Ten Musicians Who Inspired/Influenced You and Why

[No Pride]

I think it's important to listen to musicians who play other instruments than you do, but for the sake and ease of keeping it down to ten, list the ones who play the same one you do. If you're a multi-instrumentalist who doesn't consider anything you play to be your main axe, feel free to include the ones who inspired you on all the instruments you play.

I'm a guitar player and here's my list:

1) Jimi Hendrix: Though it was The Beatles who made me want to play guitar in a band, Jimi made me want to be a good guitar player. His talent was raw, but his creativity was seemingly limitless. He opened up a world of possibilities on the electric guitar and gave me a glimpse of the versatility it was capable of.
2) Wes Montgomery: The first jazz musician I started to listen to seriously, possibly because his playing was so accessible. After immersing myself in jazz, he still stood out as one of the greatest. He had everything you could want from a musician: chops, a profound sense of melody and form, groove, humor and pathos and harmonic smarts. His chord solos were unbelievable, nobody has matched his expertise in that area, though many have tried.
3) Brian May: I don't think I would've become a fan of Queen if it wasn't for his playing, writing and arranging. His bending, finger vibrato, phrasing and tone had a huge impact on me. And his soul! On all of the studio albums, he managed to sound like he was playing live in front of 10,000 people, or at least it always struck me that way. Another master of melodic playing.
4) Jeff Beck: Loved his playing on his first album (Truth) and he continued to amaze me through the decades! Of the British "holy trinity" of former Yardbirds guitar players (him, Page and Clapton, in case you were born yesterday ), he was always my favorite... and it was no big surprise that he was the only one that continued to evolve. Not exactly a chopsmeister or a harmonic genius, but his playing always oozed personality and what could be more important than that?! He pretty much invented his own language on the electric guitar; one that many have tried to emulate. But there's only one Jeff Beck, bless his soul!
5) John McLaughlin: I first heard him on Tony Williams Lifetime's "Emergency!" and he blew me away! Having come from blues/rock, but getting heavily into jazz, I was imagining a style that integrated both seamlessly and then there it was; fully formed and beyond anything I imagined. Then with the advent of The Mahavishnu Orchestra, I discovered what a brilliant composer he was and I worshipped that band, though they haven't aged particularly well with me. But John kept moving in different directions, proving that he had a deep and adventurous spirit. He was my "main man" for a while and though I can't say that anymore, I still love some of the stuff he puts out to this day.
6) Allan Holdsworth: Interestingly, it was The Tony Williams Lifetime that turned me on to him too. Need I say that he seemed to come from another planet? The stuff he was already doing at that early stage was far beyond anything I imagined possible on the electric guitar. Those chops, that harmonic knowledge, that tone, the totally unique concept... I was hooked! Still am! He sounds like he never listened to another guitar player in his life (though I know he has); none of the familiar blues/rock licks. It's legend now that he wanted to be a sax player but got stuck with guitar. Well, a lot of guitar players were influenced by sax players, but nobody had the ability to play those Coltranesque sheets of sound like Holdsy. A total original... and despite what many others here think, a great composer too.
7) Scott Henderson: I met him at a NAMM show before he had made his first Tribal Tech album or played on the first Chick Corea Elektric Band album. He was playing in a booth with Jeff Berlin and a drum machine and he dropped my jaw! His playing was very much like the way I always wanted to play and it seemed that we had similar influences, but damn... he was SO much better than me! And that hasn't changed over the years. He plays with so much abandon, but he's so clean and knowledgeable and has such a fully formed concept that incorporates multiple genres, yet he always sounds like himself. Another great composer too!
8) Jim Hall: Such a musical player! Great use of space, tremendous sense of form and melodicism and groove. Always creative. He's recently deceased and that was a sad day for me. Glad I got to hear him live a couple of times.
9) Steve Vai: A rock player who has all the chops and harmonic smarts of a great jazz player, yet it never sounds like jazz. Wildly creative and much more versatile than some give him credit for. A bit of a marketing genius too; his look and stage presence probably had a lot to do with his popularity, but musically, I think he always writes and plays exactly the way he wants to; I don't sense any intentional commercialism in his stuff. I also find him to be a very soulful player when he wants to be.
10) Steve Morse: Such an accomplished and versatile player, not to mention a great composer. He could've been a Nashville studio ace or a successful classical guitar player because he's that good at those styles, but he's a rock hero instead. Also seems to be one of the world's nicest guys.

