Heroes
In 1974, when I was about 13 or 14 years old, I started goofing around on my brother's Teisco Del Ray guitar. He had the standard Mel Bay chord book and I learned a few grips and tried to play a few tunes.
My sister's boyfriend at the time was a big Aerosmith fan and he convinced me to buy the first two LPs "Get Your Wings" and "Dream On". I was hooked. The songs were cool, the guitar playing was clean and easy to hear, but difficult for a beginner to play. Somewhere, on a trip to Madison, I found the matching songbook for the first two albums. This was in the days before tablature was common, and whoever transcribed the music used standard notation to write the melodies. No solos or guitar parts were notated - but - instead of the usual barre chord diagram, they showed a 'power chord". That changed my life. Now I could play the correct voicing for rock songs and it was even easier to finger than the Mel Bay versions.
Joe Perry and Brad Whitford were my first two guitar inspirations. They played here in Nashville last night, and my friend Jerry Sabatino, who is Tom Hamilton's bass tech, invited me to the soundcheck and the show. Greg Howard, Brad's tech and McGee (Joey Kramer) and Bruce (Keyboards) were kind enough to let me hang out in their world for a few hours. Thanks, guys!
Here's a shot of Brad's Gibsons...including a few '59 Reissues. Very nice.
Brad's Gibsons
Brad has a bunch of other cool guitars, including Fender, Floyd Rose, Gretsch, Collings and Melancon.
Brad 2
Greg Howard with the Melancon Tele with Grestch electronics.
Melancon
Tom Hamilton's bass rig. Tom is sitting out this leg of the tour, recovering from throat cancer. David Hull is playing bass.
TH Rack
Guitar World
Jerry and Greg's work stations
Tom and David's basses
Basses
Steven and Joe went out front to play "Seasons of Wither"
Seasons
Joe Perry
Joe Perry, consummate Rock Star
Joe with his signature Les Paul
Rattlesnake Shake
My sister's boyfriend at the time was a big Aerosmith fan and he convinced me to buy the first two LPs "Get Your Wings" and "Dream On". I was hooked. The songs were cool, the guitar playing was clean and easy to hear, but difficult for a beginner to play. Somewhere, on a trip to Madison, I found the matching songbook for the first two albums. This was in the days before tablature was common, and whoever transcribed the music used standard notation to write the melodies. No solos or guitar parts were notated - but - instead of the usual barre chord diagram, they showed a 'power chord". That changed my life. Now I could play the correct voicing for rock songs and it was even easier to finger than the Mel Bay versions.
Joe Perry and Brad Whitford were my first two guitar inspirations. They played here in Nashville last night, and my friend Jerry Sabatino, who is Tom Hamilton's bass tech, invited me to the soundcheck and the show. Greg Howard, Brad's tech and McGee (Joey Kramer) and Bruce (Keyboards) were kind enough to let me hang out in their world for a few hours. Thanks, guys!
Here's a shot of Brad's Gibsons...including a few '59 Reissues. Very nice.
Brad's Gibsons
Brad has a bunch of other cool guitars, including Fender, Floyd Rose, Gretsch, Collings and Melancon.
Brad 2
Greg Howard with the Melancon Tele with Grestch electronics.
Melancon
Tom Hamilton's bass rig. Tom is sitting out this leg of the tour, recovering from throat cancer. David Hull is playing bass.
TH Rack
Guitar World
Jerry and Greg's work stations
Tom and David's basses
Basses
Steven and Joe went out front to play "Seasons of Wither"
Seasons
Joe Perry
Joe Perry, consummate Rock Star
Joe with his signature Les Paul
Rattlesnake Shake
posted by Tom Spaulding at 9:06 AM
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