first added his slide guitar to "Tell the Truth" on 28 August as well as "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out". In four days, the five-piece Dominos recorded "Key to the Highway", "Have You Ever Loved a Woman", and "Why Does Love Got to be So Sad". When September came around, Duane briefly left the sessions for gigs with his own band, and the four-piece Dominos recorded "I Looked Away", "Bell Bottom Blues", and "Keep on Growing." Duane returned to record "I am Yours", "Anyday", and "It's Too Late." On the 9th, they recorded Hendrix's "Little Wing" and the title track. The following day, the final track, "Thorn Tree in the Garden" was recorded.

The album was heavily blues-influenced and featured a combination of the twin guitars of Allman and Clapton, with Allman's incendiary slide-guitar a key ingredient of the sound. Many critics would later notice that Clapton played best when in a band composed of dual guitars; working with another guitarist kept him from getting "sloppy and lazy and this was undeniably the case with Duane Allman." It showcased some of Clapton's strongest material to date, as well as arguably some of his best guitar playing, with Whitlock also contributing several superb numbers, and his powerful, soul-influenced voice.

Tragedy dogged the group throughout its brief career. During the sessions, Clapton was devastated by news of the death of Jimi Hendrix; eight days previously the band had cut a blistering version of "Little Wing" as a tribute to him which was added to the album. On 17 September 1970, one day before Hendrix's death, Clapton had purchased a left-handed Stratocaster that he had planned to give to Hendrix as a birthday gift. Adding to Clapton's woes, the Layla album received only lukewarm reviews upon release. The shaken group undertook a U.S. tour without Allman, who had returned to the Allman Brothers Band. Despite Clapton's later admission that the tour took place amidst a veritable blizzard of drugs and alcohol, it resulted in the surprisingly strong live double album In Concert.The band had recorded several tracks for a second album in London during the spring of 1971 (five of which were released on the Eric Clapton box-set Crossroads), but the results were mediocre.

Tom Dowd and Duane Allman were not there to help them and Derek and the Dominos soon disintegrated messily in London. Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident on 29 October 1971. Although Radle would remain Clapton's bass player until the summer of 1979 (Radle died in May 1980 from the effects of alcohol and narcotics), the split between Clapton and Whitlock was apparently a bitter one, and it was not until 2003 that they worked together again (Clapton guested on Whitlock's appearance on the Later with Jools Holland show). Another tragic footnote to the Dominos story was the fate of drummer Jim Gordon, who was an undiagnosed schizophrenic and years later murdered his mother during a psychotic episode. Gordon was confined to 16-years-to-life imprisonment, later being moved to a mental institution, where he remains today.
(from Wikipedia)

Jazz

2009-04-30T05:40:00.000-07:00

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions. The style's West African pedigree is evident in its use of blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation, and the swung note.

From its early development until the present, jazz has also incorporated music from 19th and 20th century American popular music. The word jazz began as a West Coast slang term of uncertain derivation and was first used to refer to music in Chicago in about 1915; for the origin and history, see Jazz.

Jazz has, from its early 20th century inception, spawned a variety of subgenres, from New Orleans Dixieland dating from the early 1910s, big band-style swing from the 1930s and 1940s, bebop from the mid-1940s, a variety of Latin jazz fusions such as Afro-Cuban and Brazilian jazz from the 1950s and 1960s, jazz-rock fusion from the 1970s and late 1980s developments such as acid jazz, which blended jazz influences into funk and hip-hop. As the music has spread around the world it has drawn on local national and regional musical cultures, its aesthetics being adapted to its varied environments and giving rise to many distinctive styles.

Definition

Jazz can be hard to define because it spans from Ragtime waltzes to 2000s-era fusion. While many attempts have been made to define jazz from points of view outside jazz, such as using European music history or African music, jazz critic Joachim Berendt argues that all such attempts are unsatisfactory. One way to get around the definitional problems is to define the term “jazz” more broadly. Berendt defines jazz as a "form of art music which originated in the United States through the confrontation of blacks with European music"; he argues that jazz differs from European music in that jazz has a "special relationship to time, defined as 'swing'", "a spontaneity and vitality of musical production in which improvisation plays a role"; and "sonority and manner of phrasing which mirror the individuality of the performing jazz musician".

Travis Jackson has also proposed a broader definition of jazz which is able to encompass all of the radically different eras: he states that it is music that includes qualities such as "swinging', improvising, group interaction, developing an 'individual voice', and being 'open' to different musical possibilities". Krin Gabbard claims that “jazz is a construct” or category that, while artificial, still is useful to designate “a number of musics with enough in common to be understood as part of a coherent tradition”.[citation needed]

While jazz may be difficult to define, improvisation is clearly one of its key elements. Early blues was commonly structured around a repetitive call-and-response pattern, a common element in the African American oral tradition. A form of folk music which rose in part from work songs and field hollers of rural Blacks, early blues was also highly improvisational. These features are fundamental to the nature of jazz. While in European classical music elements of interpretation, ornamentation and accompaniment are sometimes left to the performer's discretion, the performer's primary goal is to play a composition as it was written.

In jazz, however, the skilled performer will interpret a tune in very individual ways, never playing the same composition exactly the same way twice. Depending upon the performer's mood and personal experience, interactions with fellow musicians, or even members of the audience, a jazz musician/performer may alter melodies, harmonies or time signature at will. European classical music has been said to be a composer's medium. Jazz, however, is often characterized as the product of democratic creativity, interaction and collaboration, placing equal value on the contributions of composer and performer, 'adroitly weigh[ing] the respective claims of the composer and the improviser'.

In New Orleans and Dixieland jazz, performers took turns playing the melody, while others improvised countermelodies. By the swing era, big bands were coming to rely more on arranged music: arrangements were either written or learned by ear and memorized - many early jazz performers could not read music. Individual soloists would improvise within these arrangements. Later, in bebop the focus shifted back towards small groups and minimal arrangements; the melody (known as the "head") would be stated briefly at the start and end of a piece but the core of the performance would be the series of improvisations in the middle. Later styles of jazz such as modal jazz abandoned the strict notion of a chord progression, allowing the individual musicians to improvise even more freely within the context of a given scale or mode. The avant-garde and free jazz idioms permit, even call for, abandoning chords, scales, and rhythmic meters.

Debates

There have long been debates in the jazz community over the definition and the boundaries of “jazz.” Although alteration or transformation of jazz by new influences has often been initially criticized as a “debasement,” Andrew Gilbert argues that jazz has the “ability to absorb and transform influences” from diverse musical styles.While some enthusiasts of certain types of jazz have argued for narrower definitions which exclude many other types of music also commonly known as "jazz", jazz musicians themselves are often reluctant to define the music they play. Duke Ellington summed it up by saying, "It's all music." Some critics have even stated that Ellington's music was not jazz because it was arranged and orchestrated. On the other hand Ellington's friend Earl Hines's twenty solo "transformative versions" of Ellington compositions (on Earl Hines Plays Duke Ellington recorded in the 1970s) were described by Ben Ratliff, the New York Times jazz critic, as "as good an example of the jazz process as anything out there."

Commercially-oriented or popular music-influenced forms of jazz have both long been criticized, at least since the emergence of Bop. Traditional jazz enthusiasts have dismissed Bop, the 1970s jazz fusion era [and much else] as a period of commercial debasement of the music. According to Bruce Johnson, jazz music has always had a "tension between jazz as a commercial music and an art form". Gilbert notes that as the notion of a canon of jazz is developing, the “achievements of the past” may be become "…privileged over the idiosyncratic creativity...” and innovation of current artists. Seamus Barrett, one of Miles Davis' first bass players was quoted to say, "Jazz is like a circle, there's no corners, no end, no start, 'cos it's a circle". Village Voice jazz critic Gary Giddins argues that as the creation and dissemination of jazz is becoming increasingly institutionalized and dominated by major entertainment firms, jazz is facing a "...perilous future of respectability and disinterested acceptance." David Ake warns that the creation of “norms” in jazz and the establishment of a “jazz tradition” may exclude or sideline other newer, avant-garde forms of jazz. Controversy has also arisen over new forms of contemporary jazz created outside the United States and departing significantly from American styles. On one view they represent a vital part of jazz's current development; on another they are sometimes criticised as a rejection of vital jazz traditions.

Origins

By 1808 the Atlantic slave trade had brought almost half a million Africans to the United States. The slaves largely came from West Africa and brought strong tribal musical traditions with them. Lavish festivals featuring African dances to drums were organized on Sundays at Place Congo, or Congo Square, in New Orleans until 1843, as were similar gatherings in New England and New York. African music was largely functional, for work or ritual, and included work songs and field hollers. The African tradition made use of a single-line melody and call-and-response pattern, but without the European concept of harmony. Rhythms reflected African speech patterns, and the African use of pentatonic scales led to blue notes in blues and jazz.

n the early 19th century an increasing number of black musicians learned to play European instruments, particularly the violin, which they used to parody European dance music in their own cakewalk dances. In turn, European-American minstrel show performers in blackface popularized such music internationally, combining syncopation with European harmonic accompaniment. Louis Moreau Gottschalk adapted African-American cakewalk music, South American, Caribbean and other slave melodies as piano salon music. Another influence came from black slaves who had learned the harmonic style of hymns and incorporated it into their own music as spirituals.The origins of the blues are undocumented, though they can be seen as the secular counterpart of the spirituals. Paul Oliver has drawn attention to similarities in instruments, music and social function to the griots of the West African savannah.
(from Wikipedia)

Al Di Meola

2009-04-30T05:36:00.000-07:00

Al Di Meola (born Al Laurence Dimeola July 22, 1954 in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an Italian American jazz fusion and Latin jazz guitarist.

Di Meola grew up in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and attended Bergenfield High School.He is now a resident of Bergen County, New Jersey.

Career

In 1971, he enrolled in the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1974 he joined Chick Corea's band, Return to Forever, and played with the band until a major lineup shift in 1976.

Di Meola went on to explore a variety of styles, but is most noted for his Latin-influenced jazz fusion works. He is a four time winner as Best Jazz Guitarist in Guitar Player Magazine's Reader Poll.

Guitar historian Robert Lynch states: "In the history of the electric guitar, no one figure has done more to advance the instrument in a purely technical manner than Mr. Di Meola. His total command of the various styles and scales is simply mind-boggling. I feel privileged to have been able to study his work all these years."

In addition to a prolific solo career, he has engaged in successful collaborations with bassist Stanley Clarke, keyboardist Jan Hammer, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, and guitarists John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía. He also guested on "Allergies" from Paul Simon's "Hearts and Bones" album (1983).

In the beginning of his career, as evidenced on his first solo album Land of the Midnight Sun (1976), Di Meola was noted for his technical mastery and extremely fast, complex guitar solos and compositions. But even on his early albums, he had begun to explore Mediterranean cultures and acoustic genres like flamenco. Good examples are "Mediterranean Sundance" and "Lady of Rome, Sister of Brazil" from the Elegant Gypsy album (1977). His early albums were very influential among rock and jazz guitarists alike. Di Meola continued to explore Latin music within the jazz-fusion genre on albums like Casino and Splendido Hotel. He exhibited a more subtle touch on acoustic numbers like "Fantasia Suite for Two Guitars" from the Casino album, and on the best-selling live album with McLaughlin and de Lucia, Friday Night in San Francisco. In 1980, he also toured with fellow Latin rocker, Carlos Santana.

With Scenario, he explored the electronic side of jazz in a collaboration with Jan Hammer (of Miami Vice theme fame). Beginning with this change, he further expanded his horizons with the acoustic album Cielo e Terra. He began to incorporate guitar/synthesizers on albums such as Soaring Through a Dream. Beginning in the 1990s, Di Meola recorded albums closer to World music and modern Latin styles than jazz.

He has continued to tour, playing in smaller venues like The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia, and House of Blues in Las Vegas, Nevada. Recent concerts have included a sampling of his newer material (an engaging mix of acoustic, "distorted acoustic music", and guitar/synthesizer with a looser format than the songs on the early solo albums) along with a selection of electric guitar numbers from the early albums. Di Meola often closes out shows with an energetic rendition of one of his most challenging (to play, that is) pieces, "Race with Devil on Spanish Highway", from the Elegant Gypsy album. Even in technical showcases like this, he combines blindingly fast scalar runs with subtle, dazzling rhythms, and melodic phrases. Because of his early recordings, Di Meola became arguably the most important pioneer of shred guitar, influencing guitarists such as Yngwie Malmsteen (with whom he appeared on keyboardist Derek Sherinian's solo album Black Utopia in 2003) and Dream Theater's John Petrucci.However, in most cases after the early 1980s, Di Meola has largely distanced himself from this approach. In various interviews, Di Meola has stated that his reason for stepping away from the electric guitar is due to hearing damage (manifested as tinnitus) from years of playing at excessive volumes;. the acoustic guitar does not aggravate his condition.

Discography

Solo works

* Land of the Midnight Sun (1976)
* Elegant Gypsy (1977)
* Casino (1978)
* Splendido Hotel (1980)
* Electric Rendezvous (1982)
* Tour De Force - Live (1982)
* The Guitarist (Germany) (1982)
* Scenario (1983)
* Cielo e Terra (1985)
* Soaring Through a Dream (1985)
* Tirami Su (1987)
* Kiss My Axe (1991)
* World Sinfonia (1991)
* The Best of Al Di Meola - The Manhattan Years (1992)
* World Sinfonia II - Heart of the Immigrants (1993)
* Orange and Blue (1994)
* Acoustic Anthology (1995)
* Di Meola Plays Piazzolla (1996)
* The Infinite Desire (1998)
* Christmas: Winter Nights (1999)
* World Sinfonía III - The Grande Passion (2000)
* Anthology (2000)
* Flesh on Flesh (2002)
* Al Di Meola Revisited (2003)
* Vocal Rendezvous (2006)
* Consequence of Chaos (2006)
* Diabolic Inventions And Seduction For Solo Guitar (2006)
* La Melodia Live in Milano: World Sinfonia (2008)

Collaborations

* Venusian Summer (1975) Lenny White, Al Di Meola, Larry Coryell
* Go (1976) with Go Stomu Yamash'ta,Steve Winwood, Al Di Meola
* Go Live From Paris (1976) with Go Stomu Yamash'ta,Steve Winwood, Al Di Meola
* Go Too (1977) with Go
* Friday Night in San Francisco (1980) with John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía
* Passion, Grace and Fire (1983) with John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía
* Latin (1987) with George Dalaras
* Super Guitar Trio And Friends (1990) with Larry Coryell and Biréli Lagrène
* Rite Of Strings (1995) with Stanley Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponty
* Dance of Fire (1995) - Aziza Mustafa Zadeh
* The Guitar Trio (1996) with John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía
* Winter Nights (1999) - Roman Hrynkiv
* Inspiration - Colors & Reflections (2000) Aziza Mustafa Zadeh
* Nylon & Steel (2001) Manuel Barrueco
* The Running Roads (2001) with George Dalaras
* Black Utopia (2003) with Derek Sherinian
* Cosmopolitan Life (2005) with Leonid Agutin
* Midsummer Night In Sardinia (2005) with Andrea Parodi
* Mária (Égi szerelem) (2007) with Miklos Malek and Eszter Horgas
* The NYC Session: Beautiful Love (2007) with Eddie Gomez, Billy Drummond and Yutaka Kobayashi

As Producer

* Magic Touch (1985) Stanley Jordan

Return to Forever albums featuring Di Meola

* Where Have I Known You Before (1974, Polydor)
* No Mystery (1975, Polydor)
* Romantic Warrior (1976, Columbia)
(from Wikipedia)

Sam Totman

2009-04-30T05:32:00.000-07:00

Sam Totman is a guitarist and main songwriter for the power metal band DragonForce. Totman was born in England, but moved to New Zealand at an early age. He began playing classical guitar at the age of nine, receiving formal training for many years.

He was in the black metal band Demoniac, which featured his future DragonForce guitar partner Herman Li. During his time with Demoniac, Sam was usually referred to as Heimdall (Norse God of vigilance.) Demoniac struggled to make any real progress at all despite releasing three albums and re-locating to London. Due to this, Demoniac split sometime in late 1999, shortly after the album The Fire and the Wind was released. Most of the members went on to form power metal band DragonHeart, which later became known as DragonForce. Keyboardist Steve Williams and bassist Steve Scott left DragonHeart to form Power Quest who Sam recorded with on the first album, Wings of Forever and provided guest instrumentation on the following album, Neverworld.

Totman is the primary songwriter of DragonForce, writing both music and lyrics for a majority of their discography.

Totman is also known for his energetic live performances, as he usually pulls off several "stunts".

Gear

* Ibanez STM - Sam Totman Signature Model
* Ibanez VBT700 Custom V
* Jackson Custom Flying V
* Ibanez IC400 Iceman
* Ibanez Iceman ICT700
* Peavey XXX Cab
* Before Totman started playing Ibanez guitars, he used to play a Jackson RR3.
* When Totman first joined Dragonforce, he started playing a Kramer Vanguard.
(from Wikipedia)

Ian Antono

2009-04-30T05:29:00.000-07:00

Jusuf Antono Djojo or Ian Antono (born October 29, 1950, Malang, Indonesia) is an Indonesian guitarist and songwriter. He has collaborated with many other musicians, including Iwan Fals, Anggun Cipta Sasmi, Nicky Astria, Doel Sumbang, Gito Rollies, Ebiet G Ade and Ikang Fawzi, he is best-known as God Bless's lead guitarist since 1974. Other notable collaboration was Gong 2000, which was established in 1991 until 1996. Ian Antono also recognized as one of the very first rock guitarists in Indonesia.In 1999, Ian Antono was invited in a Formula-1 event, which was also a collaboration with G3 (Joe Satriani and Steve Vai) and rock legends, Jethro Tull.

Childhood

Ian Antono was born in Malang, East Java, Indonesia to Indonesian father and mother. Originally, he was interested in drumming and began to learn to play drums since his earlier years. However, later when he started to listen to The Shadows's music, he changed his mind and began to learn to play guitar.

Music Experiences

Earlier

In 1970, Ian Antono went to Jakarta and joined a band called Bentoel which was a session band for singer Emilia Contessa and Trio The King. Later, his popularity was increased while he gained many experiences that made him join his present band, God Bless.He lived his life mostly as a balinese musician performing balinese orchestral music.

Professional career

The first step into professional music career was when he joined an Indonesian legendary band called God Bless with Achmad Albar, Donny Fattah, Ian Antono, Yockie S. and Teddy Sujaya. With Ian, God Bless released Huma Di Atas Bukit (1975), Cermin (1980) and Semut Hitam (1989)and thanks to these albums, Ian's popularity jumped through the roof because at that time, rock music had not become an atmosphere in Indonesian music. So while God Bless pioneered rock music in Indonesia, Ian Antono lead the way into a new rock guitarist world.

However, soon after God Bless'last album in 1989, Ian Antono decided to form a band called Gong 2000 and released three albums, Timur (1991), Laskar (1994) and Prahara (1996).

His style of playing in Gong 2000 was different compared to when he was with God Bless. With Gong 2000, Ian tried to include Balinese music into most of his songs. This was followed by including at least 20 Balinese Dancers in his performances. Later, Ian decided work together again with God Bless in 1997 with another Indonesian guitarist, Eet Sjahranie. This concept of duo guitarists grabbed media and listeners' attention although the album "Apa Kabar?" was not a commercial success.

Other than becoming a lead guitarist for God Bless and Gong 2000, Ian has also written songs for numerous other singers. Some of them are notable Indonesian artistes, including but not limited to, Iwan Fals, Anggun C. Sasmi, Nicky Astria, Doel Sumbang, Gito Rollies, and Ikang Fawzi. Moreover, many songs that he has arranged for other musicians have become some of the most popular songs of their time, like Zakia and Panggung Sandiwara.

Equipments

Guitars

During his professional career, Ian has used so many guitars and he often varied the guitar that he uses. Some of the guitar models he has used are Hamer, Kramer Tracer, Fender Stratocaster, Ibanez JEM 77, Washburn N-4, Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, Ovation Elite, Gibson Chat Atkins, Martin CMF, Martin EST 12 strings and Seagull. Back in the story when Ian met Steve Vai at a Formula-1 event, Ian studied most Steve's equipments which he will not gain in Indonesia. Apparently, because of this reason, Ian has owned an Ibanez JEM77, a Steve Vai Ibanez series.

Amplifiers

* Mesa Boogie Strategy 400
* Marshall JCM 900 1960
* Trace Elliot AC-100
* Messa Boogie Quad
* Messa Boogie Tri Axis

Effects

* Roland GP8
* Harmonizer Eventide H-3000S

Awards

* BASF Award (1987 - 1988) for the best arranger and composer Terbaik for an album called Gersang (Nicky Astria).
* HDX Award (1989) for the song Buku Ini Aku Pinjam (Iwan Fals).
* BAFS Award (1989) For the album Bara Timur (Gong 2000) as The Best Selling Album and The Best Arranger & Composer.
* HDX Award (1994) for the album Laskar (Gong 2000) as The Best Album.
* Diamond Achievement Award (1995) for his dedication and success in music industry.

Tribute

His contributions and efforts in Indonesian music has made some Indonesian younger musicians to start a project called A Tribute To Ian Antono, which later an album was released with the same name. Some of the younger bands involved were EdanE, Sheila on 7, Padi, Gigi, Cokelat, Boomerang and /rif. Also there were many solo musicians involved, like Glenn Fredly, Audy and Achmad Albar, his fellow bandmate in God Bless.
(from Wikipedia)

Dimebag Darrell

2009-04-30T05:24:00.000-07:00

Darrell Lance Abbott, also known as "Diamond" Darrell, "Dimebag" Darrell, or simply "Dime" (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004) was an American guitarist. Best known as a founding member of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, he also performed in the country music band Rebel Meets Rebel.

Abbott frequently appeared in guitar magazines and in readers' polls, where he was often included in the top ten metal guitarist spots. In addition, he wrote a long-running Guitar World magazine column, which has been compiled in the book Riffer Madness. Remembered for his amiable nature and rapport with fans, critic Greg Prato describes Abbott as "one of the most influential stylists in modern metal." On December 8, 2004, Abbott was murdered onstage during a Damageplan performance at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio.

Biography

Early years

Darrell was born to Carolyn and Jerry Abbott, a country musician and producer. He took up guitar when he was 12, winning a series of local guitar competitions, where in one he was awarded his first Dean (later known as the ML styled guitar.) Coincidentally, his father had bought him a cherryburst finish Dean (ML) standard the morning before the competition, so he only had a few hours of playing time on it. These and another contest prize, his first Randall amplifier, are the two staples of his style and sound.

Pantera and Damageplan

Abbott formed Pantera in 1981 with his brother Vinnie Paul on drums. The band began in a glam metal style, but by the late '80s showed a greater influence from thrash metal acts such as Slayer, Megadeth, Exhorder and Metallica, as well as traditional metal bands such as Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. Pantera subsequently became a key formulator of the post-thrash subgenre of "groove" metal. It would not be until nine years after forming that Pantera saw its first piece of commercial success in its 1990 major label debut, Cowboys from Hell. Pantera's "groove" style came to fruition in its breakthrough album Vulgar Display of Power, released on February 25, 1992, which saw the replacement of the power metal falsetto vocals with a hardcore-influenced shouted delivery and heavier guitar sound. In 1994, Abbott dropped the nickname "Diamond Darrell" and assumed the nickname "Dimebag Darrell". Pantera began to suffer from mounting tensions between band members in the mid-1990s, largely due to Phil Anselmo's rampant drug abuse; in 2003, the group broke up. Anselmo left the band for other projects, such as Superjoint Ritual and Down.

After a year, brothers Vinnie and "Dimebag" formed Damageplan, a Heavy metal band which also used the Pantera-style groove metal sound. The Abbott brothers recruited former Halford guitarist Pat Lachman on vocals, and Bob Zilla on bass. Damageplan released its debut album New Found Power in the United States on February 10, 2004, which debuted at number 38 on the Billboard 200, selling 44,676 copies in its first week. When writing music for the new group, "Dimebag" said that "we wanted to stretch out and expand our capabilities to their fullest."

Other projects

Shortly before singer Phil Anselmo joined Pantera, Abbott was invited to join Dave Mustaine's thrash band Megadeth. Abbott was willing to join, but on the condition that Mustaine also hired his brother Vinnie on drums. As Mustaine had already hired drummer Nick Menza, Abbott stayed with Pantera. In 1992 Pantera teamed up with Rob Halford (of Judas Priest) for a track called 'Light Comes Out of Black'. Abbott played all the guitar parts, Rex Brown played bass, Vinnie Paul played drums, Rob Halford sang lead vocals while Philip Anselmo sang backing vocals. This song was released on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer soundtrack on July 28, 1992. In 1996 Abbott contributed the Ace Frehley song 'Fractured Mirror' to the Ace tribute album Spacewalk: A Salute To Ace Frehley. Then in 1997 a new Ace Frehley tribute album called Return Of The Comet: A Tribute To Ace Frehley was released. The two Abbott brothers covered Ace's song 'Snowblind' on track 7. On and off between 1996 and the formation of Damageplan, the Abbott brothers and Pantera bassist Rex Brown teamed up with country singer David Allan Coe for a project called Rebel Meets Rebel in 2000. The album was released May 2, 2006 on Vinnie's "Big Vin Records" label.

Abbott played guest guitar solos on several Anthrax songs from their John Bush era: "King Size" & "Riding Shotgun" from Stomp 442, "Inside Out" & "Born Again Idiot" from Volume 8: The Threat Is Real, "Strap It On" and "Cadillac Rock Box" (with a voice intro from Dimebag as well) from We've Come for You All. In a recent interview Anthrax bassist Frank Bello said "Darrell was basically the sixth member of Anthrax". Abbott also performed a solo on the titular track from King Diamond's Voodoo album. A sample from a guitar solo by Abbott was used in the Nickelback song "Side of a Bullet" and also played guitar on Nickelback's cover of Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting along with Kid Rock. In 1999, Pantera recorded a theme tune for their favourite ice hockey team, The Dallas Stars, called 'Puck-Off'. The song was eventually released in 2003 on the album 'Dallas Stars: Greatest Hits'. In 2000 Abbott played the guitar solo on Believer for the new Randy Rhoads Tribute album (not the Ozzy Osbourne album). Vocals were by Sebastian Bach, Rhythm Guitars were by Kane Roberts, Drums were by Michael Cartellone and the Bass was by Mike Bringardello. This was the only track that Abbott contributed to on this album.

Shortly before Abbott's death, he went into the studio with a band named Premenishen to do a guest solo on a track titled "Eyes of the South." He was also confirmed as one of the original guitar player choices for Liquid Tension Experiment by Mike Portnoy. Abbott's musical roots were in Country Western music; he supported the local music scene in Dallas and would sometimes record with local musicians. He played in a country band called Rebel Meets Rebel with country performer David Allan Coe. Three of Abbott's solos from Pantera songs ranked among Guitar World magazine's top 100 of all-time: "Walk" (#57), "Cemetery Gates" (#35), and "Floods" (#15). In December 2006 a rare track of one of his collaborations was discovered. Abbott sat in on a recording session with local Dallas musician "Throbbin Donnie" Rodd and recorded "Country Western Transvestite Whore". It features Dimebag on lead guitar and lead vocals.Abbott and his brother Vinnie Paul along with Rex (during the Pantera Era) and Bob Zilla (Damageplan Era) performed at their New Years party every year under the name "Gasoline", which was originally and previously a project involving Dimebag and Vinnie plus Thurber T. Mingus of Pumpjack. Stroker of Pumpjack also played with Gasoline on several occasions. Dimebag, Vinnie and Rex also recorded a cover of the ZZ Top song "Heard It on the X" under the band name "Tres Diablos" for ECW wrestling's "Extreme Music" soundtrack.

Death

On December 8, 2004, while performing with Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Abbott was shot onstage by a mentally ill former US Marine named Nathan Gale. Abbott was shot five times in the back of the head, killing him instantly. Damageplan's drum technician, John "Kat" Brooks, and tour manager, Chris Paluska, were injured. Gale fired a total of fifteen shots, taking the time to reload once, and remaining silent throughout the shooting. To avoid being injured or killed himself, Abbott's brother and bandmate, Vinnie Paul, hid in the kitchen in the back of the club. Jeff "Mayhem" Thompson on security detail was also killed in the incident, as well as Alrosa Villa employee Erin Halk and audience member Nathan Bray.

Brooks was scuffling with Gale onstage but was overpowered and taken hostage in a headlock position. Brooks was shot several times (once in the right hand, his right leg, and his right side) while attempting to get the gun away from Gale. Five officers came in the front entrance led by officer Rick Crum, and moved toward the stage. Officer James D. Niggemeyer came in through the back door, behind the stage. Gale only saw the officers in front of the stage; he never saw Officer Niggemeyer. When the hostage moved his head, Officer Niggemeyer killed Gale by shooting him in the face with a police-issued 12 gauge Remington 870 shotgun. Gale was found to have 35 rounds of ammunition remaining. Nurse and audience member Mindy Reece, 28, went to the aid of Abbott. She and another fan administered CPR until paramedics arrived, but were unable to revive him.

In May 2005, Officer Niggemeyer testified before the Franklin County grand jury, which is routine procedure in Franklin County after a police shooting. The grand jury did not indict Niggemeyer, finding that his actions were justified. Niggemeyer received a commendation from the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission for his outstanding police work in time of crisis as well as the National Rifle Association award as 2005 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. The five other officers that were first on the scene received Ohio distinguished law enforcement medals for their efforts. In 2006 James Niggemeyer penned the foreword to a book written about the event A Vulgar Display of Power: Courage and Carnage at the Alrosa Villa.

Early theories of motive suggested that Gale may have turned to violence in response to the breakup of Pantera, or the public dispute between Abbott and Pantera singer Phil Anselmo, but these were later ruled out by investigators. Another theory was that Gale believed Abbott had stolen a song Gale wrote. In the A Vulgar Display Of Power book, several of Gale's personal writings, given to the author by Gale's mother, suggest that the gunman was not angry about Pantera's breakup or about a belief that Pantera had "stolen songs"; instead, the documents suggest that Gale's paranoid schizophrenia caused delusions that the band could read his mind, and that they were "stealing" his thoughts and laughing at him.

Abbott's grave is located at the Moore Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Arlington, Texas. He is buried alongside his mother. He was buried with Eddie Van Halen's Charvel Hybrid VH2 a.k.a. Bumblebee - Van Halen's black and yellow Frankenstrat That was the actual guitar pictured with Eddie on the cover of the album Van Halen II - because Dimebag had asked for one in 2004 before he was shot.

Influences and guitar skills

Abbott once said in a Guitar World interview that if there was no Ace Frehley, there would have been no "Dimebag" Darrell - he even had a tattoo of the "KISS" guitarist on his chest (in an interview asking why he chose to become a guitar player Abbott said that when he was young his father asked him if he wanted a BMX bike or a guitar for his birthday and he chose the BMX but after listening to a Black Sabbath album for the first time he went to his father to try and trade the bike for the guitar). Ace signed the tattoo in pen ink upon meeting him, at Dimebag's request, and then the autograph was painstakingly tattooed over soon after, so as never to be washed off.

Abbott was also an avid consumer of alcoholic beverages, as exemplified by his invention of a cocktail. The drink consists of one shot of "Crown Royal" whiskey, and generally with or accepted without an additional shot of Seagrams 7 whiskey, with a 'dash' of just enough Coca-Cola to darken the whiskey's color known as the "Black Tooth Grin".

In the late 1980s, around the time of Power Metal, Abbott often covered songs by guitarist Joe Satriani, such as "Crushing Day". He also incorporated elements of Satriani songs like "Echo" into his live solos as well. Abbott stated, in various interviews, that his riffs were largely influenced by Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath. Tony also influenced Dimebag's tunings, which often went down to C# or lower. Pantera covered Black Sabbath songs "Planet Caravan", "Paranoid", "Hole In the Sky" and "Electric Funeral."

He also cited thrash giants Anthrax, Metallica and, despite a sometimes vicious feud, Megadeth as primary influences. He was also a great fan of Slayer and a good friend of Kerry King. Dimebag mentioned in an interview with Guitar World that the clean chord passages in the intro to Cemetery Gates were influenced by the clean chordal passages found in much of Ty Tabor's (King's X) playing.[citation needed] As with Gibbons, Abbott frequently made use of pentatonic scales and slide guitar in both his leads and rhythms. Both guitarists employ blues scales, start / stop dynamics and pedal tones, as in Dimebag's southern style riff in "The Great Southern Trendkill", and the main riff to ZZ Top's "Tush". Randy Rhoads' style chord arpeggios can be heard in much of Dimebag's playing as well, noted examples being "Floods", "Shedding Skin", "The Sleep", and "This Love". He also stated that "Eddie Van Halen was heavy rock and roll, but Randy was heavy metal".

Eddie Van Halen, whom Abbott had recently befriended, placed his original black with yellow stripes guitar (commonly called "bumblebee") into the Kiss Kasket. Abbott had mentioned to Ed that he liked that color combination the best of Ed's guitars (this guitar appears on the back sleeve of Van Halen's second album "Van Halen II"), and Eddie was going to paint one that way for him. Darrell also credited Vito Rulez of Chauncy for convincing him to try Bill Lawrence pickups. According to an interview with Dino Cazares then of Fear Factory Abbott told him that during the recording of Reinventing the Steel he A/B'd his guitar tone with Dino's (incidentally during the making of Fear Factory's Demanufacture Cazares A/B'd his guitar tone against that of Vulgar Display of Power). Abbott co-designed a guitar with Dean just months before his death. Called the Razorback, it was a modified version of the ML. It is more pointed and has extra barbs on the wings. This design spawned variations, such as a 24-fret version, different paint jobs including a flamed maple top with natural finish, EMG pickups, and also helped with the design of the V-shaped version, the Razorback V (lacking the neck-pointing front wing).

Pete Willis of Def Leppard was also seen another major influence for Darrell. On his Guitar World magazine tribute issue, Abbott was quoted as saying, "Man, that first Leppard album really jams, and their original guitarist, Pete Willis, was a great player. I was inspired by him because I was a small young dude and he was a small young dude, too—and he was out there kickin’ ass. He made me want to get out there and play. Def Leppard used the two-guitar thing much more back then than they do now."

Dean issued a tribute guitar to honor his death, featuring the tribute logo on the neck, a razor inlay on the 12th fret, and hand-painted "rusty-metal"-style graphics. The pickups include a Dimebucker at the Bridge and a DiMarzio Super Distortion at the neck, the tremolo is a Floyd Rose double-locking, and the knobs are the Dimebag Traction knobs. They use all-black hardware, and almost all of them have 22 frets, a Floyd Rose tremolo, Seymour Duncan pickups (including the SH-13 Dimebucker), and set-neck construction.

Magazine appearances

Abbott frequently appeared in guitar magazines, both in advertisements for equipment he endorsed and in readers' polls, where he was often included in the top ten metal guitarist spots. In addition, he wrote a long-running Guitar World magazine column, which has been compiled in the book Riffer Madness (ISBN 0-7692-9101-5). As well, he was voted into the Guitar World Hall of Fame.

Total Guitar frequently featured him and wrote about him in the months leading up to his death. One year after his death, they made a tribute issue. The January 2008 issue of Metal Hammer was also dedicated to him. In the March 2008 issue of Guitar World Abbott was featured on the cover story "Dimebag, The Untold Story," and interviews with his then-guitar techs Grady Champion and Rita Haney, and Vinnie Paul Abbott.

Tributes

* Papa Roach's song "Life is a bullet" was dedicated to Dimebag
* Hellyeah's song "Thank You" is dedicated to Dimebag
* True Metal Conspiracy's (TMC) song "Live Fast Die Young"
* Nickelback's song "Side of a Bullet" is dedicated to Dimebag
* Hatebreed's "Last Breath"
* Avenged Sevenfold's song "Betrayed"
* Nickelback's "Side of a Bullet" (featuring a solo played by Abbott taken from a demo tape)
* Cross Canadian Ragweed's "Dimebag"
* Black Label Society's "In This River"
* Kiuas' "Bleeding Strings"
* In Flames played part of Fucking Hostile which lead straight into Behind Space on their 2004 tour at Sticky Fingers
* Type O Negative's "Halloween in Heaven"
* Machine Head's "Aesthetics of Hate"
* 2Cents' "A Song For Darrell Abbott" is about or dedicated to Dimebag
* Shinedown and Seether have both dedicated their respective songs "Simple Man" and "Fine Again" to Abbott in concert while Seether has also included the intro, first verse and chorus of the Pantera hit "Cowboys From Hell" in place of the bridge of their song "Because of Me".
* Trivium's album, The Crusade, says at the bottom of the final page, "Rest in peace Dimebag Darrell Abbott (1966-2004)"
* Disturbed in their 2005 release Ten Thousand Fists stated: "We would like to dedicate this record to the memory of our late fallen brother, Dimebag Darrell, one of the greatest guitar players to ever walk the face of this Earth"
* In a Limp Bizkit song "The Priest" in 2005 you hear the lyrics "I see someone in rage killing Dimebag on stage, what the fuck is this...".
* Guitarist Buckethead wrote "Dime", a song paying tribute to Abbott, which was available for free download shortly after Abbott's death. The song later made it onto Buckethead's album Kaleidoscalp, entitled "The Android of Notre Dame".
* Brian Head Welch performed "Letter to Dimebag" at 2006.
* On some occasions Fear Factory, Disturbed, Godsmack, Sinergy, Avenged Sevenfold, and country artist Eric Church have played Pantera’s "Walk" as a tribute.
* Lamb Of God and Killswitch Engage while touring together, both band went out on stage and played 5 Minutes Alone in tribute.
* GWAR played a concert on the night of Dimebag's passing without their costumes on.
* Bullet For My Valentine also did a cover of the Pantera song "Domination".
* Phil Anselmo's current band Down has also dedicated the song "Lifer" to Dime on their most recent tour.
* Chambers of Insanity's "Blacktooth Grin" by is dedicated to the life of Dimebag ("Blacktooth" Grin was Dimebag's favorite alcoholic beverage).
* At one show during Gigantour 2005 in Dallas, Texas, Dream Theater performed a cover of "Cemetery Gates" along with Russell Allen of Symphony X, Burton C. Bell of Fear Factory, and Dave Mustaine of Megadeth as a tribute to Dimebag.
* He Came to Rock is a DVD/book tribute to Abbott released in November 2008. Darrell's brother Vinnie Paul and father Jerry toured to promote the book's release.
* On August 20th, 2007 Randy Blythe dedicated Lamb of God's Ozzfest set to "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott in memory of what would have been his 41st birthday. The show occurred at the Tweeter Center (now known as the Comcast Center for the Performing Arts) in Mansfield, MA.
* Metallica dedicated the song "Fade to Black" to Dimebag whilst perfoming on the Ozzfest bill in October 2008 in Dallas, Texas
* After his death, Eddie Van Halen, remembering a request by Abbott, made a custom model of his signature Frankenstrat, this time yellow and black, and buried it with Abbott
* North Carolina Thrash Metal band Final Curse's instrumental "Never Gone (Our Fallen Brother)" is dedicated to Dimebag, and features many of his signature guitar techniques.
* Rebel Circus Cover a Pantera song nightly in honor of the late great Dimebag Darrell

Discography and filmography

Abbott performed on Anthrax albums, including Stomp 442 (1995); Volume 8: The Threat Is Real (1998); the Inside Out EP (1998) and We've Come for You All (2003). With Damageplan, Abbott played on the Devastation Sampler (2003) and on the album New Found Power (2004). With Pantera, Abbott recorded a number of albums, EPs, singles, and videos, including Power Metal (1988); Cowboys from Hell (1990); Vulgar Display of Power (1992); and Hostile Moments (1994). He also recorded albums under his own name, including Country Western Transvestite Whore and Supercop Soundtrack (1996) and he recorded a country music album entitled Rebel Meets Rebel (2004).
(from Wikipedia)

Kurt Cobain

2009-04-30T05:16:00.000-07:00

Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – c. April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the band Nirvana.

With the lead single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from Nirvana's second album Nevermind (1991), Nirvana entered into the mainstream, popularizing a subgenre of alternative rock called grunge. Other Seattle grunge bands such as Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden also gained wider audiences, and as a result, alternative rock became a dominant genre on radio and music television in the United States during the early-to-middle 1990s. Nirvana became the "flagship band" of "Generation X," and Cobain, as its frontman, found himself annointed by the media as the generation's "spokesman." Cobain, uncomfortable with the attention, placed his focus on the music. Believing the band's message and artistic vision to have been misinterpreted, he challenged the audience with In Utero (1993), the group's third studio album.

During the last several years of his life, Cobain struggled with drug addiction as well as the professional and personal pressures surrounding himself and his wife, musician Courtney Love. On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle, the victim of what was officially ruled a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. The circumstances of his death have become a topic of fascination and debate.

Biography

Early life

Kurt Cobain was born to Donald and Wendy Cobain on February 20, 1967 in Aberdeen, Washington and spent his first six months living in the city of Hoquiam. Washington before the family moved to Aberdeen. His father of Irish and French descent, and his mother Irish, German and English. He began developing an interest in music early in his life. According to his Aunt Mari, "He was singing from the time he was two. He would sing Beatles songs like 'Hey Jude'. He had a lot of charisma from a very young age."
A photograph of Cobain from a school yearbook; the picture was handed out at his memorial service.

Cobain's parents divorced when he was eight, an event which he later said had a profound impact on his life. His mother noted that his personality changed dramatically, with Cobain becoming more withdrawn. In a 1993 interview, Cobain said, "I remember feeling ashamed, for some reason. I was ashamed of my parents. I couldn't face some of my friends at school anymore, because I desperately wanted to have the classic, you know, typical family. Mother, father. I wanted that security, so I resented my parents for quite a few years because of that." After a year spent living with his mother following the divorce, Cobain moved to Montesano, Washington to live with his father, but after a few years his youthful rebellion became too overwhelming for his father and he was shuffled between friends and family.