Your turn!

[Burble]

Wow. Lots of action on this thread.

I'm a keyboard player, but I might list players of other instruments, and I'll keep it to ten. In the order they occur to me:

1) Elton John: Songwriting is what got me in the door - what made me play an instrument. The streak of albums from Tumbleweed Connection to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is so full of great songs of that time. I started playing the piano by learning the Yellow Brick Road album. Mostly it was about the songs and the writing, but my way of playing 'rhythm piano' on a rock tune is still greatly influenced by the way Elton plays behind a track.

2) Keith Emerson: The first ELP album blew my mind as a kid. The piano playing, the bombast, the huge swings in texture, and what the hell is that thing that goes "Zzzzzzzzzzhhhhheeewwweeeeezzzz"? Years later, after I started playing, I went back and looked at the ELP albums from a player's perspective, and the harmony and involvement of the compositions and arrangements was something I had to absorb very slowly. Almost like a jazz player the way he plays with the edge of the harmony, but he never crosses over into that specific vocabulary. There's just so much going on.

3) Dave Stewart: I got to Dave Stewart after National Health had pretty much folded up, but I was just in love with Of Queues and Cures, and had to dig through his back catalog. I loved the through-composed sense of the pieces, and, like Emerson, I just loved his sense of harmony.

4) Kit Watkins: His soloing was so fluid. Informed with his jazz sensibilities, but I got the sense he never really went out as far with that vocabulary as he could. But his way with the pitch bend and mod was so natural. It wasn't like he was trying to cop guitar licks, like Hammer. So loose with the bending - you couldn't tell if he was coming or going.

5) Jeff Beck: A wonderful economy with the notes he plays - his inflection is always cool, and his phrasing is always really strong. When I find myself playing a solo over something where I feel like it's not saying anything in the context of the track, I try to imagine what Beck might to do make the phrasing stronger and more relevant.

6) Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli: He gets slagged a lot in the classical press, but one of my very favorite pianists. Especially his Debussy and Ravel - such a way with making tones with the piano, and such seamless technique. But his ability to isolate tones on the instrument is unequaled; there are parts in Images where he is working three subjects, and each is so distinct, each with its own tone and line, it sounds like he has three hands.

7) Tony Banks: Again, more for his textures and his writing. Very important to me when I started trying to learn some of his parts, and could see the way that he worked the harmony when, instead of just laying a chord out, he broke it up into a pattern of notes, and to learn how you can accent or minimize the way a specific element of the chord works by the way you include it in the motion. Plus, I loved Genesis to death.

8) Sergio and Odair Assad: (Technically two guys, but they play like one person, so I'm counting them as one.) If I were still teaching any classical students, you can bet I'd have a lot of them listening to the Assads. Such perfect unity of line and phrase and dynamics. No two people can play together like that - obviously, these guys came from the same womb. But even if it was just one guy, everything about their conception is just so musical. Such marvelously lyrical players - it's just a clinic on everything you can do right when approaching a piece of music.

9) Steve Coleman: I love Coleman's sense of in-and-out playing. The way he goes out has a certain structure to it that appeals to my ear immensely. Not like traditional Blue Note sense of "out", and not like an Ornette sense of "out", but something at once tangent and parallel, harmonically. I'm not a big fan of his compositional style (or dogma, as it may be), but I love his playing on stuff like Dave Holland's Extensions, or his own Def Trance Beat. It's not a harmonic vocabulary I can emulate, but it's a direction I like to try to lean.

10) Eddie Jobson: Very Emerson-like in a lot of ways, but a little more jazz influence in his harmonic understanding and the way he solos. Also fortunate to be doing that kind of playing in an era when there were good polyphonic synths, so some of my first exposure to that kind of busy, involved playing on something other than a Hammond or a piano.

I really liked reading your post - I'd like to spend some time commenting on it, but maybe I'll wait a bit - I'm sure this is too lengthy already.

[trurl]

When I write that book I'll let you know *lol*

[No Pride]

Wow. Lots of action on this thread.

