Who or What Influenced Your Style?

[Burtog]

1982/83ish,................my mother had a Viva Vauxhall in which a shitty old cassette lived. Upon this casette was a crude copy of Sheer Heart Attack by Queen and the other side a collection of Beach Boys songs.

I'm not a songwriter but these albums/songs have always remained firm favourites and may well have a future influence if I ever get to writing??

A few years later I began taking up the guitar after some basic tuition from the old man, then my interest faded a bit but it did come back when I got into the early Dire Straits albums. In a bid to try and play anything from those records I tried again and have kept going ever since and have always kept a little bit of Mark Knopfler's style here and there. I still think MK's early DS years are the best.

In later years I have gotten into Johnny Marr more and more as a guitarist and love Morrissey's lyrics, I get them!

Frank Black is a massive favourite and this is more likely the type of path I would go down when it comes to writing hopefully.

The cassette still works by the way and it's almost as old as me!

[peterp]

Cohen, Gilmour, sabbath, Spinal Tap, Neil Young.
& a largish amount of THC... (only in the 60's of course).

[Oldrottenhead]

i think directly my main influence is ian curtis and joy division, the main reason being they did very imo minimal music, they made me realise i could pick up a guitar and hit a few chords then play a few other chords over the top for dramatic effect without too much effort. i recently did a new order cover that made me realise how similar their song structures are to my own naive and lazy efforts.

i should really learn to play an instrument properly but i'm too lazy. i am also an obbssesive music listener have been since i can remember, my uncle used to be a jukebox repair man in the late sixties and early 70s and i would get all the old 45's as they where replaced by new ones. i was a vinyl junky from then on and still am, tho these days its mp3s. i love stuff thats a bit left of centre and a wee bit challenging, so eno, captain beefheart, can etc probably seeped into my influences, plus i read tons and watch hunners of movies and like the music its not usually the mainstream stuff i go for. my wee spongy brain sucks up everything and anything as to how it then filters those inputs out, well thats a good question.

[ODH]

Upon this casette was a crude copy of Sheer Heart Attack by Queen

Oh yeah, that was another one in my mother's collection that inspired me to take up guitar.

[launched]

The catchy tune is my influence. Doesn't matter what genre. Hell, I've been hooked on Neil Diamond before. "Never Been Any Reason" by Head East has been in my frickin' head for two days - That catchy synth line is mind blowing... And if it came out of Ohio it was catchy. Ohio Express, Devo, Joe Walsh(Via Kansas), Head East...

And I don't even know if it's an influence. I can't write a catchy tune to save my life...

[alfstone]

I'd love to hear about your subconscious influences...


                                                                   henwrench

Interesting question.
As an amateur guitar player, talking about influences by a "conscious" point of view, the first two names coming to my mind are very, very different: John McLaughlin and John Renbourn.

But the funny thing is that after listening to what I play, quite often people say that I play "a la" Santana, or that it's clear to feel a strong influence by Pat Metheny...

Apart from the personal experience, I think that each one of us, listening to a song or tune that someway arrives to our brain/soul, will retain at a certain degree *something* of that song/tune, and occasionally that little *something* could emerge, even in a subconscious way, in what we play.

Alfredo

[Rata-tat-tat]

Any kind of music is usually my influence... If I hear a live band playing somewhere... I have to stop and listen... I'm usually the guy that has to get dragged off by my wife... as I protest.. "wait just one more... this is one of my fav songs they're playing".

Truthfully "Peter Chris" is one of my favorite drummers... he is the guilty one that got me started playing drums. When I heard 100,000 years as a kid... I had to learn to play like that. I didn't realize at the time he was not that great of a drummer, but I think his drum style was appealing. I don't necessarily think you have to be the best musician to make good music. Creativity can make up for talent in my book. Who didn't want to play like Buddy Rich or Gene Krupa??? Two more of my hero's.... but I knew I would never acheive that level of skills.

[AndyR]

This is a really interesting thread. I've been thinking a lot about this kind of stuff over the past few month anyway.

For years I've quoted my influences as Rory Gallagher, Queen, various, various, etc.

But for the last few months I've been digging out old music I was hearing early on, and watching things like old Top of the Pops and Old Grey Whistle Test on our newly acquired free-view. And I've discovered "sh1t! I do that!" about some very surprising things.

I've always said that it was the Bee Gees (pre 74 or so) that most got me started. And yes I can hear an awful lot of chords/harmonies and lyrical ideas that I sub-consciously stole in my early songwriting.

But imagine my surprise when I found recently that a far bigger influence was Gilbert O'Sullivan!!

I also found Dean Friedman had had a big effect, as did Loudon Wainwright III. A lot of mid-late 70s pop as well, Andrew Gold, ELO, Supertramp, Abba, the stuff that was in the charts... I'd also forgotten how much "Country" I was hearing and soaking up - Johnny Cash, Slim Whitman, Don Williams, Glen Campbell, John Denver... in fact, nowadays, if I pick up a guitar and improvise a song (rather than just "jamming" funky-blues guitarings) it's ALWAYS country-influenced, in chords, melody, structure, and often emotionally and lyrically as well...

The early 80s was when I shifted from a folk/pop singer-songwriter to playing electric and fronting a rock and rock blues band. I deliberately went out of my way to break my natural influences and take on the stuff that was exciting me and that I now regard as my "influences" - Rory, Free, AC/DC, Judas Priest, southern rock... guitar-based blues-rock-pop.

But a couple of weeks ago (watching old Old Grey Whistle Test footage) I found that, at the same time, I'd soaked up a load of stuff that I actually didn't think much of at the time and that I definitely DO NOT regard as influences!! The Jam! I couldn't believe it when I was watching footage of them... they're a definite influence. The Police! I've been influenced by that git Sting!!! And a whole bunch other punk and new wave stuff (I HATED it at the time ) - And Talking Heads anyone? What @rse (interesting, but @rse all the same) they seemed to me back then... but no, I soaked bits of it anyway.

Fascinating thread... it seems your real influences are maybe not what you thought they were!

[Geir]

A really good question Nherwchen !!

I'll try to loose my conciousness during the weekend and see f I can remember the answer when I wake up

[The Gobi Desert Canoe Club]

Interesting question because I made a conscious not to be influenced by anybody in my early playing years. I didn't want to play like anybody else. Having said that I rather suspect that Chuck Berry coloured some of my playing on a subconscious level. If I had a choice today I would like to play like Chet Atkins and sound like Eric Johnson how strange is that?
When writing, I don't know because I rarely make a conscious effort to write a song. It's either there or it isn't and if it isn't I wait 'til it is.
I think it maybe easier for a listener to say that song is in the style of X than for the writer/player as we all tend to get to get too close to the product to be judgemental...............Willie

p.s Good to see you back Henny