At school, Cobain took little interest in sports. At his father's insistence, he joined the junior high wrestling team. While he was good at it, he despised the experience because of the abuse he received from his teammates. Later, his father signed him up for a local baseball league, where Cobain would intentionally strike out to avoid having to play. Instead, Cobain focused on his art courses. He often drew during classes, including objects associated with human anatomy. Cobain was friends with a gay student at his school, sometimes suffering bullying from homophobic students who concluded that Cobain was gay. In a 1993 interview with The Advocate, Cobain claimed that he was "gay in spirit" and "probably could be bisexual." He also stated that he used to spray paint "God is Gay" on pickup trucks around Aberdeen. However, Aberdeen police records show that the phrase for which he was arrested was actually "Ain't got no how watchamacallit." In one of his personal journals, Cobain wrote, "I am not gay, although I wish I were, just to piss off homophobes." As a teenager growing up in small-town Washington, Cobain eventually found escape through the thriving Pacific Northwest punk scene, going to punk rock shows in Seattle. Eventually, Cobain began frequenting the practice space of fellow Montesano musicians The Melvins.

In the middle of 10th grade, Cobain moved back in with his mother in Aberdeen. Two weeks before graduation, he dropped out of high school after realizing that he did not have enough credits to graduate. His mother gave him a choice: get a job or leave. After a week or so, Cobain found his clothes and other belongings packed away in boxes. Forced out of his mother's home, Cobain often stayed at friends' houses and sneaked into his mother's basement occasionally.Cobain later claimed that when he could not find anywhere else to stay, he lived under a bridge over the Wishkah River,experience that inspired the Nevermind track "Something in the Way." However, Krist Novoselic said, "He hung out there, but you couldn't live on those muddy banks, with the tides coming up and down. That was his own revisionism."

In late 1986, Cobain, for the first time, found his own place and paid his rent by working at a coastal resort 20 miles from Aberdeen. At the same time, he was traveling more frequently to Olympia, Washington to check out rock shows. During his visits to Olympia, Cobain started a relationship with Tracy Marander.

Nirvana

For his 14th birthday, Cobain's uncle gave him the option of a guitar or a bicycle as a gift; Cobain chose the guitar. He started learning a few covers, including AC/DC's "Back in Black" and The Cars' "My Best Friend's Girl", and soon began working on his own songs.

In high school, Cobain rarely found anyone with whom he could play music. While hanging out at the Melvins practice space, he met Krist Novoselic, a fellow devotee of punk rock. Novoselic's mother owned a hair salon and Cobain and Novoselic would occasionally practice in the upstairs room. A few years later, Cobain tried to convince Novoselic to form a band with him by lending him a copy of a home demo recorded by Cobain's earlier band, Fecal Matter. After months of asking, Novoselic finally agreed to join Cobain, forming the beginnings of Nirvana.

During their first few years playing together, Novoselic and Cobain were hosts to a rotating list of drummers. Eventually, the band settled on Chad Channing, with whom Nirvana recorded the album Bleach, released on Sub Pop Records in 1989. Cobain, however, became dissatisfied with Channing's style, leading the band to seek out a replacement, eventually settling on Dave Grohl. With Grohl, the band found their greatest success via their 1991 major-label debut, Nevermind.

Cobain struggled to reconcile the massive success of Nirvana with his underground roots. He also felt persecuted by the media, comparing himself to Frances Farmer. Then he harbored resentment for people who claimed to be fans of the band but who completely missed the band's politics.

A vocal opponent of sexism and homophobia, Cobain was proud that Nirvana had played at a gay rights benefit supporting No on Nine in Oregon in 1992 and had been involved in Rock for Choice from the campaign inception by L7. An article from his posthumously released Journals declares that social liberation could be made possible only through the eradication of sexism.

Marriage

Courtney Love first saw Cobain perform in 1989 at a show in Portland, Oregon; the pair talked briefly after the show and Love developed a crush on him. According to journalist Everett True, the pair were formally introduced at an L7 and Butthole Surfers concert in Los Angeles in May 1991.In the weeks that followed, after learning from Dave Grohl that she and Cobain shared mutual crushes, Love began pursuing Cobain. After a few weeks of on-again, off-again courtship in the fall of 1991, the two found themselves together on a regular basis, often bonding through drug use.

Around the time of Nirvana's 1992 performance on Saturday Night Live, Love discovered that she was pregnant with Cobain's child. A few days after the conclusion of Nirvana's Pacific Rim tour, on Monday, February 24, 1992, Cobain and Love married on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii; Cobain noted weeks later that, "In the last couple months I've gotten engaged and my attitude has changed drastically," Cobain said in an interview with Sassy magazine. "I can't believe how much happier I am. At times I even forget that I'm in a band, I'm so blinded by love. I know that sounds embarrassing, but it's true. I could give up the band right now. It doesn't matter, but I'm under contract." On August 18, the couple's daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, was born.

In a 1992 article in Vanity Fair, Love admitted to using heroin while, unknowingly, pregnant. Love claimed that Vanity Fair had misquoted her,but the event created controversy for the couple. While Cobain and Love's romance had always been something of a media attraction, the couple found themselves hounded by tabloid reporters after the article was published, many wanting to know if Frances was addicted to drugs at birth. The Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services took the Cobains to court, claiming that the couple's drug usage made them unfit parents.Two-week-old Frances Bean Cobain was ordered by the judge to be taken from their custody and placed with Courtney's sister Jamie for several weeks, after which the couple obtained custody, but had to submit to urine tests and a regular visit from a social worker. After months of legal wrangling, the couple were eventually granted full custody of their daughter.

Drug addiction

Throughout most of his life, Cobain suffered from chronic bronchitis and intense physical pain due to an undiagnosed chronic stomach condition. This last condition was especially debilitating to him emotionally, and he spent years trying to find its cause. However, none of the doctors he consulted were able to pinpoint the specific cause, guessing that it was either a result of Cobain's childhood scoliosis or related to the stresses of performing.

His first drug experience was with marijuana in 1980 at age 13, and regulary used the drug during adulthood. Cobain also had a period of consuming "notable" amounts of LSD, as observed by Tracy Marander., and "really into getting fucked up;drugs, acid, any kind of drug", as observed by Krist Novoselic. And was prone to alcoholism and solvent abuse.Cobain's first experience with heroin occurred sometime in 1986, administered to him by a local drug dealer in Tacoma, Washington, who had previously been supplying him with Percodan. Cobain used heroin sporadically for several years, but, by the end of 1990, his use developed into a full-fledged addiction. Cobain claimed that he was "determined to get a habit" as a way to self-medicate his stomach condition. Related Cobain, "It started with three days in a row of doing heroin and I don't have a stomach pain. That was such a relief."

His heroin use eventually began affecting the band's tour in support of Nevermind, with Cobain passing out during photo shoots. One memorable example came the day of the band's 1992 performance on Saturday Night Live, where Nirvana had a shoot with photographer Michael Levine. Having shot up beforehand, Cobain nodded off several times during the shoot. Cobain related to biographer Michael Azerrad, "I mean, what are they supposed to do? They're not going to be able to tell me to stop. So I really didn't care. Obviously to them it was like practicing witchcraft or something. They didn't know anything about it so they thought that any second, I was going to die."

Cobain's heroin addiction worsened as the years progressed. Cobain made his first attempt at rehab in early 1992, not long after he and Love discovered they were going to become parents. Immediately after leaving rehab, Nirvana embarked on their Australian tour, with Cobain appearing pale and gaunt while suffering through withdrawals. Not long after returning home, Cobain's heroin use resumed.

Prior to a performance at the New Music Seminar in New York City in July 1993, Cobain suffered a heroin overdose. Rather than calling for an ambulance, Love injected Cobain with illegally acquired Narcan to bring him out of his unconscious state. Cobain proceeded to perform with Nirvana, giving the public no indication that anything out of the ordinary had taken place.

Death

Following a tour stop at Terminal Eins in Munich, Germany, on March 1, 1994, Cobain was diagnosed with bronchitis and severe laryngitis. He flew to Rome the next day for medical treatment, and was joined there by his wife on March 3. The next morning, Love awoke to find that Cobain had overdosed on a combination of champagne and Rohypnol (Love had a prescription for Rohypnol filled after arriving in Rome). Cobain was immediately rushed to the hospital, and spent the rest of the day unconscious. After five days in the hospital, Cobain was released and returned to Seattle. Love later stated that the incident was Cobain's first suicide attempt.

On March 18, Love phoned police to inform them that Cobain was suicidal and had locked himself in a room with a gun. Police arrived and confiscated several guns and a bottle of pills from Cobain, who insisted that he was not suicidal and had locked himself in the room to hide from Love. When questioned by police, Love said that Cobain had never mentioned that he was suicidal and that she had not seen him with a gun.

Love arranged an intervention concerning Cobain's drug use that took place on March 25. The ten people involved included musician friends, record company executives, and one of Cobain's closest friends, Dylan Carlson. But bassist Krist Novoselic tipped him off as he considered the idea to be "stupid". However, by the end of the day, Cobain had agreed to undergo a detox program. Cobain arrived at the Exodus Recovery Center in Los Angeles, California on March 30. The following night, Cobain walked outside to have a cigarette, then climbed over a six-foot-high fence to leave the facility. He took a taxi to Los Angeles Airport and flew back to Seattle. Over the course of April 2 and April 3, Cobain was spotted in various locations around Seattle, but most of his friends and family were unaware of his whereabouts. On April 3, Love contacted a private investigator, Tom Grant, and hired him to find Cobain. On April 7, amid rumors Nirvana was going to break up, the band pulled out of that year's Lollapalooza music festival.

On April 8, 1994, Cobain's body was discovered at his Lake Washington home by an electrician who had arrived to install a security system. Apart from a minor amount of blood coming out of Cobain's ear, the electrician reported seeing no visible signs of trauma, and initially believed that Cobain was asleep until he saw the shotgun pointing at his chin. A suicide note was found that said, "I haven't felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing . . . for too many years now". A high concentration of heroin and traces of Valium were also found in his body. Cobain's body had been lying there for days; the coroner's report estimated Cobain to have died on April 5, 1994.

A public vigil was held for Cobain on April 10 at a park at Seattle Center which drew approximately seven thousand mourners.Prerecorded messages by Krist Novoselic and Courtney Love were played at the memorial. Love read portions of Cobain's suicide note to the crowd and broke down, crying and chastising Cobain. Near the end of the vigil, Love arrived at the park and distributed some of Cobain's clothing to those who still remained.

Musical influences

Cobain was a devoted champion of early alternative rock acts. His interest in the underground started when Buzz Osborne of the Melvins let him borrow a tape with songs by punk bands such as Black Flag, Flipper, and Millions of Dead Cops. He would often make reference to his favorite bands in interviews, often placing a greater importance on the bands that influenced him than on his own music. Interviews with Cobain were often littered with references to obscure performers like The Vaselines, The Melvins, Daniel Johnston, The Meat Puppets, Young Marble Giants, The Wipers, Flipper, Butthole Surfers, Captain Beefheart, and The Raincoats. His musical tastes were not limited simply to Western acts as Cobain expressed his admiration for Japanese rock bands such Shonen Knife. Cobain also noted the influence of the Pixies, and commented that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" bore some similarities to their sound. Cobain told Melody Maker in 1992 that hearing Surfer Rosa for the first time convinced him to abandon his more Black Flag-influenced songwriting in favor of the "Iggy Pop / Aerosmith" type songwriting that appeared on Nevermind.

The Beatles were an early and important musical influence on Cobain. Cobain expressed a particular fondness for John Lennon, whom he called his "idol" in his journals. Cobain once related that he wrote "About a Girl" after spending three hours listening to Meet The Beatles!.He was heavily influenced by punk rock and hardcore punk, and often credited bands such as Black Flag and the Sex Pistols for his artistic style and attitude.

Even with all of Cobain's indie influences, Nirvana's early style was influenced by the major rock bands of the '70s, including Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Queen, and Kiss. In its early days, Nirvana made a habit of regularly playing cover songs by those bands, including Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song", "Dazed and Confused", "Heartbreaker", Black Sabbath's "Hand of Doom" and made a studio recording of Kiss' "Do You Love Me?". Cobain also talked about the influence of bands like The Knack, Boston, and The Bay City Rollers.

There were also earlier influences: Nirvana's MTV Unplugged concert ended with a version of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night", a song popularized by blues artist Lead Belly, whom Cobain called one of his favorite performers. Critic Greil Marcus suggested that Cobain's "Polly" was a descendant of "Pretty Polly", a murder ballad that might have been a century old when Dock Boggs recorded it in 1927.

Cobain also made efforts to include his favorite performers in his musical endeavors. At the 1991 Reading Festival, Eugene Kelly of the Vaselines joined Nirvana onstage for a duet of "Molly's Lips", which Cobain would later proclaim to be one of the greatest moments of his life. In 1993, when he decided that he wanted a second guitarist to help him on stage, he recruited Pat Smear of the legendary L.A. punk band The Germs. When rehearsals of three Meat Puppets covers for Nirvana's 1993 performance for MTV Unplugged went awry, Cobain placed a call to the two lead members of the band, Curt and Cris Kirkwood, who ended up joining the band on stage to perform the songs. Cobain also contributed backing guitar for a spoken word William S. Burroughs recording entitled "the "Priest" they called him".

Where Sonic Youth had served to help Nirvana gain wider success, Nirvana attempted to help other indie acts attain success. The band submitted the song "Oh, the Guilt" to a split single with Chicago's The Jesus Lizard, helping Nirvana's indie credibility while opening The Jesus Lizard to a wider audience.

Legacy
The bench in Viretta Park has become a notable memorial to Cobain.
In 2005, a sign was put up in Aberdeen, Washington that reads "Welcome to Aberdeen - Come As You Are" as a tribute to Cobain.

In the years following his death, Cobain is now often remembered as one of the most iconic rock musicians in the history of alternative music. In 2005, a sign was put up in Aberdeen, Washington that read "Welcome to Aberdeen - Come As You Are" as a tribute to Cobain. The sign was paid for and created by the Kurt Cobain Memorial Committee, a non-profit organization created in May 2004 to honor Cobain. The Committee also planned to create a Kurt Cobain Memorial Park and a youth center in Aberdeen.

As Cobain has no gravesite (he was cremated, with his ashes scattered into the Wishkah River in Washington), many Nirvana fans visit Viretta Park, near Cobain's former Lake Washington home, to pay tribute. On the anniversary of his death, fans gather in the park to celebrate his life and memory.

Gus Van Sant based his 2005 movie Last Days on what might have happened in the final hours of Cobain's life. In January 2007, Courtney Love began to shop the biography Heavier Than Heaven to various movie studios in Hollywood to turn the book into an A-list feature film about Cobain and Nirvana.

Books and films on Cobain

Prior to Cobain's death, writer Michael Azerrad published Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, a book that chronicled Nirvana's career from its beginning, as well as the personal histories of the band members. The book explored Cobain's drug addiction, as well as the countless controversies surrounding the band. After Cobain's death, Azerrad re-published the book to include a final chapter discussing the last year of Cobain's life. The book is notable for its involvement of the band members themselves, who gave interviews and personal information to Azerrad specifically for the book. In 2006, Azerrad's taped conversations with Cobain were transformed into a documentary about Cobain, titled Kurt Cobain About a Son.

In the 1998 documentary Kurt & Courtney, filmmaker Nick Broomfield investigated Tom Grant's claim that Cobain was actually murdered, and took a film crew to visit a number of people associated with Cobain and Love, including Love's father, Cobain's aunt, and one of the couple's former nannies. Broomfield also spoke to Mentors bandleader Eldon "El Duce" Hoke, who claimed that Love had offered him $50,000 to kill Cobain. Although Hoke claimed that he knew who killed Cobain, he failed to mention a name, and offered no evidence to support his assertion. Broomfield inadvertently captured Hoke's last interview, as he died days later, reportedly hit by a train while drunk. In the end, however, Broomfield felt he hadn't uncovered enough evidence to conclude the existence of a conspiracy. In a 1998 interview, Broomfield summed it up by saying, "I think that he committed suicide. I don't think that there's a smoking gun. And I think there's only one way you can explain a lot of things around his death. Not that he was murdered, but that there was just a lack of caring for him. I just think that Courtney had moved on, and he was expendable."

Journalists Ian Halperin and Max Wallace took a similar path and attempted to investigate the conspiracy for themselves. Their initial work, the 1999 book Who Killed Kurt Cobain? argued that, while there wasn't enough evidence to prove a conspiracy, there was more than enough to demand that the case be reopened. A notable element of the book included their discussions with Grant, who had taped nearly every conversation that he had undertaken while he was in Love's employ. Over the next several years, Halperin and Wallace collaborated with Grant to write a second book, 2004's Love and Death: The Murder of Kurt Cobain.

In 2001, writer Charles R. Cross published a biography of Cobain titled Heavier Than Heaven. For the book, Cross conducted over 400 interviews, and was given access by Courtney Love to Cobain's journals, lyrics, and diaries.In 2002, a sampling of Cobain's writings was published as Journals. The book is 280 pages with a simple black cover; the pages are arranged somewhat chronologically (although Cobain generally did not date them). The journal pages are reproduced in color, and there is a section added at the back that has explanations and transcripts of some of the less legible pages. The writings begin in the late 1980s and were continued until his death. A paperback version of the book, released in 2003, included a handful of writings that were not offered in the initial release. In the journals, Cobain talked about the ups and downs of life on the road, made lists of what music he was enjoying, and often scribbled down lyric ideas for future reference. Upon its release, reviewers and fans were conflicted about the collection. Many were elated to be able to learn more about Cobain and read his inner thoughts in his own words, but were disturbed by what was viewed as an invasion of his privacy.

In 2003, Omnibus Press released Godspeed: The Kurt Cobain Graphic. It was written by Jim McCarthy and Barnaby Legg with illustrations by Flameboy. It depicts Cobain's life, but is not a factual biography. Rather, it uses artistic license to tell Cobain's story from his own point of view.

In 2007, the tapes that Michael Azerrad recorded to use in his book, Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana were made into a documentery entitled Kurt Cobain: About a Son. Though this film does not feature any music by Nirvana, it has songs by the artists that inspired Cobain.
(from Wikipedia)

Eric Johnson

2009-04-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

Eric Johnson (born August 17, 1954) is an American guitarist and recording artist from Austin, Texas. Best known for his success in the instrumental rock format, Johnson regularly incorporates jazz, fusion, New Age, and country and western elements into his recordings.

Guitar Player magazine calls Johnson "One of the most respected guitarists on the planet." Johnson composes and plays not just instrumental songs, but also sings and plays piano.

Widely recognized for his guitar skills, Johnson's stylistic diversity and technical proficiency have drawn praise from Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton, Allan Holdsworth, Larry Carlton, Steve Morse, Billy Gibbons, Johnny Winter, Jeff Baxter, Prince, B. B. King, Rusty Burns, Joe Satriani and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan. His critically-acclaimed, platinum selling 1990 recording Ah Via Musicom produced the single "Cliffs of Dover," for which Johnson won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

Life and career

Johnson's talent developed at an early age. Born into a musically inclined family, he and his three sisters studied piano, his brother started his own band in his teens; his father (an Austin physician) was a singing enthusiast. At age 11, Johnson took up the guitar and progressed rapidly through the music of his influences: Eric Clapton, Chet Atkins, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Wes Montgomery, Jerry Reed, Bob Dylan, and Django Reinhardt, among others. His first professional experience came as a member of the psychedelic rock band Mariani at just 15 years of age. In 1968, Johnson recorded a demo tape with the group which saw extremely limited release; years later the recording would become a prized collector's item.

After graduating from Holy Cross High School, Johnson briefly attended the University of Texas at Austin and traveled with his family to Africa. He eventually returned to Austin, and in 1974 joined the local fusion group Electromagnets. The group toured and recorded regionally, but failed to attract attention from major record labels and disbanded in 1977. However, the strength of Johnson's playing attracted a small cult following to the group's early recordings, and decades later their two albums were given wide release on compact disc.

Following the demise of the Electromagnets, Johnson formed a touring trio, the Eric Johnson Group, with drummer Bill Maddox and bassist Kyle Brock. They played to respectable audiences on the Austin music scene, and in 1978 recorded a full length album entitled Seven Worlds. Although the album showcased Johnson's considerable playing ability, a combination of contract disputes, financial wrangling, and mismanagement held up the album's release — and Johnson's career — for several years. True to form, Seven Worlds was released two full decades later in 1998 on Ark21 Records after Johnson secured the rights to the master recordings

Unable to secure a new management contract, Johnson nonetheless continued to build his professional reputation by working as a session guitarist for nationally known and regional acts, appearing on recordings by Cat Stevens, Carole King, and Christopher Cross among others. All the while, he continued to toil on the local scene, thrilling audiences with his flashy-yet-tasteful electric guitar playing. His career rebounded in 1984 when pop superstar Prince caught one of Johnson's performances on the public television program Austin City Limits. Despite the story of Johnson being signed to Warner Brothers courtesy of Prince, it was singer Christopher Cross and producer David Tickle who recommended Johnson to be signed to the label. 1986 saw the release of Johnson's major-label debut, Tones with Tickle as co-producer.

Johnson's May 1986 Guitar Player magazine cover story "Who Is Eric Johnson and Why Is He On Our Cover" was a successful risky bold move that helped promote the release of Tones which brought Johnson considerable praise, if not widespread commercial success, and raised his profile in the guitar and music community.Despite the track "Zap" being nominated for the 1987 Best Rock Instrumental Performance Grammy Award, the album did not sell well, and soon after Warner Bros. let Johnson's contract expire. He signed on with indie label Cinema Records which was distributed by Capitol Records.

By the time Johnson released his Capitol Records debut Ah Via Musicom in 1990, he was regularly winning awards for his musicianship in the guitar press. During this period, Johnson was also drawing recognition for the rich, violin-like tone he coaxed from his vintage Fender Stratocaster. The album's second cut, "Cliffs of Dover," exemplified his unique sound and won Johnson a 1991 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Ah Via Musicom was a crossover hit, and was soon certified platinum. A 5.1 DVD-Audio version of Ah Via Musicom was released in 2002 from Capitol Records without Johnson's input, but was soon dropped. Johnson apologized to fans on his website for the DVD-Audio release.

Johnson is an admitted perfectionist, and those traits seemed to work against Ah Via Musicom's follow-up release. Unhappy with his recordings, Johnson mastered — then subsequently scrapped — several completed tracks for the new album and delayed its release for a period of six years. In actuality it took three years to complete the album as Johnson toured for three years supporting Ah Via Musicom, and dealing with setbacks involving musical growth, and personal issues while recording his next album Venus Isle.

When Venus Isle was finally released on September 3, 1996, it received mixed reviews and did not match the success of its predecessor. The album at this time has sold 250,000 units and Johnson was dropped from Capitol Records soon after that. It was a unique album with world influences in which it demonstrated Eric Johnson's growth as a guitarist, songwriter, producer, arranger, and vocalist. The Venus Isle title track showcased the talents of musician Amit Chatterjee.

A successful month long tour from October to November 1996 with fellow guitarists Joe Satriani and Steve Vai named the G3 (tour), resulted in a successful platinum selling compact disc and DVD titled G3: Live in Concert.

In 1998, Eric Johnson was among the judges in Musician magazine's Best Unsigned Bands competition, along with Ani DiFranco, Moby, Art Alexakis of Everclear, Keb' Mo', and Joe Perry of Aerosmith.

In 1994, Johnson had formed a side project called Alien Love Child and played shows sporadically while Johnson was recording Venus Isle. The positive fan feedback from the shows made Alien Love Child a permanent gig where a live performance recording, Live And Beyond,was finally released in 2000 on Steve Vai's Favored Nations label, showcasing new songs. The Alien Love Child project helped free Johnson's perfectionism involving recording music and obsessive tinkering with guitar equipment gear.

Johnson eventually returned to the recording studio, releasing Souvenir, an internet release, in January 2002 on his own Vortexan Records. The album received nearly 65,000 plays in the first 7 weeks it was made available on mp3.com.Johnson promoted Souvenir with an electric tour in 2003 and an acoustic tour in 2004.

In 2004, Eric Johnson was invited by Eric Clapton to perform at Clapton's successful Crossroads Guitar Festival. According to Johnson, he was scheduled to perform onstage with Clapton, but the opportunity fell through.

Johnson's next studio album Bloom was released in June 2005 also on Steve Vai's Favored Nations label. The album was divided into three sections based on vibe of songs that showcased Johnson's musical versatility. His December 1988 Austin City Limits performance was released on both DVD and compact disc on New West Records in November 2005. His instructional guitar DVD, The Art of Guitar, (Hal Leonard Corporation) was also released at the end of 2005.

In January 2006, an individual named Brian Sparks was arrested for posing as Johnson by bilking businesses out of about $18,000 worth of guitars and equipment. Also in 2006, Johnson's guitars that were stolen 24 years prior, were recovered.

In September 2006, Eric Johnson took part in a theatrical production titled "Primal Twang: The Legacy of the Guitar" - the first definitive theatrical journey through the guitar’s colorful and surprisingly controversial 3500-year history, filmed by the Adams Entertainment Group. In September 2007, Johnson took part in a second theatrical production by Adams Entertainment titled "Love In: A Musical Celebration" in which he performed a Jimi Hendrix set which paid tribute to the year 1967 "The Summer Of Love."Also in late 2006 Johnson also took part in a second G3 (tour) in South America with Joe Satriani and John Petrucci.

Johnson's current projects did include an all-acoustic project and a live video from his 2006 Tour with Joe Satriani. However these have been shelved, as Johnson is cutting a new studio album at this time.

His hit single "Cliffs of Dover" appears in the game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. In addition, Johnson is currently a featured instructor at Web site http://www.guitarinstructor.com.

Eric Johnson along with other Texas musicians such as Stephen Burton and Patrice Pike have signed up with Operation Immortality, a project to create a digital time capsule of their DNA and humanity's achievements in the event of global calamity.

Guitar and equipment

Eric Johnson is best known for playing stock Fender Stratocaster and Gibson ES-335 electric guitars through a triple amp setup that consists of Fender Amplifiers, Dumble Amplifiers, and Marshall amplification. The Dumble amp has not made an appearance on his live performances for sometime since and including his best known live DVD at the Austin City Limits. Eric uses effects pedals such as a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, Butler Tube Driver, TC Electronic Stereo Chorus, Dunlop Cry Baby wah-wah, Electro-Harmonix Memory Man Delay, an MXR Digital Delay, a Line 6 Echo Pro Studio Modeler, and a Maestro Echoplex tape delay of which all are connected to multiple A/B boxes to create sounds and tones that are both clean and distorted; Although the majority of Eric's setup is predominantly vintage, he has recently started using more modern effects including a stereo chorus made by AnalogMan .

Eric Johnson occasionally substitutes his pedals for others, sometimes being spotted with a TubeWorks Tube Driver rather than a Butler one. He has also been seen using the Xotic AC Booster as well as a Boss DS-1.

Eric Johnson was also responsible for putting the Tube Driver pedal created by Brent Butler on the map which is an essential part of his guitar sound.

Johnson has also played other guitar brands such as Robin, Rickenbacker, and Jackson Charvel, which appears on the cover of the Ah Via Musicom album.

He has also been known to use series wired or 'coil tapped' Dimarzio HS-2's in the neck and bridge position of his stratocasters; although this setup is not hum-cancelling, it still cancels around 70% of the AC hum.

In 2001, Eric Johnson added a Custom Shop '59 Les Paul Reissue to his guitars of choice.

C. F. Martin & Company released a limited-edition signature Eric Johnson Signature MC-40 in 2003, built to his specifications. Johnson donated five percent of the profits from his signature Martin guitar to Jefferson Medical College as a tribute to his father who attended.

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation released an Eric Johnson Signature Fender Stratocaster in 2005 also built to his specifications. Johnson has also released other signature gear such as GHS Eric Johnson Nickel Rockers Electric Guitar Strings, DiMarzio DP211 Eric Johnson Signature Custom Pickups, and a Fullton-Webb amplifier. Jim Dunlop also has released an Eric Johnson signature Jazz III plectrum.

Johnson was also featured in a video for Line6 GuitarPort product.

In late 2006, Johnson switched from recording in analog format to digital format.

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has recently released the Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster Rosewood model. This signature Fender Stratocaster guitar features the same specifications as the Eric Johnson Maple Neck Strat, except for the addition of a 3-ply mint pickguard, hotter treble pickup and a bound rosewood fingerboard with clay dot position markers (available in colors such as Dakota Red, Tropical Turquoise, Medium Palomino Metallic, and Lucerne Aqua Firemist).

Solo albums

* Seven Worlds (1978) (re-issue, 1998)
* Tones (1986)
* Ah Via Musicom (1990)
* Venus Isle (1996)
* Souvenir (2002)
* Bloom (2005)
* Live from Austin, TX (2005)

Singles played on

* Mariani (1970) Tracks "Re-Birth Day" and "Memories Lost and Found" - Sonobeat 118

* Jay Aaron Podolnick (1975) Track "Come In Out Of The Rain"

* Christopher Cross (1976) Tracks "It's All With You" and "Talkin' About Her" - Starburst ARC

* Bill Maddox - Project Terror (1976) Tracks "In Memory of Buda" and "Thermal Underwear" - E. G. Records

* Bill Colbert (1982) Tracks "That Rider Down" and "Mama's Little Baby" - Texas Re-Cord Co

* Cliffs of Dover: Flexidisc (recorded July 31, 1984 Live at Austin City Limits) - 1986, Guitar Player Magazine Soundpage

Albums played on

Group albums

* Perpetuum Mobile (1970) by Mariani
* Electromagnets (1975) by Electromagnets
* Live and Beyond (2000) by Alien Love Child
* Electromagnets 2 (2006) by Electromagnets - Vortexan Records

Compilations

* The Austin Christmas Collection (1980) - "What Child Is This"
* The Austin Christmas Collection Volume 2 (1983) - "What Child Is This" and "Is There A Santa Claus"
* Guitar Speak (1988) by Various Artists - "Western Flyer"
* KLBJ's Local Licks Live (1990) - "Camel's Night Out"
* Instrumental Moods (1991) - "Cliffs Of Dover"
* Guitar's Practicing Musicians Vol 2 (1991) - "Cliffs Of Dover" (Live)
* KLBJ's Local Licks Live (1993) - "Desert Rose"
* True Voices (1995) - "At The End of The Day" with Susan Cowsill
* KLBJ's Local Licks Live (1996) - "S.R.V."
* 13th Millennia Soundtrack (1996) - Texas World Records
* G3 Live in concert (1997) by Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson
* Merry Axemas Volume 1 (1997) Various Artists - Track #2 - "The First Nowell"
* Guitar Gods (1998) Various Artists - Track #1 "Trademark"
* KGSR 107.1 Broadcasts Vol. 7 (on "Tribute to Jerry Reed" and "The Only Thing That's Real"- recorded July 8, 1999. Also on KGSR 107.1 Broadcasts Vol. 8 1999

* The Best of Rockline (1999) - Track 11 - "SRV"
* Moods Box Set (1999) - "Cliffs Of Dover"
* Rock Guitarist Forever Best (1999) - Track 4 - "Soulful Terrain" (Japanese Release)
* KLBJ Local Licks Live - (2001) - Track "Shape I'm In"
* Band Together - (2002) - Track "Shape I'm In"
* Texas Guitar Slingers Vol. 1 (2002) - Track "Enzo Shuffle"
* Relief Fund Compilation Album Benefiting The World Trade Center - (2002) unreleased
* Fender Stratocaster 50th Anniversary (2004) - Track #5 "Trademark"
* Don't Mess With Texas - Vol 2. (2004) - Track "Boogie King"
* KGSR 107.1 Broadcasts Vol 12. (2004) - Track "Song For George"
* Keep Punching (2007) - Track 3 - "Forever Yours"
* Gibson Presents: Hot Tones In High Definition (2008) - Free Album Download From Oct 6 2008 to Dec 6 2008 - Track #4 "World Of Trouble"

Guest appearance work

* Once Upon a Rock (1977) by American Peddlers - Track "Circle Song"
* Back to Earth (1978) by Cat Stevens Track #3 "Bad Brakes"
* Gene Morris (1979) by Gene Morris - Track "My Friend"
* Pearls (1980) by Carole King
* Johnny Dee & The Rocket 88's by Johnny Dee & The Rocket 88's - Track "No More"
* Christopher Cross (1980) by Christopher Cross Track #9 "Minstrel Gigolo"
* One to One (1982) by Carole King
* Long Time Friends (1982) by Alessi - Track #4 "Rise Up"
* Til You Came Along (1982) by Bobby Giles
* Shake Russell and Dana Cooper (1982) by Shake Russell and Dana Cooper - Tracks "Waitin' Here For You" and "Goin' Down Judah"
* World Beat (1983) by Dan Del Santo - Track "Ain't That Askin' A Little Too Much?"
* Pressure (1983) by Pressure - Track "Save A Little Time"
* Peripheral Vision (1984) by McColl & Tracey
* Marc Anthony Thompson (1984) by Marc Anthony Thompson - Track "Recover Gracefully"
* Stand Up (1985) by Steve Morse Band - Track #5 "Distant Star"
* Street Language (1986) by Rodney Crowell Track #2 "Ballad Of Fast Eddie"
* Guitar Speak (1988) by Various Artists- Track #3 "Western Flyer"
* Willie Jones (1990) by Willie Jones - Tracks "So Long," "Mary Jean"
* Inside Out (1990) by Jay Aaron - Track "Ronda"
* The Urge (1991) by Stuart Hamm Track #5 "On Our Dreams" and Track #6 "Lone Star"
* Rush Street (1992) by Richard Marx - Track "Keep Coming Back" (AOR Mix)
* The Hunter (1992) by Jennifer Warnes - Track #7 "Lights of Louisiana" and Track #10 "I Can't Hide"
* Rendezvous (1992) by Christopher Cross- Track #8 "Nothing Will Change"
* Herman Harris & the Voices of Hope(1993)- by Herman Harris
* Read My Licks (1994) by Chet Atkins- Track #5 "Somebody Loves Me Now"

* What The Hell Was I Thinking? (unreleased track) (1994) by Dweezil Zappa
* Wave of the Hand (1995) by Carla Olson - Track #2 "I'm Tryin'"
* Angelica (1997) by Various Arists - Track #6 "Ave Maria"
* Merry Axemas (1997) by Various Artists - Track #2 "The First Nowell"
* Angels, Horses & Pirates by Little Blue (1997)- Track #1 "Wait Until You Get Here"
* Rosebud (1998) by Stephen Doster - Track "There Is No Time"
* Walking in Avalon (1998) by Christopher Cross - Track #4 "When She Smiles"
* Koko's Hideaway (1999) by Van Wilks - Track #11, "Vanatized"
* Fingers and Thumbs (1999) by Adrian Legg - Track #1 "Lunchtime At Rosie's"
* Been A Long Time (2001) by Double Trouble - Track #9 "In The Garden"
* More to Life Than This (2003) by Mike Tramp - Track "On The Good, the Sad and the Ugly"
* A Guitar Supreme, Giant Steps in Fusion Guitar (2004) by Various Artists Track #1 "Resolution"
* Fusion for Miles, A Guitar Tribute: A Bitchin' Brew (2005) by Various Artists Track #3 "Jean Pierre"
* Industrial Zen (2006) by John McLaughlin - Track #2 'New Blues old Bruise'
* Viva Carlos: A Supernatural Marathon Celebration (2006) by Various Artists - Track #6, "Aqua Marine"
* Hero Shuffle (2006) by Rex Paul - Tracks #3 "Hero Shuffle" and #8 "Reminds Me of Austin"
* Walk On (2006) by Roscoe Beck - Track #4 "Together All The Time"
* Grand and Green River (2007) by Kara Grainger
* The Devil Knows My Name (2007) by John5 - Track #10 "The Washing Away of Wrong"
* Freeway Jam: To Beck and Back Jeff Beck Tribute (2007) - Track #3 "Beck's Bolero"
* Lovers (2008) by Bobby Whitlock and CoCo Carmel
* From The Reach (2008) by Sonny Landreth - Track #4 "The Milky Way Home"
* Bridging The Gap (2008) by Doyle Dykes - Track #5 "Red Clay"

Instructional DVDs

* Eric Johnson: Total Electric Guitar (1990) by Hot Licks
* Eric Johnson: The Fine Art of Guitar (1996) by Hot Licks
* Eric Johnson: The Art of Guitar (2005) by Hal Leonard Corporation

Television Appearances and Videos

* Austin City Limits Appearances - 1984, 1988, 1996, and 2000. 1999 Clint Black with Special Guests
* Carole King - "One To One" Tour [Video] (1983)
* Nova - PBS Special - "Nautilus: 500 Million Years Under the Sea" The Chambered Nautilus (1987)
* Live at the Bottomline, New York - Japanese Television Broadcast (1990)
* MTV Rock 'n Jock Softball - performing "The Star Spangled Banner" (1991)
* The Tonight Show - performing "Cliffs Of Dover" (1991)
* Jeff "Skunk" Baxter's "Guitar"- Japanese Only Release - Warner Brothers (VHS and LaserDisc) (1991)
* BB King and Friends...Live at the Woodlands (1993) (Houston PBS Special)
* Chet Atkins and Friends - "Read My Licks" - TNN Special (1994)
* PBS Special - BASEBALL: Inning 9: Home (1994) The Baseball Film Project
* G3 Live in concert (1997) by Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson

* Electromagnets: Live on PBS Playback (1975) re-released on VHS (1998)
* Double Trouble with Special Guests - Austin City Limits (2001)
* House Of Blues [Internet Webcast Live] - Alien Love Child Tour (2001)
* Big Wreck and Friends [Internet Webcast Live] - Roy Thomson Hall - Toronto, Ontario (2001)
* Guitar Show - Australian Television Broadcast (2002)
* Jennifer Warnes DVD-A from AIX - unreleased (2003)
* Crossroads Guitar Festival (2004) Warner Brothers
* 107.7 The Bone Studios Radio Show (2005)
* James Burton International Guitar Festival (2005) filmed for a future release.
* Live in Austin, Tx (2005) NewWest Records
* Satriani LIVE (2006) Epic Records
* Primal Twang: The Legacy of the Guitar (2006)
* Love In: A Musical Celebration (2007)
* Anaheim (Live) (2008) - also broadcasted on HD Concert Series.

Video Games

* Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (2007), "Cliffs of Dover"

Eric Johnson Musical Inspirations

Guitarist Alex Lifeson of Rush (band) gave a thank you in the liner notes in the Counterparts (album) to Johnson for being the inspiration for the guitar solo in the song "Cut To The Chase".

Guitarist Steve Morse recorded a song titled "TruthOla," which is a tribute to Jeff Beck, Alex Lifeson and Eric Johnson. The song is on Morse's album "Major Impacts".

Awards and chartings

* Albums:
o 1991 - Ah Via Musicom (album) - Grammy - Best Rock Instrumental Nomination
o 1991 - Ah Via Musicom (album) - Billboard magazine - The Billboard 200 - (#67)
o 2006 - Bloom (album) - Grammy - Best Pop Instrumental Nomination

* Songs:
o 1987 - "Zap" - (from Tones) - Grammy - Best Rock Instrumental Nomination
o 1990 - "Cliffs of Dover" - (from Ah Via Musicom) - Mainstream Rock Tracks - (#5)
o 1990 - "High Landrons" - (from Ah Via Musicom) - Mainstream Rock Tracks - (#31)
o 1991 - "Righteous" - (from Ah Via Musicom) - Mainstream Rock Tracks - (#8)
o 1991 - "Trademark" - (from Ah Via Musicom) - Mainstream Rock Tracks - (#7)
o 1992 - "Cliffs of Dover" - (from Ah Via Musicom) - Grammy - winner - Best Rock Instrumental Performance
o 1997 - "Pavilion" - (from Venus Isle) - Grammy - Best Rock Instrumental Nomination
o 1998 - "S.R.V." - (from Venus Isle) - Grammy - Best Rock Instrumental Nomination
o 2002 - "Rain" (from Live and Beyond) - Grammy - Best Pop Instrumental Nomination
(from Wikipedia)

Paul Gilbert

2009-04-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

Paul Brandon Gilbert (born November 6, 1966 in Illinois, USA) is an American musician. He is well known for his guitar work with Racer X and Mr. Big, as well as many solo albums. He also joined Joe Satriani and John Petrucci on the 2007 G3 tour.

Shrapnel Records

Around 1981-82 Paul first contacted Mike Varney, founder of Shrapnel Records, asking for a gig with Ozzy Osbourne. At the time Varney couldn't think why Osbourne would want a 14 year old guitarist, but after listening to his demo it changed his mind. They talked for the next 3 years, until Paul came to L.A for the GIT (Guitar Institute of Technology), and then was ready to record Racer X's debut album Street Lethal.

Racer X

Formed in Los Angeles in 1985, Racer X originally comprised Paul Gilbert (guitar), Juan Alderete (bass), Harry Gschoesser (drums) and Jeff Martin (vocals). They were heavily influenced by Judas Priest and Gilbert's playing was reminiscent of Yngwie Malmsteen, displaying fast-driven solos with extreme-level technique. Gschoesser was replaced by Scott Travis (later known for being the drummer for Judas Priest) in 1986, and Bruce Bouillet was added as a second guitar player. Bouillet was a very skilled player, as he had to play over Gilbert's always difficult and challenging phrases. Paul Gilbert gained recognition as one of the fastest guitar players in the world due to incredibly technical pieces like "Frenzy", "Scarified", "Y.R.O." and "Scit Scat Wah". Gilbert left Racer X in 1988, and the members of the band went their separate ways. The band would eventually reform, after Paul received an e-mail from a disgruntled fan under the alias "Snakebyte" about the musical direction of his solo albums. Snakebyte accused Paul of abandoning the shred guitar genre that he helped popularize with Racer X.