I'm a keyboard player, but I might list players of other instruments

That's fine, John. I don't know what possessed me to impose the "instrument you play only" rule; maybe I've read too many PeterG threads.

That was a great list! The only artist I'm not familiar with is Arturo Bendetti Michelangeli, but I fully understand why everyone else on there would be inspirational. I guess the biggest surprise for me was The Assad Brothers, just because I rarely see them mentioned here. But I have three of their CDs and I'm a fan as well. They do really seem to share one brain and the way they're able to anticipate each other's phrasing, breaths and ritards and accelerandos is truly uncanny! I also wanted to add that brother Sergio is a great composer in his own right. Being a long time fan of Brazilian music, my favorite of theirs is "Alma Brasileiro," which features Brazilian composers exclusively and some of my favorite tracks on it are the pieces that Sergio wrote. I understand that he currently resides right here in the Chicago area; I should definitely make a point of trying to hear him!

When I write that book I'll let you know *lol*

Okay, I get it! Just the artist list will suffice; I didn't mean to ask you guys to write a term paper for me.

[trurl]

Well, as a keyboard player, just listing:

Keef, Eddie Jobson, Rick, John Evan, Roger Powell, Thijs van Leer, Pat Moraz, Greg Hawkes (for years I hated Greg in the Cars until I cleaned the wax out of my ears and realized how meticulously elegant his arranging of parts was), Kerry Minnear (as much as a composer as a player) and Steve Walsh (who never gets love as a player but was damn good).

As far as general musical influences and writing influences, the list would be endless. There'd be people like Paul McCartney, Ian Anderson, Stravinsky, George Clinton, Lee Ving, you name it.

[No Pride]

As far as general musical influences and writing influences, the list would be endless. There'd be people like Paul McCartney, Ian Anderson, Stravinsky, George Clinton, Lee Ving, you name it.

I hear ya, Trurl! There's so much great and compelling music (past and present) out there and anything that resonates with us is bound to at the very least inspire, if not influence us as writers and players. My list of general musical influences/inspirations is pretty long too and though the consensus seems to be that my stuff is prog/fusion, I'm into a lot of stuff that's not so closely related; gospel, Brazilian (and other South American music), Romantic and Impressionist classical, bebop, bluegrass, various types of pop, etc. Maybe they're not so identifiable in my music, but I think there's probably DNA strands of all of it in there somewhere, even if it's only of an inspirational variety.

Thanks for your participation you guys; you kept some helium in this otherwise leaden thread!

[trurl]

And then you have to consider, does work in other media influence music? I think I would cite 2001: a space odyssey as an influence, both for use of music with visuals (Hey! The Blue Danube IS cool! And what's up with Ligetti?!) and just the vibe and pace of the movie and what it made me feel. David Lynch and Tolkien are influences.

[klothos]

I'm a bass player (primarily)

I'd also like to add that I am influenced by just about EVERYBODY, so making a list is not only a chore but -- with the exception of Louis Johnson and a few others - this list could change almost daily. So, here is a list that is certainly on the dartboard:

1. Louis Johnson (The Brothers Johnson) - Is my primary influence and the guy I most wanted to emulate.
Excellent blend of melodics and syncopation

2. Marcus Miller - Another guy that I admire and aspire to similar to above.

3. Geddy Lee (Rush) - Geddy Lee is a huge influence on me - but not for chops, licks, phrases, or notes. Lee's influence on me is making what I play "present/ cut through the mix". He always got the best "growl" out of a bass tone, and it sat very phat in the mix. These days, I prefer an extremely clean and transparent sound but - back in the day - I was very much into the slight distortion clean/dirty dual send (bi-amped) bass tone ( and i will use it again if called for)

4. Mike Mills (R.E.M.) - I consider him the David Gilmour of bass: played very tasteful melodic lines that would make me
as a listener, go "Ooooooh", but were fairly simple. He was one of the first people I listened to
for melodic phrasing/figures

5. Ray Ransom (Brick) - Listening to him not only gave me ideas for slap chops, but he was a huge influence on me for
integrating chord partials

6. John Taylor (Duran Duran) - Where I come from in rural Florida, there was a definite biasing in what was "white music" and
what was "black music". John Taylor was the first white guy I heard playing slap bass: this realization
at the ignorant yet impressionable age of 15 that it was OK for white guys to do this...Yes, I know this
is a horrible admission of guilt, but this realization launched me into a whole new direction: I would have never got
into Louis Johnson or Marcus Miller as early as I had without the realization. John Taylor was an excellent player
but..............

