I grew up as a guitarist as I had little to no sports aptitude. This set of songs represents what lit the fire in me and what I strived to imitate and learn from as I developed. My journey began under the tutelage of a flamenco guitarist in Texas, then moving to my main instructor in Colorado Springs who exposed me to wonderful music. By the time I was in middle school the alure of an electric guitar was too much, so I started learning 12 bar blues, and basic rock elements. I had a great ear, and could learn darn near any song after a couple listens (obviously not the Steve Vai style technical wizardry).
I'll do my best for a track by track breakdown on the significance here. The first track is my favorite from Francisco Tarrega, and the first song my classical instructor played that left my mouth agape, I still use this as my go to piece to keep my skills up to par. The Antonio Lauro Venezuelan waltz is one of the last pieces for repertoire I worked on with my main teacher before transitioning to full time college student and music teacher. This Al Di Meola track is phenomenal and features the talents of Paco De Lucia. The Marc Gentry track is from an alternative compilation titled Guitarrorists which featured guitar only sounds from a who's who list of early 90s alt rockers (the whole CD is great).
This Eric Johnson track is one my friend's Dad would play often; my friend was a big fan of Slayer and Metallica, but his Dad was a Dead Head and for whatever reason this track pleased all of us - likely from each of us trying to master that opening solo. Stevie Ray Vaughan, because yes every budding blues student should learn his style and this is a great example of what he does best. Jimi, come on, what guitarist won't cite him as an influence? I remember clearly the first time I saw the video for this track and thought he was the most flamboyant but technically superior guitarist ever. I learned that Steve Vai was a student under Joe Satriani, so I dove into his discography and got the tablature book for Surfing with The Alien. I attended a rock guitar camp when I was about 12 or 13, and the final day was a surprise and our rock bands had to perform a song we wrote, and Blues Saraceno was the judge. It was so cool meeting him and getting his autograph. Of course I had to include this Zeppelin track, as it is just so fun to play.
Alex Skolnik was a big influence on me, from his columns in Guitar Player magazine to seeing them live with D.R.I. My rock guitar teacher had me practice the riffs to this Black Sabbath track for weeks on end, it helped limber up the fingers and get some dexterity going. My parents bought me a best of CD from Eric Clapton, and of course this track stood out. Now back to my rock teacher, he insisted that I give Rush a chance after I voiced my aversion to them based on just what was played on the radio. He said this track was all instrumental, and it has some great hooks and passages that I still enjoy; probably one of the few Rush songs I still tolerate. More Stevie, why yes! The Wind Cries Mary is one of the first Jimi songs I learned, it was in some guitar magazine with tabs and I picked it up pretty quickly. The Rain Song is one I brought to my rock teacher as something I wanted to learn, and we worked through it over a month while I was still developing my ear for translation.
The Chet Atkins song here is one my classical teacher suggested I learn. Its just complex enough, and has some massive stretches for the left hand on a nylon string guitar neck. I remember how sore my hand was for weeks while trying to master this one. Then a massive genre shift to Praxis, which was my first audio exposure to Buckethead, having known him from his eccentricities and his theory column in Guitar Player magazine. Ending with the plunderphonic rock mashup that is Scatterbrain. I mostly wanted to learn all the riffs from the other songs which were included here.
Ones I omitted because I couldn't find the CDs, Yngwie Malmsteen (Rising Force) and Marty Friedman (Dragon's Kiss), and classical pieces by Fernando Sor.
There ya go, my guitarist musical journey through my teenage years. These days, I mostly play classical, and my electric has gathered dust for the last several years. My kids want me to break it out, so I may do that one of these days.
00:00 David Russell - Capricho Arabe (Tarrega)
05:16 Adam Holzman - Valses Venezolanos #3 Vals Criollo (Lauro)
06:47 Al Di Meola - Mediterranean Sundance
11:50 Marc Gentry - Mariposa
14:31 Eric Johnson - Cliffs of Dover
18:38 Stevie Ray Vaughan - Wham!
21:00 The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Little Wing
23:18 Steve Vai - The Audience is Listening
27:50 Joe Satriani - Circles
31:10 Blues Saraceno - A Lighter Shade of Plaid
35:14 Led Zeppelin - Over The Hills and Far Away
39:59 Testament - Practice What You Preach
44:50 Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
50:55 Eric Clapton - Cocaine
54:17 Rush - La Villa Strangiato
63:39 Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble - Chitlins Con Carne
67:31 The Jimi Hendrix Experience - The Wind Cries Mary
70:51 Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song
79:02 Chet Atkins - Sails (edit)
81:56 Praxis - Blast/War Machine Dub
85:34 Scatterbrain - Down With The Ship (Slight Return)
photo credit: my band performing at the Underground in 1994