Paul contacted the members of Racer X, and all agreed to return, with the exception of Bruce Bouillet. In mid-1999 the band recorded the album Technical Difficulties. Technical Difficulties went gold in Japan, and Racer X's new record label requested a follow-up. In late 2000, the band released what is recognized by many fans as their best album to date, Superheroes. The record was mixed by former Racer X guitarist, Bruce Bouillet.

In order to further capitalize on their new-found success in Japan, Universal Japan requested that the band record a live show for another live CD and DVD. On May 25, 2001, the band played their first live performance in thirteen years to a sold-out crowd at the famed Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles. The show was recorded for both audio and video, and in 2002, both the CD and DVD were released under the name Snowball of Doom.

In January 2002, in support of Superheroes and Snowball of Doom, Racer X toured Japan and Taiwan. The band performed these shows in their Superheroes costumes, and the final show, in Yokohama, was hastily recorded in two tracks on the sound board and was to be later released as Snowball of Doom 2. Later that year, Universal Japan pushed for another Racer X release. In October 2002, all four members of Racer X gathered at Gilbert's house in Las Vegas to record Getting Heavier, which was sold alongside Snowball of Doom 2 in a package deal. Although the album was a successful release in Japan, some fans were disappointed with the lighter tracks, which resembled a Paul Gilbert solo album more so than a traditional Racer X album.

Racer X performed at the 2009 NAMM show at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Andy Timmons and his band opened the show, followed by a solo set from Paul Gilbert, and finally Racer X. The Racer X lineup consists of Paul Gilbert, Scott Travis, Jeff Martin and John Alderete.

Mr. Big

When Billy Sheehan left David Lee Roth's band in 1988, he joined with Paul Gilbert, who had left his former band, Racer X. They founded Mr. Big, with Pat Torpey on drums and singer Eric Martin. The band was initially a huge success in Japan, and became famous internationally in 1991, with the release of their second album, Lean Into It. This album featured the ballad "To Be With You", which received strong media play and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Gilbert continued playing in Mr. Big until the late 1990s. He left the band in 1997 to pursue a solo career, and was replaced by Richie Kotzen. Mr. Big disbanded in 2002.

In June of 2009, Paul Gilbert reunites with the rest of the original Mr. Big bandmembers: Eric Martin, Billy Sheehan and Pat Torpey for a reunion tour in Japan.

Projects

In May 2003 he played on an only twice-performing project called Yellow Matter Custard, a Beatles cover band consisting of Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Neal Morse (ex-Spock's Beard), and Matt Bissonette. They took their name from a lyric in "I Am the Walrus": "Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye".

He rejoined Portnoy along with Dave LaRue and Daniel Gildenlöw for a Led Zeppelin tribute band called Hammer of the Gods in 2004. In September 2005, he joined Portnoy, Sean Malone, and Jason McMaster in the Rush tribute band Cygnus and the Sea Monsters. In May 2006, he joined Portnoy, Gary Cherone, and Billy Sheehan to form Amazing Journey: A Tribute to The Who, playing three shows. The band (excluding Sheehan) destroyed their equipment after the show in homage.

He was also revealed to be the guest guitarist on the Neal Morse solo album, Sola Scriptura.

In 2007, Paul Gilbert toured with Bruce Bouillet for promotion of his first instrumental album, Get Out of My Yard, which was released in 2006. Also joining him was his wife, Emi Gilbert, on keyboards. Paul Gilbert also joined Joe Satriani and John Petrucci in the 2007 G3 tour. This was the 5th North American G3 run and the 12th tour worldwide since its inception.

On January 23, 2008, Paul released an instrumental CD titled Silence Followed By A Deafening Roar. It was released in Europe on March 31, 2008, and in America on April 8, 2008. This is Paul's second instrumental album.

On October 22, 2008, Paul released an album with vocalist Freddie Nelson. The collaboration has been described as a cross of Queen and Mr. Big. They will be playing their first live shows in the first days of February 2009, with more dates to be announced.

Paul with Racer X performed at the 2009 NAMM show at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Andy Timmons and his band opened the show, followed by a solo set from Paul Gilbert, and finally Racer X. The Racer X lineup consisted of Paul Gilbert, Scott Travis, Jeff Martin and John Alderete.

Paul also joined George Lynch and Richie Kotzen on the Guitar Generation tour.

Paul has also been confirmed as a performer at the 2009 Tuska Open Air Metal Festival.

Influences and Style

Talking about his influences, Paul mentions many different artists, including: Tony Iommi, Alex Lifeson, Jimmy Page, Robin Trower, Judas Priest, Akira Takasaki, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss, Van Halen and The Ramones. He is also a great fan of The Beach Boys and The Beatles. He states on the Space Ship Live DVD that George Harrison is one of his favorite guitar players. Guitar World magazine declared him one of 50 of the world's fastest guitarists of all time, along with Buckethead, Eddie Van Halen, and Yngwie Malmsteen.

Gilbert composes music in a wide variety of styles including pop, rock, metal, blues, funk and classical, but is perhaps best known for his versatility and speed, which helped him be named as one of the "Top 10 Shredders Of All Time" by Guitar One Magazine.

Instructor

Paul Gilbert wrote his own section of the British guitar magazine, Total Guitar, where he normally demonstrated guitar techniques in the magazine and accompanying CD. Even before that, he contributed instructional articles to Guitar Player Magazine in a late 1980s/early 1990s series entitled "Terrifying Guitar 101". His period of working with Total Guitar spanned thirty-one issues until the November 2006 issue. Paul also teaches at the Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT) regularly, and is also an "honorary dean" of the GIT division in Japan. Paul visits Japan, enjoying the lifestyle and like his Shrapnel labelmate Marty Friedman, who to this day still lives in Japan and speaks Japanese fluently. Gilbert now writes a column for Guitar World entitled "Shred Alert". One of his most famous pupils is avant-garde musician Buckethead.

Gear

Paul Gilbert primarily uses his Ibanez PGM signature series guitars, identified by their unique painted "f-holes". Although earlier PGM models featured the Ibanez Lo-Pro/Edge double locking tremolo system, many of his guitars (such as his main PGM300) have since been modified to accommodate a fixed bridge, hence the Ibanez PGM301 series. Along with his signature guitars, Gilbert often uses his sticker-covered "Dino" Ibanez RG750, in addition to a wide variety of Ibanez solidbody and semi-hollow electric guitars. Recently, Gilbert has started using Ibanez "Fireman" guitars.

Regarding amps, Gilbert used ADA preamps and rack effects units early in his career prior to switching to Laney amplifiers. He praised the Laney amps as having "the best natural distortion of any tube amp ever heard". Since the G3 2007 tour however, Gilbert stated that playing with Joe Satriani and John Petrucci inspired him to take a closer look at his own guitar sound. As a result of his search he found the Marshall Vintage Modern series. He currently uses the Marshall Vintage Modern 2266c combo amps. Paul uses Jim Dunlop Tortex picks, of which he prefers the orange (.60mm) picks.

Paul used the following effects as of his tour of Europe in 2008 (he used 12 effects in total):

* Homebrew Electronics Bajo Mos

* Homebrew Electronics Detox EQ

* Tc electronics nova delay

* Homebrew Electronics compressor retro

* Mxr phase 100

* Mxr blue box

* Homebrew Electronics THC chorus

* Robert Keeley Nova Wah LE

* Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Electric Mistress

* Korg Pitchblack tuner

* And 2 no name pedals with a mxr sticker on them, they are both loop pedals.

Paul also used a modified vintage ADA Flanger from the 1980s (source: Berlin VIP session interview). You can hear it on tracks like 'Bucket of Rocks', and he also uses it on the 'Snowball of Doom' DVD. Paul stated the flanger had been modified. He uses it to change the pitch from high to low to create a sound similar to a dive bomb. Unfortunately, during Paul's 2008 European tour, his trusty ADA Flanger broke. Thankfully, before the pedal broke, he and Ibanez collaborated to make a similar pedal, with both a regular flanger mode and a mode which can be set to create a close approximation of the ADA pedal's sound, and the pedal has been released as the Ibanez Paul Gilbert AF-2 Airplane Flanger. He also uses the Psilocybe phaser and THC chorus pedals from Home Brew Electronics.

In the intro to "Get Out Of My Yard" Paul uses a Boss DD-3 Delay pedal to achieve the altered pitch looped effect at the beginning of the track. This was also demonstrated by Paul on the instructional DVD of the same name.

In 2009, Ibanez released a new PGM model, the Ibanez PGM401, which is rather different from most of Paul's previous models, with an ash body (most of his previous models were made of basswood, although his PGM800 guitar was made of lightweight ash (a similar but different wood than that used in the PGM401), Trifade Burst finish, Cosmo Black hardware and a regular headstock replacing the reversed one of the previous models. Also, rather than the DiMarzio PAF Pro, Tone Zone and Super Distortion pickups used in his previous models, the PGM401 comes with Paul's favorite humbucker model for the past five years, the DiMarzio Air Classics, arranged in a dual humbucker arrangement. Paul has stated that he had the bridge pickup moved 1 mm closer to the neck, which he said results in a warmer and thicker sound, particularly for the high notes he often uses in soloing. The F-holes are 3% smaller. This is because the guitar has pickup mounted rings. But perhaps the biggest difference from other current Ibanez guitar models, is that the PGM401 uses the old late-1980s neckjoint, which is thicker than the current neckjoints on other Ibanez guitars.

Discography

Black Sheep

* Trouble In The Streets (1985)

Racer X

* Street Lethal (1986)
* Second Heat (1987)
* Live Extreme, Volume 1 (1988)
* Live Extreme, Volume 2 (1992)
* Technical Difficulties (1999)
* Superheroes (2000)
* Snowball of Doom (2002)
* Getting Heavier (2002)
* Snowball of Doom 2 (2002)

Mr. Big

* Mr. Big (1989)
* Raw Like Sushi (1990)
* Lean Into It (1991)
* Raw Like Sushi II (1992)
* Bump Ahead (1993)
* Japandemonium: Raw Like Sushi 3 (1994)
* Channel V at the Hard Rock Live (1996)
* Hey Man (1996)
* Big Bigger Biggest: Greatest Hits (1996)

Solo albums

* Tribute to Jimi Hendrix (EP) (1991)
* King of Clubs (1998)
* Flying Dog (1999)
* Beehive Live (1999)
* Alligator Farm (2000)
* Raw Blues Power With Jimi Kidd (2002)
* Burning Organ (2002)
* Paul the Young Dude/The Best of Paul Gilbert (2003)
* Gilbert Hotel (2003)
* Acoustic Samurai (2003)
* Space Ship One (2005)
* Get Out of My Yard (2006)
* Tough Eskimo (limited edition EP) (2007)
* Silence Followed By A Deafening Roar (2008)
* United States With Freddie Nelson (2008)

Other appearances

* Atomic Basement Tapes - Missing Lynx (1981)
* Revelation - Darrell Mansfield Band (1985)
* Pump It!' - Jeff Berlin (1986)
* Out of the Sun - Joey Tafolla (1990)
* Humanary Stew - A Tribute to Alice Cooper
* Guitars That Rule the World (1992)
* Smoke On The Water: A Tribute (1994)
* Jeffology: A Guitar Chronicle (1996)
* Akira Takasaki - Wa (1996)
* Merry Axemas - A Guitar Christmas (1997)
* Mikazuki "In Rock" Sound Track, Guitar on tracks "Crescent Moon" & "Theme for Kazeo" (2000)
* Becker 2001, Warmth in the Wilderness -A Tribute to Jason Becker(Guitar and vocals for Hawkin)
* Hughes Turner Project - HTP (2002)
* Battle Gear III: The Edge (played on "Charge and Discharge," "Morning View," and "The Machine of Rage" bonus tracks) (2003)
* Kim Fox Return to Planet Earth (2003) Guitar on track 4
* Guitar Wars (2003)
* Return to the Planet Earth - Kim Fox (2003)
* One Night in New York City - Yellow Matter Custard (2003) Available @ MikePortnoy.com
* "Mieze" - Marco Minnemann (2004)
* "Contraire de la chanson" - Marco Minnemann (2006)
* Light at the End of the Tunnel - War & Peace (2006) (with Richie Kotzen, John Norum, Jeff Pilson)
* Two Nights In North America - Hammer of the Gods (2006) Available @ MikePortnoy.com
* One Night in Chicago - Cygnus and the Sea Monsters (2006) Available @ MikePortnoy.com
* Live with Sex Machineguns - Tokyo (2005)
* One Night in New York City - Amazing Journey (2007) Available @ MikePortnoy.com
* Spin The Bottle - An All Star Tribute To Kiss (guitars on "I Want You") (2004)
* Numbers from the Beast - An All Star Tribute to Iron Maiden (guitars on "The Evil That Men Do") (2005)
* Evil Lives: A True Metal Tribute to Black Sabbath (with Racer X on Track 4: "Children of the Grave") (2006)
* The Fool - Jeff Martin solo album (2006)
* Sola Scriptura - Neal Morse (2007)
* G3 Tour (2007)
* Guitar Hero Hero (Beating Guitar Hero Doesn't Make You Slash) - MC Lars (2008)

Videography

* Intense Rock - Sequences & Techniques VHS version
* Intense Rock II VHS version
* Guitars from Mars Japanese DVD release
* Guitars from Mars II Japanese DVD release
* Terrifying Guitar Trip VHS version
* Eleven Thousand Notes DVD
* Guitar Wars DVD
* Space Ship Live DVD (2005)
* Complete Intense Rock DVD (2006)
* Terrifying Guitar Trip DVD (2006)
* Get Out Of My Yard Guitar Instructional DVD (2007)
* Get Out Of My City Guitar Instructional DVD/VCD (2007)
* One Night In New York City - Yellow Matter Custard (2003)
* Two Nights In North America - Hammer Of The Gods (2006)
* One Night In Chicago - Cygnus And The Sea Monsters (2006)
* One Night In New York City - Amazing Journey (2007)
* Silence Followed By A Deafening Roar Guitar Instructional DVD And Shred Annex (2008)
(from Wikipedia)

Yngwie Malmsteen

2009-04-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

Yngwie Johann Malmsteen (pronounced /ˈɪŋveɪ ˈmɑːlmstiːn/ in English) (born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck on June 30, 1963) is a Swedish guitarist, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and bandleader. Malmsteen became notable in the mid-1980s for his technical fluency and neo-classical metal compositions. Four of his albums, from 1984 to 1988, Rising Force, Marching Out, Trilogy, and Odyssey, ranked in the top 100 for sales.

Biography

Early life

Malmsteen was born in Stockholm, Sweden, as the third child of a musically talented family. At age seven, he saw a television news report on the death of Jimi Hendrix. To quote his official website, "The day Jimi Hendrix died, the guitar-playing Malmsteen was born". At the age of 10 he took his mother's maiden name Malmsten as his surname, slightly changed it to Malmsteen, and Anglicised his given name Yngve to "Yngwie". Yngwie also created his first band "Track On Earth" at the age of 10, consisting of himself and a friend from school on drums. Malmsteen was a teenager when he first encountered the music of the 19th century violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, whom he cites as his biggest classical music influence.

Through his emulation of Paganini concerto pieces on guitar, Malmsteen developed a prodigious technical fluency. Malmsteen's guitar style includes a wide, violin-like vibrato inspired by classical violinists, and use of such minor scales as the Harmonic minor, and minor modes such as Phrygian, and Aeolian. Malmsteen also cites Brian May of Queen, Steve Hackett of Genesis, Uli Jon Roth, Alex Lifeson of Rush, and Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple as influences.

1980s

In late 1982 Malmsteen was brought to the U.S. by Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records, who had heard a demo tape of Malmsteen's playing. He had brief engagements with Steeler, for their self-titled album of 1983, then Alcatrazz, for their 1983 debut No Parole From Rock N' Roll, and the 1984 live album Live Sentence. Malmsteen released his first solo album Rising Force in 1984, which featured Barrie Barlow of Jethro Tull on drums. His album was really meant to be an instrumental side-project of Alcatrazz, but it contained vocals, and Malmsteen left Alcatrazz soon after the release of Rising Force.

Rising Force won the Guitar Player Magazine's award for Best Rock Album and was also nominated for a Grammy for 'Best Rock Instrumental', achieving #60 on the Billboard album chart. Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force (as his band was thereafter known) next released Marching Out (1985). Jeff Scott Soto filled vocal duties on these initial albums. His third album, Trilogy, featuring the vocals of Mark Boals, was released in 1986. In 1987, another singer, former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner joined his band. That year, Malmsteen was in a serious car accident, smashing his Jaguar E-Type into a tree and putting him in a coma for a week. Nerve damage to his right hand was reported. During his time in the hospital, Malmsteen's mother died from cancer. In the summer of 1988 he released his fourth album, Odyssey. Odyssey would be his biggest hit album, mainly because of its first single "Heaven Tonight". Shows in Russia during the Odyssey tour were recorded, and released in 1989 as his fifth album Trial By Fire: Live in Leningrad.

Malmsteen's "Neo-classical" style of metal became widely popular among guitarists during the mid 1980s, with contemporaries such as Jason Becker, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, Tony MacAlpine and Vinnie Moore becoming prominent. MacAlpine came to the neoclassical/shred field by applying his classical piano training to his guitar playing and Moore arrived at a similar style because he shared Malmsteen's major influences. In late 1988, Malmsteen's signature Fender Stratocaster guitar was released, making him and Eric Clapton the first artists to be honored by Fender.

1990s

In the early 1990s Malmsteen released the albums Eclipse (1990), The Yngwie Malmsteen Collection (1991), Fire and Ice (1992) and The Seventh Sign (1994). Despite his early success, and continuous success in Europe and Asia, by the early 1990s 1980s heavy metal styles such as neoclassical metal and lengthy, virtuoso shred guitar solos had become unfashionable in the US. In 1993, Malmsteen's mother-in-law, who was opposed to his engagement with her daughter, had him arrested for threatening her with a shotgun and holding her daughter against her will. The charges against Malmsteen were dropped when he denied the incident.

In the 1990s, Malmsteen continued to record and release albums under the Japanese record label Pony Canyon, and maintained a devoted following from some fans in Europe and Japan, and to a lesser extent in the USA. In 2000, he once again acquired a contract with a US record label, Spitfire, and released his 1990s catalog into the US market for the first time, including what he regards as his masterpiece, Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra, recorded with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague.

2000s

After the release of War to End All Wars in 2000, singer Mark Boals left the band. Malmsteen went on tour with former Ark vocalist Jorn Lande. Due to various tensions on tour, Jorn left before the recording of Malmsteen's next album, Attack!!. He was replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Doogie White. White's vocals were well received by fans. In 2003, Malmsteen joined Joe Satriani and Steve Vai as part of the G3 supergroup. Malmsteen made two guest appearances on keyboardist Derek Sherinian's albums Black Utopia (2003), and Blood of the Snake (2006) where Malmsteen is heard on the same tracks as Al Di Meola and Zakk Wylde. In 2004, Malmsteen made two cameo appearances on Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law- possibly alluded to his status as a guitarist.

Malmsteen released Unleash the Fury in 2005. (This title may be a reference to an audio recording that supposedly captured Malmsteen's immoderate response to a flight attendant who spilled a beverage on him. The recording found popularity in filesharing networks as an example of the absurd behavior of celebrities.) He is married to April and has a son named Antonio after Antonio Vivaldi, and they live in Miami, Florida. A noted Ferrari enthusiast, he owned a black 1985 308 GTS for 18 years before selling it on eBay, and a red 1962 250 GTO. In the mid-2000s, he gave up smoking and drinking alcohol (date: April 2007).

In 2007, Malmsteen was honored in the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II. Players can receive the "Yngwie Malmsteen" award by hitting 1000 or more notes in succession. February 2008 saw the replacement of singer Doogie White with former Iced Earth and Judas Priest and current Beyond Fear singer Tim Owens, with whom Malmsteen had once recorded a cover of Ozzy Osbourne's song "Mr. Crowley", for the 2000 Osbourne tribute album Bat Head Soup: A Tribute to Ozzy. The first Malmsteen album to feature Owens is titled Perpetual Flame and was released on October 14. On November 25, 2008, Malmsteen had three of his songs ("Caprici Di Diablo", "Damnation Game", and "Red Devil") released as downloadable content for the video games Rock Band and Rock Band 2. In 2008 Malmsteen was a special guest on the VH1 Classic show "That Metal Show". In the 10th of March 2009, Malmsteen's label Rising Force has launched his new release Angels Of Love, an instrumental album which features acoustic arrangements of some of his best-known ballads.

Equipment

Guitars

Malmsteen uses Fender Stratocasters, especially vintage instruments from 1968 through 1972. His Strats tend to feature scalloped fingerboards and DiMarzio HS-3 pickups, and (more recently) the staggered-polepiece HS-3 released as the Dimarzio YJM. He routinely disconnects the middle pickup and tone controls on his guitars. Malmsteen briefly used Schecter Guitars in the 1980s, who built him Stratocaster-style guitars similar to his Fenders. While in Alcatrazz, he also used Aria Pro II

Live equipment

Malmsteen uses vintage Marshall amplifiers for his live performances, sometimes performing with a "wall" of up to 27 vintage Marshall 4x12 Cabinets with Celestion G12T-75 (75 watt) speakers. As for heads, Yngwie mainly uses 1972 Marshall MK II 50-watt heads, and (less often) 1959 Plexi 100-watt heads. Yngwie has also (very rarely) used a Fender Roc Pro 1000 head with an Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer. Current effect pedals consist of (in order) a Dunlop Crybaby Wah, DOD YJM308 Overdrive Preamp (in past years, a grey DOD 250), BOSS NS-2 Noise Suppressor, BOSS CH-1 Super Chorus, BOSS PS-5 Super Shifter, and Roland DC-10 Echo. Present in Yngwie's effects rack is a Korg DL8000 Delay. This gear is looped in a GCX Audio Switcher, which Yngwie controls with a Voodoo Lab Ground Control Pro foot controller.

Malmsteen used to use Moog Taurus bass pedals, but currently uses a Roland JV-1080 Synthesizer Module controlled by a Roland PK-5 Dynamic Foot Pedal.

Malmsteen's guitars onstage are 1968-1972 Fender Stratocasters. For his acoustic sets, Malmsteen uses a nylon strung electro-acoustic black or white Ovation Viper. Prior to the Ovations, Malmsteen used Aria, Alvarez & Gibson classical acoustics on stage. Yngwie runs his Ovations through either an MXR Dyna Comp, or BOSS CS-3 Compression Sustainer, into a DI box which leads to a mixing desk. Malmsteen regularly performs onstage with a Dean Markley custom light top, heavy bottom string gauge ranging from .008 through .048 gauge, which are considered by most guitarists to be very thin, especially with the downtuning used. Malmsteen's picks are Jim Dunlop 1.5 white.

Criticism

Yngwie's flashy style has not gone without some criticism. Blender rated him as the 14th on their list of 50 worst artists in music calling him, "big on solos, short on songs."

Band members
For more details on this topic, see List of Yngwie Malmsteen band members.

Previous members

* Jeff Scott Soto - lead vocals (1984-1985)
* Mark Boals - lead vocals (1986-1996-1999-2001)
* Joe Lynn Turner - lead vocals (1988-1989)
* Göran Edman - lead vocals (1990-1992)
* Mike Vescera - lead vocals (1994-1995)
* Mats Leven - lead vocals (1997-1998)
* Jorn Lande - lead vocals (2000 tour only)
* Doogie White - lead vocals (2001-2008)
* Anders Johansson - drums (1985-1989)
* Michael Von Knorring - drums (1990-1991)
* Bo Werner - drums (1992-1993)
* John Macaluso - drums (1999-2000)
* Mike Terrana - drums (1994)
* Jens Johansson - keyboards (1984-1989)
* Mats Olausson - keyboards (1990-2001)
* Derek Sherinian - keyboards (2001-2003-2004; 2007-2008)
* Svante Henrysson - bass (1990-1992)
* Barry Sparks - bass (1994-1995)

Current members

* Tim "Ripper" Owens - lead vocals (2008-present)
* Yngwie Malmsteen - guitars (1978-present)
* Michael Troy - keyboards (2007-present)
* Bjorn Englen - bass (2008-present)
* Patrick Johansson - drums, percussion (2001-present)

Discography

Steeler
Date of Release Title Label Chart positions US sales
1983 Steeler Shrapnel

Alcatrazz
Date of Release Title Label Chart positions US sales
1984 No Parole from Rock N' Roll Polydor
1984 Live Sentence Polydor

Solo

Year Album Publisher Chart positions US sales
1984 Rising Force Polydor 60
October 1985 Marching Out Polydor 54
1986 Trilogy Polydor 44
March, 1988 Odyssey Polydor 40
October, 1989 Trial By Fire: Live in Leningrad Polydor 128
1990 Eclipse Polydor 112
November, 1991 The Yngwie Malmsteen Collection Polydor
1992 Fire and Ice Elektra 121
February 18, 1994 The Seventh Sign Pony Canyon
September 21, 1994 Power And Glory Pony Canyon
October 21, 1994 I Cant Wait Pony Canyon
June 6, 1995 Magnum Opus Pony Canyon
November 5, 1996 Inspiration Pony Canyon
September 3, 1997 Facing the Animal Pony Canyon
February 4, 1998 Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in Em, Opus 1 Pony Canyon
September 18, 1998 Double LIVE! Pony Canyon
September 17, 1999 Alchemy Pony Canyon
March 15, 2000 Anthology 1994-1999 Pony Canyon
May 9, 2000 The Best Of: 1990-1999 Dream Catcher
November 22, 2000 War to End All Wars Pony Canyon
January 9, 2002 Concerto Suite LIVE With the New Japan Philharmonic Pony Canyon
September 4, 2002 Attack!! Pony Canyon
December 30, 2002 The Genesis Pony Canyon
January 1, 2004 Oujya Ressou - Instrumental Best Album Pony Canyon
March 10, 2004 G3: Rockin' in the Free World Epic
February 23, 2005 Unleash the Fury Universal Music
October 14, 2008 Perpetual Flame Rising Force Records
March 10, 2009 Angels of Love Rising Force Records
(from Wikipedia)

Zakk Wylde

2009-04-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

Zakk Wylde (born Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt on January 14, 1967 in Bayonne, New Jersey) is an American musician, who is best known for his roles as a guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and founder of heavy metal band Black Label Society. He was lead guitarist and vocalist in Pride & Glory, who released one self-titled album in 1994 before disbanding. As a solo artist he released Book of Shadows in 1996.

Career

Early life

Wylde started playing the guitar at the age of 14 and worked at Silverton Music in Silverton, New Jersey. He grew up in Jackson, New Jersey, and went to Jackson Memorial High School, where he graduated in 1985.Wylde has stated that he would practice playing the guitar as much as 12 hours per day and often would play the guitar almost non-stop between coming home from school and leaving for school the next morning, then sleeping through the school day.

Growing up, Wylde played locally with his first band, "Stone Henge", then later with local Jersey band Zyris. Years later, the then unknown 19 year-old Wylde landed the coveted role as lead guitarist and co-writer for Ozzy Osbourne. He sent Ozzy a demo tape in 1987 and was hired to replace Jake E. Lee. Jake E. Lee had replaced the deceased Randy Rhoads, Ozzy's principal guitarist in the post-Black Sabbath period, beginning in late 1979. Wylde has stated that he has no respect for musicians who release material "not true to themselves". The late Randy Rhoads, a rock original, remains Wylde's foremost guitar-playing and stagecraft influence.

Equipment

He is known for his use of Gibson Les Paul Custom model guitars with a "bulls-eye" graphic on them, a design he used to deliberately differentiate himself visually from Randy Rhoads - who was also frequently identified by his white Les Paul Custom. Interestingly, one of Wylde's favorite stage guitars of late is a replica of Rhoads' Flying V. The "bulls-eye" paint job was originally supposed to look like the spiral from the movie Vertigo, but when it came back incorrect from the luthier, he liked the result and stuck with it.

Wylde's signature Les Pauls include a red flame-maple bulls-eye model, a black and antique-white bulls-eye model, an orange "buzz-saw" model, the pattern on which was inspired by a design on a zippo lighter , and a "camo" bulls-eye model with mother of pearl neck inlays and a green camouflage paint scheme. His original bulls-eye Les Paul was purchased from one of the owners of Meteltronics Amplification. Metaltronics was building a one-off live rig for Zakk that was designed around one of the owner's guitars, a creamy white Les Paul Custom with EMG pickups, which would later become known as "The Grail".

"The Grail"

Wylde gravitated toward a particular Les Paul guitar, which has become known as "The Grail"; his infamous bullseye-painted Gibson Les Paul custom. Wylde was eventually able to barter for it, in exchange for two other Les Pauls. The guitar somehow became lost to Wylde for some time when it fell from the back of a truck transporting equipment as he was travelling between gigs in Texas. Rewards were offered to anyone that had information about the guitar. Wylde and 'The Grail' were reunited years later when a fan bought it at a Dallas pawn shop and saw the initials "Z.W." carved into the humbucker pickups backs. He contacted Wylde's former webmaster Randy Canis to arrange its return to Wylde.

Return to Ozzy

Osbourne is said to have always adopted a flexible attitude with regard to his backing band, leaving his band members free to leave as they wish, but Wylde has remained largely faithful to Osbourne, largely since his [Wylde's] teenage years. Wylde was replaced in Osbourne's band by Joe Holmes, from 1995 until his return in 2001. Wylde appears to be Osbourne's live and studio guitarist for the foreseeable future.

On January 17, 2006, Zakk Wylde was immortalized at the Hollywood Rock Walk of Fame located at 7425 Sunset Blvd, featuring his handprints and signature, in recognition of his successful career as a musician and his contribution to the music industry. The event was open to the public and many rock celebrities were present, including Ozzy Osbourne.

Ozzy Osbourne held auditions for new guitarists for the recording of future material in 2005/2006, but announced Wylde as the official guitarist for his new album, Black Rain. On stage with Osbourne, Wylde has been credited for lending a high level of energy and passion to performances.

Black Label Society's most recent album, Shot To Hell, was released on September 11, 2006 (UK), 12, 2006 (US) through Roadrunner records, with production by Michael Beinhorn (Soundgarden, Ozzy Osbourne, Red Hot Chili Peppers). Black Label Society headlined the 2nd stage at the 2006 Ozzfest, with Wylde playing double duty with Ozzy on certain dates. Ozzy Osbourne's album, Black Rain, was released in May 2007. Zakk Wylde is currently working a new film called The Berserkers, taking on responsibilities for script and production.

Personal life

Wylde and his wife, Barbaranne have three children; a daughter, Hayley-Rae, a son, Jesse John Michael (named after Ozzy Osbourne), and another son, Hendrix Halen Michael Rhoads (named after Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Mike Piazza, and Randy Rhoads). He and his family live outside of Los Angeles. He and Barbaranne both attended Jackson Memorial High School in Jackson, New Jersey. Zakk was a close friend of Dimebag Darrell Abbott, founding member of Pantera and Damageplan, since 1993, exchanging guitars in admiration for one another as fellow guitarists. Wylde had given Dimebag one of his custom Gibson guitars with the trademark "bulls-eye" design on it shortly before Dimebag was shot and killed while performing in Columbus, OH on Dec. 8, 2004. Likewise, Dimebag had a customized Dean Razorback painted with the bullseye design for Wylde. Zakk dedicated the song "In This River" to Dimebag, citing that although the song wasn't originally written for him, the lyrics were fitting to the situation. The song gained a new importance and was changed from its original format during the live performances with the addition of more solos, with Zakk playing with the Dean Razorback guitar Dime had given him. He dedicates each live performance of the song to Dimebag and, several times, he has cried on stage when playing the song. He has also stated it will be played at every Black Label Society concert as long as he is touring. Zakk has stated in interviews that he hates bullies, and has said (quote) "If a man doesn't fuckin' bleed and he doesn't cry, you don't trust him. He ain't a fuckin' man." Zakk is Irish Catholic.

Appearances in media

Music

* Wylde has made guest appearances on various albums, such as Damageplan's debut album, New Found Power, as guest vocalist and guitar on the tracks "Soul Bleed" and "Reborn."

* He has also worked on four of Derek Sherinian's solo albums: Inertia, Black Utopia, Mythology, Blood of the Snake and Molecular Heinosity alongside Yngwie Malmsteen and others.

Live performances

* On August 1, 1993, Zakk appeared on stage with the Allman Brothers on lead guitar since Dickey Betts was unable to make the show, and they needed a guitarist at the last minute. This show is documented on the bootleg "Zakk Goes Wylde."

* He is a New York Yankees fan. He performed the National Anthem on the electric guitar during a New York Rangers game in October 2005. He has also played the anthem at Los Angeles Kings and Dodgers games. A video of a Kings performance is included as an extra feature, on the DVD Boozed, Broozed, and Broken-Boned

* On February 1, 2007 Zakk & Nick Catanese began a tour of acoustic shows at the Hard Rock Cafe in various cities across North America. Although Nick had to leave mid-tour due to unspecified personal reasons, Zakk continued to play shows alone. Zakk performed several songs, on both the acoustic guitar and keyboard. The tour was eventually canceled due to unspecified reasons.

Film and television

* Wylde's film credits include Rock Star (As "Ghode", guitarist of the fictitious band Steel Dragon) and the concert DVD Boozed, Broozed, and Broken-Boned (Certified Platinum), recorded at Harpo's in Detroit, MI. It was the first time in the concert hall's history that all of the alcohol had been consumed on one night (Wylde's favorite beer is Sierra Nevada). It should be noted that his next concert DVD The European Invasion: Doom Troopin' was released in 2006. He has also done a comedy skit show alongside Jim Breuer, titled "Crapshoot", which is now available on DVD.

* Zakk Wylde also appeared on the TV show Angel in the season 4 episode The Magic Bullet where he plays acoustic on the song "Mandy" while Angel and Conner sing along.

* Wylde has also appeared as a guest star on the TV show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. In it, he plays guitar on a track produced by Master Shake that is supposed to become the next big birthday song, which is called "Spirit Journey Formation Anniversary." Wylde becomes irate when he finds out that Master Shake cannot pay him for his input on the project. Later in the show, Wylde is killed when caught between the crossfire of two robotic banjo-playing scorpions that apparently were, for some reason, armed with laser cannons.

* On September 26, 2003, Zakk appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and sat in with the house band. During the course of the night he repeatedly made fun of and threatened to beat up Fred Durst, the front man for Limp Bizkit.

* On January 30, 2007, Zakk, alongside Black Label Society, were the musical guests for MTV's Wrestling Society X debut. Zakk worked the night as a guest commentator as well.

* On February 2, 2007, Zakk Wylde guest hosted on Seattle's 99.9 KISW on the afternoon program The Men's Room

* On the May 18 edition of WWE Smackdown, Zakk appeared with Ozzy Osbourne to play the hit single "I Don't Wanna Stop", from the First Mariner Arena in Baltimore, MD.

* Zakk Wylde, with his Gibson Bullseye ZV guitar, performed alongside Ozzy Osbourne on the 2007 "VH1 Rock Honors" cable broadcast (featuring tributes to and performances by ZZTop, Heart, Genesis, and Ozzy Osbourne). The show-closing numbers(with soaring guitar solos), "I Don't Wanna Stop", "Crazy Train", and "Bark at the Moon", were played, complete with fireworks, to an auditorium audience in Las Vegas.

Video games

* Zakk Wylde recorded a guitar duel for the video game Guitar Hero: World Tour. He also appears as a playable character.

357 Customs controversy and lawsuit

In December 2005, a promotional offer was posted on Wylde's official webpage, stating that anyone who bought a $100 merchandise gift certificate and a miniature model of a chopper would receive an $800 Epiphone guitar. The offer was posted by custom chopper company 357 Customs, through the then webmaster of Wylde's webpage. On June 2, 2006, Bob Ringe, Wylde's manager, stated on the website that "357 Customs ran a promotion directed toward Zakk's fans, and 357 has not delivered merchandise ordered during the promotion. Zakk has not authorized or otherwise been involved with this promotion, and has not received any compensation from it." Ringe went on further to state that he has instructed his lawyers to "contact 357....monitor this situation and follow up with 357." During and after the timeframe in which the 357 Customs offers were being advertised, numerous conversations, both via email and telephone were held with then current and former members of Wylde's management team, including Tim Bolin and Bob Ringe, and also Wylde's wife, with all parties confirming and supporting the promotion. A number of statements, both from the webmaster and Wylde himself, posted on the webpage repeatedly stressed the legitimacy of the offer, and even went as far as placing blame on guitar maker Epiphone and electronics manufacturer EMG for the shipping delays. No order had ever been placed and these statements seemed to be offered as a means of placating the increasingly concerned customers. Several telephone conversations were reportedly recorded of staff from 357 and Wylde's management staff confirming the promotion but no longer exist.

On June 14, 2006, Wylde's attorneys filed suit against 357 Customs Inc. in the Superior Court of the State of California. The suit alleges trademark infringement, false designation of origin, unfair competition [disambiguation needed], false advertising, breach of contract, as well as several other counts. The text of the lawsuit indicates that it was brought about to prevent any further victimization of Wylde's fans and to recoup unpaid royalties from 357 Customs. There is nothing in the suit indicating specific damages to be recovered on behalf of fans.

On July 5 2006, Black Label Society's webmaster, Chad Dyer, resigned from the website. He admitted being hired by 357 Customs as their webmaster and claimed that he wasn't aware of the conflict of interest. To this date, reports are that he has not been paid for the work on 357customs.com, even after it cost him his position with the Black Label Society he held in 2003-2004 and 2005-2006. Various reports note that Dyer was a paid employee of Black Label Society, which was not the case. The posted resignation letter on Wylde's webpage that was written by Dyer, and signed off on by Wylde's manager Bob Ringe, confirmed that he provided webmaster services at no-charge on account of his friendship with Wylde.

Seeking to bring an end to the episode, on May 8, 2007 Wylde's Attorney filed a Request For Dismissal of the case, ending the court litigation and any hope that 357 Customs Inc would be held to account for their actions.

Discography

With Pride and Glory

* Pride & Glory (1994)

Solo

* 1987 Instrumental Solo Demo Tape
* Book of Shadows (1996)

With Derek Sherinian

* Inertia (2001)
* Black Utopia (2003)
* Mythology (2004)
* Blood of the Snake (2006)
* Molecular Heinosity (2009)

With Black Label Society

* Sonic Brew (1999)
* Stronger Than Death (2000)
* Alcohol Fueled Brewtality Live +5 (2001)
* 1919 Eternal (2002)
* The Blessed Hellride (2003)
* Boozed, Broozed, and Broken Boned (DVD) (2003) (Certified Platinum)
* Hangover Music Vol. VI (2004)
* Mafia (2005)
* Kings of Damnation 98-04 (Career Retrospective) (2005)
* Shot To Hell (2006)
* The European Invasion - Doom Troopin' Live (2006) (DVD)
* Skullage (2009)

With Ozzy Osbourne

* No Rest For The Wicked (1988)
* Just Say Ozzy (1990)
* No More Tears (1991)
* Live and Loud (1993)
* Ozzmosis (1995)
* Down to Earth (2001)
* Live At Budokan (2002)
* Black Rain (2007)

Other appearances

* Stairway To Heaven/Highway To Hell (1989)
* Ward One: Along the Way (1990)
* Dweezil Zappa: Confessions (1991)
* LA Blues Authority (1991)
* Britny Fox: Bite Down Hard (1991)
* Guitars that Rule the World (1992)
* C.P.R (1992)
* Stevie Salas: The Electric Pow Wow (1993)
* Blackfoot:After the reign (1994)
* Stairway to Heaven Tribute (1997)
* Carmine Appice's Guitar Zeus 2 (1997)
* Hard Pressed - Nobuteura Mada (1997)
* Love: Tokma (1997)
* Merry Axemas Vol.2 - More Guitars (1998)
* RE-SET - Marcy (1998)
* Humanary Stew - A Tribute To Alice Cooper (1999)
* Ozzfest 2001: The Second Millennium (2001)
* Rock Star Soundtrack (2001)
* Themes of Horror (2001)
* Gibson's 50th Anniversary (2002)
* Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Spirit Journey Formation Anniversary (2003)
* Damageplan - New Found Power (2004)
* Fozzy - All That Remains (2005)
* VH1 Rock Honors with Ozzy Osbourne (2007)
* Dope - Addiction (solo) (2007)
* Rock2Wgtn with Ozzy Osbourne (2008)
* Monsters of Rock (2008)
* Guitar Hero World Tour as himself (2008)
(from Wikipedia)

Stevie Ray Vaughan

2009-04-24T21:27:00.000-07:00

Stephen "Stevie" Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American blues-rock guitarist, whose broad appeal made him an influential electric blues guitarist. To date, a total of 18 albums of Vaughan's work have been released.In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Stevie Ray Vaughan #7 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, and Classic Rock Magazine ranked him #3 in their list of the 100 Wildest Guitar Heroes in 2007.

Early life

Stephen Ray Vaughan was born to Martha and Jimmie Lee Vaughan at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, Texas on October 3, 1954, three years after his brother, Jimmie Vaughan. Stevie's father, whose nickname became "Big Jim", was an asbestos worker whose job carried the family to cities across Texas. Wherever there was an opening, the family would pack up and move to another city.

The Vaughan family finally moved into a small house in Dallas. The tension in the home was high, however, as Big Jim had a temper when he drank alcohol.

Big Jim and Martha loved to dance to Western Swing, and it was the boys' first exposure to music. The Texas Playboys, a country band, would hang out at the Vaughans' house often, playing dominoes with Big Jim. The Playboys would bring alcoholic beverages to the house and Stevie would sneak sips when nobody was looking. This started him on his addiction to alcohol.

When Jimmie broke his shoulder playing football when he was 12, family friend Michael Quinn gave him his first guitar. Soon after, Stevie got one of his own: a plastic Roy Rogers toy guitar from Sears, with only three strings. Stevie recalls that it also came with a set of blankets.

The boys, uninterested in taking formal guitar lessons, taught themselves to play by listening to records by Jimi Hendrix, The Yardbirds, and The Beatles, that Jimmie brought home. The brothers were also drawn to blues music and taught themselves the guitar techniques of blues guitarists like Albert and B.B. King, Otis Rush, and Buddy Guy.