7. Nick Beggs (Kajagoogoo/Kaja/King Crimson/John Paul Jones Band).......could do everything John Taylor could better and more
Beggs is a huge influence on me

8. Bootsy Collins - I consider Bootsy the "Jimi Hendrix of bass" although Bootsy's influence with me is the blues --- Bootsy played excellent "blues based" basslines - almost
like listening to Albert King lead lines turned into bass phrases. I love this approach and use of blue notes

9. Kelly Groucutt (ELO) - I cite as an influence because he is the first guy I can remember differentiating what a bass
guitar was. Later on, I realized that -- although his tone was horrible - he was a very good bass player
and did "root/8va sixteenth" basslines better than anybody in my opinion

10. Johnny B. Gayden (Alligator Records session, Koko Taylor, Albert Collins) -- is the guy I aspire most to be like now:
a blend of funk, jazz, blues, and some rock all rolled up into one player

[Supersonic Scientist]

I been playing the GTR for 40 years now but started on the drums way, way back. In order of influence:

1 Micky Dolenz: When the Monkees hit the TV air-waves, I was 8 and was TOTALLY taken in by it all. It didn't help (or hurt) that my neighbors were these twin teenage dudes who had a band (one played GTR the other drums) me and my Brother would sneak onto their front porch and "spy" on them as they jammed. I used to hear a TON a psychadelic music coming out of their bedroom windows. This experience definately made me want to play drums.

2 Don Brewer: at age 11 (1969) me and Grand Funk crossed paths. I was SOooooo into them up to the Shin'in On album. Got my first Drum set at age 13. Jammed along with Donny for HOURS.

3 Jimi Hendrix: In early 1974? I was at a local record shop and on a whim bought Band of Gypsys. After I got home and put it on, side one wasn't even finished playing yet and I went down-stairs and asked my Mom if I could have GTR lessons, suprisingly, she said OK...thus began my life as a GTR player.

4 Tony Iommi: It only took about 2 minutes of watching Black Sabbath on TV during the airing of California Jam to be totally, 1000%, hook-line-and-sinker, SOLD on the Sabbath power and sound. I was now totally hooked on GTR and it became my main life-focus at that point. (age: 16)

5 Steve Howe: Now it got REALLY interesting. a kid from school invited me to join his band (he played keyboards and had: a Fender Rhodes, Clavinet and a Farfisa organ...amazing gear for a high school kid in 1975) He turned me onto Prog. Steve Howe showed me that the GTR could do just about ANYTHING. Now I took my study of guitar farther and in the summer of 75 I taught myself how to read music.

6 John McLaughlin: During this period of awakening, I also found The Mahavishnu Orchestra & John McLaughlin. This music opened up a totally new world to me.

7 John Renbourne: Also during this period of awakening, I was really getting into Mideval music and John Renbourne's music (especially the album: The Black Balloon) was also broadening my musical horizons. (I've been fortunate enough to see John Renbourne 2x LIVE (once on my birthday))

8 Alex Lifeson: Holy crap, I could write a book on how this guy has been an influence on my playing and writing. Suffice to say, me and Rush crossed paths at the right time.

9 Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Tony Banks: Growing up in the Mid-to-last years of the golden age of Prog, I was amazed at the God-like status these guys had in the eyes of us young fans. I absolutely LOVED the sounds of the Moog, Hammond & Tron (still do). As I slowly acquired my own synths over the years and s l o w l y acquired some small level of playing proficiency, my love and appreciation of these guys remains strong and I can see tiny glimpses of their writing style in some of the keyboard parts that I compose.

and finally....

10 All of the musicians (great and sucky) that I have had the pleasure of sharing a musical journey with. Each and every one of them have affected my way of thinking about music and expressing myself through music.

10+ Honorable mention: All of the guitar students I have had the EXTREME pleasure of teaching. This kids asked some of the most amazing questions and they REALLY made me stop and think about my answers to things. I learned WAY MORE from my student than I did from my teachers.

[Mikhael]

Lord, so many the list would be endless. I'm primarily a guitarist, although I'm almost as proficient on drums and bass (and to a lesser extent, keys and trumpet)

[1]Mike Nesmith - I wanted to BE him. The guys living on their own, playing good songs (their writers were among the best available); the whole thing appealed to an adolescent.

[2]Steppenwolf - hard rockin' songs rreal early on.

[3]Woodstock - I include this as one, since it opened my ears to Hendrix (psychedelic abandon and spacey), the Who (powerful anthemic rock), Sly (killer funk with the ability to engage the audience), CS&N (acoustic un-folk with great harmonies and feel), Santana (simply great tone and lyrical phrasing, and the drums were great), and Sha-Na-Na (what not to do). Honourable mention to Alvin Lee for speed with hammer-on/pull-off technique.

[4] Yes - Yessongs. Symphonic pop with Howe doing VERY un-blues-rock things; a young band going for broke playing at the edge of their abilities, terrible recorded sound notwithstanding.

[5]Mahavishnu Orchestra - A guitar can do that?

[6]Al DiMeola - a guitar can do that??

[7] Allan Holdsworth - How the @#$% does he do THAT?!?

[8]Steve Vai - Nuttiness and virtuoso playing, with occasionally great songs

[9]Rush - Unusual drumming for the time, great guitar work in a three-piece format, great bass work as well, with some interesting writing.

[10] Steve Morse/Kansas - I put these two together, because I really liked Kansas' "classic" period. The symph style with hard rock really appealed to me. Steve Morse's virtuoso playing was great, and his writing style (especially on "Dregs of the Earth") reminded me of some of the chord/melodic movements in the symph Kansas pieces. When I heard they were hooking up, I was SO stoked! Well, I was never so disappointed by any album in my life, I don't think.

But there are SO many more! Keith Justice, a killer unknown drummer I worked with; Roger Corn, an absolute monster guitarist (in playing AND stature); both of which died too young. So many bands - the Beatles, for great songwriting and the right notes in the right place (and George's lyrical slide work), Zep (what can you say? Great mystical bluesy hard rock), Sabbath ("Master of Reality" was my fave), Badlands (Jake E. Lee), Blue Murder, Genesis, Tull, Mike Portnoy (yes, Portnoy! I *like* the way he adds interest without losing the tempo), ELP (wore the grooves off the "Welcome Back" live album), Humble Pie, Earth Wind & Fire (GREAT live performances!), etc. I learned from ALL of these people. Stanley, Jaco, the fretlees guy on Jon's second solo album... there's so many...

[trurl]

Geeze, I never even thought to get into drum and guitar influences... man *lol*

[battema]

Bruce Hornsby - not so much for getting the ball rolling, but getting the ball REALLY rolling for me.

Richard Wright - for making electronic keyboards seem awesome in a band.

Vangelis - for making electronic keyboards awesome even when there wasn't a band around.

Johannes Schmoelling - for crazy cool harmonic voicings, sound design and melodic playing.

Dave Stewart - for making music theory something I'd actually WANT to utilize.

Walter Becker - because STEELY GODDAMNED DAN.

Robert Moog - because those gadgets of his are crazy awesome and interesting, even if the man's own musical talent was limited.

Harold Budd - for 'Late October.'

Whoever did the keys in 3rd and the Mortal - for making keys an interesting idea in a metal context.

Yanni - for showing me how much it could all go very wrong.

[No Pride]

I'm enjoying these posts, guys; thanks for responding!