At the age of 15, Jimmie was the lead guitarist in a local cover band called The Chessmen, and played gigs all over Texas. One day when bandmate Doyle Bramhall came to pick up Jimmie for a gig, he saw young Stevie playing along to the song Jeff's Boogie by The Yardbirds. Bramhall became the first to tell Stevie Ray Vaughan that he was actually good.

When he was 17, Vaughan got a tattoo of a peacock on his chest. It was initially supposed to be much bigger, but realizing the pain of the process altered Stevie's body-art plans.

Early career

Stevie was playing in rock bands by age 12. His first recording was for a garage rock band called "A Cast of Thousands", and his style stood out. He had paying gigs when he entered high school: first with Jimmie's new band, Texas Storm, and then with his own group, Blackbird. Stevie would play late night sets at local bars.

Stevie's and Jimmie's focus on music caused their grades to drop. Their alarmed parents tried to intervene, but it was too late: in 1967, Jimmie moved in with Doyle. Stevie, left at home, decided to take a job washing dishes at the local Dairy Mart. Part of his job was to clean out the trash bin, which required standing on top of 55-gallon wooden-lidded barrels that were used for storing grease. One day the wooden lid broke on one of the barrels and Stevie fell up to his chest in grease--and was fired for breaking the lid. He decided that, rather than try to get another job like this, he would pursue his dream of being a guitar player like Albert King, his current favorite.

1970s

In early 1971, both Jimmie and Doyle grew tired of the fading music scene in Dallas and moved to Austin to give it another try. A year later, Stevie followed with his band, Blackbird. At 17 years old, he dropped out of high school during Christmas break and hit the road.

When he first came to Austin, Stevie and his band didn't have much money, so he would sleep on a barroom pool table, but he fit in with the more appreciative music scene on the east side of town. With blues clubs like the Soap Creek Saloon, Vulcan Gas Company, and Antone's, Stevie could trade licks with the blues masters he grew up listening to. Clifford Antone, one of the club owners, took notice and practically begged Albert King to let 17-year-old Stevie play guitar with him. After much convincing, he finally agreed--and was very impressed when he heard Stevie play his own licks.

Sharing riffs with these admired masters was Stevie's dream come true, making a career in Austin turned out to be tougher than he thought. In 1973, he joined a promising rock group called Krackerjack, which included future bassist Tommy Shannon, whom he met after a stint at a club in Dallas called "The Fog." Stevie quit when the leader decided they should wear makeup on stage. The next year, he was asked to join Marc Benno and the Nightcrawlers, a blues band that included singer Doyle Bramhall and future Bee Gees bassist Russ Powell. The Nightcrawlers drove from Texas to Los Angeles to record an album, but Benno's record label rejected the tapes, and Stevie traveled back to Texas.

In 1975, he hooked up with another popular Austin group, Paul Ray and the Cobras, a two-guitar band with Stevie in the background. After two years, they only had one single recorded, and Stevie grew frustrated and quit. He was still in the shadow of his big brother. Jimmie's new group, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, were the talk of Austin, and became the house band at Antone's. In late 1977, Stevie decided it was time to put together a band of his own called "Triple Threat," which included bass player, W.C. Clark, Freddie "Pharoah" Walden on drums, and singer Lou Ann Barton.

On December 23, 1979, Stevie Vaughan married a tough-minded Lebanese woman named Lenora "Lenny" Bailey between sets at the Rome Inn in Austin, TX.

W.C. Clark left Triple Threat in mid-1978, and Stevie renamed the band "Double Trouble." He then asked drummer Chris Layton to join the band. After an embarrassing post-show incident with drunken Lou Ann, Stevie became the new lead singer and guitar player after he fired her. Around this time, he hired a management company called "Classic Management" that consisted of manager Chesley Milikin, and financial assistant, Frances Carr.

1980s

Stevie's drummer at the time, Chris Layton, stayed with him. After almost four years, Jackie Newhouse was dropped from the band in the spring of 1981, and bass player Tommy Shannon decided he wanted in. In turn, he was asked to join Double Trouble. The first show with the new trio format band was at Joe Ely's annual Texas Tornado Jam, a music festival featuring a host of local bands held at the Manor Downs Racetrack, just outside of Austin. The Fabulous Thunderbirds were after Stevie and Double Trouble.

Mick Jagger from The Rolling Stones saw a tape of the show and liked what he saw. He asked Stevie and his band to play a private party hosted by The Rolling Stones at the Danceteria club in New York. After the show, Mick and guitar player Keith Richards talked to the band about getting them a record deal. It never went through, however, and they went back to Texas.

Jerry Wexler, record executive from Atlantic Records, saw the band playing at a record release party for Lou Ann Barton's new position as singer for Roomful of Blues. He recommended that the band play the Montreux International Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Manager Chesley Milikin put in a call to Claude Nobs, the host of the Montreux Jazz Festival and would be the first unsigned act to perform at the festival.

The band was booked on a jazz acoustic night, a setup that involved an upright bass, piano, and generally soft music. The loud and powerful sound of Stevie and Double Trouble shocked the staid crowd. After a few songs, the gig seemed headed for disaster, as some of the audience members booed. Larry Graham, from Sly & The Family Stone was looking forward to an encore with the band, but unfortunately, it never happened.

As the band was backstage, devastated and disappointed, David Bowie and Jackson Browne, two celebrities in the audience approached them to say they had liked what they heard. Browne offered the band 72 hours of free studio time at his own studio in downtown Los Angeles. David Bowie also invited Stevie to play on his upcoming album, Let's Dance, co-produced by Nile Rodgers.

To be able to afford the gasoline to take them to Los Angeles, the band booked a small tour at various clubs like Fitzgerald's in Houston and The Continental Club in Austin. When they finally traveled to Los Angeles during Thanksgiving weekend in 1982, they recorded an album's worth of songs: eight songs the first day; two the next. The band then went back to Texas, where Stevie recorded the vocals at Riverside Sound in Austin.

Success and Fame

Texas Flood

The band sent the tapes to legendary talent scout, John Hammond, Sr., a veteran of the record business who discovered Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, and Bob Dylan. He got the band a major contract with Epic Records. The mixed and mastered tapes were morphed into an album called Texas Flood. On June 3, 1983, the album made it to #38 on the Billboard 200 charts, received positive reviews, and sold over 500,000 units. Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble were an overnight success. The band then embarked on a successful tour for the album. On March 3, 2009, Harmonix released Texas Flood in its entirety as downloadable content for the game Rock Band via Xbox Live. The Playstation Network was set to receive it on March 5, 2009.

Couldn't Stand the Weather

In mid-December 1983, the band took two weeks off to write material for a new album. They went to The Power Station in New York City to record in January 1984. The new album took two weeks to record, but finally finished and released the album as Couldn't Stand the Weather. They went on another successful tour and played many TV shows including Solid Gold and Rockpalast.

On October 4, 1984, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble played a show at Carnegie Hall in New York City to celebrate his 30th birthday. The whole eleven-piece band wore custom-tailored mariachi suits. The band rehearsed for two weeks to prepare for the show. After the show, MTV invited all the guests to a local club where the new TV network would throw an after-party.

With several more shows after Carnegie Hall, the band flew to Australia and played two sold-out shows at the Sydney Opera House. Then it was off to New Zealand, with a several concert halls and stadiums on the itinerary. While in New Zealand, Stevie received word that he won two W.C. Handy Blues Awards: one for Entertainer of the Year and one Instrumentalist of the Year. He was the first white person to win both awards. He was presented the awards on November 18, 1984, and played with B.B. King, Rufus Thomas, Robert Cray, and Albert King. The ceremony was held at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis on Beale Street.

Soul to Soul

By early 1985, Stevie's performance contract required a fifth of Scotch in his dressing room each night and his cocaine habit rose to 4 grams/day. He would dissolve the cocaine in a glass of Scotch or Crown Royal every morning as a morning pick-me-up. This ritual lasted for 9 years.

Stevie and Double Trouble went to the Dallas Sound Labs in March 1985. After a couple of weeks of trying to come up with new material, it became evident that Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble needed a stronger rhythm section. Desperate, he got in touch with, Reese Wynans, an ace keyboard player who was playing with Delbert McClinton at the time.

On April 10, 1985, Stevie Ray was asked to play The Star Spangled Banner on opening day at the Houston Astrodome. Unfortunately, he didn't get a good audience response, as he played his rendition with slide guitar work.

The new quartet finished the album in May 1985 and was named Soul to Soul. The album was released on September 30, 1985, but lacked the fire and bite of previous albums.

By 1986, the band was touring the world non-stop, sometimes sharing the bill with The Fabulous Thunderbirds--and Stevie's cocaine habit had risen to 7 grams a day. Both bands were on tour in New Zealand when Stevie saw a group of schoolgirls walking back to a nearby hotel. He homed in on one girl in particular: stunningly beautiful 17-year-old model Janna Lapidus. The olive-skinned brunette had fled from Russia with her parents when she was a child. Stevie took Janna with him on tour in Australia.

Live Alive

In mid-1986, Stevie and Double Trouble were ordered to record another album. As they didn't wish to do this, they decided to record a live album. They would simply record shows at the Austin Opera House and the Starfest in Dallas. This proved to be more difficult than they thought: many of the recordings were flooded with technical difficulties that needed touch-ups or errors that needed correction. The band started booking studio time to overdub drums or vocals.

Stevie's marriage to Lenny was also on the verge of collapse. His fame, fortune, success, and attention pushed her to the sidelines, and she reacted bitterly. One night after a long stretch on the road, he came home to find their house in Austin padlocked: the electricity was shut off and Lenny and their dog were gone. She had left with the money Stevie had been sending her frequently. This shocking discovery guaranteed that Stevie's alcohol and drug abuse would escalate.

Stevie moved to Los Angeles where he moved in with an old Austin acquaintance, Timothy Duckworth, who later became Stevie's personal assistant.

"Live Alive" was released on November 30, 1986.

On August 27, 1986, after years of suffering from Parkinson's disease, Stevie and Jimmie's father died from heart failure. The boys rushed home to comfort their mother, but there was little time to mourn over the death of their father. Immediately after the funeral three days later, a jet rushed Stevie back on the road with Double Trouble.

A month later, on tour in Europe, Stevie's addictive lifestyle finally caught up with him. Drummer Chris Layton recalls being out in the street with Stevie when he suddenly dropped to his knees and acted confused, then began retching blood and bile. He said he needed a drink, but no drug stores were open. When Stevie had composed himself, the two walked back to their hotel in Ludwigshafen. Then Stevie began shaking, sweating and his eyes "were like the eyes of a dead animal." When the animation came back into his eyes, he sat up and quietly said, "I need help." Chris called an ambulance; the paramedics later described the trip to the hospital as a near death dehydration. Stevie was admitted under the care of Dr. Victor Bloom in London, the same doctor who helped Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend kick their addiction to heroin. Bloom monitored Stevie overnight to see his stomach reactions; it turned out that the whiskey was eating away his stomach lining, and the cocaine was crystallizing again and eating into his intestines.

Rehabilitation

After a failed attempt to get sober in London, Stevie asked his mother to fly the band to Atlanta, Georgia, where Stevie checked into Peachford Hospital, and Tommy checked into a hospital in Austin; both men spent a month in the Charter treatment program.

Stevie made a phone call to his wife Lenny, asking her to visit him in rehab, but she refused. In turn, he filed for a divorce which wasn't finalized until June 1988 due to a delay in an agreement between Stevie and Lenny.

Recovery

By late 1986, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble went back on the road with confidence and energy as Stevie and Tommy now played clean and sober. On February 28, 1987, the band played MTV Mardi Gras in New Orleans with The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Stevie also made an appearance with B.B. King for an HBO special that was broadcast at the Ebony Showcase Theater in Los Angeles, California on April 15, 1987. It was a lineup that included B.B. King, Albert King, Eric Clapton, Paul Butterfield (who died only a few weeks later), Phil Collins, Gladys Knight, and Etta James.

Stevie Wonder hosted a TV special called "Characters", in which a number of musical guests came to perform his hits. Stevie Ray played with Wonder on "Superstition" and "Come Let Me Make Your Love Come Down" and was broadcast in April 1988.

Stevie wanted to help others recover and overcome their problems with alcohol or drugs, as during the song "Life Without You", he would often speak to the audience about recovering and being there for others when they need love. On the road, he would attend Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) meetings regularly, sharing the lessons of his ordeal.

In Step

By 1988, the band was ready to return to the recording studio. For the new record, they traveled to Memphis to record in Ardent Studios, a pro recording studio that has such clientele as ZZ Top, Tina Turner, and Led Zeppelin. Together, old friend Doyle Bramhall and Stevie began writing songs about walking the tightrope to recovery, including "Tightrope", "Wall of Denial", and "Crossfire". The album was named appropriately, "In Step", released on June 6, 1989. "Crossfire" reached the #1 position on the Mainstream Rock Charts. It was the only hit single that they ever had.

In the spring of 1990, Stevie and his brother recorded an album together, one that would feature the music they had grown up with. They recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis and was produced by Nile Rodgers. The brothers agreed to name it "Family Style". That summer, Stevie and Double Trouble went on tour with British soul singer Joe Cocker, touring places like Alaska and the Benson & Hedges Blues Festival.

Death

To complete the summer portion of the "In Step" tour, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble played two shows on August 25 & 26 at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, WI. The shows also featured Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Robert Cray with The Memphis Horns.

After Double Trouble's set at the final show, Vaughan originally planned to return to Chicago by car. Bass player Tommy Shannon and keyboardist Reese Wynans had already departed. The venue was difficult to reach via highway and Vaughan wanted to get back to Chicago to talk to his girlfriend, model Janna Lapidus, who was staying with him at the time.

Tour manager Skip Rickert had hired helicopters from Omni Flights to circumvent congested highway traffic. Most of the seats had already been reserved, but one was available. Vaughan took it.

The helicopters departed at 12:44 a.m. in thick fog. Just past the landing zone was a 200-foot hill. Vaughan's helicopter was piloted by Jeffrey Browne, who was unfamiliar with the flight pattern for exiting the area. He guided the helicopter to about half of the altitude needed to clear the hill before crashing into it. The force of the impact scattered the aircraft over a 200-foot area. The coroner's report stated that Vaughan died of severe loss of blood due to a force-of-impact rupture of the aorta.

On August 31, 1990, funeral services were held for Vaughan in his hometown of Oak Cliff. Thousands of family members, friends, and musicians gathered to say goodbye. With brother Jimmie, mother Martha, and girlfriend Janna among the mourners were all three members of ZZ Top, Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Wonder, and Jackson Browne. Vaughan was interred at Laurel Land Cemetery in Dallas, Texas.

Legacy

September 1990 saw the release of Family Style.

The 1991 album The Sky Is Crying was the first of several posthumous Vaughan releases to achieve chart success. Jimmie Vaughan later co-wrote and recorded a song in tribute to his brother and other deceased blues guitarists, titled "Six Strings Down".

The 1991 album of Bonnie Raitt, Luck of the Draw, was dedicated to him.

Many other artists recorded songs in remembrance of Vaughan, including Eric Johnson, Tommy Emmanuel (the song Stevie's Blues), Buddy Guy and Steve Vai ("Jibboom" on the album The Ultra Zone, 1999) and guitarist Wayne Perkins ("Big Stratocaster", from the album Rambling Heart).

In 1991, Texas governor Ann Richards proclaimed October 3, Vaughan's birthday, to be "Stevie Ray Vaughan Day." An annual motorcycle ride and concert in Central Texas benefits the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Scholarship Fund.

In 1992, the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation released the Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Stratocaster, which Vaughan had helped design. As of 2007, the model is still in production. In 2004, Fender also released a limited edition exact replica of "Number One".

Stevie Wonder included a song on his 1995 live album Natural Wonder titled "Stevie Ray Blues". On the album, Wonder refers to the song as "Stevie Ray Vaughan Blues".

Stephen King's short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" concerns a small town called Rock and Roll Heaven that's populated by late rock musicians, one of whom is Vaughan.

In 1994, the city of Austin erected the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Statue at Auditorium Shores on Lady Bird Lake,( [show location on an interactive map] 30°15′47.1774″N 97°45′2.4228″W / 30.263104833°N 97.750673°W / 30.263104833; -97.750673) the site of a number of Vaughan's concerts. It has become one of the city's most popular tourist attractions.

In 2000, Stevie Ray Vaughan was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.

The last guitar that Vaughan played before his death is on display in the Hard Rock Cafe in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

In November 2007, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation released a second tribute to Vaughan, an exact replica of his second beloved guitar: Lenny. This guitar was given to him by his wife Lennora ("Lenny") on his 26th birthday and Vaughan was very fond of it. According to Fender, the original Lenny was a 1965 Strat that he saw in the window of a pawn shop that he was unable to afford. The guitar is sold with a strap, a case with Vaughan's name embroidered in the fabric lining, a number of brochures and memorabilia and a leather bound certificate of authenticity.

"A little over four years ago on June 24, 2004 Lenny was put up for auction and was sold to Guitar Center for $629,500. "

Also in November 2007, Sony BMG, Epic Records, and Legacy Records released the CD Stevie Ray Vaughan & Friends: Solos, Sessions & Encores.

Stevie Ray Vaughan became eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

In 2008, residents voted to rename Dallas' Industrial Boulevard, with Vaughan's name being one of the finalists alongside Stanley Marcus, Eddie Bernice Johnson, and Cesar Chavez.

His music has been used in the popular rhythm-based video game series Guitar Hero, featuring Texas Flood and Pride And Joy. The entire Texas Flood album has also been released for download for Rock Band 2.

Personal life

Not much is known about Stevie's personal life. However, he did have several girlfriends in his early career, one of them being Lindi Bethel, the inspiration for "Pride and Joy."

Stevie married Lenora "Lenny" Bailey on December 23, 1979 between sets at the Rome Inn in Austin, TX. They divorced in 1988.

Stevie met model Janna Lapidus in New Zealand in March 1986. They remained a couple until his death.

He did not have any children.

Musical influences and style

Vaughan's blues style was strongly influenced by many blues guitarists. Foremost among them were Albert King, who dubbed himself Stevie's "godfather," Otis Rush, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Jimi Hendrix. The song "Rude Mood" is a direct derivative (according to Vaughan himself) of a Lightnin' Hopkins tune called "Lightning Sky Hop." He was also strongly influenced by early blues-rock guitarist Lonnie Mack, who, according to Vaughan, "really taught me to play guitar from the heart" (Davis, History of the Blues, DaCapo 2003, p. 246). Vaughan, who had idolized Mack since childhood, produced and played on Mack's 1985 Alligator Records album Strike Like Lightning and covered "Wham!" which was written by Mack, as well as playing on a Mack tune from the 1980s, "If You Have To Know." "Scuttle Buttin'" was influenced by one of Mack's songs "Chicken Pickin'". Vaughan's brother Jimmie Vaughan has stated that Johnny "Guitar" Watson was the guitarist he and Stevie studied the most.

Vaughan's sound and playing style, which often incorporated simultaneous lead and rhythm parts, drew comparisons to Hendrix; Vaughan covered several Hendrix tunes on his studio albums and in performance, such as "Little Wing," "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)," and "Third Stone from the Sun." He was also heavily influenced by Freddie King, another Texas bluesman, mainly in the use of tone and attack; King's heavy vibrato can clearly be heard in Vaughan's playing. Another stylistic influence was Albert Collins. By utilizing his index finger as a pick a la Albert Collins, he was able to coax various tonal nuances from his amplifiers.

Known for his warm blues-rock tone, Vaughan characteristically used very heavy strings on his guitar ranging from 13 to 58-gauge sets to give a fuller sound which he tuned down a half-step to the key of E flat.

Musicians such as John Mayer, Robert Randolph, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Colin James, Jonny Lang, Los Lonely Boys, Mike McCready, Eric Johnson, John Petrucci, and Doyle Bramhall II have cited Vaughan as an influence.

Musical equipment

Vaughan is recognized mainly for using Fender Stratocasters that were strung with heavy strings, and for tuning his guitars a half-step down from standard pitch (also known as E-flat).

Guitars

In his estate, Vaughan had a total of 34 guitars that he used throughout his career. For more information, see SRV guitars.

Amplifiers

Stevie always used vacuum tube amplifiers that he set at loud volumes, which allowed the amps to go into "power amp distortion", for his well-known clean, but loud tone. For more information on his configurations and customizations to his amps, see SRV amps.

Effects

Vaughan's primary effects were an Ibanez Tube Screamer and a Vox wah-wah, which had been given to his brother Jimmie by Jimi Hendrix. It was subsequently stolen on a tour.

He usually set the Tube Screamer with the "Drive" knob low, but tone and level high as a "boost" for leads.

Stevie used a Leslie-style speaker cabinet called a Fender Vibratone, which had a rotating styrofoam cone with 2 slots in the sides around a stationary speaker. This made the guitar sound like an organ, and can be heard on "Cold Shot" from Couldn't Stand the Weather. Vaughan briefly used a Univox Univibe in 1986, but preferred the effect given by the Vibratone. He also had a Dunlop Cry Baby wah-wah pedal before he got the Vox wah-wah.

Stevie started using Octavia in 1989. First he had a Roger Mayer Octavia and then Cesar Diaz found some NOS Tycobrahe Octavia pedals and Stevie started using those. Stevie used one from then on on live shows (he never recorded with one). Stevie used Octavia mostly in "Voodoo Chile (slight return)," but also on "Mary Had A Little Lamb," "Wall Of Denial," "Going Down," "I´m Leaving You (commit a crime)" and "Riviera Paradise." You can see (and hear on Voodoo Chile) the Roger Mayer Octavia on the DVD that comes with the SRV Box. It is the grey rocket shape pedal far left from Stevie. In late 1989 Stevie added Fuzz Face (first Roger Mayer Classic Fuzz, then vintage Fuzz Face and later Diaz modified Fuzz) to his pedal board that stayed there until the end.

Strings

The strings Stevie used didn't necessarily have to be a particular brand name, but he is known for using GHS Nickel Rockers. He changed gauges around often, depending on the condition of his fingers, but usually played the following:

1st (plain steel): .011", .012", .013"

2nd (plain steel): .015", .016"

3rd (plain steel): .019", .020"

4th (nickel-wound steel): .028"

5th (nickel-wound steel): .038"

6th (nickel-wound steel): .054", .056", .058"

Picks

In the early 1980s, he would pick up Fender Mediums as "freebies" whenever he could. However, Stevie's picks were custom-made "multi-color" equivalents of Fender Mediums. He did try D'Addario Delrin Heavies (1.10 mm) in 1987. Stevie played with the "rounded" edge of the pick.[citation needed]

Grammy Awards

* 1984 Best Traditional Blues Album for Blues Explosion (Various Artists)
* 1989 Best Contemporary Blues Album for In Step (Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble)
* 1990 Best Contemporary Blues Album for Family Style (The Vaughan Brothers)
* 1990 Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "D/Fw" (The Vaughan Brothers)
* 1992 Best Contemporary Blues Album for The Sky Is Crying (Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble)
* 1992 Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Little Wing" (Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble)

Discography

Studio albums

* 1983 Texas Flood
* 1983 In Session (with Albert King)
* 1984 Couldn't Stand the Weather
* 1985 Soul to Soul
* 1989 In Step
* 1990 Family Style (with brother Jimmie Vaughan as The Vaughan Brothers)

Live albums

* from 1980 In the Beginning
* from 1982 and 1985 Live at Montreux 1982 and 1985
* from 1983 Live at the El Mocambo (video release)
* from 1983 and 1989 Live from Austin, Texas (video release)
* from 1984 Live at Carnegie Hall
* from 1984 Triple Trouble US tour (Archivio, 1991)
* from 1985 Live in Tokyo (video import release)
* from 1985 and 1986 Live Alive
* from 1987 The Forgotten Show Daytona Beach (Flashback World Productions, Flash 01.93.0196)

Compilations

* 1991 The Sky Is Crying (posthumous compilation)
* 1995 Greatest Hits
* 1999 The Real Deal: Greatest Hits Volume 2
* 2000 Blues at Sunrise
* 2000 SRV (box set, with early recordings, rarities, hits, and live material)
* 2002 The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
* 2003 G-Ray
* 2003 Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues – Stevie Ray Vaughan
* 2006 The Real Deal: Greatest Hits Volume 1
* 2007 Solos, Sessions and Encores

Contributions

* 1971 A Cast Of Thousands, A New Hi
* 1983 Let's Dance (David Bowie)
* 1983 Johnny Copeland, Texas Twister
* 1984 Soulful Dress (Marcia Ball)
* 1985 Roy Head, Living For A Song
* 1985 Bennie Wallace, Twilight Time
* 1986 Heartbeat (Don Johnson)
* 1986 Teena Marie Emerald City
* 1986 James Brown Gravity
* 1987 "First We Take Manhattan" from Famous Blue Raincoat (Jennifer Warnes)
* 1987 Stevie Wonder, Characters
* 1987 AC Reed, I'm In The Wrong Business
* 1988 Brian Slawson, Distant Drums
* 1988 Bill Carter, Loaded Diced
* 1990 Strike Like Lightning (Lonnie Mack)
* 1990 Bob Dylan, Under The Red Sky
* 1994 Bird Nest On The Ground, Doyle Bramhall
* 1998 Lou Ann Barton with Rock Ola (Lou Ann Barton album) Sugar Coated Love
(from Wikipedia)

Mark Tremonti

2009-04-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

Mark Thomas Tremonti (born April 18, 1974) is the lead guitarist for the American rock band Alter Bridge and the former guitarist for Creed.

Early life

Mark Tremonti was born and raised near Detroit, Michigan. He listened to hard rock and metal like KISS, Celtic Frost, Journey and Metallica. At the age of 11, he bought his first guitar. It was a Tara, which was a Gibson Les Paul copy and cost about 25 dollars. Mark then attended one music lesson but decided to quit because the teacher would not teach the style that he wanted, stating, "They were teaching me 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' or something, when I said I wanted to learn Metallica." Instead, Tremonti learned guitar by ear and with tab books. One of the first songs Mark wrote was called "Yesterday". Mark played in many bands before his venture into Creed, one of which was known as Night Stalker.

Music career

Creed (1994-2004, 2009)

After high school, Tremonti went to Florida State University. At FSU, he met up with singer Scott Stapp, whom he knew from high school, and former guitar player Brian Brasher and started writing music. Contrary to the common belief, Tremonti and Stapp were not friends in high school, they knew of each other but hung out in different crowds. Together, Tremonti, Stapp and Brasher held auditions for a bassist and a drummer that resulted in the selection of Scott Phillips and Brian Marshall. They initially named themselves "Naked Toddler" (from an article title on a press clipping that Tremonti used to carry in his wallet). The band eventually settled on the name "Creed" at Marshall's suggestion (having previously been in a band called "Maddox Creed"). Creed went on to sell over 30 million records worldwide in seven years. Due to personal issues between band members, Creed split and Alter Bridge was born in 2004.

However, in April 2009, it has been confirmed that Creed are to reform when the official Creed website was uploaded with a video stating that "Creed will rise again." Also, for the first time since Creed's disbandment, their official MySpace page has been updated. However, the terms and extent of the reunion are unclear at this point, as no one officially affiliated with Creed has yet come out with any official information.

Alter Bridge (2004-present)

Since Creed split up, Tremonti has worked with many different guitarists and musicians such as Michael Angelo Batio, Thomas Gospodareck, and Fozzy. He took extensive lessons from guitarist Troy Stetina. He stated, “After all Creed achieved professionally, I felt that I needed to refocus on the goals that I had personally. One of those goals was to get back to my rock and roll roots. After Creed took a break, band-mate Scott Phillips and I started to jam together again and realized that we both shared the same vision and were surprisingly anxious to get back out there and start doing it again."They reunited with ex-Creed bassist Brian Marshall and recruited former Mayfield Four vocalist Myles Kennedy to form Alter Bridge. The name symbolized going over and into the unknown, and while the new band mates decided collectively on the name for the new project, it was inspired by Tremonti's youth in Detroit, and eventually, they settled on a moniker named after a real bridge in Detroit located near his childhood home on Alter Road. The children in the neighborhood weren't allowed to cross the bridge as it led to a bad section of town, and thus to them what lay on the other side was unknown. Since Alter Bridge's formation, the band has released two studio albums: One Day Remains in 2004 and Blackbird in 2007. They are currently in the process of writing material for a third release, and they are planning on releasing their very first live DVD entitled Live in Amsterdam in April or May of 2009.

In the late 2008, Tremonti released his very first guitar instructional DVD titled The Sound & The Story. The DVD included in-depth lessons by not only Tremonti, but also had guest appearances from Michael Angelo Batio, Rusty Cooley, Troy Stetina, Bill Peck, and Myles Kennedy. The DVD can be purchased through the Fret12 website.

Influences

Mark Tremonti's all time favorite guitarist is Stevie Ray Vaughan. However, he has mentioned on several occasions that his favorite modern guitarist is Zakk Wylde. He is also influenced by Metallica, Slayer, Celtic Frost, Audley Freed, Neal Schon, Slash and other hard rock & metal guitarists and bands.

Discography

With Creed

* 1997 My Own Prison (Wind-Up Records)
* 1999 Human Clay (Wind-Up Records)
* 2001 Weathered (Wind-Up Records)
* 2004 Greatest Hits (Wind-Up Records)

With Alter Bridge

* 2004 One Day Remains (Wind-Up Records)
* 2007 Blackbird (Universal Republic Records)
* 2009 Live in Amsterdam

DVD

* 2008 The Sound & The Story

Equipment

Guitars

Mark Tremonti plays his signature Paul Reed Smith Tremonti Model Guitar. For touring, he has 3 or 4 Black, 1 Tribal, and 1 Tiger Eye models that have fixed bridges, while his Charcoal Burst, Black Cherry (24 fret), Black Cherry (22 fret), Blue/White, and Platinum guitars have floating vibrato bridges. He has only one standard made 2007 Tremonti in black cherry. He also has one black model that has only 3 knobs. He also uses Taylor acoustic guitars.

He plays with Jim Dunlop Jazz III picks; he told Guitar One magazine,"I decided to play with only that pick for a couple of days, and after that my 1-mm nylon pick felt like a paddle. Now I can't go back."

Rig

* Mesa Boogie 4x12 and 2x15 cabinets
* Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier
* Orange amplification has been added to Mark's repertoire
* 1968 Marshall "Plexi" head
* Morley Mark Tremonti Power Wah
* TC Electronic G-Force effects processor
* Custom Audio Electronics Power Conditioner
* VooDoo Labs Ground Control Pro
* Dunlop EVH Phase 90- Old
* T-Rex Mark Tremonti Signature Phase Shifter
* Bogner Uberschall
* Behringer EQ
* Mackie Mixing Board
* Avalon Mic Preamp
* Fender Twin '65 Reissues
* Fender Tone King
* Occasionally uses Diezel amps
* Mark told Michael Angelo Batio that "The MAB Over Drive is the best sounding over drive pedal he has ever used."[citation needed]
* Klon Centaur overdrive pedal- Old

Tuning

Tremonti often uses alternative guitar tunings which give Creed and Alter Bridge songs a distintive sound and allow for heavier riffs than produced with standard tuning.

Personal life

* Mark Tremonti currently resides in Orlando, Florida with his wife and two sons.
* He is close friends with many respected shred guitarists, particularly Aric Town, Michael Angelo Batio, Rusty Cooley and Vinnie Moore.
* According to a recent issue of Forbes, Mark Tremonti possess a networth of around US$179 million.
(from Wikipedia)

John Mayer

2009-04-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

John Clayton Mayer (pronounced /ˈmeɪ.ər/ MAY-ər; born October 16, 1977) is an American musician. Originally from Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music before moving to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1997, where he refined his skills and gained a following. His first two studio albums, Room for Squares and Heavier Things, did well commercially, achieving multi-platinum status. In 2003, he won a Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Grammy Award for "Your Body Is a Wonderland".

Mayer began his career performing mainly acoustic rock, but gradually began a transition towards the blues genre in 2005 by collaborating with renowned blues artists such as B. B. King, Buddy Guy, and Eric Clapton, and by forming the John Mayer Trio. The blues influence can be heard on his album Continuum, released in September 2006. At the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in 2007 Mayer won Best Pop Vocal Album for Continuum and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Waiting on the World to Change". Mayer's career pursuits have extended to stand-up comedy, design, and writing; he has written pieces for magazines, most notably for Esquire. He is also involved in philanthropic activities through his "Back to You" fund and his concern over global warming.

Early life

John Mayer was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut to Margaret (an English teacher) and Richard (a high school principal).He grew up in nearby Fairfield, the second of three children. There, he became friends with future tennis star James Blake. Mayer attended the former Fairfield High School, although he was enrolled in the Center for Global Studies at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk, Connecticut for his junior year. (Then known as the Center for Japanese Studies Abroad, it is a magnet program for students wanting to learn Japanese). During an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, he said that he had played the clarinet for a while in middle school, with minor success. After watching the Marty McFly character's (Michael J. Fox) guitar performance in Back to the Future, he became fascinated with the instrument.Subsequently, when Mayer was thirteen, his father rented one for him.

Soon after Mayer got his guitar, a neighbor gave him a Stevie Ray Vaughan cassette, which began Mayer’s intense love of the blues.Despite the reservations of his parents, Mayer became consumed with playing the guitar,and after two years of practice, he started playing at blues bars and other venues in the area, while in high school. In addition to performing alone, he was in a band called Villanova Junction with Tim Procaccini, Joe Beleznay, and Rich Wolf.

When Mayer was seventeen, he was stricken with a cardiac arrhythmia that sent him to the hospital for a weekend. Reflecting on the incident, Mayer said, “That was the moment the songwriter in me was born,” and he penned his first lyrics the night he got home. Shortly thereafter, he began suffering from crippling panic attacks, and even now he keeps Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, with him. After graduation, he worked for fifteen months at a gas station until he saved up enough money to buy his first proper guitar—a 1996 Stevie Ray Vaughan signature Stratocaster.

Career

Early career

John Mayer enrolled in the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, at the age of nineteen.After two semesters, he chose to cut his studies short, and at the urging of his college friend and Atlanta native, Clay Cook, the two moved to Atlanta, Georgia.Quickly making a name for their two-man band, LoFi Masters, they began their career in earnest there, frequenting the local coffee house and club circuit in venues like Eddie’s Attic. Cook has said, however, that they began to experience musical differences due to Mayer’s desire to take the duo in more of a pop direction. The two parted ways, and Mayer embarked on a solo career.

With the help of local producer and engineer Glenn Matullo, Mayer recorded the independent EP Inside Wants Out. Cook is also cited as the co-writer of many of the songs from the EP, most notably, Mayer's first commercial single release, "No Such Thing".The EP includes only eight songs, all with Mayer on lead vocals and guitars, with the exception of “Comfortable” in which Mayer only recorded the vocals. For the opening track, “Back To You”, a full band was enlisted, including the EP’s co-producer David "DeLa" LaBruyere on bass guitars. Mayer and LaBruyere then began to tour throughout Georgia and the surrounding states.

Major label success

"City Love" excerpt
Play sound
From the album Room for Squares.
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Mayer’s reputation began to build, and a March 2000 appearance at South by Southwest brought him to the attention of "launch" label, Aware Records. After including him in the Aware Festival concerts and having his songs included on Aware compilations, in early 2001, Aware released Mayer’s internet-only album entitled, Room for Squares. During that time, Aware inked a deal with Columbia Records that gave Columbia first pick in signing Aware artists, and so in September of the same year, Columbia remixed and re-released Room for Squares. As part of the major label "debut", the album's artwork was updated, and the track "3x5" was added. The re-release also included reworked studio versions of the first four songs from his indie album, Inside Wants Out.

By the end of 2002, Room for Squares had spawned several radio hits, including "No Such Thing," "Your Body Is a Wonderland," and ultimately, "Why Georgia." In 2003, Mayer won a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Your Body Is a Wonderland." In his acceptance speech he remarked, "This is very, very fast, and I promise to catch up." He also figuratively referred to himself as being sixteen, a remark that many mistook to mean that he was only sixteen years old at the time.

In 2003, Mayer released a live CD and DVD of a concert in Birmingham, Alabama entitled, Any Given Thursday. The concert featured songs previously not recorded, such as "Man on the Side" (co-written with Cook) and "Something's Missing", which later appeared on Heavier Things. The concert also included "Covered In Rain". According to the accompanying DVD documentary, this song is "part two" of the song "City Love", which features the line "covered in rain". Commercially, the album quickly peaked at number seventeen on the Billboard 200 chart. The CD/DVD received conservative, although consistent, praise, with critics torn between his pop-idol image, and (at the time) emerging guitar prowess. Erik Crawford (of Allmusic) asked "Is he the consummate guitar hero exemplified when he plays a cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'Lenny', or is he the teen idol that the pubescent girls shriek for after he plays 'Your Body Is a Wonderland?'"

Heavier Things, Mayer's second album, was released in 2003 to generally favorable reviews. Rolling Stone, Allmusic and Blender all gave positive, although reserved, feedback. PopMatters said that it "doesn't have as many drawbacks as one might assume". The album was commercially successful, and while it did not sell as well as Room for Squares, it peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. Mayer earned his first number one single with the song "Daughters" as well as a 2005 Grammy for Song of the Year, beating out fellow contenders Alicia Keys and Kanye West. He dedicated the award to his grandmother, Annie Hoffman, who died in May 2004. He also won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, beating Elvis Costello, Prince, and Seal for the award. In his February 9th 2009 interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Mayer said that he thought he shouldn't have won the Grammy for Song of the year because he thought that Alicia Keys' If I Ain't Got You was the better song. Because of this, he removed the top half of the Grammy and gave it to Keys, and kept the bottom part for himself. At the 37th Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in 2006, Mayer was honored with the Hal David Starlight Award.

Mayer again recorded live concerts across seven nights of his U.S. tour in 2004. These recordings were released to the iTunes music store under the title as/is, indicating that the errors were included along with the good moments. A few months later, a "best of" CD was compiled from the as/is nights. The album included a previously unreleased cover of Marvin Gaye's song "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", featuring a solo from Mayer's support act — jazz and blues turntablist, DJ Logic. All the album covers of the as/is releases feature drawings of anthropomorphic bunnies.

With increased exposure, Mayer's talent came into demand in other areas. Steve Jobs invited Mayer to perform during the keynote address of Apple's annual Macworld Conference & Expo, in January 2004, as Jobs introduced the software application GarageBand. The gig led to Mayer becoming a fixture of the event. He rejoined Jobs on stage for a solo performance at Macworld 2007, following the announcement of the iPhone. Mayer has also done endorsements, such as a Volkswagen commercial for the Beetle's guitar outlet and for the BlackBerry Curve.

Change in musical direction

Mayer began to collaborate extensively, often working with artists outside of his own genre. He appeared on Common's song "Go!" and on Kanye West's "Bittersweet Poetry".Following these collaborations, Mayer received praise from rap heavyweights Jay-Z and Nelly. When asked about his presence in the hip hop community, Mayer said, "It's not music out there right now. That's why, to me, hip-hop is where rock used to be."

It was around this time that Mayer began hinting a change in his musical interests, announcing that he was "closing up shop on acoustic sensitivity."In 2005, he began a string of collaborations with various blues artists, including Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, as well as jazz artist John Scofield. He also went on tour with legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, which included a show at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. These collaborations led to recordings with several of these artists, namely, Clapton (Back Home, Crossroads Guitar Festival), Guy (Bring 'Em In), Scofield (That's What I Say), and King. Although Mayer has maintained a reputation for being a sensitive singer-songwriter, he has also gained distinction as an accomplished guitarist, influenced by the likes of the above artists, as well as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Cray, and Freddie King.

John Mayer Trio

In the spring of 2005, Mayer formed the John Mayer Trio with bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan, both of whom he had met through previous studio sessions. The trio played a combination of blues and rock music. In October 2005, the Trio opened for The Rolling Stones during a sold-out club tour of their own, and that November, released a live album called Try! The band took a break in mid-2006. In September 2006, Mayer announced plans for the Trio to begin work on a future studio album.

Continuum and beyond

Mayer's latest album, entitled Continuum, was released on September 12, 2006, and was produced by Mayer himself and Steve Jordan. Mayer suggested the album was intended to combine his signature pop music with the feel, sound, groove, and sensibilities of the blues. In that vein, two of the tracks from his trio release Try! — the funky "Vultures" and the blues centerpiece "Gravity" — also were included on Continuum. Mayer has said that "Gravity" is the most important song he's ever written.

The first single from Continuum was "Waiting on the World to Change," which debuted on The Ron and Fez Show. The song was the third most downloaded song of the week on the iTunes Music Store following its release on July 11, 2006, and debuted at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. On August 23, 2006, Mayer debuted the entire album on the Los Angeles radio station Star 98.7, giving commentary on each track. A subsequent version was released the next day on the Clear Channel Music website as a streaming sneak preview. On September 21, 2006, Mayer appeared on CSI, playing "Waiting on the World to Change" and "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room." The song "Gravity" was featured on the television series House in the episode "Cane & Able" and Numb3rs. He recorded a session for the British program Live From Abbey Road at Abbey Road Studios on October 22, 2006.

On December 7, 2006, Mayer was nominated for five 2007 Grammys, including "Album of the Year." The John Mayer Trio also received a nomination for their album, Try!. He won two: Best Pop Song with Vocal for "Waiting on the World to Change" and Best Pop Album for Continuum. Mayer remixed an acoustic version of his single "Waiting on the World to Change" with vocal additions from fellow musician Ben Harper. In preparation for recording Continuum, Mayer had booked the Village Recorder in Los Angeles to record five demo acoustic versions of his songs with veteran musician Robbie McIntosh. These recordings became The Village Sessions, an EP released on December 12, 2006. As usual, Mayer oversaw the artwork of the release.