It's interesting to me that we all are multi-instrumentalists to varying degrees (and btw Trurl, did you play everything on your album, "Do Not See Me Rabbit?" That's some very impressive work!). I started out on piano when I was about 8 or 9. It was my parents' idea, but I enjoyed it to some extent and I still play it to this day, although I've never played keyboards in a band. I do the majority of my composing at the piano and I can play some jazz standards and improvise, but I'm much stronger in some keys than others because I never took it seriously enough to cross that bridge. Guitar is so much easier in that regard; if you can play in one key, you can play in any key. But that's not what made me switch to guitar; seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show was the culprit. Fortunately, my folks didn't put up a fuss when I asked them to buy me a guitar and give me lessons. I was 10 at the time. My dad was a classical percussionist and he had a minimal drum set in the basement (bass drum, hi-hat, snare, one tomtom and a ride cymbal). I loved playing on it and for a while I was torn between whether I wanted to be a guitar player or a drummer. Then we had a massive flood that destroyed the drums and that was the end of my drumming "career." But I've been fascinated by drumming ever since and I'm acutely aware of what drummers are doing with all four limbs; I just can't do any of it myself. Oh, and I was very interested in playing bass guitar when I was about 15, although that was short lived. I actually have done some gigs on bass, but through that, I started to discover how important note duration is to the overall feel... and I realized that although I knew the right notes and where to put them in the beat, I knew nothing about how long or short they should be. I wasn't serious enough to cross that bridge either, but I did gain a whole new level of respect for what bass players do.

Though I only listed my guitar player influences in my initial post, I've been inspired by and learned things from keyboard players and horn players. I went through a "jazz purist" phase for a while and found myself envying sax and trumpet players; so much that I was beginning to wonder if I had chosen the wrong instrument. Of course I was playing a big box archtop guitar with heavy gauge flatwound strings; couldn't bend a note more than a half step or sustain one for more than two seconds. When I heard Jeff Beck play "'Cause We've Ended as Lovers," I was reminded again of what an expressive instrument a solid body electric with lighter strings and some distortion could be. That brought me back to rock, though I've never fallen out of love with jazz... and my style basically straddles the fence between the two. But I learned jazz as much from analyzing Charlie Parker tunes and transcriptions of some McCoy Tyner and Chick Corea solos as I did from listening to Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall.

[wideopenears]

I'm mainly a bassist.

My Ten Most Influential would likely go something like this, in roughly chronological order:

1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Jack Bruce
3. Geezer Butler
4.Phil Lesh
5. Stanley Clarke
6. Jaco
7.Anthony Jackson
8. John Patitucci
9. John Coltrane
10. Nico Assumpcao

[trurl]

It's interesting to me that we all are multi-instrumentalists to varying degrees (and btw Trurl, did you play everything on your album, "Do Not See Me Rabbit?" That's some very impressive work!).

Thanks! I did but bear in mind, I was hooked in as a beta tester and demo artist for a lot of sample libraries in those days (I did that between about 2006 and 2009). If it doesn't sound like a keyboard and it sounds surprisingly good assume it's probably still done on a keyboard *lol* I played real instruments to whatever level of ability I could and programmed/punched/manipulated a LOT.

[No Pride]

Thanks! I did but bear in mind, I was hooked in as a beta tester and demo artist for a lot of sample libraries in those days (I did that between about 2006 and 2009). If it doesn't sound like a keyboard and it sounds surprisingly good assume it's probably still done on a keyboard *lol* I played real instruments to whatever level of ability I could and programmed/punched/manipulated a LOT.

So those guitar solos aren't guitar solos? You fooled me! I'm just about positive I heard some real electric bass there. Didn't I?

[Mikhael]

Geeze, I never even thought to get into drum and guitar influences... man *lol*

Why not? It's what I do...

[trurl]

Why not? It's what I do...

I mean, listing them, not having them As to bass- not saying. Just saying I don't play like Victor Wooten *lol*

[Vic2012]

Nice thread. I'm not a professional musician but I consider myself a musician being that I played brass in school and read charts and all that shit. Then Rock and Roll and Cuban music (salsa, mambo, cha cha, whatever) sunk their hooks in me and from there on it was all by ear.

Purcussion: Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Ringo (he played bongos too )
Guitar: Jimmy Page, Carlos Santana, Terry Kath
Bass: Chris Squire, Doug Pinnick, Geddy, Paul McCartney
Horns: James Pankow, Greg Adams, Lenny Picket
Keyboards: Herbie Hancock, Rick Wakeman

[Joe F.]

1) Ace Frehley I was 10 years old in '75 when I first heard KISS. They made me want to pick up the guitar and be a rock star.