Mayer was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone (#1020) in February 2007, along with John Frusciante and Derek Trucks. He was named as one of the "New Guitar Gods," and the cover nicknamed him "Slowhand, Jr.," a reference to Eric Clapton. Additionally, he was selected by the editors of Time magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2007 and was listed among artists and entertainers.

On November 20, 2007, the re-issue of Continuum became available online and in stores. The release contains a bonus disc of six live songs from his 2007 tour: five from Continuum and a cover of the Ray Charles song "I Don't Need No Doctor." His new single, "Say," also became available through iTunes. On December 6, 2007, "Belief" was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. He accompanied Alicia Keys on guitar on her song "No One" at the ceremony.

In February 2008, Mayer hosted a three-day Caribbean cruise event that included performances with various musicians including David Ryan Harris, Brett Dennen, and Colbie Caillat, among others. The event was called "The Mayercraft Carrier" and was held aboard the cruise ship known as the Carnival Victory. A follow up cruise titled "Mayercraft Carrier 2" set sail from Long Beach, California on March 27-31, 2009 on the Carnival Splendor.

On July 1, 2008, Mayer released Where the Light Is a live concert film of Mayer's performance at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on December 8, 2007. The film was directed by Danny Clinch. It features an acoustic set and a set with the John Mayer Trio, followed by a set with John's band from the Continuum album. The DVD and Bluray bonus material includes footage of Mayer backstage and playing outside on Mulholland Drive.

CBS confirmed on January 14, 2009 that Mayer is in negotiations with the station for a variety show. The details of the deal and the nature of the show are yet unknown.

Other projects

Philanthropic activities

In 2002, Mayer began the "Back To You" Fund, a non-profit organization that focuses on fundraising in the areas of health care, education, the arts, and talent development. The foundation raises funds through the auction of exclusive John Mayer items, such as guitar picks, t-shirts, and signed CDs, made available on Mayer's auction site. The auctions have been successful, with some tickets selling for more than seventeen times their face value.

In an April 2007 blog entry, Mayer announced a new effort to help reverse global warming, dubbed "Another Kind of Green" (originally "Light Green", but changed because of copyright concerns). Mayer regards his proposal as a mid-ranged approach to being ecologically aware: neither fearful nor ambivalent about global warming. In this vein, while generally maintaining his lifestyle, he is gradually designing and implementing "products that are cheap, easy alternatives to cut down on plastics," and encouraging others to do the same through his blog. He has also converted his tour bus to bio-diesel fuel.Mayer is partnering with Incase to produce items such a reusable grocery tote and water bottles. Mayer also participated at the East Rutherford, New Jersey location of the Live Earth project, a musical rally to support awareness for global warming held on July 7, 2007. Beginning in the summer of 2007, the environmental advocacy group Reverb has set up informational booths and helped his crew conserve energy on his tour dates.

Mayer has performed at a number of benefits and telethons for charity throughout his career. In response to the Virginia Tech massacre, Mayer (along with Dave Matthews Band, Phil Vassar, and NaS) performed a free concert at Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium on September 6, 2007. On December 8, 2007, Mayer hosted the First Annual Charity Revue. He performed an acoustic set, a set with the John Mayer Trio followed by a performance with his tour band. The proceeds of this concert will be donated to Toys for Tots, Inner City Arts, and the Los Angeles Mission. Both CDs and DVDs of the concert were released under the title "Where the Light Is" in July 2008. It has not been announced whether the DVD proceeds will go to charity or not. Mayer also appeared on Songs for Tibet, a celebrity initiative to support Tibet and the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso.

Design
I'm actually into sneakers on a design level. I've got a big design thing going on in my life right now ... I love designing stuff. I mean, my biggest dream, forget Grammys, I want to be able to design an Air Max.
—John Mayer (AP, 2006)

In a Rolling Stone interview, Mayer recalled that after former Columbia Records head, Don Ienner, panned Continuum, he briefly considered quitting music and studying design full time. Mayer's interest in design, however, had long manifested itself in a number of ways. In 2003, Martin Guitars gave Mayer his own signature model acoustic guitar called the OM-28 John Mayer. The guitar was limited to a run of only 404, an Atlanta area code. This model was followed by the release of two Fender signature Stratocaster electric guitars, beginning in 2005. A third Stratocaster, finished in charcoal frost metallic paint with a racing stripe, was also a limited-release, with only 100 guitars made. In January, 2006, Martin Guitars released the Martin OMJM John Mayer acoustic guitar. The guitar was intended to have many of the attributes of the Martin OM-28 John Mayer but with a more affordable price tag. In August 2006, Fender started manufacturing SERIES II John Mayer Stratocasters. The new Olympic white with mint green pickguard and cream plastics replaced the shoreline gold model. In January 2007, Two Rock collaborated with Mayer on custom-designed amps. Only 25 (all signed by Mayer himself) were made available to the public. June 2007 saw the release of the "album art" guitar, with the Continuum motif repeated on the face of the instrument, as well as a 500-run John Mayer signature Fender Statocaster in Cypress-Mica. Included with the limited Cypress-Mica model was the INCSvsJM gig bag that Mayer collaborated on with Incase designs. Not surprisingly, Mayer is a passionate collector of guitars, and in 2006 his collection was estimated at more than 200.

In addition to guitars, Mayer's handiwork ranges from T-shirts, guitar totes and, most dear to his heart, sneakers. In August 2006, Mayer started JMltd, a minor clothing line of Mayer-themed merchandise that he has designed. The products are currently available online through his website store.

Writing

With the June 1, 2004, issue of Esquire, Mayer began a column called, "Music Lessons with John Mayer". Each article featured a lesson and his (often humorous) take on various topics, both of personal and popular interest. In the August 2005 issue, he invited readers to create music for orphaned lyrics he had written. The winner was Tim Fagan of L.A., as announced in the following January's issue.

Mayer has been active online, and has maintained four blogs: a MySpace page, a blog at his official site, another at Honeyee.com, as well as a photoblog at StunningNikon.com. Although they primarily deal with career-related matters, they also contain jokes, comedic videos, his convictions, and his personal activities; they occasionally overlap in content. He is noted for writing the blogs himself, and not through a publicist.His official blog's entry for 2008-01-23 contained a graphic that read, "Done & Dusted & Self Conscious & Back to Work." followed by the quote "There is danger in theoretical speculation of battle, in prejudice, in false reasoning, in pride, in braggadocio. There is one safe resource, the return to nature.."; all the previous blog entries were deleted. He subsequently changed that entry's contents several times, and has since resumed blogging.

In the mid-2000s, stand-up comedy was a hobby of Mayer's. He would make random appearances at the famed Comedy Cellar in New York. While he said that it helped him write better, he said that increased media attention has had to make him be too careful about what he says; he also felt that he wasn't funny.

Television

In 2004, Mayer had a one-shot half-hour comedy special on VH1, entitled John Mayer Has a TV Show, with antics including wearing a bear suit and anonymously teasing concertgoers in the parking lot outside one of his concerts. Mayer is currently shooting a television pilot for a CBS variety show; it may air as a special or as a regular series.

Touring

Despite being principally a solo musician, Mayer has toured with many groups, including Maroon 5, Guster, Howie Day, Mat Kearney, Counting Crows, Ben Folds, The Wallflowers, Teitur,Brett Dennen and Sheryl Crow. Crow and Mayer, who had just previously appeared on the Cars Soundtrack together, co-headlined a tour that ran from August to October 2006. Shortly thereafter, he began promoting Continuum in Europe with his band, as he has yet to reach the popularity abroad that he enjoys in North America. Beyond this, other international dates included United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The initial North American leg wrapped on February 28, 2007, with a show at Madison Square Garden, a performance which the New York Post described as "career-defining." Mayer's 2008 live touring band consists of:

* David Ryan Harris: guitar and backing vocals
* Robbie McIntosh: guitar
* Sean Hurley: bass
* J.J. Johnson: drums

* Bob Reynolds: saxophones and flutes
* Brad Mason: trumpet and flugel horn
* Tim Bradshaw: keyboards, organ, and vocals

Previous members of Mayer's live band include:

* Michael Chaves: guitars, keyboards and backing vocals
* Stephen Chopek: drums and percussion
* David LaBruyere: bass
* Onree Gill: keyboards
* Kevin Lovejoy: keyboards

* Matt Mangano: guitar and vocals
* Ricky Peterson: keyboards, organ, and vocals
* Chuck McKinnon: trumpet and flugel horn
* Chris Karlic: saxophones and flutes
* Erik Jekabson: trumpet

Mayer allows audio taping at most of his live performances, and he also allows for the non-commercial trading of those recordings. He does this to give fans the opportunity to recreate the live experience, and to encourage fan interaction.

On April 8, 2008 his official website announced the dates for the first leg of the summer 2008 U.S. tour. Most dates include performances by Colbie Caillat and Brett Dennen.

Tour dates for the second leg of his 2008 summer U.S. tour were announced on May 29, 2008. OneRepublic and Paramore replaced Caillat and Dennen in the opening slots.

Personal life

Mayer has a number of tattoos. These include: "Home" and "Life" (from the song title) on the back of his left and right arms respectively, "77" (his year of birth) on the left side of his chest, and a koi-like fish on his right shoulder. His entire left arm is covered in a sleeve tattoo that he acquired gradually, ending in April 2008; it includes: "SRV" (for his idol Stevie Ray Vaughan) on his shoulder, a decorated rectangle on his biceps, a dragon-like figure on his inner arm, and various other floral designs. In 2003, he got a tattoo of three squares on his right forearm, which, he has explained, he will fill in gradually.As of 2009, two are filled.

He is an avid collector of watches and owns timepieces worth tens of thousands of dollars. Mayer also has an extensive collection of sneakers, estimated (in 2006) at more than 200 pairs.

Mayer dated Jennifer Love Hewitt briefly in 2002. In a comedy routine in May 2006, he joked that they never consummated their relationship; he later apologized to her for the raunchy routine.Despite rumors to the contrary, Mayer did not date Heidi Klum in 2003.Mayer dated Jessica Simpson for about nine months, beginning in the middle of 2006. Rumors started in August of that year with a People magazine article, but kicked into high gear when Mayer and Simpson spent New Year's holiday together in New York City, both attending Christina Aguilera's New Year's Eve party. When Ryan Seacrest asked Mayer on the red carpet of the 2007 Grammy Awards, about his relationship with Simpson, Mayer responded in Japanese. Despite some initially conflicting translations, he said, "Jessica is a lovely woman, and I'm glad to be with her."Simpson also accompanied Mayer for several dates of his 2007 Continuum tour, and the two went on a trip to Rome in March of that year.Couple split in May 2007.He began dating actress Minka Kelly in September 2007,ough the two broke up before the year's end. Began dating actress Jennifer Aniston in April 2008,whicter a 7-month courtship.Mayer joiton at the 81st Academy Awards, where she was a presenter. "It's my first Oscars," the singer told blog PopSugar during an NYC interview. "And it's my first being an Oscar boyfriend." They had sinc dating in October 2008, before splittinga in March 2009.

Mayer splits his time between his home in the Los Angeles suburbs (with his roommate and sound engineer, Chad Franscoviak)and his apartment in the New York City neighborhood of SoHo.

Solo discography

* 1999: Inside Wants Out
* 2001: Room for Squares
* 2003: Heavier Things
* 2006: Continuum
* TBD: Battle Studies

Awards
Year Award Category
2009 51st Annual Grammy Awards

* Best Long Form Music Video for Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles - nominated
* Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media for "Say" (From The Bucket List) - nominated
* Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for "Gravity" from Where The Light Is - Live In Los Angeles - winner
* Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals for "Lesson Learned" (feat. John Mayer) from As I Am - nominated
* Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Say" (From The Bucket List) - winner

2008 50th Annual Grammy Awards

* Best Male Pop Vocal for "Belief"—nominated

2007 35th Annual American Music Awards

* Adult Contemporary Music—nominated

23rd Annual TEC Awards

* Tour Sound Production (for the Continuum Tour)
* Record Production/Single or Track (for production on "Waiting on the World to Change"
* Record Production/Album (from production on Continuum)

49th Annual Grammy Awards

* Best Pop Vocal Album for Continuum
* Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Waiting on the World to Change"

2005 33rd annual American Music Awards

* Adult Contemporary: Favorite Artist

World Music Awards

* World's Best Selling Rock Act

People's Choice Awards

* Favorite Male Artist

47th annual Grammy Awards

* Song Of The Year — songwriter for "Daughters"
* Best Male Pop Vocal Performance — artist for "Daughters"

2004 BDS Certified Spin Awards
March 2004 recipients

* Reached 100,000 spins for "Why Georgia"

2003 20th Annual ASCAP Awards

* ASCAP Pop Award - "No Such Thing" (shared with Clay Cook)
Awarded to songwriters and publishers of the most performed songs in the ASCAP repertory for the award period.

31st Annual American Music Awards

* Favorite Male Artist - Pop or Rock 'n Roll Music

15th Annual Boston Music Awards

* Act of the Year
* Male Vocalist of the Year
* Song of the Year for "Your Body Is a Wonderland"

45th Annual Grammy Awards

* Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Your Body Is a Wonderland"

MTV Video Music Awards

* Best Male Video

Radio Music Awards

* Modern Adult Contemporary Radio Artist of the Year
* Best Hook-Up Song for "Your Body Is a Wonderland"

Teen People Awards

* Choice Music - Male Artist
* Choice Music - Album for Any Given Thursday

Danish Music Awards

* Best New Artist

2002 MTV Video Music Awards

* Best New Artist in a Video for "No Such Thing" — nominated

Orville H. Gibson Guitar Awards

* Les Paul Horizon Award (Most Promising Up and Coming Guitarist)

VH1 Big in 2002 Awards

* Can't Get You Out of My Head Award for "No Such Thing"

Poolstar anf industry awards
* Best New Artist Tour
(from Wikipedia)

Daron Malakian

2009-04-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

Daron Vartan Malakian (born July 18, 1975) is the lead guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist in System of a Down. The band has been on a hiatus since 2006. He is currently the lead singer and guitarist in Scars on Broadway. Like the rest of the Hollywood-based band System of a Down, he is of Armenian ancestry, but is the only member to actually have been born inside the U.S. (Los Angeles). He placed 30th in Guitar World's List of The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time

Early life

Daron was born on July 18, 1975 in U.S. as an only child to an Iraqi-Armenian father Vartan Malakian and Iranian-Armenian mother Zepur Malakian. At a very early age, Daron got into heavy metal music; his distant cousin played him a KISS record when he was four years old and he was hooked. Daron wanted to play the drums , but his parents got him a guitar instead because they said "You can't turn the drums off." By the time Daron was a teenager, he got into heavier metal bands such as Slayer, Venom, Metallica, Pantera, Sepultura and Cannibal Corpse. At around 17 he started getting into The Beatles and Peter, Paul and Mary as two of his biggest influences on him as a songwriter. Daron went to Rose & Alex Pilibos Armenian school in Little Armenia, Hollywood, which bandmates Serj Tankian and Shavo Odadjian also attended. Daron is still a big Slayer fan, as is band member Shavo Odadjian who sometimes wears Slayer t-shirts to shows. In his childhood, he also became a fan of the LA Kings Hockey Team, which can be seen in the video of 'Toxicity' and the booklet of the album with the same title.

System of a Down

Daron Malakian met Serj Tankian in 1992, while they both shared the same rehearsal studio in different bands. Serj was playing keyboard for a band, and Daron was singing lead vocals for another band. They formed a jam band called Soil (Serj on vocals/keyboards and Daron on guitar; not to be confused with SOiL) with Domingo Laranio (drums) and Dave Hakopyan (bass). Around this time, they also met Shavo Odadjian. In 1994, after one supposed jam session recording and one live show at a bar called Whiskey a Go Go, Dave and Domingo left, thinking the band wasn't going anywhere. Daron became a very famous member because of his famous double beard, crazy acts, weird faces, and instruments used.

The band later broke up and Tankian and Malakian formed a new band "System of a Down," based on a poem that Daron wrote entitled "Victims of the Down". Shavo Odadjian thought that the word System appealed to a much broader audience than "Victims," and they wanted their albums to be stored near the band Slayer's. Odadjian was the band's original manager and promoter, but joined as the bassist, and managerial duties were taken over by the Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group and founder David "Beno" Benveniste. Daron then asked his friend Ontronik "Andy" Khachaturian (whom had played in his first band with Daron at age 15) to join the band as the drummer.Andy was later replaced by their current drummer, John Dolmayan, due to a hand injury.

Malakian co-produced System of a Down's albums with Rick Rubin, as well as The Ambulance and Bad Acid Trip (a band on fellow member Serj Tankian's Serjical Strike Records). He recently started his own label, EatUrMusic, on which Amen is the first signed band. Malakian is also involved in a band called Scars on Broadway, with John Dolmayan. In 2003 Daron Malakian played with a variety of celebrities in the Celebrity Baseball Game in Hollywood. He wrote a song about the experience, "Old School Hollywood", which appears on System of a Down's album, Mezmerize.

Daron has stated in an interview that the band doesn't follow anybody: "A lot of bands followed Korn. We're not one of those bands but I have respect for Korn for being original. I just think it’s a shame that so many people felt they had to go and mimic that. Everyone tells us we have our own sound. I think that we have enough trust in our fans from touring for enough years to know that they're expecting something different from us, which is cool because it leaves the door open for us to go anywhere we want"

Personal life

Malakian now lives in Glendale, California; he also has relatives in Iran and Iraq since his parents were born in those countries but immigrated to America. He has visited both countries. He enjoys collecting candles, Persian rugs, Hookahs, instruments, and skulls.

Equipment

Guitars

* Gibson SG - Various models used during later work with System of a Down and with Scars on Broadway.
* Gibson Les Paul Standard
* Fender Stratocaster
* Jackson Randy Rhoads RR1T
* Fender Jazzmaster Meet with the Blue Oyster Cult to play "Don't fear the reaper" as well as a show with Cyanide Accident.
* Special Edition Alex Fernandes Standard
* Ibanez Iceman IC200
* Ibanez Iceman IC300
* Ibanez DMM1

Effects

* BOSS Metal Zone MT-2

* Fulltone Clyde Wah-Wah

* Line 6 DL-4

Amplification

Malakian oftened experimentes with different combinations of heads combined with either a Marshall or a Mesa Boogie cabinet.

* Marshall MF 350 "Modefour"
* Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier
* Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier
* Mesa Boogie Cabinet

* Marshall 1987X "Plexi"
* Marshall Cabinet
* Matchless Amplifier
* Orange Amplifier

* VOX Amplifier
* Ibanez Amplification
* Soldano Amplifiers
* Carvin Amplifier

Other

* Ernie Ball "Skinny Top Heavy Bottom"

* Dunlop Delrin 2.0mm Triangular Picks

* Various Seymour Duncan Pickups

Discography

System of a Down
For a more comprehensive list, see System of a Down discography

* System of a Down (1998)
* Toxicity (2001)
* Steal This Album! (2002)
* Mezmerize (2005)
* Hypnotize (2005)

Scars on Broadway

For a more comprehensive list, see Scars on Broadway discography

* Scars on Broadway (2008)

Collaborations

Live performances

* 2000: Metallica featuring Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian - "Mastertarium"
* 2000: Metallica featuring Jonathan Davis and Daron Malakian - "One"
* 2003: Metallica Featuring Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian - "Creeping Death" - Reading Festival 2003
* 2003: The Ambulance featuring Daron Malakian - "Stop"

Awards

* In 2002, System of a Down were nominated for a Grammy Award in Best Metal Performance for their song Chop Suey!
* In 2003, they were nominated for a Grammy Award in Best Hard Rock Performance
* In 2005, Daron Malakian won the award for Best Alternative Act with System of a Down in the Europe Music Awards
* In 2006, System of a Down won their first Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for B.Y.O.B.
* In 2006, they won the "MTV Good Woodie Award" for their song "Question!"
* In 2006, they were #14 on the VH1 Top 40 Metal Songs with "Toxicity"
* In 2007, they were nominated for a Grammy Award in Best Hard Rock Performance for their song Lonely Day

Quotes by Malakian

“ I have no interest in murder, and I have no interest in people dying. But I'm interested in people's minds, and sometimes Manson puts thoughts together that I find really interesting. Have you ever seen his unedited videos? He starts making a lot of sense. I'm sure people are scared of that, but to me, it's scarier to watch George Bush try to make sense. ”
“ System of a Down are one of the most misunderstood bands around. I mean, Armenian rock? What the fuck is that? Political? I could name so many more of our songs that aren't about politics than ones that are. And for a long time, everyone thought Serj wrote all of our tunes. Until this album came out, people thought he wrote all the lyrics. So there are so many different misunderstandings of System of a Down that I don't even let it bother me anymore. I'm just kind of used to it. Our first bio said something like 'four guys based out of LA who are Armenian and political,' and, well, it wasn't really right at all. I mean, we are all Armenian, but we didn't plan that. ”
“ It's important not to take yourself too seriously, ... and I think sometimes people take us a lot more seriously than we take ourselves, especially when it comes to politics. Politics, for me, is a reflection of the world I live in. But love is just as important as politics to me. They both exist in the world, you know? And if you don't reflect the entire world around you, then you're leaving something out.
(from Wikipedia)

Herman Li

2009-04-24T20:54:00.000-07:00

Herman Li (Chinese: 李康敏, Hanyu Pinyin: Lǐ Kāng Mǐn[1]; born March 12, 1975) is the lead and rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and producer in the power metal band DragonForce.

Personal life

He was born in Hong Kong. According to his profile on the DragonForce website, his interests other than music are computer technology and martial arts. He trains in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu five days a week. He also speaks three languages fluently.Herman Li currently suffers from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, caused by weeks of obsessive videogaming.

Herman Li has played in several bands, including the black metal band Demoniac, the predecessor of DragonForce.

Guitars

Herman Li uses Ibanez E-Gen18 guitars. This new signature model is based on the Ibanez S Series and was released in 2008. It has a bolt-on neck made of maple and walnut with a 24 fret rosewood fingerboard. The upper frets on the guitar are scalloped. The body is made of mahogany with a flame maple top stained purple sporting gold tuners and an Edge Zero locking tremolo. The pickups are also custom-designed signature models made by DiMarzio.

Before Li received his signature model, he had been known to play Ibanez S Prestige guitars, a seven string Ibanez (used in Revolution Deathsquad, Storming the Burning Fields, and the "bridge" section of Operation Ground and Pound), and a decade old Ibanez S540. Herman also has been seen playing an Ibanez S2170FB, an Ibanez S2170FW, an Ibanez GRX20 Electric Guitar, and an Ibanez GRG170DX Electric Guitar.

Playing influences

Li draws influences from video game music and mimics sounds from popular retro games from the late 80s, early-90s arcade, and PC games. For example, Li has been known for making several Pac-Man-type noises in the song "Through the Fire and Flames" on Inhuman Rampage.

Current Equipment

Guitars

* Ibanez E-Gen - EGEN18 Herman Li Signature Model
* Ibanez Acoustics
* DiMarzio Pickups (HLM - Neck, Middle, Bridge)
* D'Addario Strings
* Ibanez Jem 7BSB
* Ibanez 540-S7

Effects

* Rocktron Prophesy II
* Rocktron All Access
* Rocktron MIDI Mate
* Source Audio Hot Hand
* MIDIjet Pro Wireless Midi System
* DigiTech Whammy 2
* Dunlop Cry Baby DCR-2SR
* Ibanez Weeping Demon
* Rocktron Patch Mate
* Rocktron Xpression
* Rocktron Intellifex XL
* Korg DTR-2000
* Fi Dorra Music Box
* DigiTech HarmonyMan

Amplifiers

* Marshall 120 WT head
* Marshall 4x12 cabinets
* Mesa Boogie Stereo 2:Fifty
* Peavey 4x12 Straight cabinets
(from Wikipedia)

Alexi Laiho

2009-04-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

Alexi "Wildchild" Laiho (Markku Uula Aleksi Laiho) (born April 8, 1979) is a Finnish singer, composer and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead guitarist as well as lead vocalist for melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, and he is also the guitarist for Sinergy and Kylähullut. He has also previously played with Thy Serpent and Impaled Nazarene on occasion, as well as Warmen.

Guitar World magazine has ranked him among the top 50 fastest guitar players in the world.

Later career

In 1999, Alexi was invited to join Sinergy by Kimberly Goss, as the lead guitarist and support keyboard player. In 2001, Roope Latvala joined Sinergy, and a "master against disciple" situation was created, resulting in several guitar battles on the solos of Sinergy's songs.

Alexi was a guest musician on a song by To/Die/For ("In the Heat of the Night") and on a few songs by Norther. He also co-produced the debut album of the band Griffin, all between 2001 and 2002.

In September 2002, Alexi's custom Jackson guitars (one of them bearing the famous "Wildchild" sticker) were stolen by an unidentified thief while he was asleep after a night partying with the other members of the band after a concert. Alexi needed new instruments, but Jackson had just been sold to the Fender Musical Instrument Company and wouldn't be able to build a custom guitar for Alexi for at least one year. ESP Guitars, however, told Alexi they could build a replacement in three months, and he signed with the company.

In 2004, Alexi founded a side-project called Kylähullut, which was assembled together with Tommi Lillman (ex-Sinergy) and Vesa Jokinen (from Klamydia). The band was created merely for the entertainment of the musicians, and takes a carefree approach to their music. The band's discography includes two EP's, and two full-length albums.

Alexi's life is dedicated almost entirely to music, and whenever he is not on tour with one of his bands, he is playing video games, drinking, or practicing. His main hobby is cars; he was taught how to drive by his father at the age of 10. Alexi owns a Pontiac Firebird, a 1974 Dodge Monaco (license plate COB-79) and a Buick. In February 2002 Alexi married Kimberly Goss, the front-woman of the band Sinergy, during a private ceremony in Finland. Prior to the marriage, they dated for four years. In 2004 they separated, but still remain close friends and band mates in Sinergy. More than once, Alexi has referred to his band-mates as "probably the only real friends I ever had" or saying "Those motherfuckers aren't my friends... I'm just brothers with them." He has the letters "COBHC" (Children of Bodom Hate Crew) tattooed on his left hand and "HATE" tattooed on his right hand as an homage to Ozzy Osbourne, who has a similar tattoo with the letters O-Z-Z-Y. Alexi has been featured on the cover of Young Guitar Magazine several times, as well as being on the cover of Guitar World along with master guitarists Steve Vai and Zakk Wylde. In January 2005 Rolling Stones interviewed Kirk Hammett of Metallica and the interviewer asked him "Who do you think is the best guitarist ever?" to which Hammett responded "That would be me! Nah, just kidding. I would say it's the one and only Joe Satriani or that kid Alexi! What a power he has!" The "Wildchild" nickname comes from the song Wild Child by the band W.A.S.P.. His first guitar was a Tokai Stratocaster.

In April 2005 Alexi generated a considerable amount of unrest in the metal guitar community when, in an interview with Guitar World magazine, he referred to popular prog metal act Dream Theater as "super lame" going on to say "It's not even music; it's sports." The magazine also referred to Dream Theater as Laiho's "favorite whipping boys." In January 2006 issue of the same magazine, reader Brad Bailey asked "Why did you make those lame comments about Dream Theater in GW? You're a fine player, but comments like those just make people lose respect for you. Did you know it caused a big stir?" to which Laiho responded "Fuck. Well, apparently it did. First of all, I think it's really funny that people trash bands and musicians every day on the internet, and nobody gives a shit. But once you say something like that - which wasn't even too bad - in a magazine, all of a sudden you're the biggest dick on the earth. But truthfully, I don't know why I said that. I was having a bad day or something."

Alexi has had some personal problems. Between the first two Children of Bodom albums, Something Wild and Hatebreeder, he attempted suicide by taking 15 tranquillizers mixed with a few shots of whiskey. He was discovered and taken to a hospital in Espoo to recuperate.

Children of Bodom Played the 2008 Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards, Alexi also picked up the Dimebag Award for "Best Shredder". He performed the track of his new album, Blooddrunk.

Alexi appears on Canadian thrash metal outfit, Annihilator's 2007 album, Metal, as a guest, performing a guitar solo on the song, "Downright Dominate".

Guitar endorsements

In January 2003, ESP Guitars announced a line of Alexi Laiho Signature Models. The US version guitars are a slightly different shape than what Alexi usually plays, as the RV shape is a copyrighted Jackson shape. So to avoid a lawsuit, ESP made the bottom horn slightly larger and also put in a cut-away to get to the higher frets, like a modified BC Rich Ironbird. Another difference is the use of solid black or yellow pinstripes on the paint finish instead of his traditional pinstriped design which ESP have replicated for his guitars. The guitar comes in three finishes: black w/yellow stripe, white w/black stripe, black w/pink stripe and his own custom black w/white stripe, which was never brought into mass production. The guitar has a neck-thru 25.5” design, using a 3-pc maple neck with a 24-fret ebony fingerboard and pearl saw-tooth inlays, although Alexi on his own guitar has custom scythe inlays on some of his white guitars. The ESP Alexi includes white binding on neck and head, the ESP custom shop version comes with a natural maple neck while the LTD is painted, and it comes with professional-quality components including a Floyd Rose original tremolo, Gotoh tuners, and a single Seymour Duncan AHB-1 in the bridge position, (or an EMG HZ H4 humbucker). As of 2007, a cheaper model (the Alexi- 200) is also available, in either solid black or white finish. It's a bolt on, 25.5" Scale with the body made out of basswood, with a maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. It features a Floyd Rose Licensed bridge and one EMG-ESP LH-300 bridge pickup. There is also a Limited Edition Alexi signature guitar (the ESP LTD Alexi-600SE) which is black and pink. He also has a Custom Shop and Standard version of the Black and Pink guitar in his traditional pinstriped design that is not available in the US.

Equipment

Alexi Laiho has used the Lee Jackson GP-1000 Preamp and Marshall JCM 800 cabinets (with Celestion speakers) and various power amps for most of his career but has recently started using the Kerry King Signature Marshall head. He first used an Ibanez RG 220B to record the first Children of Bodom record and eventually switched to Jackson Guitars and used them for several years until both (the one with the WildChild sticker and the one with white pinstripes) of his guitars were stolen. He asked Jackson to make him another one, but the time-table they gave him for its production was too long (around a years time). ESP came to him and said that it would take around 3 months for his new signature model to be up and running so of course, Alexi took this offer. Thus he switched to ESP guitars.

He also uses DR Strings 11-50 gauge.

Tunings

* D Standard (D G C F A D) : Hatebreeder, Follow The Reaper, Hate Crew Deathroll (except 2 songs), Blooddrunk (Smile Pretty For the Devil, Done With Everything, Die for Nothing)
* Dropped C (C G C F A D) : Hate Crew Deathroll (Sixpounder, Angels Don't Kill), Are You Dead Yet?, Blooddrunk (except 2 songs)
* C# / Db Standard in Something Wild

Discography

Children of Bodom

* 1997: Something Wild
* 1999: Hatebreeder
* 2001: Follow the Reaper
* 2003: Hate Crew Deathroll
* 2005: Are You Dead Yet?
* 2008: Blooddrunk

Sinergy

* 1999: Beware the Heavens
* 2000: To Hell and Back
* 2002: Suicide By My Side

Kylähullut

* 2004: Keisarinleikkaus (EP)
* 2005: Turpa Täynnä
* 2007: Lisää Persettä Rättipäille (EP)
* 2007: Peräaukko Sivistyksessä

Impaled Nazarene

* 2000: Nihil

Warmen

* 2005: Accept the Fact
* 2009: Warmen #4

Guest appearances

* 2008: Megadeth Live - Peace Sells [Gigantour 08 live background Vocals]
* 2007: Guitar Heroes album - [song "Sioux City Sarsaparilla"]
* 2007: Godsplague - H8 [guitar solo on "Don't Come Back"]
* 2007: Pain - Psalms Of Extinction [guitar solo on "Just Think Again"]
* 2007: Annihilator - Metal [guitar solo duel with Jeff Waters on "Downright Dominate"]
* 2006: Raskaampaa Joulua (Various artists) - [guitar solo on "Petteri Punakuono (Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer)"]
* 2006: Rytmihäiriö - Seitsemän Surman Siunausliitto [guitar solo on "Pyörillä Kulkeva Kuoleman Enkeli"]
* 2006: Stoner Kings - Fuck the World [guitar solo on "Mantric Madness"] (2006)
* 2005: Lauri Porra — Lauri Porra ("Solutions")
* 2003: No Holds Barred — Griffin ("The Sentence", "Bleed")
* 2003: Dreams of Endless War — Norther ("Youth Gone Wild")
* 1999: All Eternity — To/Die/For ("In The Heat Of The Night")
(from Wikipedia)

Tohpati

2009-04-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

Tohpati Ario Hutomo (born 21 July 1971 in Jakarta, Indonesia) is an Indonesian jazz guitarist and songwriter. He is known as the one of the most famous jazz guitarist in Indonesia.[1] He has collaborated with many Indonesian musicians such as Glenn Fredly, Indro, Arie Ayunir and Shakila. Many of his work has traditional culture elements as he always try to combine both modern and traditional Indonesian music on his albums. The influence came from many different international jazz guitarists, but the most significant influence came from Pat Metheny.

Music career

Earlier experiences

Since his early age, Tohpati has already interested to be come a musician and often played on many shows around Jakarta, although it was not as a professional career. As a result of his effort, he had won the title "Best Guitarist" at a band festival in Jakarta when he was 14 years old. Four years after that, in 1989, he won another notable award of the best guitarist in Java, also was given at a band festival. This award then contributed a major part in Tohpati's music experience as his name began to be noticed because in the same year, he won the another best guitarist title at a "Yamaha Band Explosion" show, which was a national show.

Professional career

After winning a series of awards, Tohpati decided to begin his professional career. His professional career began in 1993 when he joined a band called Simak Dialog with Riza Arshad, Arie Ayunir and Indro. Indro is a bassist who played the "Bass Heroes" show in Jakarta. Later, Indro often played with Tohpati in many different shows. With Simak Dialog, Tohpati had released 3 albums, which were Lukisan, Bauk and Trance/Madison.

In the late 1990s, Tohpati decided to start a solo career and released his first solo album in 1998. The album was also includes a collaboration with Shakila and Glenn Fredly, both pop singers. To gained more popularity, he released two video clips of one of his songs on the album, the song titled "Lukisan Pagi", which was a song with a collaboration with Shakila. The video clip was a success and the song made it to the charts in Indonesia.

His second album, Serampang Samba offered more instrumental hits. Quite different with the last album, Tohpati only included one song with vocals on the album, titled "Jejak Langkah Yang Kau Tinggal. This was also the only song with a video clip. Serampang Samba also consists of more traditional Indonesian music with more acoustic guitars and Balinese elements. It can be said that this album is more idealist and progressive compared to his last album.

Equipments

Tohpati mainly uses his Fender Stratocaster for recording and live performances. However, he has changed the pickups of the guitar, which are Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio X2N. Other guitars that he uses are Sadowsky and Takamine. The guitars are connected to Rocktron effects then to a Mesa Boogie amplifier.

Discography

* Simak Dialog
o Lukisan
o Bauk
o Trance/Mission
* Solo Albums
o Tohpati
o Serampang Samba
o It's Time
(from Wikipedia)

Slash

2009-04-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

Saul Hudson (born 23 July 1965), better known by the stage name Slash, is a guitarist best known as the former lead guitarist of Guns N' Roses and as the current lead guitarist of Velvet Revolver.

Biography

Early life

Saul Hudson was born on July 23, 1965 in West Hampstead, London, England Slash's African-American mother, Ola Hudson, worked as a costume designer for David Bowie among many other actors and musicians, and his British father, Anthony Hudson, was an artist who contributed live ensembles for famous musicians including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.

Slash was raised in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, until the age of 11, when his parents relocated the family to Los Angeles, California. His parents separated and he lived primarily with his mother. He was given the nickname "Slash" by family friend Seymour Cassel because he "was always in a hurry, zipping around from one thing to another."

As a young boy, Slash was influenced by a musical school teacher:
“ Tangerine from Led Zeppelin III was the very first song I mastered. I had a teacher at school who had a Les Paul and he was always playing Cream and [Led] Zeppelin licks and whatever. And when I heard him do that I said "That's what I want to do".”

After deciding to form a band with friend Steven Adler, Slash decided to pick up the bass guitar. This is due to the fact that Steven had declared himself lead guitarist. Slash stopped in at Fairfax Music School and told the receptionist he wanted to play the bass, and at that time met his teacher Robert Wolin. Robert told him to learn he would need a bass of his own. Slash went home and asked his grandmother and was given a worn-out, single stringed flamenco guitar. After hearing Robert play "Brown Sugar" by ear Slash realized that the guitar was his calling. He subsequently dropped out of high school to focus on music. In a Rolling Stone magazine article, he remarked:

My big awakening happened when I was fourteen. I'd been trying to get into this older girl's pants for a while, and she finally let me come over to her house. We hung out, smoked some pot and listened to Aerosmith's Rocks. It hit me like a fucking ton of bricks. I sat there listening to it over and over, and totally blew off this girl. I remember riding my bike back to my grandma's house knowing that my life had changed. Now I identified with something.

Early career (1983–1985)

In 1983, Slash formed the band Road Crew with childhood friend Steven Adler. He placed an advertisement in a newspaper for a bassist, and received a response from Duff McKagan.

When Road Crew disbanded, Slash joined a local band known as Black Sheep. Headed by Willie Bass, the band shared an agent with another new group known as Hollywood Rose. In 1984, both bands opened for Christian metal band Stryper. After the show, Slash and lead singer Axl Rose were introduced to one another by a friend. The two quickly became friends, and several months later, Slash and Steven Adler were invited to join with Axl Rose, Duff McKagan and Izzy Stradlin as the band, Guns N' Roses.

Guns N' Roses (1985–1996)

Guns N' Roses toured bars and opened for larger acts throughout 1985 and 1986. It was during this period that they wrote most of their classic material, including "Welcome to the Jungle", "Sweet Child o' Mine", and "Paradise City." During this time, they were scouted by several major record labels, and signed with Geffen. From the start, they spent half of their advance on clothes, and the other half on alcohol and drugs. It was during this period that the "Most Dangerous Band In The World" tag was first attached to them. In 1988, Slash remarked:

For some strange reason, Guns N' Roses is like the catalyst for controversy, even before we had any kind of record deal.

With 15 million copies sold in the United States, their album Appetite for Destruction is the second highest selling debut album of all time, behind Boston's debut. By 1988, Guns N' Roses scored its first #1 hit with Sweet Child o' Mine, a song spearheaded by Slash's riff and guitar solo.

In 1988, Guns N' Roses released G N' R Lies. Though this album only had eight tracks (four of which had already been released), it sold over 5 million copies. After a four year hiatus, Guns N' Roses returned with Use Your Illusion discs. The albums indicated a change in musical direction for Guns N' Roses, including more artistic and dramatic songs like "November Rain" and "Estranged". As Rose expressed a desire to pursue more progressive genres, Slash and McKagan fought to maintain their traditional sound as a punk/blues-based hard rock band.

In 1991, the band released Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II. In 1991, Guns N' Roses embarked on the 28-month long Use Your Illusion Tour, to promote their new albums. Upon completion of the tour, Slash was naturalized, becoming an American citizen.

In the mid-'90s, Slash wrote several songs for what would have become Guns N' Roses' follow up album to Use Your Illusion I and II. Rose rejected the material, leading Slash to form Slash's Snakepit, a side-project that saw support from Matt Sorum, Gilby Clarke, Dizzy Reed, Mike Inez, and Eric Dover. The band recorded Slash's material and released It's Five O'Clock Somewhere in 1995. Critically, the album was praised for ignoring the conventions of grunge and alternative music. It also fared well on the charts, eventually selling over 1.2 million copies in the United States with little promotion from Geffen Records.

Side projects and session work (1990–2002)

After his departure from Guns N' Roses, Slash focused on his side-project, The Snakepit, playing a few tour dates before disbanding the group in 1998. Over the next decade, Slash became an in-demand session musician, recording music with the likes of Alice Cooper, Sammy Hagar, Insane Clown Posse, Ronnie Wood, Bad Company, Cheap Trick, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder.

In 1990, Slash was contacted by Michael Jackson to work on his upcoming album, Dangerous. Slash played guitar on two hit singles, "Black or White" and "Give In to Me"; he also appeared in the music video of the latter. On several occasions, Slash appeared onstage with Jackson, performing "Black or White" during the Dangerous World Tour. Slash and Jackson appeared together at the MTV Video Music Awards of 1992 and 1995.Slash played guitar on "D.S.", a controversial song from the HIStory album of 1995 and "Morphine" from the 1997 remix album Blood on the Dance Floor.In 2001, Slash joined Jackson on stage at the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special playing guitar while Jackson performed his songs, "Black or White" and "Beat It".

In 1995, Quentin Tarantino asked Slash to contribute some songs to the soundtrack of his adaptation of the film Jackie Brown. Several Snakepit compositions can be heard throughout the film. In 1996, Slash collaborated with Marta Sánchez to record the flamenco-inspired song, "Obsession-Confession" for the Curdled soundtrack. The song was received well by Smooth Jazz radio stations. Later that year, Slash also played live with Alice Cooper at Sammy Hagar's club Cabo Wabo in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The show was recorded and released the following year as A Fistful of Alice.

In 1997, Slash (alongside the late Ol' Dirty Bastard and hit alternative rock band Fishbone) appeared on BLACKstreet's rock remix version of their hit single "Fix". In 2003, he participated in the Yardbirds' comeback record Birdland, released on the Favored Nations label. He played lead guitar in the track "Over, Under, Sideways, Down." In early 2003, Slash also made an appearance at a rally to protest the coming War in Iraq called "Peace on the Beach", performing the song "Imagine" by John Lennon. Ed Kowalczyk provided vocals during this performance.

In 2000, he chose to regroup Slash's Snakepit to release his second solo effort, titled Ain't Life Grand. The album did well on the charts, reaching platinum status. To promote it further, Slash embarked on an extensive world tour with AC/DC in the summer of 2000.