2) Alex Lifeson Rush was probably the next bad I got into right after KISS. Right aroung the release of All the World's a Stage. I thought that Alex's playing was melodic and full memorable riffs.

3) Tony Iommi When I finally heard Sabbath at age 13 in early '78 I was hooked. I loved the heaviness and endless riffs.

4) Steve Howe I didn't start really delving ito Yes until mid- '79 after a friend told me that the "battle scene" in Gates was way better than the one in By-Tor & The Snow Dog. It tokk me a year to wrap my mind around wtf was going on on the Relayer album, which was the first Yes album that I purchased. Once I did, I was floored by Howe's dexterity and different styles of playing.

5) John McLaughlin My guitar teacher lent me Birds of Fire around late '80. I never had heard anyone play that fast on a guitar in my life at that point. It didn't hurt that the tunes had a great groove to them and rocked like hell.

6) Steve Hackett I didn't start listening to older Genesis until late '80. I loved how Steve created such melodic moments that really fit in with the songs.

7) Robert Fripp Fripp was just a whacked out madman to my young ears in 1980/81. The first time I heard the song Cirkus I flipped over the acoustic guitar parts. I wanted to play that shit.

8) Frank Zappa I knew a couple of Zappa "novelty" tunes and didn't think much of him. Then I saw the MTV Halloween concert when it originally aired. I immediately went to my local used record store the next week and picked up Tinseltown Rebellion & Burnt Weeny Sandwich. I've never looked back. A genre unto himself.

9) Jimmy Page I probably should have included Page further up the list. Zeppelin was the band at my JH and HS. I think the whole Zep mystique and image at the time coupled with the great layered guitars from Page was incredible.

10) Jimi Hendrix Another Jimi that should've been near the top of my list. I srated listening to him around '77 when I was 12. I couldn't believe the sounds that he got out of his axe.

Not too many surprises on my list and I've been influenced by countless others back then and over the years. These 10 are a pretty good representation of who shapped what and how I listen to music in my tween to teens and are the reason I stuck with the guitar even when my fingertips were bleeding.

[Hobo Chang Ba]

I'm going to break the rules a bit...so oops. I'm primarily a drummer, but I'll do 5 drummers and 5-10 others.

Drummers:

1. Bill Bruford - The master for me. So nimble, so agile, so powerful, so versatile. Such control, dexterity, and drive. When I first heard him (On King Crimson's Discipline), standard drumming just wouldn't satisfy anymore. From then on, off kilter it had to be.
2. Han Bennink - Such an array of sounds. His expanded tonal palette and use of everything (including water, walls, floors, shoes, etc) as percussion is unmatched to my ears. Yet, equally at home with a drum set of a snare drum and a cymbal or two. Also, He could also play with a ferocity, speed, and power that is comparable to anyone. I've yet to hear a record with him on it that I dislike. (Drumming aside of course...which I always like.)
3. Chris Cutler - Freedom. Expression. Dominance. Also, the use of electronics + drums was quite new to me once I learned what it was about.
4. Christian Vander - Jazz, classical, rock,...etc., all rolled up into one. Also, should be mentioned that musical ideas/non drumming are also highly influential.
5. Phil Collins - A master of technique, ability, and creativity, even within a (mostly) rock frame and never getting terribly out there (like others on this list). (Prior to his pop days of course )



Other musicians (for ideas rather than instrument playing):

Robert Fripp - The Crim King
Frank Zappa - No explanation needed.
Peter Brotzmann - For the sheer power & weight of free-jazz. His album Machine Gun will stand on my theoretical mantelpiece for as long as time allows.
Albert Ayler - More or less what's above (though replace Machine Gun with Live At Slug's Saloon)
Fred Frith - Outside guitar master. Another fine example of the scope and limitlessness of music.
Dave Brubeck - Rhythmic complexity & focus + jazz = one happy me.
John Zorn - Ditto Frith's final comment.
Derek Bailey - The ragged edge. Ditto Frith's comments.

Alright...just to do 10 drummers:

Other drummers: Daniel Denis, Jack Dejohnette, Elvin Jones, Weasel Walter, Terry Bozzio...and a bonus Tony Oxley

And like others said...many others. But these were the ones that came to mind.

[Mikhael]

I should mention that a lot of the people who influenced me also opened doors. For instance, on drums, I mentioned Peart and Portnoy. Peart was the actual influence; I just happen to think like Portnoy a bit on the kit. But hearing what Peart did, I investigated and found people like Dennis Chambers, who's just a monster. Listening to Steve Smith with Journey, you'd never guess he'd play things like he did with GHS, which I stumbled upon while trying to find something by Frank Gambale that really flipped my switch (Frank absolutely FLOORED me with his improvisations on "Frank Gambale Live", but the songs we just excuses to blow over, not the intricate compositions I prefer).

[Mikhael]

Man, the more I think about this thread, the more I think it's bloody impossible to limit influences to just 10. For one thing, I have influences on five instruments (I never even got into Bill Chase, Doc Severenson, etc. on trumpet stuff). Plus, so many people have influenced my songwriting (THOSE influences go through litterally centuries of music!).

Every individual musician, unless they are just copying someone note for note, is an incredible melting pot of huge numbers of those who've gone before. We all mix the ingredients in different proportions, which creates this wonderful diversity of crap to wade through...

[No Pride]

Every individual musician, unless they are just copying someone note for note, is an incredible melting pot of huge numbers of those who've gone before. We all mix the ingredients in different proportions, which creates this wonderful diversity of crap to wade through...

Yeah... and that's the beauty of it! We all have individual tastes and for every common influence, there's bound to be another that might be unexpected. The combination of our influences shape who we are as musicians and I believe that we can't help but benefit from having diverse tastes. I always felt that focusing on one particular musician's style is not healthy. I knew a guy who could play just like George Benson. I was impressed for the first couple of minutes that I heard him, but then I decided that all he was saying through his music was, "I love George Benson!" Um, that's awesome dude, now stop listening to him and start listening to several dozen other guys. On the one hand I can understand the desire to unlock the secrets of some player that we love, but on the other, you're running the risk of becoming a clone. That's fine, but personally, I was always afraid to spend too much of my focus on any particular player as I always wanted to have my own musical identity.

Also, just a nod of agreement with those who mentioned being inspired by musicians they've worked (and/or continue to work) with. From my formative years as a professional to this day, I've had the good fortune to work with players that I was totally in awe of and humbled by. Early on, I used to be scared to death to take a solo after somebody who just burned the house down. Of course, self-evolving helped me build my confidence, but more important was the realization that I didn't have to be as good or better than the last soloist, because it's not a competition and we all (hopefully) have something of our own to say. I figured out that learning from these great players instead of wasting energy being intimidated by them was so much more productive. And a lot of those same people have been very supportive... which is SO important. If it wasn't for the encouragement from players that I admired and looked up to, I probably would've decided that I sucked and would've given up decades ago. I try to "pay it forward" by spreading that kind of positive reinforcement to others when I can... but of course, only when the recipient has earned it.

[Mikhael]

Also, just a nod of agreement with those who mentioned being inspired by musicians they've worked (and/or continue to work) with. From my formative years as a professional to this day, I've had the good fortune to work with players that I was totally in awe of and humbled by. Early on, I used to be scared to death to take a solo after somebody who just burned the house down. Of course, self-evolving helped me build my confidence, but more important was the realization that I didn't have to be as good or better than the last soloist, because it's not a competition and we all (hopefully) have something of our own to say. I figured out that learning from these great players instead of wasting energy being intimidated by them was so much more productive. And a lot of those same people have been very supportive... which is SO important. If it wasn't for the encouragement from players that I admired and looked up to, I probably would've decided that I sucked and would've given up decades ago. I try to "pay it forward" by spreading that kind of positive reinforcement to others when I can... but of course, only when the recipient has earned it.

I know the feeling. Roger Corn was very well versed in the jazz vocabulary, and I hated to take a solo after him. I finally told him that, and he said, "What?!? I've been in awe of your melodic sense ever since we played together. Every solo you take is like a little song in itself, with melodies that stick in my mind after you play them." That surprised me (a LOT), and although I've expanded my vocabulary quite a bit since then, I've tried to never lose that melodic sense that he made me aware of. That was/is the "me" in my solos, and I don't wish to lose it.

Lord, I miss that man. Great friend, incredible player.