In 2002, he reunited with Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum for a benefit/tribute concert for Randy Castillo. Realizing they still had the chemistry of their days in Guns N' Roses, they decided to form a new band together. The band that featured Slash, McKagan, and Sorum also featured former Buckcherry members Keith Nelson and Josh Todd. Later Duff put out a statement that Josh and Keith didn't quite fit with the band, and they added Dave Kushner as rhythm guitar and, after a long search, Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. In 2006, Slash performed a guest spot on keyboardist Derek Sherinian's solo album Blood of the Snake covering the 1970 Mungo Jerry hit single "In the Summertime", also featuring Billy Idol on vocals. A video was also made featuring Slash, Billy, and Derek for this song.

Velvet Revolver and future endeavors (2002–present)

Velvet Revolver began as "The Project", a venture by Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum to find a new lead singer. On rhythm guitar, they initially worked with Izzy Stradlin, and they were offered to open for The Rolling Stones but Slash, Duff and Matt wanted to have a lead singer; after this Izzy became less involved. They would find their second guitarist in the form of Dave Kushner, who had previously played with McKagan in "Loaded" prior to this project. For many months, the four of them listened to demo tapes of potential lead singers, a monotonous process (documented by VH1). After many months, Slash and the others were almost ready to give up. However, Stone Temple Pilots had recently imploded, allowing lead singer Scott Weiland to volunteer to record a song with the band. Realizing there was chemistry between each member, Weiland officially joined the band in 2003.

Velvet Revolver played several concerts in the summer of that year and released their first single, "Set Me Free" as part of the soundtrack for The Hulk. In June 2004, they released their first studio album, Contraband. A 19-month long tour ensued, as the album went double platinum and re-established Slash as a mainstream performer. After the tour concluded, he and his bandmates took a lengthy break before beginning work on their second album. In July 2007, Velvet Revolver released the critically acclaimed Libertad, a follow-up to their multi-platinum debut. Following their second studio album, Velvet Revolver also began a second tour. On March 20, 2008 during a glasgow gig, Weiland announced to their audience that it would be Velvet Revolver's final tour. Matt Sorum posted a message on his website the next day discussing the band's situation and said, "You could tell who was unhappy last night," and "some people in this business don't realize how great of a life they have." Weiland shot back by telling Blabbermouth.net, "Well, first of all, the state of my family affairs is really none of his business, since he is too immature to have a real relationship, let alone children. So don't attempt to stand in a man's shoes when you haven't walked his path." On 1 April 2008, Scott Weiland officially split from Velvet Revolver.

On May 31, 2006, Slash was joined by Rob Zombie on vocals, another former Guns and Roses axeman Gilby Clarke on rhythm guitar, Scott Ian of Anthrax on guitar, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee on drums, and surprise guest Ace Frehley of Kiss for a rendition of God of Thunder. The occasion was a one-time supergroup tribute to Kiss for the VH1 Rock Honors Award Show.

Slash is a playable character in the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and his likeness appears on the game cover. Slash did motion capture with RedOctane to record his movements for the game. Beating Slash in a one-on-one competition (playing an original composition he recorded solely for the game), unlocks him as a playable character. Beating him in this challenge leads to the player and Slash playing the master track of "Welcome to the Jungle" as an encore song.

In 2007, Slash performed with Paulina Rubio on the hit Latin single "Nada Puede Cambiarme".

On March 12, 2007. Slash and Velvet Revolver paid tribute to Van Halen by inducting the band into the Rock N' Roll hall of fame. The band also played two covers.

Slash appears on the cover of Guitar World magazine for their July 2007 issue, the "20 year salute to Appetite for Destruction". The title is "The Cat In The Hat Is Back" and it pictures him holding his guitar with a snake crawling up the neck.

Slash made numerous contributions to The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star by Nikki Sixx, published September 18, 2007.He also played guitar with them at Crüe Fest.

An autobiography titled simply Slash was published on October 30, 2007.It was co-written with Anthony Bozza. Slash will also be appearing in the HBO book and Documentary The Black List vol.1, he can be seen in a portrait on the cover of the book.

It was announced by Kerrang! Magazine that Slash was going to appear on Ace Frehley's next solo album.

Slash has planned to record a solo album after the third Velvet Revolver album, but after the departure of singer Scott Weiland and time-consuming searches for a new singer for the band, he decided to record a solo album first. On September 30, 2008, he began recording demos for the upcoming album. Slash was quoted saying that the work alone in the studio on the solo album is "cathartic", and that he's really enjoying the work alone in the studio. He also said he plans to bring a different singer for each song on the album, and that he has a list of guests to appear on the album, and most of them are already committed, though he refused to tell who are those guests. Rumored singers for the project include Slash's close friends Lenny Kravitz, Sebastian Bach, Alice Cooper and Vince Neil as well as his past Guns N' Roses pals, Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan.

According to Slash's wife during an interview with Rockerrazzi.com, both Ozzy Osbourne and Fergie will make appearances on Slash's upcoming solo album, saying, "It's going to be Slash and friends, with everyone from Ozzy [Osbourne] to Fergie."In 2009, he played the guitar parts on the film score of The Wrestler composed by Clint Mansell.

Television

Slash appeared as a recurring caricature of himself in Robert Evans' animated television series Kid Notorious which aired in 2003 on Comedy Central. As in real life, Slash is Evans' close friend and next-door neighbor.

Honors

Slash won the "Best Guitarist" prize in the 2005 Esky Music Awards in Esquire magazine. A write-up in the magazine announced Slash's win read as follows:

He's who we see ourselves as every time we strap on an air guitar. The top hat. The hair. The dangling cigarette. The near-death experiences. He'll always be Slash of Guns N' Roses to us, but we also congratulate him for beating the comeback odds with a surprisingly legitimate and vital outfit, Velvet Revolver."

Slash accepting the award has issued the following statement:

This is my first guitarist award ever. It's very humbling. I'd like to thank my parents, and I'd also like to thank everyone I've ever fucking worked with in the music business from the point I started at up until now - the bands I've been in, the sessions I've done, and the artists I've worked with. My wife is at least half of the reason I'm still walking. I'd also like to thank Robert Wolin; he got me to switch from bass to guitar. Thank you."

In January 2007, Slash was honored with a star on the Rock Walk of Fame; his name being placed alongside Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix.

In 2007, Slash was awarded the coveted title of "Riff Lord" during the fourth annual Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards.

Slash was selected to perform "Hey Joe", a signature song of the late Jimi Hendrix in a posthumous tribute at the UK Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Steve Winwood as vocalist, Billy Cox playing bass, and Mitch Mitchell on drums; the latter being the only original member still alive from the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

"Welcome to the Jungle" ranked #2 on Vh1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs, #467 on the Rolling Stone Magazine list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, #764 on Q Magazine's 1001 Best Songs Ever and #26 on VH1's 100 Greatest 80s Songs. Most recently, the song was named the "Greatest Song About Los Angeles" by a poll in Blender magazine.

"Sweet Child o' Mine" placed #37 on Guitar World's list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Solos", number three on Blender's 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born, number 196 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and in March 2005 Q magazine placed it at number 6 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. The introduction's D-flat based riff was also voted number-one riff of all-time by the readers of Total Guitar magazine. It was also in Rolling Stones 40 Greatest Songs that Changed the World.

"Paradise City" is ranked #21 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs of All Time,#3 in Total Guitar Magazine's list of the 100 greatest solos of all time and #453 on Rolling Stones' "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

"November Rain" holds the record for the longest guitar solo in a U.S. top 10 hit. The song is also listed at number 6 in the "The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos" by Guitar World. Additionally, "November Rain" was voted #1 on the Rock 1000 in 2006, an annual countdown of the top 1000 rock songs by New Zealand radio listeners.

Personal

In 1990, a heavy metal video called "Hard N' Heavy" was released containing music, concert footage and interviews. The video included Slash and McKagan appearing with the band Great White at a "Children of the Night" Benefit concert in LA for abused homeless children, the performance helped raise money for housing to aid the underprivileged. He also performed at an anti-Iraq War festival in 2003.

Slash is married to Perla Ferrar, with whom he has two sons: London Emilio and Cash Anthony. The family lives in Los Angeles.

Feud with Axl Rose

In 2007, Slash admitted to going to Rose's home with the intention to settle a long-standing legal dispute and make peace with his former band mate. Slash elaborated on the incident in his autobiography, claiming that what actually occurred was that he simply went to Rose's house while intoxicated and left a note asking Rose to contact him to settle a pending lawsuit. He also added that he had not actually spoken to Rose in person since leaving Guns N' Roses in 1996. Slash further stated that incident's publicity created a rift in Velvet Revolver; as his bandmates were unsure of what Slash had actually done and Slash had confronted Weiland over his scathing reply to Rose, feeling that Weiland did not have the "right" to criticize Rose, not actually knowing him. In March 2009, Slash responded to an interview in which Rose referred to him as "a cancer", saying that "it doesn't really affect me at all. The fact that he has anything to say at all it's like 'Whatever, dude'."

Guitars

Slash owns more than 114 guitars. The guitar he recorded Appetite For Destruction with was a hand made flame-top 1959 Les Paul replica with no pick guard and 2 Seymour Duncan pickups. His main live guitar is a 1987 Les Paul Standard with 3 piece top (Factory Second). It has a cracked neck in 2 places, but he has had it repaired and continues to use it. Most of Slash's electric guitars have Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups which are low output pickups.

His guitars include:

* B.C. Rich Mockingbird
* Fender Stratocaster
* Fender Telecaster
* B.C. Rich Double neck
* Gibson EDS-1275
* Gibson Flying V
* Gibson Explorer
* Gibson Melody Maker (used for slide during "Bad Obsession")
* Slash Custom Les Paul Gold Top Guitar
* At least 30 Les Paul Guitars

Slash's favorite guitar is the aforementioned hand-made Gibson Les Paul Copy. He received it during the recording sessions for Guns N' Roses debut album, "Appetite for Destruction". When he couldn't get the right sound he was looking for, the band's manager found a 1959 Les Paul Standard copy.

He has used that guitar on every album he has recorded with Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver. the guitar was also the basis of the instrument his doppelgänger used in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

He favors Ernie Ball Slinky R.P.S gauge 11-48 strings as well as Dunlop Purple Tortex (1.14 mm) picks and Seymour Duncan APH-1 Alnico II Pro and Vintage Gibson PAF pickups. He keeps his guitars in tune with a Peterson Strobe tuner.

Some of his favorite effects boxes are:

* Dunlop Rack Mounted Crybaby (controlled with an Ernie Ball volume pedal for live shows)
* Rocktron Hush II CX
* DBX 166 Compressor
* Yamaha SPX 900 Multieffect
* Boss DD-3 Delay (for solos)
* MXR 10-band graphic EQ
* Dunlop Heil Talkbox
* Boss GE-7 (for solos)
* Dunlop Q-Zone

Amplifiers

On stage, he only uses Marshall amps. He used a rented vintage 1960s Marshall 1959 modified by Tim Caswell at SIR studios for the recording of Appetite for Destruction. Slash liked the amp so much he tried to keep it, telling the store that it had been stolen, but it was returned accidentally by a roadie. During the 1980s Slash was using a Marshall JCM 2555 Silver Jubilee Anniversary amplifier made in 1987. It featured EL34's power tubes and three ECC83 preamp tubes.

For the recording of Velvet Revolver's debut, he used a Vox AC30 and small Fender tube amps (for "oddball" sounds). For the recording of Velvet Revolver's second album, he used the new Marshall Vintage Modern 2466 amp.

Signature equipment

Gibson Custom Shop

The Gibson Guitar Corporation custom made two guitars for Slash in 1988. The first "Inspired" Slash Les Paul is a replica out of one of the two guitars given to Slash by Gibson in 1988. The guitar is finished in a faded Heritage Cherry Sunburst, fitted with Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups and the neck is made to the exact specs of Slash's original Les Paul.

Gibson USA

Slash Les Paul Standard is a recreation of Slash's favorite Les Paul and is made of solid mahogany and is finished with a Antique Vintage Sunburst. Just like the custom shop version the guitar is fitted with Seymor Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups and a neck modeled after Slash's original. The guitar will be made in a limited run of 1600 guitars. He says "It's sort of a trip for me to see it because it looks exactly like the guitar after I had it refinished in 1988. This is what it looked like when it was brand new."

Epiphone

The Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plustop is made to be a more affordable version of the two Gibson versions while still being able to offer a high quality instrument. As the Gibson versions it is equipped with Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups which he says he decided to place in all his guitar models, and is finished in Dark Tobacco Burst.

In 2008, the Slash signature Les Paul "Gold Top" limited edition guitar became available. Epiphone's Les Paul model has a solid mahogany body with a gold top finish, and the standard long neck he came to request on all his guitars, preferring the closest similarity in the neck as his first Les Paul. Again, Seymour Duncan Alnico II pro humbuckers, a standard item on all his guitars. This version also featurs Epiphone's locktone stop tailpiece and tuneamatic bridge system, which Slash feels makes it an easier instrument to play, particularly for newer guitarists.

Marshall Amplifiers

Slash was the first musician to own a signature amplifier created by Marshall for him. In 1996 the Marshall Slash JCM 2555SL was launched, it was built with the specs of Slash's own original 1987 Marshall Silver Jubilee 2555 amplifier. A total of 3000 of these amplifiers were made before it was discontinued.

Discography

Guns N' Roses
Title Release Date Label
Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide 1986 UZI Suicide
Appetite for Destruction 1987 Geffen
EP (Live from the Jungle) 1987 Geffen
G N' R Lies 1988 Geffen
Use Your Illusion I 1991 Geffen
Use Your Illusion II 1991 Geffen
The Spaghetti Incident? 1993 Geffen
Use Your Illusion 1998 Geffen
Live Era: '87–'93 1999 Geffen
Greatest Hits 2004 Geffen

Slash's Snakepit
Title Release Date Label
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere 1995 Fontana Records
Ain't Life Grand 2000 Koch Records

Velvet Revolver
Title Release Date Label
Contraband 2004 RCA Records
Libertad 2007 RCA Records

Solo
Title Release Date Label
Slash & Friends 2009

Guest appearances

* 2008 - Vasco Rossi - Il Mondo Che Vorrei -> "Gioca con me"
* 2008 - Edgar Winter - Rebel Road -> "Rebel Road"
* 2008 - Alice Cooper - Along Came a Spider -> "Vengeance is Mine"
* 2008 - World Peace One - Theme Song -> "Give Your Love"
* 2006 - Daughtry - Daughtry -> "What I Want"
* 2006 - Paulina Rubio - Ananda - "Nada Puede Cambiarme"
* 2006 - Derek Sherinian - Blood of the Snake -> "In the Summertime"
* 2006 - The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (Original motion picture soundtrack) -> "Mustang Nismo"
* 2006 - The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (Original score) -> "Welcome to Tokyo"
* 2006 - Sarah Kelly - Where the Past Meets Today -> "Still Breathing"; "Out of Reach"
* 2005 - Ray Charles - More Music from Ray -> "Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand (version 2003)"
* 2005 - Eric Clapton - Save The Children Benefit Single -> "Tears In Heaven"
* 2005 - The Beatles - Benefit Single for the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake -> "Across the Universe"
* 2003 - Elan - Street Child -> "Street Child"
* 2003 - The Yardbirds - Birdland -> "Over, Under, Sideways, Down"
* 2003 - Matt Sorum - Hollywood Zen -> "The Blame Game"
* 2003 - Robert Evans - The Kids Stay In The Picture Soundtrack -> "Love Theme From The Godfather"
* 2002 - Ray Charles - Ray Charles Sings for America -> "God Bless America Again"
* 2001 - Rod Stewart - Human -> "Human"; "Peach"
* 2001 - Cheap Trick - Silver -> "You're All Talk"
* 2001 - Bad Company - Merchants of Cool -> "Wishing Well"; "Crossroads"
* 2001 - Ronnie Wood - Far East Man -> "Assorted Songs"
* 2000 - Doro - Calling the Wild -> "Now or Never"
* 1999 - Various Artists - Humanary Strew: A Tribute to Alice Cooper -> "No More Mr. Nice Guy"
* 1999 - Chic - Live at the Budokan - "Le Freak"; "Stone Free"
* 1999 - Graham Bonnet - Day I Went Mad -> "Oh! Darling"
* 1999 - Duff McKagan - Beautiful Disease -> "Hope"; "Mezz"
* 1998 - Ella - El -> "Bayangan"
* 1997 - Alice Cooper - A Fistful of Alice -> "Lost in America"; "Only Women Bleed"; "Elected"
* 1997 - Sammy Hagar - Marching to Mars -> "Little White Lie"
* 1997 - Blackstreet - Another Level -> "Fix"
* 1997 - Marta Sánchez - Azabache -> "Moja mi Corazón"
* 1997 - Insane Clown Posse - The Great Milenko -> "Halls of Illusions"
* 1996 - Marta Sánchez - Curdled Soundtrack -> "Obsession Confession"
* 1995 - Quentin Tarantino - Jackie Brown -> "Jizz Da Pitt"
* 1995 - TLC - CrazySexyCool -> "Red Light Special"
* 1995 - Mario Peebles - Panthers Soundtrack -> "The Star Spangled Banner"
* 1995 - Michael Jackson - HIStory -> "D.S."
* 1994 - Eazy-E - Beverly Hills Cop III Soundtrack -> "Luv 4 Dem Gangsta'z" (Slash Did The Guitar Part)
* 1994 - Paul Rodgers - Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix -> "I Don't Live Today"
* 1994 - Gilby Clarke - Pawnshop Guitars -> "Cure Me...Or Kill Me..."; "Tijuana Jail"
* 1993 - Paul Rodgers - Muddy Water Blues: Tribute to Muddy Waters -> "The Hunter"
* 1993 - Duff McKagan - Believe in Me -> "Believe in Me"; "Just Not There"
* 1992 - Motörhead - March ör Die -> "Ain't No Nice Guy"; "You Better Run"
* 1992 - Spinal Tap - Break Like the Wind -> "Break Like the Wind"
* 1991 - Lenny Kravitz - Mama Said -> "Fields of Joy"; "Always on the Run"
* 1991 - Alice Cooper - Hey Stoopid -> "Hey Stoopid"
* 1991 - Michael Jackson - Dangerous -> "Black or White"; "Give In to Me"
* 1990 - Iggy Pop - Brick by Brick -> "Home"
* 1988 - Alice Cooper - The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years -> "Under My Wheels"
(from Wikipedia)

Zacky Vengeance

2009-04-04T02:36:00.000-07:00

Zachary James Baker, (born December 11, 1981) is better known by his stage name Zacky Vengeance, is the rhythm guitarist and backup vocalist for the American Hard Rock band Avenged Sevenfold.

Biography

In the Avenged Sevenfold DVD All Excess he recalls that before Avenged Sevenfold, he was in a one time punk band called MPA*, which stands for Mad Porno Action. He implies that they were not successful. He and M. Shadows (who at the time was singer for a band named Successful Failure) formed Avenged Sevenfold. He was also responsible for the creation of the acronym "A7X".He is left-handed. He taught himself how to play the guitar when he was thirteen.

The guitar he first learned on was actually his dad's, who was right-handed. He learned by watching his favorite bands and other people he knew who played and practiced as much as he could. He would also read each edition of Guitar World cover to cover, learning the tabs of the songs published in there and watching the professionals perform it until he got it right. His influences in his style are Rancid, Misfits and Bad Religion. Zacky's favorite bands also include Pantera, Metallica, ELIXIR, and Guns N Roses

Personal Life

Zacky released a clothing line called "Vengeance University." He just released a new site called Vengenz.com. The line currently features t-shirts, hoodies, and belt buckles. Many, if not all of the shirts in the line include his trademark "Est. 6661". The site is updated weekly with photos of travels and a "Gangster of the Week". He has a sister named Zina Baker, who is now named Zina Pacheco. His sister has two kids named Gianna and Gavin. He has a brother named Matt Baker, who was with the band Dear & Departed. His parents are named James and Maria.

Equipment

Guitars

Zacky uses Schecter Guitars, and endorses the company.

* The Vengeance custom S-1
* The Vengeance Standard model
* The ZV special
* The ZV Blade
* "Gynecologist"(blood splatter)
* Zacky has many custom shop S-1 models made exclusively for him.
* All models are loaded with Seymour Duncan JB Pickups

* Zacky has been seen using 2 Fender Telecasters (or Schecter PT's) in recent live performances.

Amplifiers

* Bogner Ubershall and Caveman Head
* Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Head
* Marshall JCM-2000

Speaker cabinets

* Bogner Uberkab 4x12 Cabinet
* Mesa/Boogie Rectifier Cabinet

Effects units and accessories

* Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
* Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor
* Visual Sound H2O Liquid Chorus
* Line 6 Tonecore Coise Constrictor
* Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler
* Line 6 PODxt Pro
* Seymour Duncan SFX-01 Pickup Booster
* Voodoo Lab PEDAL POWER 2
* Voodoo Lab GCX Audio Switcher
* Ernie Ball "Skinny Top, Heavy Bottom 10-52" strings[2]
* Dunlop Tortex Yellow plectrums 0.73mm (Avenged Sevenfold logo)
* White Get'm Get'm Sergeant Stripes Strap
(from Wikipedia)

Synyster Gates

2009-04-04T02:26:00.000-07:00

Brian Elwin Haner, Jr. (born July 7, 1981), better known by his stage name Synyster Gates or simply Syn, is an American musician. He is currently the lead guitarist for metalcore band Avenged Sevenfold.

Early

Haner went to Mayfair High School in Lakewood, California and also Ocean View High School in Huntington Beach, California.

Haner attended, but did not graduate from, the Musicians Institute in Hollywood as part of the GIT program, studying jazz guitar. Up until that time he was primarily self taught by watching music videos and reading books, which is surprising because his father was/is a songwriter and guitar player, having played with Frank Zappa during his career. After six or so months of being there, he got a phone call from The Rev (and the rest of the current line up of Avenged Sevenfold) asking him if he wanted to join the band as lead guitarist. Haner joined up with them rather than continuing his education and becoming a studio musician.

Avenged Sevenfold

Brian joined Avenged Sevenfold when he was 18 at the end of 1999, right before the recording of the band's first album, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. He was featured on their EP, "Warmness on the Soul", and on the reissue of their first album. He also plays piano for the band on songs such as "Beast and the Harlot" and "Sidewinder", though a friend of the band, bassist Justin Meacham, played the piano on Warmness on the Soul.

In the Avenged Sevenfold DVD All Excess, to emphasize the seemingly random placing of names, Brian stated that his name was thought of on a drunken drive through the park with The Rev. His exact words were: "I am Synyster Gates, and I am awesome!"

He has won numerous awards, including the "Young Shredder" award of the year in the Metal Hammer awards in 2006 and the "Guitarist of the Year" Award for Total Guitar Magazine in 2006.

Pinkly Smooth

Brian along with the band's drummer The Rev formely played in an avant-garde metal band named Pinkly Smooth. They both however quit the band as they wished to concentrate on Avenged Sevenfold full time.

Personal Life

Brian has a younger brother Brent and a younger sister McKenna. His father, Brian Haner Sr., is a musician and comedian known as "Guitar Guy", and is currently on tour with Jeff Dunham.

Haner cites Django Reinhardt, Dimebag Darrell, Eddie Van Halen, Slash, John Petrucci, Adam Aparicio and Francis Canavan as his favorite guitarists and major influences. In June 2008 Guitar World magazine interviewed Brian, reader Shawn Butterfield asked "You're one hell of a guitarist. But who do you really look up to?" to which he responded "Definitely Slash, the Ozzy guitar dudes, Alexi Laiho from Children of Bodom, Jimi Hendrix of course, Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin, a lot man!".

Equipment

Gates is endorsed by Schecter Guitars, as is Zacky Vengeance, almost all of his guitars are customised and fitted with Seymour Duncan Invader pickups. He has his own signature releases of his main guitar, The Schecter Synsyter Custom and Schecter Synyster Standard, both of which are avalaible for sale to the public. Also through his time with Schecter Guitars he has had made several variations of his custom models that are not available to the public but can be seen on music videos, the A7X DVD's, and in Youtube videos. Before Schecter made him his signature guitar, he used a Schecter C1-FR as his main guitar. In the "Unholy Confessions" music video, he plays a white Gibson Les Paul. He also plays a Parker Fly guitar which can be seen in a performance of "Second Heartbeat" during Warped Tour 2004. Also, in the "All Excess" video, a footage of the band's early performance sees him play an Ibanez guitar, possibly an Ibanez RG. Most recently, one or a couple of his main guitar has a sustanic pick-up fitted for its neck position.

Here is a list of the different variations of his signature guitar:

* The Original Synyster Custom (Black with Silver Pimp Stripes) (Main guitar)
* The First Synyster Custom (Black with Red Pimp Stripes) (Not available to the public) (As seen in the "Beast and the Harlot" music video)
* The Afterlife Synyster Custom (White with Gold Pimp Stripes) (Only 100 of these are available to the public) (As seen in the "Afterlife" music video)
* The American Flag Synyster Custom (American Flag on the Body with no pimp stripes and a white headstock) (Not available to the public) (Briefly seen in the "Making of Avenged Sevenfold" MVI Video)
* The German Flag Synyster Custom (The German Flag on the body with no pimp stripes and a matching headstock) ( Not available to the public) (Briefly seen in the "All Excess" video)
* The Rebel Flag Synyster Custom (Rebel Flag without pimp stripes with a matching headstock) (Not available to the public) (Briefly seen in the "Making of Avenged Sevenfold" MVI video)
* The Red Synyster Custom (This is the rarest of all his custom guitar, it is possibly an early prototype model of his custom guitar that Schecter build for him) (Red with black pimp stripes) (Not available to the public) Here's a video on youtube of Synyster Gates with it, Synyster Gates - Let Me Be Your Wings Video, at around 2:12.

White 2003 Schecter C1-FR

* Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom strings
* Mahogany body
* Set Maple Neck
* Rosewood Fingerboard
* Black Hardware
* Original Made in Germany Floyd Rose Recessed bridge
* Master Volume Master Tone (push/pull pot on time control for tap on both pick ups)
* 3 Way Toggle Switch
* Side football jack plate
* Schaller Strap locking System
* Floyd Rose R2 locking Nut
* Grover Tuning peg
* Gray Pearl Binding on body
* Dot inlays
* USA Duncan Invader pickups in white
* Black pickup mounting ring
* Black head stock
* Solid White body
* Black Dome knobs on Control

Black Schecter Synyster Custom

Mahogany body Set mahogany neck 25.5" scale Ebony fingerboard 24 jumbo frets Deathbat and gothic-font SYN custom fretboard inlays 2 custom Seymour Duncan Custom Invader pickups Vol/Tone controls 3-way pickup selector Original Floyd Rose tremolo Black binding Grover tuners Black hardware Gloss-black finish with silver pin stripes
(from Wikipedia)

John Petrucci

2009-03-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

John Peter Petrucci (born July 12, 1967) is an American guitarist best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. Along with his bandmate Mike Portnoy, he has produced all Dream Theater albums since their 1999 release, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. Petrucci was named as the third player on the G3 tour six times, more than any other invited guitarist. GuitarOne ranked him as the 9th Greatest Shredder of All Time.

Biography

Petrucci first played guitar at the age of eight when he noticed his sister (who was taking organ lessons at the time) was allowed to stay up past her bed time to practice. He soon dropped it when his plan failed. At age 12, he began playing again when he was invited into the band of his friend Kevin Moore, who would later become the first keyboardist of Dream Theater. Petrucci began to practice in earnest whilst exercising physically. He was a largely self-taught guitarist who developed his skills through attempts to match the skill of his idols, who included Steve Morse, Steve Howe, Steve Vai, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Al Di Meola, Alex Lifeson and Allan Holdsworth. He has jokingly referred to his guitar idols as "the Steves and the Als".

Petrucci attended Berklee College of Music in Boston with childhood friend John Myung (bass), where they met future bandmate Mike Portnoy (drums). These three in addition to another childhood friend of Petrucci and Myung, Kevin Moore (Keyboards), formed the band Majesty, which would later become Dream Theater.

While Dream Theater is what Petrucci is most commonly associated with, he is also a part of the project band Liquid Tension Experiment and has appeared as a guest on several records by other artists such as the Age of Impact album by the Explorer's Club.

Petrucci has released a guitar instructional video, "Rock Discipline", which covers warm up exercises, exercises to avoid injury while playing, alternate picking, sweep picking, chords and other techniques for developing one's guitar playing. Petrucci also has a book named "Guitar World presents John Petrucci's Wild Stringdom", which was compiled from columns he wrote for Guitar World magazine, bearing that same title.

In 2001 he was invited by Joe Satriani and Steve Vai to tour with them on the popular G3 guitar tour, which exposed him to a massive number of new fans and inspired him to record a solo album. Suspended Animation was released on March 1, 2005, and made available for order from his web site. He also appeared on the 2005, 2006 and 2007 G3 tours.

Petrucci also wrote and recorded two instrumental soundtrack songs for a Sega Saturn game titled Digital Pinball: Necronomicon. Each track is roughly two minutes long and they are simply titled "Prologue" and "Epilogue". Petrucci is an avid Sega Saturn gamer, and has revealed in interviews that he never tours without one.

In 2007, John Petrucci went on G3 tour again, this time with Joe Satriani and Paul Gilbert.

Dream Theater bandmate Jordan Rudess revealed in an interview that Petrucci is a practicing Catholic.Petrucci is married to Rena Sands, a guitarist in the all-female heavy metal band Meanstreak, and they have 3 children, SamiJo and Reny (who are twins), and Kiara. He is also an avid fan of bodybuilding and dedicates much of his off time to weight training.

John Petrucci won the "Guitarist of the Year 2007" award recently in Total Guitar Magazine.

He is a voting member of NARAS.

Musical style

Petrucci is respected for his variety of guitar styles and skills. One of the most notable of these is his high speed alternate picking which, as he himself claims, requires a "strong sense of synchronization between the two [playing] hands."[4] He has performed alongside Joe Satriani and Steve Vai on their annual G3 tour 6 times. Guitar magazines and fans worldwide consistently vote Petrucci as one of the world's finest guitar players. He has been labeled as a virtuoso on some fansites and webzines, including Sputnikmusic, and TheFunkyGibbons, among others.

Equipment - Studio Albums

* When Dream and Day Unite
* Images and Words - Triaxis 2/90 (dirty), Roland JC120 for cleans. A Marshall preamp was used for "Metropolis Part 1"
* Awake - Only album to be quadruple layered. 2 takes using Dual Rectifier, 2 takes using Mark IIC+
* A Change of Seasons - Mark IIC+, Mark IV, TriAxis
* Falling Into Infinity - Rectifier, Mark IIC+, Mark IV, TriAxis
* Scenes From A Memory - Mark IIC+, Mark IV
* Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - Mark IIC+, Dual Rectifier
* Train Of Thought - Road King Series I
* Octavarium - Road King Series I & II, Lone Star, Mark IV
* Systematic Chaos - Lone Star, Mark IV
* Suspended Animation (solo cd) - Roadking Series 1, Mark IIC+
* Liquid Tension Experiment - TriAxis, 2:90 power amp
* Liquid Tension Experiment 2 - Mark IIC+, Mark IV

Equipment - Live

* I&W Tour - 2 Triaxis Preamps (one for backup), 2:90 power amp, Mesa Abacus+Mesa Midi Matrix for switching
* Scenes From NY - Triaxis, Dual Rectifier, Mark IIC+, Mark IV, Formula Preamp, 2:90 power amps
* Live At Budokan - Road King Series 1 (x3), Lonestar (x2)
* Score - Custom Built "Nunya" Preamp, Formula Preamp, mesa 2:100 power amp, 4 Mesa 4x12's and 4 Mesa 2x12's. Midi switching by Steen Skrydstrup.
* 2005 G3 Tokyo - Dual Rectifier (x2) Road King (x2)
* 2007 G3 tour - Mark IV (x2), Formula preamp
* 2007 Systematic Chaos Tour - Mark IV (x2), Lonestar (x1). TC Electronic 2290, M3000, Eventide Ultra Harmonizer, Jim Dunlop rack wah & various stomp boxes. Midi switching by Axess Electronics

Discography

Year Title Label Notes
1989 When Dream and Day Unite MCA/Mechanic First Dream Theater studio album.
1992 Images and Words Atlantic/ATCO Again with Dream Theater, introducing the new lead singer James LaBrie.
1993 Live at the Marquee WEA International First Dream Theater live album.
1994 Awake EastWest The last Dream Theater album with Kevin Moore as Keyboard player.
1995 A Change of Seasons (EP) EastWest Dream Theater EP, introducing Derek Sherinian as new Keyboard Player.
1996 Working Man Magna Carta A Rush Tribute.
1997 Falling into Infinity Elektra Last Dream Theater album with Derek Sherinian.
1997 Dragon Attack CNR Music A Tribute to Queen
1998 Guitar Battle Viktor Various Artists
1998 Liquid Tension Experiment Magna Carta Project with Mike Portnoy, Jordan Rudess and Tony Levin
1998 Once in a LIVEtime Elektra 2CD recorded in Paris, France.
1998 Age of Impact Magna Carta Explorers Club
1998 Wicked The Orchard Jon Finn Group
1999 Liquid Tension Experiment 2 Magna Carta Second album with Liquid Tension Experiment
1999 Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory Elektra Jordan Rudess as new keyboard player for Dream Theater, the band's first concept album.
2000 An Evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess Sound Mind Music A Live album with keyboard player Jordan Rudess
2001 Feeding the Wheel Magna Carta Jordan Rudess solo album, Petrucci is featured on guitar.
2001 Live Scenes From New York Elektra 3CD recorded in New York, U.S..
2002 Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence Elektra Dream Theater's first studio double album.
2003 Train of Thought Elektra Dream Theater's heaviest album released to date.
2004 Live at Budokan Atlantic Dream Theater 3CD/2DVD combination recorded in Tokyo, Japan.
2005 Suspended Animation Sound Mind Music First solo album.
2005 G3: Live in Tokyo Sony Plays on G3, with Guitarists Steve Vai and Joe Satriani
2005 Octavarium Atlantic Dream Theater's last album with Atlantic Records Group.
2006 Score Rhino Entertainment 3CD/2DVD recorded at the Radio City Music Hall on April 1, 2006 New York, U.S..
2006 Blood of the Snake - Derek Sherinian Inside Out Music Played Guitar on first track "Czar Of Steel".
2006 Loudspeaker - Marty Friedman Mascot/Avex Special Guest Guitarist
2007 Systematic Chaos Roadrunner Records First album released under Dream Theater's new contract with Roadrunner Records on June 5th, 2007.
2008 Chaos in Motion Roadrunner Records A live album documenting the band's 2007/2008 Chaos in Motion and Progressive Nation tours.
2009 Black Clouds & Silver Linings Roadrunner Records To be released on June 23rd, this is Dream Theater's tenth album.

Videography

Year Title Notes
1993 Images and Words: Live in Tokyo
1995 Rock Discipline - VHS
1998 5 Years in a LIVEtime
2001 Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York
2002 Rock Discipline - DVD
2004 Live at Budokan
2005 G3: Live in Tokyo
2006 Score
2007 Chaos in Progress: The Making of Systematic Chaos
2008 Chaos in Motion Released September 30, 2008. Documents the band's 2007/2008 Chaos in Motion and Progressive Nation tours.
(from Wikipedia)

Van Halen

2009-03-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

Van Halen is a hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California in 1972. They enjoyed success from the release of their self titled debut album in 1978. As of 2007 Van Halen has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide and have had the most number one hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. During the 1980s they also had more Billboard Hot 100 hits than any other hard rock or heavy metal band. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Van Halen is the 19th best selling band/artist of all time with sales of over 56 million albums in the USA is one of five rock bands that have had two albums sell more than 10 million copies in the USA.

In addition to being recognized for success, the band is known for the drama surrounding the exits of former members. The (multiple) exits of singers David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar were surrounded in controversy and mass press coverage with various contrasting press statements between them and the band. The band changed style dramatically following the departure of Roth, with his solo career being more similar to the band's original work than Van Halen's own songs with later singers. More recently, Michael Anthony was kicked out of the band for controversial reasons. Following their 2004 concert tour the band was on a hiatus from the public until September 2006, when new bassist Wolfgang Van Halen's place was confirmed and Roth-reunion rumors began to re-surface coinciding with the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction on March 12, 2007. After years of speculation, Van Halen began a tour with Roth in late 2007 across North America, which has been extended into 2008. An album is proposed to follow. Along with this, a live tour DVD was announced at their May 13, 2008 concert at the Izod Center that would contain recordings from several performances on their current tour.

History

David Lee Roth era (1974–1985)

The Van Halen brothers started playing music together when Eddie took up the drums and Alex took up the guitar, but secretly, while Eddie would deliver newspapers on his paper route, Alex would sneak over and play on Eddie's drumset. Eventually Eddie switched to the guitar and formed Van Halen years later, excluding Alex Van Halen. In 1972 the Van Halen brothers formed a band called "Genesis" which featured Eddie as lead vocalist/guitarist, Alex Van Halen on drums and Mark Stone on bass. They initially rented a sound system from David Lee Roth but decided to save money by letting him join as lead vocalist even though he had previously auditioned unsuccessfully. By 1974 the band decided to replace Stone. The band then found out there was a far more successful band in England also named Genesis. It was at this point that they changed the band name to "Mammoth."Then Michael Anthony, bassist and lead vocalist from local band "Snake" was auditioned. Following an all night jam session he was hired for bass and backing vocals.

Mammoth discovered in 1974 that their name was already being used and changed to "Van Halen". According to Roth, this was his idea. They played backyard parties and on a flatbed truck at Hamilton Park. Van Halen played clubs in Pasadena and Hollywood to growing audiences, increasing their popularity through self promotion: before each gig they would pass out fliers at local high schools. This soon built them a major following.

In 1974, the band got their break out of Pasadena, with their first job at Gazzarri's on the Sunset Strip, a formerly famous but down-at-the-heels night club. They had earlier auditioned for Bill Gazzarri, the owner, but he claimed they were "too loud", and would not hire them. However, their new managers, Mark Algorri and Mario Miranda, who had coincidently taken over Gazzarri’s hiring, did the deal. Shortly afterwards, with their managers, they recorded their first demo tape at the now defunct Cherokee Ranch Studios, in Northridge, where Steely Dan had just completed an album. They then became a staple on Hollywood's Sunset Strip during the mid-1970s, consistently playing at well-known clubs like the Whisky a Go Go. In 1977 Gene Simmons of Kiss saw Van Halen at Gazzarri's and financed their second demo tape, flying the band to the Electric Lady Studios in New York City to record "House of Pain" and "Runnin' With The Devil". Eddie disliked the demo because he was not using his own equipment and had to overdub guitar parts. Simmons wanted to change the band's name to "Daddy Shortlegs" and had designed cover art (a daddy longlegs wearing a top hat), but the band stuck with Van Halen. Simmons then opted out of further involvement after taking the demo to Kiss' manager and receiving the words of denial. He told Gene that "They had no chance of making it" and that he wouldn't take them.

In 1977, Mo Ostin and Ted Templeman of Warner Bros. Records saw Van Halen perform at the Starwood in Hollywood. Although the audience was small, the two were so impressed with Van Halen that within a week they offered them a recording contract.Van Halen recorded their eponymous first album at Sunset Sound Recorders studio in mid September to early October 1977, recording guitar parts for one week and then recording vocals for two additional weeks. All of the tracks were laid down with little over-dubbing or double tracking. Minor mistakes were purposely left on the record and a simple musical set-up was used to give the record a live feel. Despite its simple components, Van Halen proved innovative in musical technique, production, and arrangement.

During this time, they continued to play various venues in Southern California, including some notable concerts at the Pasadena Convention Center produced by their promoter and impresario, Steve Tortomasi, himself a fixture in the local rock and roll scene.

On release, Van Halen reached #19 on the Billboard pop music charts, one of rock's most commercially successful debuts. It is a highly regarded hard rock album. The album included songs now regarded as Van Halen classics, like "Runnin' with the Devil" and the guitar solo "Eruption", which showcased Eddie's use of a technique known as 'finger-tapping'. The band toured for nearly a year, opening for Black Sabbath and establishing a reputation for their electric performances. The band's chemistry owed much to Eddie Van Halen's technical guitar wizardry and David Lee Roth's flamboyant antics, which later turned them into rivals. They returned to the studio in 1979 for Van Halen II, similar in style to their debut. This album yielded the band's first hit single, "Dance the Night Away."

Over the next few years, the band alternated album releases and touring to increasing commercial and critical acclaim and became one of the world's most successful and influential bands. Their party-loving spirit and hard rocking anthem-like sound made them popular with teenagers. Women and Children First was released in 1980 and further cemented Van Halen's status. But in 1981, during the recording of the Fair Warning album, tensions rose. Eddie's desire for more serious and complex songs was at odds with Roth's poppy style.[citation needed] Although Roth (and producer Templeman) acquiesced to Eddie's wishes, Fair Warning was a commercial disappointment, with no hits. In later interviews Eddie would reveal that he was drinking heavily and using cocaine during the production of Fair Warning. This may have resulted in the album's darker tone.

Diver Down performed better. The band then earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest-paid single appearance of a band: $1.5 million for a 90 minute set at the 1983 US Festival. Despite this return to form, Roth and Eddie's differences continued, and this caused friction with other band members. According to bassist Billy Sheehan, after his band Talas completed a tour with Van Halen, he was approached by Eddie Van Halen to replace Michael Anthony. The reasons for this were never clear to Sheehan, because nothing came out of it.

Van Halen's next album, 1984 (released on January 9, 1984) was their commercial pinnacle. Recorded at Eddie Van Halen's newly-built 5150 Studios, the album featured keyboards which had only been used sporadically on previous albums. The lead single, "Jump", featured a synthesizer hook and anthemic lyrics, and became the band's first and only #1 pop hit, garnering them a Grammy nomination. Other hit singles included "Panama", "I'll Wait", and "Hot for Teacher". Many of the songs had popular music videos on MTV. 1984 was praised by critics and fans alike, peaking at #2 on the Billboard charts behind Michael Jackson's Thriller.

However, the album was also a breaking point. In the midst of the tour, the artistic and personal tensions among the musicians reached a fever pitch. Reasons for the breakup vary based on the band member interviewed, but were rooted in control of the band's sound and image. Roth was upset about Eddie playing music outside of Van Halen without checking with the band and Eddie was sick of Roth's flamboyant behavior and stage persona. Roth was also having a successful solo career with a hit song and EP (a remake of the Beach Boys classic "California Girls" and the old standard "Just a Gigolo") Roth was also offered a movie deal from Warner Brothers (which was later withdrawn). On April 1, 1985, Roth left Van Halen.

Sammy Hagar era (1985–1996)

Eddie invited Patty Smyth of Scandal to replace Roth but she refused. Eddie was then introduced by way of a mutual auto mechanic to Sammy Hagar, formerly of 1970s band Montrose, and at that time a solo artist coming off a very successful year (his 1984 album VOA had yielded hit single "I Can't Drive 55'"). Hagar agreed to join, also serving as a rhythm guitar onstage to add to the Van Halen sound. The 1986 Van Halen album 5150 was a hit, becoming the band's first #1 album on the Billboard charts, driven by the keyboard-dominated singles "Why Can't This Be Love?", "Dreams" and "Love Walks In". The album included diverse songs ranging from the thrashiness of "Get Up" and party rock of "Summer Nights" to the more riff-driven "Good Enough" and a guitar heavy title track. To further introduce the new era for the band, a new Van Halen logo was put on the cover. The new logo retained elements of the original, but now the lines extending from either side of 'VH' wrapped around and formed a sphere. 5150 is generally considered the strongest album of the "Hagar era".

Following the release of the 5150 album, a tour was launched to support it across North America. Named the 1986 Tour, the title was a homage to the previous 1984 Tour in support of the 1984 album. The band proved touring with Hagar was as successful as with Roth, and footage was released on VHS/DVD as Live Without a Net. In the tour Hagar wanted to minimize the use of pre-Hagar Van Halen songs in the set, other than the band's best known classics. This was a trend that continued, with the expanding repertoire of Hagar-era songs slowly whittling away at the number of Roth-era songs on the set list.
The Van Halen logo used to signify change when Sammy Hagar joined the band.

During Hagar's tenure, the band established a musical formula that proved commercially successful in the United States. Hagar's style enabled Van Halen to become accessible to a wider audience, with lyrics that were more conventional and refined. Eddie's keyboard work brought a wider variety of sonic textures within each song, and the production was altered toward the pop side, and the songs became longer: During the Roth era, Van Halen songs rarely stretched beyond three and a half minutes, and some albums struggled to cross the thirty minute mark. With Hagar, some songs exceeded five minutes in length. The result was markedly different from the hard charging, rollicking riffs of the group's earlier work. The mix of pop and hard rock styles created a new sound for Van Halen.

All four studio albums produced during this period reached #1 on the Billboard pop music charts and 17 singles breached the top 12 of the mainstream rock tracks chart. In addition, Van Halen was nominated for two Grammy Awards, winning the 1991 Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal award for the album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. Van Halen continued to enjoy tremendous success throughout the mid-90's. In 1995 Van Halen surprised many fans by supporting Bon Jovi on their European Summer stadium tour.

The band's commercial success and new "Van Hagar" sound did little to woo many fans who still held a strong resentment over Roth's departure and refused to move on. However Eddie repeatedly said he was happier with Hagar singing and that "Roth was not coming back".

During the recording of songs for the film Twister, escalating tension between Hagar and the Van Halen brothers boiled and Hagar departed on Father's Day, 1996. The band had recorded a song, "Humans Being", for which Eddie claimed he had to write all the lyrics since Hagar's were "too cheesy". This upset Hagar, and when they were to record a second song for the soundtrack, Hagar was in Hawaii. He wasn't keen on doing soundtrack work since it would make the music hard to obtain for fans, 'abusing' them, so the second track the band were due to record became an Eddie/Alex instrumental, Respect the Wind.

The band was also working on a compilation album, which Hagar was not keen on since he felt it was not what fans wanted, nor was it something the band needed to release, since they presumably had a long career ahead of them. This led to conflicts with Hagar and the group's new manager, Ray Danniels (Ed Leffler's replacement and Alex Van Halen's brother in law) who suggested the idea. Reluctant to work on compilation album songs before a new album came out, the band fell out, leaving the management siding with Eddie and Alex. Hagar was also rumoured to have concerns over comparisons on an album which featured both his work and Roth's.

Hagar claimed that he was fired; Van Halen claimed that he quit. The media storm surrounding the dramatic exit of Hagar helped him immediately restart his solo career. However, the publicity did not help Van Halen, serving to highlight the vacant lead singer spot. The band's past successes set high expectations, and fans everywhere were waiting for the band's next move. Throughout this time, Michael Anthony managed to remain on good terms with Hagar.

With Mitch Malloy and a temporary reunion with Roth (1996)

When Sammy Hagar left Van Halen, they very quickly recruited Mitch Malloy as a replacement. They jammed and recorded demos with him. He was a friend of Eddie and knew the band, who decided it was appropriate to invite him into the band.

David Lee Roth called Eddie to discuss what tracks would be included on a planned Van Halen compilation (work on which actually began before Hagar's departure). They got along well, and Eddie invited him up to his house/studio. Shortly afterwards, David Lee Roth re-entered the studio with the band and producer Glen Ballard. Two songs from those sessions were added to the band's Greatest Hits album and released as singles to promote it.
David Lee Roth with Van Halen at the MTV Video Music Awards 1996

In September, Van Halen were asked to present an award at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. They agreed, and on September 4, 1996, the four original members of Van Halen made their first public appearance together in over eleven years. This helped to bring the compilation to #1 on the US album charts. However, unknown to Roth, Eddie and Alex were still auditioning other singers. Following the band's MTV appearance, Malloy decided the band could not be successful with a new vocalist since people would now want Roth. He called Anthony, and quit. Millions of people viewed the show, and Roth claimed to be back in the band.

The band's appearance on the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards fueled reunion speculation. Several weeks after the awards show, it was discovered Roth was out of Van Halen again. Roth released a statement in which he apologized to the media and the fans, stating that he was an unwitting participant in a Van Halen publicity stunt by them and manager Ray Danniels. The next day, Eddie and Alex released their own statement, claiming they were completely honest with Roth and never suggested he was guaranteed to be the next lead singer. However, they could not resist getting in a dig at Roth by saying in a press release, "Thank you for reminding us why we broke up with you eleven years ago."

Reportedly, Eddie was upset that Roth had "upstaged him" during the broadcast by interrupting him while Van Halen was speaking and taking over the microphone; video footage does show Eddie seemingly tense as he steps away and turns his back to Roth, but then the two hug one another to the cheers of the audience.

Gary Cherone era (1996–1999)

The band recruited Gary Cherone, frontman of the then defunct Boston-based band Extreme. The result was Van Halen III. Many songs were longer and more ethereal. It was less about rocking out, and more thought-provoking ("How Many Say I", with Eddie on vocals). These changes alienated many fans while failing to attract new fans. Sales were poor by the band's standards, only reaching Gold certification, despite the album peaking at #4 on the US charts. Van Halen III did produce a hit however, "Without You", and additionally the song "Fire in the Hole" appeared on the Lethal Weapon 4 soundtrack. Later it was also revealed that Anthony was only permitted by Eddie to play bass on three tracks on the album and that Eddie played the rest. Anthony received a full credit, masking this apparent behind-the-scenes difficulty.

The album was followed by a poorly attended but widespread tour. The III Tour saw Van Halen playing in new countries, including first ever visits to Australia and New Zealand.

Shortly afterwards, Van Halen returned to the studio. In early 1999, they started work on a new album, rumored to be called Love Again. Working titles of songs included "Left for Dead," "River Wide," "Say Uncle," "You Wear it Well," "More Than Yesterday," "I Don't Miss You...Much," "Love Divine," and "From Here, Where Do We Go?".

Van Halen's new album was left unfinished when Cherone left amicably in November 1999. Citing musical differences, it is likely III's sales and critical reception had a big impact. Touring with Cherone had proven disappointing in terms of attendance. Unlike the previous two singers, there was no bad blood and Cherone remained in contact with Van Halen. As when Hagar left, speculation resumed on a Roth reunion.

Hiatus from public (1999–2003)

Eddie recovered from his hip surgery in late 1999, but from 2000 to early 2004, no official statements were made by Van Halen and no music released. However, information about members past and present trickled in. The Van Halen brothers continued writing at 5150 studios, Gary Cherone recorded an album and toured with new band Tribe of Judah. One of the songs that Cherone had written for the scrapped 2nd album with Van Halen entitled "Left For Dead", would see its lyrics set to a completely new musical arrangement with Tribe of Judah. Meanwhile, Hagar and Roth continued their solo careers.

In 2000, the band worked with David Lee Roth at 5150, writing new music before falling out again. Eddie kept quiet, but made a rare appearance at the Los Angeles Police Department charity golf tournament during May 2001. Any band progress would have been interrupted on October 15, 2001, when Eddie and his wife of 21 years, actress Valerie Bertinelli, separated (though the couple only filed for divorce on December 8, 2005). In November 2001, Anthony claimed Roth had been working with the band again for a few months, but lawyers had shut it down. Strangely, Anthony later denied this. The band's record label (Warner, who had first signed them in 1978) dropped them this year also. More positively, Eddie underwent treatment for cancer and announced his recovery on Van Halen's website in May 2002.

Eddie's only live performances during this period were joining Mountain to play "Never in My Life" in August 2002 and a private audience jam at NAMM January 2003. This took place at the Peavey booth (Peavey produced Eddie's signature "Wolfgang" model guitar). Word quickly spread through the NAMM show that Eddie was to play at the Peavey booth, and it filled up. Eddie showed up late, drunk. When he finally appeared, he was incoherent. Shortly after this, Peavey lost its license to produce the "official" Van Halen guitar, and Fender, which had purchased Charvel-Jackson, was awarded the license, but the guitar produced was a copy of Eddie's earlier Strat-style guitars.

In the summer of 2002, David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar teamed up in the Song For Song, the Heavyweight Champs of Rock and Roll tour (also known as the 'Sans-Halen' or 'Sam & Dave' Tour). The joint tour headlining both former lead singers attracted media and audience fascination because it seemed more improbable than even a Van Halen with Roth or Hagar could be. The tour drew large crowds and featured no opening acts, Roth and Hagar would alternate opening as the first act during the tour. In an interview, Roth contrasted his personality with Hagar's, saying, "He's the kind of guy you go out with to split a bottle with a friend. I'm the kind of guy you go out with if you want to split your friend with a bottle." Michael Anthony guested with Hagar's band, The Waboritas, numerous times and sometimes even sang lead vocals. During performances, Hagar would tease Anthony by asking, "Do the brothers know you're here?". Anthony never played with Roth. Gary Cherone appeared on occasion. Hagar released a live album (Hallelujah), featuring vocals by Mike and Gary, and a documentary DVD, Long Road to Cabo, about touring with Roth. Next, Hagar joined with Joe Satriani and Journey guitarist Neal Schon to form a side project, Planet Us, along with Michael Anthony and Deen Castronovo (also of Journey) on drums. The band recorded just two songs and played live a few times before dissolving when Hagar and Anthony rejoined Van Halen.

While the two lead singers promoted the tour and publicly claimed mutual respect, rumours of bitter acrimony and mutual loathing between the two singers swirled. The allegations were later revealed in back stage video showing Roth and Hagar camps maintaining strict separation.

On July 4, 2004, Roth performed with the Boston Pops at Boston's annual Pops Goes the Fourth celebration. Hagar remained active, releasing five albums and creating his own merchandising brand Cabo Wabo, which lends its name to his line of tequila, as well as his franchise of cantinas. He reunited with Montrose in 2003 and 2005 for a few performances and maintained contact with Michael Anthony, often playing with him. With Van Halen inactive, Anthony worked on merchandising projects such as his signature Yamaha bass and set up a website. He became involved with the annual music industry NAMM Show.

Also in this period, rumors cropped up that Anthony had been fired - despite his name being included in messages 'from the band' on their website. His official website denied the rumors, though it was later revealed that on the Van Halen III album Anthony only recorded three tracks, and subsequently his position became tenuous (it relied entirely on Hagar's demands that he remain in 2004). His departure was confirmed in 2006.

Reunion with Hagar (2003–2005)
Van Halen during their 2004 reunion period, left to right: Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar, Eddie Van Halen

During January 2003, the VHND (Van Halen News Desk) website reported that Sammy Hagar was working with the Van Halens. No official confirmation came for an extended period of time. In late March 2004, Van Halen and Sammy Hagar announced that Hagar would reunite with the band for a Best Of album release and a Summer concert tour of the USA.

In July 2004, Van Halen released their second Greatest Hits compilation (a double album, unlike the first), featuring three new songs with Hagar: "It's About Time", "Up For Breakfast", and "Learning to See". These songs were newly written by the Van Halen brothers and Sammy Hagar. The songs were credited to Hagar/Van Halen/Van Halen, which was unusual since normally the entire lineup (which also included Michael Anthony) would be credited. However, the performance was credited to the entire band; Michael Anthony would later reveal in interviews that Eddie Van Halen had in fact not wanted him to be a part of the reunion and for this reason Anthony had not been allowed to perform in the sessions (explaining his lack of a songwriting credit), with Eddie playing the bass parts himself instead. Though it was the only new album since the band's first Greatest Hits, no songs with Gary Cherone from Van Halen III were included. It was certified platinum in the USA in August 2004.

The tour grossed almost US$55 million, and Pollstar listed Van Halen in the top 10 grossing tours of 2004. Most of the concerts received positive feedback from professional reviewers. On some shows, Eddie's son Wolfgang came onstage and played guitar with his father during 316 a song dedicated to his son, taking its name from his birthday. However, serious problems surfaced. Promoters lost money, tickets were often deemed overpriced, and few shows sold out.

Reports from the first half of the tour were largely positive. Later, however, stories of Eddie being drunk and playing poorly also circulated. At the end of the band's final show of the tour, in Tucson, Eddie smashed one of his guitars during the show and quickly walked off stage.

After the tour, things broke down. At first Hagar stated he had yet to decide what he would be doing with the band but he was in Van Halen. However, Hagar and Anthony soon admitted that Eddie had problems with alcohol during the tour that affected everyone involved. Hagar stated that he was "done with Van Halen" and wished that everyone would have "taken it more seriously". Despite this, Eddie later described himself as 'satisfied' with the tour.

After the tour ended, Hagar returned to his solo band The Waboritas, and Anthony appeared with him on tour occasionally. The band quickly faded from view after Hagar left again. In December 2005 Michael Anthony revealed in an interview with Mark & Brian that he had not talked with the Van Halens and was unsure of their plans.

Reunion with Roth (2006 - present)

Rumors of a David Lee Roth reunion re-emerged and on January 3, 2006, Roth explained during an interview that he spoke to Alex Van Halen the previous week and a reunion was "inevitable".However, he also said that Eddie Van Halen was "off in his own little world" recently. When asked if any problems occurred with Sammy Hagar during the 2004 tour Eddie Van Halen answered, "Sammy is Sammy, and for the most part that's just fine". Roth persisted with suggestions of a reunion, saying. "People want the reunion," and "No one will pay respect to what any of us do [musically] until we get the reunion out of the way." In May 2006, he told Billboard.com, "There's contact between the two camps."

On June 3, Michael Anthony began a successful tour with Hagar billed as "The Other Half" (a reference to them being half of Van Halen with the other half being Eddie/Alex), with Anthony singing lead vocals sometimes. Meanwhile, on June 19 the Van Halen brothers jumped onstage with Kenny Chesney at The Home Depot Center performing "Jump" and "You Really Got Me". This unusual performance was their first onstage since the 2004 tour. This was followed by another Eddie Van Halen performance in July 19, 2006, at the House of Petals in Los Angeles, playing new material. He followed this with an announcement on July 27, 2006, that some of his new music would be released on the soundtrack for the pornography film Sacred Sin.

In March 2006, Michael Anthony spoke to Japanese rock magazine Burrn!, claiming the brothers did not want him on the 2004 reunion - Hagar did (and would not play without Anthony), but he had to agree to reduced royalties and end absolutely all association with the band after the tour in terms of rights to using the name to promote himself. It was in this same interview he admitted he was not involved in the new songs on Best of Both Worlds and only recorded three tracks for III.

On September 8, 2006, Howard Stern's Eddie Van Halen live interview broke the band's long silence. Eddie said he was willing to reunite with Roth and revealed a solo album in the works. Michael Anthony's departure was confirmed with Eddie's son, Wolfgang, taking his role. Wolfgang had played guitar alongside his father on some 2004 concerts. When queried about The Other Half tour, Eddie said Anthony could "do what he wants" now. This shocked and offended many fans. In November, Eddie's spokesperson, Janie Liszewski, claimed the Van Halen family was writing/rehearsing for a Summer 2007 tour, which Billboard magazine's website shortly confirmed. However, the Van Halen website remained in the state it had been in since the Hagar reunion.

On December 11, 2006, Eddie Van Halen stated to Guitar World magazine that David Lee Roth had been directly invited to rejoin the band. However, on December 28, Roth announced that he had not talked to Eddie in two years, and a reunion with Van Halen could result in a "Jerry Springer style fight".

News from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame slipped out on January 8, 2007, confirming that Van Halen would be inducted. They had jointly led the ballot and been long rumoured for inclusion before this time. The Van Halen brothers, Anthony, Hagar, and Roth were to be inducted.Billboard announced on January 24, 2007, that Van Halen would reunite with David Lee Roth for a US tour. This was confirmed shortly after on the official Van Halen website.

The Van Halen News Desk announced on February 15, 2007, that a Van Halen "Best Of (1978-1984)", a single-disc compilation of Van Halen's David Lee Roth era, would be released by April 3. Shortly after, information arrived in a flood. Various sources claimed the tour was shut down as was the new "Best Of" CD. On March 8, 2007 Eddie announced on Van Halen's website that he was in rehab. Along with the announcement, a change was made to the website. The logo at the top of the page changed to the Roth-era logo.

As the band's Hall of Fame induction drew near, media focus shifted to that. Velvet Revolver would induct the band and speak on their behalf. On March 12, 2007, the band was inducted at a ceremony held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Anthony and Hagar were the only inductees in attendance (ironically, both ex-members). Velvet Revolver played "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love", and Anthony and Hagar performed "Why Can't This Be Love" with Paul Shaffer. At a post-induction press conference, Hagar said he would love to work with Van Halen again but that the Van Halens should tour with Roth first.

On April 21, 2007, Eddie Van Halen served as an Honorary Race Official for the Subway Fresh Fit 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway. He looked fit and well, better than he had on the last tour, and on May 24 posted a note to the Van Halen website confirming that he had exited rehab successfully. After nearly 10 months of speculation and numerous rumours, on Monday, August 13th, 2007, Van Halen (and David Lee Roth separately via his own website Roth claimed in the press release that, "the idea is that this will continue on and on and on" and also that a world tour and new album were in the works.

Press reaction to the reunion was largely warm, but the re-designed website sparked controversy when Michael Anthony was removed from images of old album artwork.[39] The album covers were reverted to normal a day later without a word after bitter reactions. The tour was originally 25 dates, but the reunion now stands to be much longer, extending into 2008 with a second leg.

Van Halen started their new tour on September 27, 2007 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Playing to sellout crowds, the tour generated positive reviews.Amid rumors of Eddie being back in rehab, multiple dates of the tour were postponed. The official reason was the need for medical procedures to be run on Eddie.

On March 5, 2008 World Entertainment Weekly to CBS News reported that the reason behind the tour stoppage was due to Eddie Van Halen needing to reenter rehab. The report also indicated that it was a "furious backstage bust-up in Florida with his 17-year-old son and bandmate Wolfgang" which motivated Eddie to seek help once again.

In response to rumors about Eddie Van Halen being back in rehab Valerie Bertinelli said that "he is not in rehab." She did not, however, say if he had recently been in rehab, stating only that he wasn't currently.

Wolfgang Van Halen also stated that his father was not in rehab during the 2008 Kids Choice Awards, but did not say if he had recently been in rehab: only that he wasn't in rehab now. Eventually, the tour started back up April 17 at the Reno Events Center in Reno.

The tour ended on June 2, 2008 at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI. During the show Roth stated multiple times that this would not be their final show and that they would "see everyone next time." This show also was a special occasion being that the sign in front on the arena had been re done so it read "VAN HALEN ARENA" instead of the "VAN ANDEL ARENA" which is its actual name.

According to the Van Halen News Desk, the reunion tour with Roth was the highest grossing in the band's history, raking in almost 93 million dollars.

Van Halen's song "Hot for Teacher" is included in the video game Guitar Hero World Tour.

The opening act of the Festival d'été de Québec in Quebec City was performed by Van Halen on July 3rd, 2008.

In a recent interview with Guitar World about the making of his upcoming new EVH Wolfgang guitar from Fender, Eddie Van Halen had this to say regarding the subject of new Van Halen music: "I’ll be making music ’til the day I die. I’ve done all kinds of stuff, and more is coming. I can’t tell you exactly when right now. Wolfgang is in the 12th grade and he needs to graduate first. Then I’m getting married in June. We’ll pick it up after that."

Although not actually aired, AZ rock station 98KUPD hosts contacted David Lee Roth via telephone for a proposed on air interview on Thurs. Dec 18th wherein Roth stated, "When (Wolfgang Van Halen) gets his cap and gown, we're all going back for the fall semester. I'm not sure we're gonna get good grades in conduct, but you know, you're gonna be able to judge us on our progress report next year and dance with us in time for the prom."

Band members
For more details on this topic, see List of Van Halen band members.

Current members

* David Lee Roth – lead & backing vocals (1974–1985, 1996, 2000, 2006–present)
* Eddie Van Halen – lead & rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1972–present)
* Wolfgang Van Halen – bass guitar, backing vocals (2006–present)
* Alex Van Halen – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1972–present)

Former members

* Michael Anthony – bass guitar, backing vocals (1974–2002, 2004–2005)
* Sammy Hagar – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1985–1996, 2003–2005)
* Gary Cherone – lead vocals (1997–1999)
* Mitch Malloy - lead vocals (1996 - see above)
* Mark Stone – bass guitar, backing vocals (1972–1974 - only a member when the band still used the name Mammoth)

Discography

* Van Halen (1978)
* Van Halen II (1979)
* Women and Children First (1980)
* Fair Warning (1981)
* Diver Down (1982)
* 1984 (1983)
* 5150 (1986)
* OU812 (1988)
* For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991)
* Live: Right Here, Right Now (1993)
* Balance (1995)
* Best of Volume I (1996)
* Van Halen III (1998)
* The Best of Both Worlds (2004)
(from Wikipedia)

Dewa Budjana

2009-03-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

I Dewa Gede Budjana or Dewa Budjana (born August 30, 1963 in Waikabubak) is an Indonesian guitarist, songwriter and composer. He is the lead guitarist and songwriter of the band Gigi. Budjana’s style changed dramatically to jazz as he got to know John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, Jeff Beck, John Abercrombie, Chick Corea and Weather Report. In his early experience, he established a band called "Squirrell" which was popular in the local community. Throughout his musical experience in Indonesia, Dewa Budjana has collaborated with many famous guitarists such as Tohpati, Ridho and Abdee Negara. His ability to combine jazz and rock has put him among the top Indonesian guitarists.

Early life

Budjana's passion and talent in music, especially guitar, has been very dominant since he was in an elementary school in Klungkung, Bali. Budjana’s first teacher was a construction worker who lived nearby. He stole money from his grandmother to buy his first guitarHe prioritised guitar in his life, and started to teach himself by playing rock songs. He became more passionate about music, and was reflected when Budjana moved to Surabaya, East Java, where he took a classical music course, performed with a band and participated in many of music performances. After graduation, he went to Jakarta to pursue a career as professional musician. While there, he came across Jack Lesmana, a jazz maestro and father of jazz musician Indra Lesmana, who taught Budjana the philosophy of jazz.

Music life

Early experience

In 1976, when he was thirteen, Budjana's name started to be seen in the music world in Surabaya. Later, in 1981, he bought a "real" electric guitar (an Aria Pro II) and started to play with many different people. Slowly, his musical style changed from pop rock to jazz, as he started to incorporate influences from John McLaughlin of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Chick Corea, Yes, Gentle Giant, Kansas, Tangerine Dream, American Garage, Bright Size Life, Pat Metheny and Allan Holdsworth.

In 1980, Budjana started Squirrel, his first jazz band, with his schoolmates in Surabaya. Squirrel participated in a number of national music events, including Light Music Contest in 1984 at Teater Terbuka, TIM, Indonesia. Though many contestants participated, it was Budjana and his fellow bandmates who outperformed the competition and won. One year after that, Budjana decided to fly to Jakarta in order to expand his music career. This journey lead him to Jack Lesmana, an Indonesian jazz legend, who introduced him to other professional musicians.
Professional career

Although Jack provided Budjana with opportunities in his Indonesian music career, it was Indra who first asked him to became a session player. A few years later, Budjana joined the band Spirit, which included Baron, Gigi's former guitarist. With Budjana, Spirit released one self-titled album, before Budjana decided to leave the band and joined Java Jazz. He also sat in with many other bands — including the Jimmy Manopo Band, Erwin Gutawa, Elfa's Big Band and Twilite Orchestra — and participated in the North Sea Jazz Festival, a world jazz convention in Den Haag, the Netherlands.

His current band, Gigi, was formed in 1994 with Baron (guitar), Thomas (bass), Armand (vocal) and Ronald (drum). Since then, Gigi has released six albums. He has also released his own solo albums: Nusa Damai; Gitarku; Samsara; and Home, a tribute album to the December 2004 tsunami victims.

Since Dewa Budjana started his professional career as a musician, he has mainly used a Parker Fly Delux as his main guitar, occasionally using Klein and Gibson guitars SG series instead. Budjana also owns a double neck Klein guitar which was used on his latest album, Home, and pictured on the CD cover. For his rig, Dewa Budjana mainly uses Mesa Boogie rectifier and Carvin Legacy amplifier that are connected to the Line 6 Ax2 212.

Discography

* Gigi
o Angan (1994)
o Dunie (1995)
o 3/4 (1996)
o 2 x 2 (1997)
o Kilas Balik (1998)
o Baik (1999)
o The Greatest Hits Live (2000)
o Untuk Semua Umur (2001)
o The Best Of Gigi (2002)
o Salam Kedelapan (2003)
o OST. Brownies (2004)
o Raihlah Kemenangan (2004)
o Raihlah Kemenangan (repackage) (2005)
o Next Chapter (2006)

* Solo
o Nusa Damai (1997)
o Gitarku (2000)
o Samsara (2003)
o Home (2005)
(from Wikipedia)

I Wayan Balawan

2009-03-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

I Wayan Balawan or Balawan (born September 9, 1973 in Bali) is an Indonesian guitarist and songwriter. He is best-known as a Batuan Ethnic Fusion guitarist. Since he returned from Sydney, Balawan has developed the "8 fingers tapping" technique, also known as "Touching Tapping Style".

Personal life

Balawan listened to Balinese gamelan, a traditional music style from Bali, since birth. At the age of eight he taught himself to play guitar. He joined his first band when he was 14 years old. Although he grew up in a Balinese traditional culture, Balawan played more rock songs rather than gamelan. Some of his favorite bands were Scorpions, Deep Purple and The Beatles.

Eventually he became bored with rock music and decided to study jazz at the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney. During his studies towards a Diploma of Music, he was awarded a three-year scholarship. He studied in Sydney for about five years, during which time he also gained popularity for his exceptional talent of playing guitar and jazz music. After he obtained his Diploma of Music, he went back to Bali in 1997 and formed a band called Batuan Ethnic Fusion, which combined the traditional Balinese gamelan music with jazz/fusion style.
Career

His first professional band is Batuan Ethnic Fusion, which is still active. Besides being a band member, Balawan is also working on his solo career and has released three albums. His first solo album was "Balawan", which released in 1997 by the Acoustic Music Label, a German company. Later, he worked with an Indonesian company, and with his band, he released his first band album, "GloBALIsm", under Chico&Ira production in 1999. Recently Balawan launched his second solo album, "Magic Fingers", under the Sony-BMG Music Indonesia label. Magic Fingers really showcases Balawan's abilities in arranging and composing and his ability to blend modern music with traditional Balinese gamelan.

"It's always exciting to find new things in art and Batuan Ethnic Fusion is a perfect example of artist who explore into the great spectrum in art with passion, love, beauty and freedom..." - Indra Lesmana

As Balawan is considered as the only Indonesian guitarist who able to develop and use the "Touch Tapping" style, he often plays in Germany and Norway. In 2000, Balawan collaborated with many international guitarists at "East Meet West Gitarren Festival Edekoben Germany 2000 Tour". He also has had a tour in 20 cities in Germany in 2001. In the same year, Balawan played at "Hell Blues Festival" in Norway in September.

Technique

Balawan has developed and expanded a technique called "Fingering Tapping" style. The technique enables the guitarist to play two or even three different music progressions at the same time using the same instrument continuously. Another notable player of this technique is Stanley Jordan, an American jazz/fusion guitarist. Balawan developed the same progression with Stanley Jordan, that he is able to produce a piano, bass and guitar at the same time using just one instrument.

Usually Balawan uses all four fingers of his right hand to create the melody progressions and his left hand to create the bass and rhythmic sounds. Another unique thing is that there is no pattern or repetition whatsoever between the left and right hand. Thus Balawan has a very exceptional skill of playing guitar.
Equipment

Since Balawan needs to play rhythmic progression and melody at the same time, he uses a special guitar with two necks made by Julius Salaka, who also created a guitar model for another Indonesian guitarist, Dewa Budjana. Balawan's guitar has a double neck with six strings on the upper neck and seven strings on the lower one, which utilises MIDI pickups to translate the notes he plays into midi notes played via off-board synths and samplers..

Balawan uses Ibanez SA series and Laney amplifiers exclusively.

Balawan also plays drums, both to fill the tracks on his albums and to develop the "Touch Tapping" style.

Discography

* Balawan (1997)
* GloBALIsm (1999)
* Magic Fingers (2005)
(from Wikipedia)

B. B. King

2009-03-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

B. B. King (born Riley B. King, September 16, 1925) is an African American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter known for his expressive singing and inimitable guitar playing. One reviewer wrote, "King introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that would influence virtually every electric blues guitarist that followed." Critical acclaim and widespread popularity have cemented his reputation as possibly the most respected,successful, and most recognized bluesman, not just in the United States, but in the world. Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him at #3 in "the 100 greatest guitarists of all time".

Career

B. B. King arrived in Memphis for the first time in 1946 to work as a musician, but after a few months of hardship he left, going back to Mississippi. There he decided to prepare himself better for the next visit and returned to Memphis two years later. Initially he worked at the local R&B radio channel WDIA as a singer and disc jockey, where he gained the nickname "Beale Street Blues Boy", later shortened to "B.B.". It was there that he first met T-Bone Walker. "Once I'd heard him for the first time, I knew I'd have to have [an electric guitar] myself. Had to have one, short of stealing!", he said. In 1949, King began recording songs under contract with Los Angeles-based RPM Records. Many of King's early recordings were produced by Sam Phillips, who later founded Sun Records. Before his RPM contract, King had debuted on Bullet Records by issuing the single "Miss Martha King" (1949), which got a bad review in Billboard magazine and did not chart well.

"My very first recordings [in 1949] were for a company out of Nashville called Bullet, the Bullet Record Transcription company," King recalls. "I had horns that very first session. I had Phineas Newborn on piano; his father played drums, and his brother, Calvin, played guitar with me. I had Tuff Green on bass, Ben Branch on tenor sax, his brother, Thomas Branch, on trumpet, and a lady trombone player."

King assembled his own band; the B.B. King Review, under the leadership of Millard Lee. The band initially consisted of Calvin Owens and Kenneth Sands (trumpet), Lawrence Burdin (alto saxophone), George Coleman (tenor saxophone), Floyd Newman (baritone saxophone), Millard (or billions) Lee (piano), George Joyner (bass) and Earl Forest and Ted Curry (drums). Onzie Horne was a trained musician elicited as an arranger to assist King with his compositions. (By his own admission, he cannot play chords well and always relies on improvisation. This was followed by tours across the USA with performances in major theaters in cities such as Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit and St. Louis, as well as well as numerous gigs in small clubs and "juke joints" of the U.S. Southern States. King meanwhile toured the entire Chitlin Circuit and 1956 became a record-breaking 342 concerts booked. The same year he founded his own record label; Blues Boys Kingdom with its headquarters at Beale Street in Memphis. There, amongst other projects, he produced artists such as Millard Lee and Levi Seabury. The record company eventually failed, however, because King's schedule was unable to stretch far enough to include that of a businessman.
In the 1950s, B. B. King became one of the most important names in R&B music, amassing an impressive list of hits including "You Know I Love You," "Woke Up This Morning," "Please Love Me," "When My Heart Beats like a Hammer," "Whole Lotta Love," "You Upset Me Baby," "Every Day I Have the Blues," "Sneakin' Around," "Ten Long Years," "Bad Luck," "Sweet Little Angel," "On My Word of Honor," and "Please Accept My Love." In 1962, B. B. King signed to ABC-Paramount Records, which was later absorbed into MCA Records, and then his current label, Geffen Records. In November 1964, King recorded the Live at the Regal album at the Regal Theater in Chicago, Illinois.

King won a Grammy Award, for a tune called, "The Thrill Is Gone." His version became a hit on both Pop music and R&B charts, which was rare for an R&B artist. It also gained the number 183 spot in Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. He gained further rock visibility as an opening act on The Rolling Stones' 1969 American Tour. King's mainstream success continued throughout the 1970s with songs like "To Know You Is to Love You" and "I Like to Live the Love."

B.B. was present before the boxing match at the world championship between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in the stadium in Kinshasa, Zaire, in October 1974. His band's performance there was released on a DVD.

1980 saw B.B. King in the Blues Hall of Fame. In 2004 he was awarded the international Polar Music Prize, given to artists "in recognition of exceptional achievements in the creation and advancement of music."

Although King began recording less beginning in the 1980s, he continued to maintain a highly visible and active career, appearing on numerous television shows and performing 300 nights a year. In 1988 King reached a new generation of fans with the single "When Love Comes to Town", a collaborative effort between King and the Irish band U2 on their Rattle and Hum album. In 2000, King teamed up with guitarist Eric Clapton to record Riding With the King. In 1998, King appeared in The Blues Brothers 2000, playing the part of the lead singer of the Louisiana Gator Boys, along with Clapton, Dr. John, Koko Taylor and Bo Diddley. Among his jazz colleagues like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Charlie Parker, King once said, "What they did, simply went over my horizon."
King owns several clubs in the U.S., including at Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, in New Orleans and Nashville, where he occasionally visits. In addition, he invested in merchandise including barbecue accessories and endorsed a line of his own custom guitar strings.

Since 2004, King began to cite age and health reasons for touring less frequently. In the summer of 2005 he undertook a "Final Farewell Tour" through Europe. But in 2006 he entered the United States and again in Europe.
Farewell tour

Aged 80 at the time, on March 29, 2006, King played at Sheffield's Hallam Arena. This was the first date of his UK and European farewell tour. He played this tour supported by ex-shredder/rocker turned bluesman Gary Moore, with whom King had previously toured and recorded, including the song "Since I Met You Baby". The British leg of the tour ended on 4 April with a final UK concert at Wembley Arena.

In July King went back to Europe, playing twice (July 2 and 3) in the 40th edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival and also in Zürich at the Blues at Sunset on July 14. During his show in Montreux at the Stravinski Hall he jammed with Joe Sample, Randy Crawford, David Sanborn, Gladys Knight, Lella James, Earl Thomas, Stanley Clarke, John McLaughlin, Barbara Hendricks and George Duke. The European leg of the Farewell tour ended in Luxembourg on September 19, 2006 at the D'Coque Arena (support act: Todd Sharpville).

In November and December, King played six times in Brazil. During a press conference on November 29 in São Paulo, a journalist asked King if that would be the actual farewell tour. He answered: "One of my favorite actors is a man from Scotland named Sean Connery. Most of you know him as James Bond, 007. He made a movie called Never Say Never Again."

In June 2006, King was present at a memorial of his first radio broadcast at the Three Deuces Building in Greenwood, Mississippi, where an official marker of the Mississippi Blues Trail was erected. The same month, a groundbreaking was held for a new museum, dedicated to King.in Indianola, Mississippi.
The museum opened on September 13, 2008.

In late October 2006, he recorded a live CD and DVD, B.B. KING LIVE, at his B.B. King Blues Clubs in Nashville and Memphis. The four night production featured his regular B.B. King Blues Band and captured his show as he performs it nightly around the world. It was his first live performance recording in 14 years.

On July 28, 2007, King played at Eric Clapton's second Crossroads Guitar Festival with 20 other guitarists to raise money for the Crossroads Centre for addictive disorders, located in Antigua. Performing in Chicago Illinois, he played "Paying the Cost to Be the Boss" and "Rock Me Baby" with Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan and Hubert Sumlin. In the live broadcast, he offered a toast to the concert's host, Eric Clapton, and philosophized about his age and life. This never made it in its entirety to the subsequently released PBS broadcast or Crossroads II DVD.

2008 - Present

In June 2008, King played at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, and on August 1, 2008, he performed at the South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset, Massachusetts.

King was also the final performer at the 25th annual Chicago Blues Festival on June 8, 2008. Additionally in June 2008, King played the final set of the Monterey, California Blues Festival following Taj Mahal. King rounded off the month when he was also, in June, 2008, inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame alongside Liza Minnelli and Sir James Galway.

In July 2008, Sirius XM Radio's Bluesville channel was re-named B.B. King's Bluesville.

On December 1, 2008 King performed at the Maryland Theater in Hagerstown, Maryland.

On December 3, 2008 King, along with John Mayer, was the closing act at the 51st Grammy Nomination Concert, playing "Let the Good Times Roll" by Louis Jordan.

On December 30, 2008 King played at The Kennedy Center Honors Awards Show. His performance was in honor of Morgan Freeman.
(from Wikipedia)

Kirk Hammett

2009-03-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962) is the lead guitarist and a songwriter in the band Metallica and has been a member of the band since 1983. Before joining Metallica he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003 Hammett was ranked 11th in Rolling Stone's list - The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

Biography

Early life (1962-1980)

Born on November 18, 1962 in San Francisco to a Filipina mother (Chefela) and an Irish Merchant Marine father. He grew up in El Sobrante, California and has a younger sister, Tawny. Kirk Hammett attended De Anza High School in Richmond, California.

As a child and teenager, Kirk Hammett showed great interest in his older brother Rick's extensive collection of guitars, Rickenbacker basses and hard rock records, including material by Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Queen, Status Quo, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and UFO[citation needed]. One of his biggest musical influences was Jimi Hendrix[citation needed], and Hammett was quoted as saying he wanted to be Hendrix[citation needed]. Hammett has also been known to perform parts of Hendrix's songs during his guitar solos.

After picking up a 1978 Fender Stratocaster, Hammett attempted to customize his sound with various guitar parts, eventually falling for a 1974 Gibson Flying V. He also took a job at Burger King to raise money for a Marshall amplifier.

Exodus (1980-1983)

Hammett's musical interests eventually drew him into the fledgling thrash metal genre. In 1980, he formed the group Exodus with vocalist Paul Baloff, guitarist Gary Holt, bassist Geoff Andrews, and drummer Tom Hunting. He played on Exodus' 1982 Demo. Exodus was a crucial early player in the Bay Area thrash movement.

Metallica (1983-Present)

Hammett was invited to join Metallica following the dismissal of the band's original lead guitarist Dave Mustaine in 1983. This was prior to the release of Kill 'Em All. At the time Hammett was taking private guitar lessons from the now-famous Joe Satriani.

Hammett has written and contributed riffs for Metallica songs since the mid-1980s (particularly in the 1990s during the Load era). One of these riffs, used in "Enter Sandman", was written in a hotel room at 3:15 am, and became one of Metallica's most popular songs. It was the first track and first single on Metallica's self-titled "Black Album" and was ranked 399th on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

The bridge for "Creeping Death" was originally an Exodus riff that Hammett took with him to Metallica.

Hammett is also known for always having his picking hand taped up. During the course of a full tour, due to constantly palm muting and fast picking, the back of his hand takes sizable abuse.

Hammett's playing style is noted for his extensive use of the wah-wah pedal in his solos. Hammett says "The wah-wah is an extension of my personality." He also once said, "They'll have to cut off my leg if they want me to stop using the wah-wah pedal." Hammett's use of the wah-pedal hadn't been featured in recent Metallica solos, but has seen a resurgence in his solos on the newest album, Death Magnetic.

Hammett initially wanted to have guitar solos on Metallica's 2003 album, St. Anger, but drummer Lars Ulrich and producer Bob Rock thought that the solos did not sound right in the songs. He later admitted himself, "We tried to put in solos but they sounded like an afterthought so we left them out".

Personal life

Hammett has been married twice. His first marriage to ex-wife Rebecca lasted only 3 years, having ended in 1990, during the recording of the Black Album, which consumed the band members' lives for almost an entire year.

Hammett now resides in Hawaii with Lani, his second wife, whom he married in 1998. They have two sons, Angel Ray Keala Hammett (September 29, 2006) and Vincenzo Kainalu Hammett (June 28 2008).

Hammett's interests include surfing, cooking, horses, archaeology, cars, science fiction magazines and collecting horror film memorabilia.

Kirk also commented recently on the T3 gadget website in their audio interview that he was previously addicted to video games. Stating that the addiction resulted in the loss of eating, social interaction and guitar.

Other appearances

In 2005, Hammett played guitar on the Carlos Santana track "Trinity".

In 2006, Hammett voiced himself on The Simpsons ("The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer"). He also provided various voices on the Adult Swim show Metalocalypse, including a two fingered fan ("The Curse of Dethklok"), The Queen of Denmark ("Happy Dethday"), and a Finnish barkeep ("Dethtroll"). * He also appeared as a guest in an episode of Space Ghost: Coast to Coast titled "Jacksonville" alongside fellow Metallica member James Hetfield.

Hammett played guitar on the track "Satan" with Orbital for The Spawn: The Album soundtrack released in July 1997.

After performing a set with Metallica at Bonnaroo in June 2008, Hammett played one song with My Morning Jacket and a couple songs with the annual Superjam collaboration, which also included Les Claypool and members of Gogol Bordello playing primarily Tom Waits songs.

He also appeared on the "Kichigai" E.P. by punk band Septic Death. He played additional lead guitar on the title track.

He appeared as a guest guitarist on K'Naan's "If Rap Gets Jealous" off of the Troubadour (K'naan album) album

He will also be one of the main characters in Guitar Hero: Metallica along with the rest of Metallica

Equipment

In January 2007, ESP Guitar Company announced the release of a 20th anniversary Limited KH-20 Guitar to celebrate 20 years of relationship with Kirk Hammett (based upon the KH-2 guitar with some modification). There will only be 41 guitars made and the price has been set at $9,999.

In September 2007, Randall Amplifiers announced a partnership with Hammett to design a line of signature amps, heads, combos and preamp modules.

In 2008 Jim Dunlop started working in partnership with Hammett to create a signature wah pedal. There is no release date or confirmation on this product as of yet.

In January 2009, ESP Guitar Company has announced the rare release of the famous "ouija" a limited basis for 2009 only

Guitars

* ESP M-II "Zorlac" - This was the starting line for the whole fk series. It features a vertical skull & crossbones as opposed to the horizontal ones featured on today's KH's, and an upside down Jackson Guitars style headstock which is what Hammett originally intended. However, Jackson Guitars was not thrilled about this, and threatened law suits if this model ever hit stores[citation needed]. So the headstock was changed to a typical ESP but flipped upside down.
* ESP KH-2 (Main touring guitar) - Hammett's signature model guitar is based upon the modifications he made to his M-II. (Nicknamed "Skully" because of the skull and crossbone inlays)
* ESP KH-2 M-II "Boris Karloff Mummy" I - Boris Karloff Mummy I graphic. Hammett owns the rights to the image on it and it will not be released by ESP.
* ESP KH-2 M-II "Ouija" - This guitar contains 2 spelling errors on it. It sports the words "WILLIAM FUED TALKING BAARD SET" but it in fact should say "WILLIAM FULD TALKING BOARD SET"
* ESP KH-2 M-II "Boris Karloff Mummy" II - Boris Karloff Mummy II graphic. Same as the Mummy I but with hieroglyph inlays.
* ESP ESP M-II "Skully" 7-String - Though it belongs to Hammett, James Hetfield mainly used it in the studio for St. Anger, as Hammett does not tour with it
* ESP KH-3 Eclipse - Pushead Spider graphic. It is taken from a classic Les Paul Jr. shape with a floyd rose vibrato and EMG pickups.
* ESP KH-4 M-II "Fuck You" - It's the same as a typical KH-2, but with a pearloid pickguard, dot inlays, a Roland midi unit (for roland vg8/vg88), and the words "FUCK YOU" written at the 12th fret.
* Gibson Les Paul 1968 Custom - Hammett also uses regular Les Pauls at some performances
* Jackson Randy Rhoads Model RR1T - Custom-Made specifically for Hammett. It is usually tuned one step down from standard tuning, and used for the song "Sad But True".
* Jackson Soloist Used for the song "The Thing That Should Not Be".
* Jackson Guitars Roswell Rhoads used for recording "Load".
* ESP KH-1 Flying V
* ESP KH-2 M-II - Skull & Crossbones II
* ESP M-II Red Frankenstein graphic
* ESP M-II Skull & Crossbones I
* ESP WaveCaster Blue - Wave Machine (Only 3 in existence.)
* Fender Stratocaster 1998 - American black and green Stratocaster
* Gibson Flying V 1974 - Used mainly for recording the first four albums. In 1989 he replaced the stock pickups with EMG 81s. Was the third guitar he ever owned.

Kirk Hammett's first guitar was a Montgomery Ward brand guitar, with a shoebox and small speaker for an amplifier.[21] Metallica's "St. Anger" DVD rehearsals features a new guitar which has "Invisible Kid" written on it, which he uses in the song "Invisible Kid".

On the 25th anniversary of Metallica's Kill 'Em All, Kirk Hammett appears on the cover of Feb. 2008's Guitar World sporting his new custom ESP. This model is the KH20, the 20th anniversary model from ESP.

In the video for "One", Kirk Hammett is seen using what is most likely an ESP Vintage Plus. It appears however to be modified; it has a Floyd Rose tremolo, which could have been Hammett's own work or a custom model.

Current tourning guitars for World Magnetic tour:

ESP KH-2 M-11 SKULLY

ESP KH-2 M-11 DRACULA(same specs as the kh-2 with dracula graphics)

ESP KH-2 M-11 CUSTOM(it has the same specs as a kh2 but a chrome pickguard

Natural Gibson Explorer(stock pickups and tuners)

Red ESP Flying V

White Ouija KH-2

Black Ouija KH-2

Amplifiers & Cabinets

* Randall RM100KH signature model (modified version of the MTS series RM100)
* Randall 4x12 RS412KHX
* Randall 4x12 RS412KH100
* Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier
* Mesa/Boogie Mark IV
* Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier
* Mesa/Boogie Quad Preamp
* Mesa/Boogie Simul-class 295
* Fender Twin
* Various models of Marshall and Diezel

Pickups, Effects and other Equipment

* EMG 81 and EMG 60 pickups
* Rack-mounted Dunlop Cry Baby(Wah) with expression pedals
* Ibanez Tube Screamer Modded by Keeley
* Native Instruments Guitar Rig 3 control edition
* Lovetone Meatball pedal (used on I Disappear)
* Jim Dunlop Dunlop Jazz III Picks
* Ernie Ball Power Slinky (.11-.48) #2220 electric guitar strings
* Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom (.10-.52)
* Custom Levy's strap
* Radial Tonebone Hot British distortion pedal
* MXR EVH Flanger
* Line 6 FM4 Filter Modeler
* Line 6 DM4 Distortion Modeler
* Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler
* Line 6 MM4 Modulation Modeler
* Digitech WH1 Whammy Pedal ( this pedal is used in the solo for Devils Dance)

Discography

Exodus

* 1982 Demo

Metallica

* Kill 'Em All
* Ride the Lightning
* Master of Puppets
* ...And Justice for All
* Metallica (The Black Album)
* Load
* Garage, Inc.
* ReLoad
* St. Anger
* Death Magnetic
(from Wikipedia)

Jimi Hendrix

2009-03-25T00:55:00.000-07:00

James Marshall Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. After initial success in Europe, he achieved fame in the United States following his 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. Later, Hendrix headlined the iconic 1969 Woodstock Festival and the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival.

Hendrix often favored raw overdriven amplifiers with high gain and treble and helped develop the previously undesirable technique of guitar feedback. Hendrix, along with bands such as Cream was one of the musicians who popularized the wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock which he often used to deliver an exaggerated pitch in his solos, particularly with high bends and use of legato based around the pentatonic scale. He was influenced by blues artists such as B. B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Albert King, and Elmore James, rhythm and blues and soul guitarists Curtis Mayfield, Steve Cropper, as well as by some modern jazz. In 1966, Hendrix, who played and recorded with Little Richard's band from 1964 to 1965, was quoted as saying, "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice."

Carlos Santana has suggested that Hendrix' music may have been influenced by his Native American heritage. As a record producer, Hendrix also broke new ground in using the recording studio as an extension of his musical ideas. He was one of the first to experiment with stereophonic and phasing effects for rock recording.

Hendrix won many of the most prestigious rock music awards in his lifetime, and has been posthumously awarded many more, including being inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. An English Heritage "Blue plaque" was erected in his name on his former residence at Brook Street, London, in September 1997. A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (at 6627 Hollywood Blvd.) was dedicated in 1994. In 2006, his debut US album, Are You Experienced, was inducted into the United States National Recording Registry, and Rolling Stone named Hendrix the top guitarist on its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in 2003.

Biography

Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942, in Seattle, Washington, USA, while his father was stationed at an Army base in Oklahoma. He was named Johnny Allen Hendrix at birth by his mother, 17 year old Lucille Hendrix née Jeter. She had put him in the temporary care of friends in California (a holiday). On his release from the Army his father, James Allen "Al" Hendrix (1919–2002), took him, and changed his name to James Marshall Hendrix in memory of his deceased brother, Leon Marshall Hendrix. He was known as "Buster" to friends and family, from birth. Shortly after, Al reunited with Lucille. He found it hard to gain steady employment after the Second World War, and the family experienced financial hardship. Hendrix had two brothers, Leon and Joseph, and two sisters, Kathy and Pamela. Joseph was born with physical difficulties and at the age of three was given up to state care. His two sisters were both given up at a relatively early age, for care and later adoption, Kathy was born blind and Pamela had some lesser physical difficulties. Hendrix' parents divorced when he was nine years old, and his mother died in 1958. On occasion, he was sent to live with his grandmother in Vancouver, British Columbia because of the unstable household, and his brother Leon was put into temporary welfare care for a period. Hendrix grew up as a shy and sensitive boy, deeply affected by the conditions of poverty and neglect he experienced. In a relatively unusual experience for African Americans of his era, Hendrix' high school had a relatively equitable ethnic mix of African, European (including Jews), and Asian (Japanese, Filipino and Chinese) Americans. At age 15, around the time his mother died, he acquired his first acoustic guitar for $5 from an acquaintance of his father. This guitar replaced both the broomstick he had been strumming in imitation of older musicians and the one-stringed ukulele his father had found while cleaning out a garage, on which Hendrix reportedly managed to play several tunes. He learned by practicing almost constantly, watching others play, through tips from more experienced players, and by listening to records. In the summer of 1959, his father bought Hendrix a white Supro Ozark, his first electric guitar, but there was no available amplifier. That same year his only failing grade in school was an F in music class.[citation needed] According to fellow Seattle bandmates, he learned most of his acrobatic stage moves, a major part of the blues/R&B tradition, including playing with his teeth and behind his back, from a fellow young musician, Raleigh "Butch" Snipes. Snipes was a guitarist with local band (The Sharps), who performed Chuck Berry's trademark "duck walk". Hendrix played in a couple of local bands, occasionally playing outlying gigs in Washington State and at least once over the border in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Hendrix was particularly fond of Elvis Presley, whom he saw perform in Seattle, in 1957. Leon Hendrix claimed, in an early interview, that Little Richard appeared in his Central District neighborhood and shook hands with his brother, Jimi. This is unattested elsewhere and vehemently denied by his father. Hendrix' early exposure to Blues music came from listening to records by Muddy Waters and B.B. King his father owned. Another early impression came from the 1954 western Johnny Guitar, in which the hero carries no gun but instead wears a guitar slung behind his back.

His first gig was with an unnamed band in the basement of a synagogue. After too much wild playing and showing off, he was fired between sets. The first formal band he played in was The Velvetones who performed regularly at the Yesler Terrace Neighborhood House without pay. His flashy style and left-handed playing of a right-handed guitar already made him a standout. He later joined the Rocking Kings who played professionally at such venues as the Birdland. When his guitar was stolen (after he left it backstage overnight), Al bought him a white Silvertone Danelectro which he painted red and emblazoned with the words "Betty Jean" (Morgan), the name of his high school girlfriend.

Hendrix completed junior high at Washington Junior High School with little trouble but didn't graduate from Garfield High School, although he would later be awarded an honorary diploma, and in the 1990s, a bust of Hendrix was placed in the school library. After he became famous in the late 1960s, Hendrix told reporters that he had been expelled from Garfield by racist faculty for holding hands with a white girlfriend in study hall. However, Principal Frank Hanawalt says that it was simply due to poor grades and attendance problems.
(from Wikipedia)

Funtwo

2009-03-25T00:40:00.000-07:00

Lim Jeong-hyun, also known by the online alias funtwo, is a South Korean guitarist known for his cover of the song Canon Rock. The YouTube user with the alias "guitar90" is not Lim Jeong-hyun, but an unknown person who just happened to upload Lim's video. This has been cleared up in his latest interviews. Quoting from the video, the interview clarifies, "someone else called guitar90 who grabbed the video and put it on YouTube where it became a sensation". Now he has an account on youtube called funtwohimself.

Canon rock cover

He played and recorded his cover of Canon Rock during 2005. He uploaded his video onto the popular Korean music site called Mule.co.kr. It was then uploaded to YouTube by a viewer nicknamed "guitar90", under the title guitar. It was not long before the video gathered popularity and viewers speculated as to who was beneath the baseball cap.

His video is among the twentieth most viewed and fifth most "favorited" video in YouTube history with over 56 million views and counting.

Lim's cover of Canon Rock has been mentioned on CNN, 20/20, The New York Times, and National Public Radio, in addition to MBC news, CBC Radio, KBS news, and other Korean news stations.

Many viewers have speculated and thought the video as fake because the audio is not synchronized with the video. Lim later stated to The New York Times that this had to do with the fact that "he recorded the audio and video independently and then matched them inexactly." The performance itself was recorded in two parts, and edited together. An image of a traffic light was used to make the transition.

Other activities

In addition to playing the work of others, Lim has now started to arrange well-known music by himself. He composed a holiday card to his fans called "Carol Rock (funtwo Is Coming to Town)", a rock version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town. He also played Dream Theater's Overture 1928, and recently he posted a video of himself performing Antonio Vivaldi's Summer from the "Four Seasons," one of Vivaldi's most famous works.

Lim has expressed no wish to carry on playing as a professional guitarist. However his online fame has allowed him to play to live audiences three times— once for the Korean ambassador in Washington, DC, then again at the KORUS festival the same year. At the KORUS festival, Lim played improvised, altered versions of the Korean national anthem and the American national anthem. The third time he played was in 2008, the 22 November at the YouTube Live festival where he performed with Joe Satriani, he played first a mix of Canon Rock and Joe's Surfing With the Alien and then Canon Rock. In the same interview in which he stated his wish to carry on playing guitar simply as a hobby, he also rated his own playing a modest 50/60 out of 100.

The beginning of the music video for Weezer's song "Pork and Beans" is set in Lim's iconic room, with the various members playing their various instruments. The video as a whole contains references to numerous other internet phenomena.

Songs (as funtwo)

1. Canon Rock
2. Overture 1928
3. Summer
4. Carol (funtwo is coming to town)
5. Mission (Main Theme)
6. I'm Alright (Neil Zaza)
7. Triptych (Daita of Siam Shade)
8. Zenith (Daita)
9. Happy Birthday To You
10. Bumble
11. Mule Jam Project (Remix of Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple)
(from Wikipedia)

Joe Satriani

2009-03-24T23:41:00.000-07:00

Joseph "Satch" Satriani (born July 15, 1956 in Westbury, New York, United States) is an American multiple nominated Grammy Award multi-instrumentalist, best known as an instrumental rock guitarist. Early in his career, Satriani worked as a guitar instructor, and some of his former students have achieved fame with their stellar guitar skills. Satriani has been a driving force behind other musicians throughout his career, as a founder of the ever-changing touring trio, G3, as well as performing in temporary positions with other musicians.

In 1988, Satriani was recruited by the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger as lead guitarist for Jagger's second solo tour.Later, in 1994, Satriani was also the lead guitarist for Deep Purple. Satriani has also worked with a wide range of guitarists from many musical genres, including Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Eric Johnson, Larry LaLonde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Brian May, Patrick Rondat, Andy Timmons, Paul Gilbert and Robert Fripp through the annual G3 Jam Concerts.

He is heavily influenced by famous music icons such as Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. Since 1988, Satriani has used his own signature guitar, the Ibanez JS Series, which is widely sold in stores. He also has a signature series amplifier, the Peavey JSX.

History

Satriani was inspired to play guitar at age 14 soon after learning of the death of Jimi Hendrix. He has been said to have heard the news during a football training session, where he confronted his coach and announced that he was quitting to become a guitarist.

In 1974, Satriani studied music with jazz guitarist Billy Bauer and with reclusive jazz pianist Lennie Tristano. The technically demanding Tristano greatly influenced Satriani's playing. Satriani also began teaching guitar, with his most notable student at the time being fellow Long Island native Steve Vai. While he was Vai's teacher, he was attending Five Towns College for studies in music.

In 1978 Satriani moved to Berkeley, California to pursue a music career, and Vai moved on to study at the Berklee School of Music, soon after graduating becoming a high profile guitarist first with Frank Zappa, and after, other famous bands.

Not long after Satriani arrived in California, he resumed teaching. His students included Kirk Hammett of Metallica, Marty Friedman of Megadeth, David Bryson of Counting Crows, Kevin Cadogan from Third Eye Blind, Larry LaLonde of Primus, Possessed, Alex Skolnick of Testament, Rick Hunolt of Exodus, Phil Kettner of Lääz Rockit, Geoff Tyson of T-Ride, and Charlie Hunter.

When his friend and former student Steve Vai gained fame playing with David Lee Roth in 1986, Vai raved about Satriani in several interviews with guitar magazines. In 1987, Satriani's second album Surfing with the Alien produced popular radio hits and was the first all-instrumental release to chart so highly in many years. In 1988 Satriani helped produce the EP The Eyes of Horror for the death metal band Possessed.

In 1989, Satriani released the album Flying in a Blue Dream. The album sold well. "One Big Rush" was featured on the soundtrack to the Cameron Crowe movie Say Anything. "The Forgotten Part II" was featured on a Labatt Blue commercial in Canada in 1993. "Big Bad Moon", one of Satriani's few songs to feature his vocals, was a minor hit in late 1989.

In 1992, Satriani released The Extremist, his most critically acclaimed and commercially successful album to date. Radio stations across the country were quick to pick up on "Summer Song", while "Cryin'", "Friends" and the title track were regional hits.

In late 1993, Satriani joined Deep Purple as a temporary replacement for departed guitarist Ritchie Blackmore during the band's Japanese tour. The concerts were such a success that Satriani was asked to join the band permanently but he declined, having just signed a multi-album solo deal with Sony, so Steve Morse took the guitarist slot in Deep Purple.
In 1996, he founded the G3, a concert tour intended to feature a power trio consisting of three instrumental rock guitarists. The original lineup featured Satriani, Vai, and Eric Johnson. The G3 (tour) has continued periodically since its inaugural version, where Satriani is the only permanent member, featuring differing second and third members. Other guitarists who have performed in such a G3 configuration include among others: Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Robert Fripp, Andy Timmons, Uli Jon Roth, Michael Schenker, Adrian Legg and Paul Gilbert.

In 1998 Satriani recorded and released Crystal Planet, which went back to a sound more reminiscent of his late '80s work. Planet was followed up with Engines of Creation, one of his more experimental works featuring the 'Electronica' genre of music. During the subsequent tour, a pair of shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco were recorded in December 2000 and released as Live in San Francisco, a two-disc live album and DVD.
(from Wikipedia)

Steve Vai

2009-03-24T23:22:00.002-07:00

Steven "Steve" Siro Vai (born June 6, 1960 in Carle Place, New York) is an American instrumental rock guitarist, songwriter, vocalist, producer, and actor. After starting his professional career as a music transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, Vai would also record and tour in Zappa's backing band starting in 1980. The guitarist began a solo career starting in 1984 and has released 13 solo albums as of 2008. Apart from his work with Frank Zappa, Vai has also recorded and toured with numerous musical artists including Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth and Whitesnake. Vai has been a regular touring member of the G3 Concert Tour which began in 1996. In 1999 Vai started his own record label Favored Nations with the intent to showcase, as Vai describes: "...artists that have attained the highest performance level on their chosen instruments."

Career

1970s and 1980s

In 1974, Vai took guitar lessons from guitarist Joe Satriani, and played in numerous local bands, one that took the name, "The Steve Vais". He has acknowledged the influence of many guitarists including Jeff Beck and jazz fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth. Vai followed those lessons by attending and graduating the Berklee College of Music, afterwards recording a promotional piece for them, speaking about auditioning for Frank Zappa, at age twenty.

Vai mailed Frank Zappa a transcription of Zappa's "The Black Page", an instrumental song written for drums, along with a tape with some of Vai's guitar playing. Zappa was so impressed with the abilities of the young musician that he hired him in 1979 to do work transcribing several of his guitar solos, including many of those appearing on the Joe's Garage album and the Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar series. These transcriptions were published in 1982 in The Frank Zappa Guitar Book.

Subsequent to being hired as a transcriber, Vai did overdubs on many of the guitar parts for Zappa's album You Are What You Is. Thereafter he became a full-fledged band member, going on his first tour with Zappa in the Autumn of 1980. One of those early shows with Vai on guitar, recorded in Buffalo was released in 2007. While touring with Zappa's band, Vai would sometimes ask audience members to bring musical scores and see if he could sight-read them on the spot. Zappa referred to Vai as his "little Italian virtuoso" and was listed in liner notes as performing "stunt guitar" or "impossible guitar parts". He would later be a featured artist on the 1993 recording, Zappa's Universe. In 2006 he returned to playing music composed by Frank Zappa as a special guest on his son, Dweezil Zappa's 'Zappa Plays Zappa' tour, alongside old friends from his early years who he had performed with when Zappa was alive.

After leaving Zappa in 1982 he moved to California where he recorded his first album Flex-Able and performed in a couple of bands. In 1985 he replaced Yngwie Malmsteen as lead guitarist in Graham Bonnet's Alcatrazz with whom he recorded the album Disturbing the Peace. Later in 1985 he joined former Van Halen front man David Lee Roth's group to record the albums Eat 'Em and Smile and Skyscraper. This significantly increased Vai's visibility to general rock audiences, since Roth was in a highly public battle with the Van Halen members and Vai was favorably compared by many commentators to Eddie Van Halen.

In 1986 Vai also surprised everyone by playing with ex-Sex Pistols John Lydon's Public Image Ltd on their album Album (also known as Compact Disc or Cassette). Then, in 1989, Vai joined Whitesnake, replacing Vivian Campbell. But, when Adrian Vandenberg injured his wrist shortly before recording was due to begin for the album Slip of the Tongue, Vai played all the guitar parts on the album. Vai also played on the Alice Cooper album Hey Stoopid along with Slash on the song Feed my Frankenstein.

1990s and 2000s

Vai continues to tour regularly, both with his own group and with his one-time teacher and fellow guitar instrumentalist friend Joe Satriani on the G3 series of tours. Former David Lee Roth and Mr. Big bassist Billy Sheehan also joined him for a world tour. In 1990, Vai released his critically acclaimed solo album Passion and Warfare.

The song "For the Love of God" was voted #29 in a readers' poll of the 100 greatest guitar solos of all time in Guitar World Magazine.

In 1994 Vai began writing and recording with Ozzy Osbourne. Only one track from these sessions and "My Little Man" was released on the Ozzmosis album. Despite Vai penning the track he does not appear on the album. His guitar parts were replaced by Zakk Wylde. Vai's band members throughout the 1990s included drummer Mike Mangini, guitarist Mike Keneally and bassist Philip Bynoe. In 1994 Vai received a Grammy Award for his performance on the Frank Zappa song Sofa from the album Zappa's Universe.

In July 2002, Steve Vai performed with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan, in the world premiere of composer Ichiro Nodaira's Fire Strings, a concerto for electric guitar and 100-piece orchestra.

In 2004, a number of his compositions and orchestral arrangements including some previously recorded pieces, were performed in The Netherlands by the Metropole Orchestra in a concert series entitled The Aching Hunger. In 2003, drummer Jeremy Colson joined Vai's group replacing previous drummer Virgil Donati. Vai's latest album, Sound Theories, was released in 2007.

Steve Vai released a DVD of his performance at The Astoria in London in December 2001, featuring the lineup of bassist Billy Sheehan, guitarist/pianist Tony MacAlpine, guitarist Dave Weiner and drummer Virgil Donati.

In February 2005, Vai premiered a dual-guitar (electric and classical) piece that he wrote called The Blossom Suite with classical guitarist Sharon Isbin at the Châtelet Theatre in Paris. In 2006, Vai played as a "special guest" guitarist alongside additional guest Zappa band members, drummer Terry Bozzio, guitarist-singer Ray White and saxophonist-singer Napoleon Murphy Brock in the "Zappa Plays Zappa" tour led by Frank's son Dweezil Zappa in Europe and the U.S. in the Spring as well as a short U.S. tour in October.

On September 21 2006, Vai made a special appearance at the Video Games Live concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California. He played two songs with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra; Halo Theme, and a second song for the world premier trailer for Halo 3.

Steve Vai made an appearance at the London Guitar Show 2007 on the 28th April 2007 at the ExCeL Center. In late April 2007, Vai confirmed the release of his most recent record, called Sound Theories, on June 26. The release is a 2-CD set consisting mostly of previously released material that Vai rearranged and played in front of a full orchestra. Vai says that the project was a great joy because he considers himself to be a composer more than a guitarist, and he is happy to see music he has composed played by an orchestra that can play it well. A DVD followed the record but was not released until later that year. He guested on the most recent Dream Theater album, Systematic Chaos, on the song "Repentance". The appearance was vocal rather than instrumental, as Vai was only one of many musical guests recorded. The song features contributions from many artists, with the aim of apologizing to important people in their lives for wrongdoings committed in their pasts.

Video games

Two different songs featuring Steve Vai's guitar playing in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Both Yankee Rose by David Lee Roth and God Blessed Video by Alcatrazz are featured on the game's soundtrack.

In 2004, Steve Vai was featured on Xbox's Halo 2 (a game by Bungie Studios) Volume 1 soundtrack, performing a heavy rock-guitar rendition of the Halo theme, known as Halo Theme (Mjolnir Mix). He also performed on the track Never Surrender. He later featured in the second volume of the soundtrack, where he performed on the track Reclaimer.

In 2008, Steve Vai's For the Love of God was featured as a downloadable track for the game Guitar Hero 3.

Movies

Steve Vai's music has been featured in a number of feature films, including Dudes and Ghosts of Mars. He appeared onscreen in the 1986 Ralph Macchio movie Crossroads, playing the demonically-inspired Jack Butler. At the film's climax, Vai engages in a guitar duel with Macchio, whose guitar parts were dubbed by Vai and also Ry Cooder, who played the initial slide work in the duel and Macchio's earlier performances in the film. The fast-paced neo-classical track entitled Eugene's Trick Bag with which Macchio wins the competition was also composed by Vai. The body of the piece was heavily based on Paganini's Caprice #5. He later borrowed the opening riff from the track Head Cuttin' Duel for a song called Bad Horsie from his 1995 EP Alien Love Secrets. Later the Crossroads duel reappeared on the 2002 album The Elusive Light and Sound, volume 1.

In 1991's Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey the introductory riff to KISS' God Gave Rock 'N Roll To You II, as performed by the Wyld Stallyns in the Battle of the Bands was performed by Vai. He also composed and performed the soundtrack to PCU (1994), and made contributions in 2001 to the score for John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars, performing on the tracks Ghosts of Mars and Ghost Poppin. His track "I'm the Hell Outta Here" can be heard during 1992's Encino Man in the scene where Brendan Fraser is taking a driving lesson.

Playing style

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Vai is widely recognized as a technically highly advanced rock guitarist and has been described as a virtuoso in the world of guitar music . He has mastered many performance techniques on the instrument including legato, pinch harmonics and volume swells, and is noted for his whammy bar effects and sporadic outbursts on the instrument often contrasting sweep-picking or finger tapping with slower sections to his compositions. His 1990 album Passion and Warfare and the ballad For the Love of God in particular received a significant amount of press and are often cited by critics and fans alike as amongst his best work to date .

Vai's playing style has been characterized as quirky and angular, owing to his technical facility with the instrument and deep knowledge of music theory. He often uses exotic guitars; he plays both double and triple neck guitars, and is regarded as the first to use the 7-string guitar in a rock context.Along with Ibanez, he designed a signature 7-string guitar, the Ibanez Universe.

Equipment

Vai is an accomplished studio producer (he owns two: "The Mothership" and "The Harmony Hut") and his own recordings combine his signature guitar prowess with novel compositions and considerable use of studio and recording effects, such as the Eventide H3000 ultra harmonizer and Digidesign's Pro Tools HD recording system and plug-in effects architecture.

Vai also helped design his signature Ibanez JEM series of guitars. They feature a hand grip (fondly referred to as a "monkey grip") cut into the top of the body of the guitar, a humbucker-single coil-humbucker DiMarzio pickup configuration with several different types of pickup including Evolution, Breed and EVO 2. He also uses an Ibanez Edge double-locking tremolo system (the current production JEMs have the newer Edge Pro), as well as an elaborate and extensive "Tree of Life" inlay down the neck. Vai also equips many of his guitars with an Ibanez Backstop, a tremolo stabilizer that has been discontinued. Lately Vai has also equipped some of his guitars with True Temperament fretboards in order for his chords to sound completely in tune.Vai also has a 7-string model designed by him named Ibanez Universe. The Universe later influenced the 7-string guitars used by Korn and other bands to create nu metal sounds in the late 1990s. He also has a signature Ibanez acoustic, the Euphoria. Before Ibanez, he briefly endorsed Jackson guitars, but this relationship only lasted two years.

Steve Vai has also worked with Carvin Guitars and Pro Audio to develop the Carvin Legacy line of guitar amplifiers. Vai wanted to create an affordable amp that was unique, and equal in sound and versatility to any guitar amp he had previously used. Over his long musical career, Steve Vai has used and designed an array of guitars. He even had his DNA put into the swirl paint job on one of his signature JEM guitars, the JEM2KDNA, in the form of his blood. Only 300 of these were made. Nowadays he mainly uses his white "Evo", a JEM7V, and his "Flo", which is a customized Floral Jem 777FP painted white. They are both inscribed with their names in two places, mainly in order to allow him to distinguish between the guitars he uses onstage. "Flo" is equipped with a Fernandes sustainer system.

He also has a guitar named "Mojo" in which the dot inlays are blue LED lights. Additionally, he has a custom-made triple-neck guitar that has the same basic features as his JEM7V guitars. The top neck is a 12-string guitar, the middle is a 6-string, and the bottom is a 6-string fretless guitar with a Fernandes Sustainer pickup. This guitar was featured on the G3 2003 tour on the piece I Know You're Here. Vai's effects pedals include a modified Boss DS-1, Ibanez Tube Screamer, Morley Bad Horsie, Ibanez Jemini Twin Distortion Pedal, TC Electronics G-System, Morley Little Alligator Volume pedal, Digitech Whammy, and an MXR Phase 90/Phase 100 on the Passion and Warfare album. His flight cases are labeled "Mr. Vai", or latterly, "Dr. Vai". He used a number of rack effects units controlled via MIDI, but used a floor-based TC electronics G system instead for the Zappa Plays Zappa tour.

Philanthropy

In 2005, Vai signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the U.S.A. He sits on its board of directors as an honorary member.

Favored Nations

Vai owns Favored Nations, a recording and publishing company that specializes in internationally procuring and maintaining recording artists. Favored Nations is separated into three sections, 'Favored Nations', 'Favored Nations Acoustic' and 'Favored Nations Cool (Jazz style)'

Artists who the Favored Nations label works or has worked with include Eric Johnson, Steve Lukather, Neal Schon, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci & Jordan Rudess, Mattias IA Eklundh,Tak Matsumoto, Andy Timmons,Johnny Hiland,Tommy Emmanuel, Vernon Reid, The Yardbirds, Larry Coryell, Mimi Fox, Eric Sardinas, Dweezil Zappa, Dave Weiner and Johnny A.

Personal life

Vai is married to Pia Maiocco, former bass player of Vixen, who can be seen in Hardbodies. Vai and Maiocco have two children, Julian Angel and Fire. In his spare time Vai is an avid beekeeper, which regularly produce a crop of honey that Vai sells for his Make a Noise Foundation.

Band History - not including guest appearances

* Frank Zappa (1980-1982)
* Steve Vai (1982-1984)
* Alcatrazz (1985)
* David Lee Roth (1985-1986)
* Public Image Ltd. (1985-1986)
* Frank Zappa (1986)
* David Lee Roth (1987-1988)
* Whitesnake (1988-1990)
* Solo (1989-present)
* The Brian May Band (1992)
* Ozzy Osbourne (1995)

Current band members

* Steve Vai - vocals, lead guitar
* Dave Weiner - rhythm guitar, electric sitar
* Ann Marie Calhoun - violin,keyboard
* Alex DePue - violin
* Bryan Beller - bass guitar
* Jeremy Colson - drums, percussion

Discography

Solo albums

* Flex-Able (1984)
* Passion and Warfare (1990) - Gold (USA)[11], #18 on the Billboard 200 on June 30, 1990
* Sex & Religion (1993)
* Alien Love Secrets (1995)
* Fire Garden (1996)
* Flex-Able Leftovers (1998)
* The Ultra Zone (1999)
* The 7th Song (2000)
* Alive in an Ultra World (2001)
* The Elusive Light and Sound, volume 1 (2002)
* The Infinite Steve Vai: An Anthology (2003)
* Live In London (2004)
* Real Illusions: Reflections (2005)
* Sound Theories (2007)

Appearances on Zappa albums

Year Album Credit

1981 Tinseltown Rebellion Rhythm guitar, vocals
1981 Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Rhythm guitar
1981 You Are What You Is Guitar
1982 Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch
1983 The Man from Utopia Guitar parts
1984 Them or Us Guitar
1984 Thing-Fish Guitar, vocals
1985 Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention Guitar
1987 Jazz from Hell Guitar
1988 Guitar Stunt guitar
1988 You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore Sampler Stunt guitar
1988 You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 Stunt guitar
1989 You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3 Stunt guitar
1991 You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4 Stunt guitar, vocals
1991 Beat the Boots I: As An Am Stunt guitar
1992 You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 5 Stunt guitar
1992 You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 Stunt guitar
1995 Strictly Commercial Guitar
1997 Have I Offended Someone? Guitar
1998 Cheap Thrills Guitar
1999 Son of Cheep Thrills Guitar, vocals

With other artists

Year Artist Album RIAA
1983 Lisa Popeil Lisa Popeil
1985 Heresy At The Door
1985 Alcatrazz Disturbing the Peace
1985 Public Image Ltd. Album
1986 Bob Harris The Great Nostalgia
1986 Shankar & Caroline The Epidemics
1986 David Lee Roth Eat 'Em and Smile / Sonrisa Salvaje Platinum
1986 Randy Coven Funk Me Tender
1986 Western Vacation Western Vacation
1988 David Lee Roth Skyscraper Platinum
1989 Whitesnake Slip of the Tongue 3x Platinum
1990 Rebecca The Best of Dreams
1991 Alice Cooper Hey Stoopid
1994 Whitesnake Whitesnake's Greatest Hits Platinum
1995 Ozzy Osbourne Ozzmosis (cowriter on one song)
1996 Wild Style Cryin'
1997 Munetaka Higuchi with Dream Castle Free World
1997 Joe Satriani / Eric Johnson / Steve Vai
1997 David Lee Roth The Best
1998 Gregg Bissonette Gregg Bissonette
1998 Al Di Meola The Infinite Desire
1999 Joe Jackson Symphony No. 1
2000 Whitesnake The Back to Black Collection
2000 Gregg Bissonette Submarine
2000 Thana Harris Thanatopsis
2000 Andrew Dice Clay Face Down, Ass Up
2001 Robin DiMaggio Blue Planet
2001 Billy Sheehan Compression
2002 Tak Matsumoto Hana
2003 Surinder Sandhu Saurang Orchestra
2002 Girls Together Outrageously (G.T.O)
2003 Eric Sardinas Black Pearls
2003 Steve Lukather & Friends SantaMental
2003 Hughes Turner Project HTP 2
2003 Shankar & Gingger One in a Million
2003 Yardbirds
2004 Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen
2004 Motörhead
2004 Bob Carpenter
2004 Mike Keneally
2005 John 5 Songs for Sanity
2005 Dave Weiner
2005 Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci
2006 The Devin Townsend Band
2006 Marty Friedman Loudspeaker
2006 Meat Loaf
2007 Dream Theater (spoken voice only)
2007 Eros Ramazzotti

Soundtracks

Year Soundtrack Type
1986 Crossroads Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
1987 Dudes Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
1991 Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
1992 Encino Man Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
1994 PCU Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
1997 Formula 1 Original Video Game Soundtrack
2001 Ghosts of Mars Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
2004 Halo 2 Soundtrack Volume 1 Original Video Game Soundtrack
2006 Halo 2 Soundtrack Volume 2 Original Video Game Soundtrack
2008 Guitar Hero III: Virtuoso Track Pack Original Video Game Soundtrack

Compilations

Year Artists Compilation
1989 Various Guitar's Practicing Musicians
1993 Various Zappa's Universe
1995 Various In From The Storm
1996 Various Songs of West Side Story
1997 Various Merry Axemas: A Guitar Christmas
1997 Various Angelica
1999 Various Radio Disney Kid Jams
2001 Various Roland Guitar Masters
2002 Various Guitars For Freedom
2002 Various Warmth In The Wilderness Vol. II - A Tribute to Jason Becker
2004 Various Halo 2 Original Soundtrack
2004 Various The Sounds Of Nascar
2006 Various Monsters of Rock
2008 Various Zappa Plays Zappa
2008 Steve Vai Naked Tracks

Awards and Nominations

Grammy Winner

* 1994 Best Rock Instrumental Performance "Sofa" from Zappa's Universe

* 2001 Best Pop Instrumental No Substitutions [Steve Vai Producer/Engineer]

* 2009 "Peaches En Regalia" – Zappa Plays Zappa

Grammy Nomination

* 1990 Best Rock Instrumental Album Passion & Warfare

* 1995 Best Rock Instrumental Performance "Tender Surrender" – from Alien Love Secrets

* 1997 Best Rock Instrumental Performance "For the Love of God" – from G3 Live in Concert

* 1999 Best Rock Instrumental Performance "Windows to the Soul" – from The Ultra Zone

* 2001 Best Rock Instrumental Performance "Whispering a Prayer" – from Alive in an Ultra World

* 2006 Best Rock Instrumental Performance "Lotus Feet" — lost to Les Paul & Friends's "69 Freedom Special"

* 2008 Best Rock Instrumental Performance "The Attitude Song" — lost to Bruce Springsteen's "Once Upon a Time in the West"

Guitar Player Magazine

1995 Gallery of Greats

1995 Best Rock Guitarist (Tie with Jimmy Page)

1995 Best Overall Guitarist 3rd Place

1995 Best Experimental Guitarist (Tie with Buckethead)

1995 Best Metal Recording 3rd Place

1995 Best Overall Guitar Recording 2nd Place

1995 Best Metal Guitarist 3rd Place

1990 Best Rock Guitarist

1990 Best Overall Guitarist

1990 Best Guitar Album

1990 Best Metal Guitarist

1989 Best Rock Guitarist

1988 Best Rock Guitarist

1987 Best Rock Guitarist

1987 Best Overall Guitarist

1986 Best Rock Guitarist

Guitar World

1990 Most Valued Player (tie with Stevie Ray Vaughan)

1990 Best Album

1990 Best Rock Guitarist

1990 Best Guitar Solo (For the Love of God)

1989 Best Rock Guitarist

International Music Award Nomination

1990 Best Guitarist

Select Magazine (UK)

1990 Best Album (Passion and Warfare)

1990 Best Musician

1990 Sexiest Male

Guitar for the Practicing Musician

1993 Editor’s Choice Award

1990 Reader’s Choice - Guitar Album of the Year

1990 Best Instrumental Guitarist of the Year

1988 Rock Guitarist of the Year

1987 Hall of Fame

1986 Guitar in the 90’s Award

Kerrang (UK)

1993 Best Hard Rock Performance

1990 Guitarist of the Year

1989 Best Rock Guitarist

Young Guitar (Japan)

1997 Best Rock Guitarist

1991 Best Rock Guitarist

Rock Brigade

1996 Best Guitarist

1997 Best Guitarist
RAW

1990 Best Selling Album (No. 10)

1990 Best Selling LP Sleeve (No. 1)

1990 Best Selling Promo Video (No. 5, I Would Love To)

1990 Best Selling Promo Video (No. 7, The Audience is Listening)

1990 Best Sex Object (No. 6)

1990 Best RAW Cover (No. 3)

Player

1995 Best Hard Rock Guitarist - 2nd Place

Making Music

1990 Best Album

1990 Best Guitarist

1990 Best Musician

Metal Hammer

1990 Best Guitarist (Reader's Poll)

California Music Awards

2001 Outstanding Guitarist (nominee)
(from Wikipedia)

The Comprehensive Life Of Piano Music

2009-03-21T05:52:00.000-07:00

The International Library of Piano Music was originally published as a set of sheet music covering periods of piano music, from the Baroque (shortly after the piano-forte was invented), though the Classical period, and Romantic excursions of the 19th century.

With extensions into how to play music appealing in the home, it provides a snapshot of how piano lessons were taught through the first half of the 20th century, and includes techniques that are still taught now.When reprinted in the 1980s, the library also included a full set of vinyl LPs and audio cassettes that went through each lesson, showing how it was supposed to sound. While not entirely novel of the time period (Berlioz had been doing it for language instruction since the 1950s), what made the International Library of Piano Music so remarkable and cherished was its extensiveness, and the quality of the performances. When commissioned, most of the pieces were performed by teaching instructors in college music programs.

Originally, the set and the LPs to go with it sold for over a thousand dollars, and while it had its die hard adherents, the changing tastes in music, and the general lack of music instruction in homes doomed it. The publisher went out of business, and sets became cherished heirlooms, with piano teachers holding on to theirs dearly.

Recently, with a fair bit of sleuthing, the rights to this package have been uncovered and purchased, and they're being rereleased from the original masters on CD, along with CD-ROM copies of the sheet music and lesson tutorials.
(from ArticlesOfNote.com)