Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Guitarists:
Jorma Kaukonen

Bassists:
Jack Casady
Lemmy
Steve Harris
Juuso Nordlund
Bruce Foxton

Bands:
Iron Maiden
krautrock in general
early roots & dj reggae in general
Keuhkot
Kumikameli
early Alice Cooper
The Fugs
Deep Turtle
Bauhaus
Killing Joke
Venom
early 80's finnish HC punk in general
Jefferson Airplane
Quicksilver Messenger Service

Persons:
Henry Rollins
Juice Leskinen
Lemmy


Of course there many others too, but those I mentioned have influenced me the most. When in doubt (=very often) when composing or arranging, I usually found the answer from those bands/artist. Although I like both, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, I'm kind of proud I haven't got any influences from them.

in random order:

johnny marr of the Smiths
pete townshend of the Who
roger mcguinn of the Byrds
nile rogers of Chic
Paul McCartney
James Jamerson (motown bassist)
robert buck of 10,000 Maniacs
michel legrand (film composer)
vini reilly of The Durutti Column

.......and bands:
The Usual Suspects:

• The Byrds, in all their incarnations,
  The Beatles,
  The Flying Burrito Brothers,
  Desert Rose,
  CS&N,
  Manassas,
  Poco,
  Pure Prairie League
  The Others:
  The Texas Playboys,
  The Drifting Cowboys,
  Sons of the Pioneers,
  Riders In The Sky,
  The [Original] Carter Family (Sara, Maybelle, & A.P.)
  The New Lost City Ramblers,
  The Highwoods String Band,
  The Stanley Bros.,
  The Alman Bros.,
  New Riders of the Purple Sage,

Probably more....I'll think of 'em later. And I left out all of that rockabilly stuff I've been listening to great gobs of lately.
JimK

Composers:
Andy Partridge
Lennon & McCartney (together and seperately)
Niel Finn
David Byrne
Lee Mavers

jimk wrote:.

And I left out all of that rockabilly stuff I've been listening to great gobs of lately.
JimK

So here are some of 'em:

Carl Perkins
Eddie Cochrane
Jim Weider
Scotty Moore
Chuck Berry

I left out some of my blues guys
Robert Johnson
B.B. King
Muddy Waters
T. Bone Walker
Lightnin' Hopkins
Brownie McGee
Big Bill Broonzy
Mississippi John Hurt
Charlie Patton

JimK

Every time I'm certain I've figured this out, another one comes into play, either an older artist I hadn't heard much of before (like Paul Westerberg) or someone newer coming along (like Lucero - not REAL new but still...).

The really interesting thing I ran into when I was sending out songwriting samples was a comment that some of the songs sounded like a cross between The KInks and The Grateful Dead, neither of which I had ever listened to much.

If I had to creat a short list:

The Beatles
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
Rolling Stones
Motown/Stax and the under-rated Hi Records (I grew up in Memphis).
solo McCartney (which is why I wish he'd put away that danged Hofner and start playing his Ric again)!

Halbert wrote:Composers:
Andy Partridge
Lennon & McCartney (together and seperately)
Niel Finn
David Byrne
Lee Mavers

ahh, love XTC, crowded house & Split Enz!

From a playing point mine would have to be:
Mo Moore - Nektar
Lemmy - more from his Hawkwind days than Motorhead
Roger Glover
Chris Squire
Klaus Peter Matziol - Eloy (not a Rick player as far as I'm aware, but a great bassist nonetheless)

The first music that ever sent a shiver down my spine was Ritchie Blackmore's solo on Child In Time from DP in Rock so I guess he'd count too
Other guitarists that always make me sit up and listen:
Edgar Froese
Bill Nelson
David Gilmour
Joe Walsh
Joe Bonamassa

In classical mode I'd have to say Sibelius is my favourite listen

Buck
Marr
Ronson
Frehley
Page
Belew
Nugent

Bowie
Sylvian
McCulloch
A. Green
Stipe

M. Karn
Simmons
DeeDee
J. Taylor

REM
Kiss
Smiths
Furs
XTC
Beatles
Aerosmith

Steve Lillywhite
Todd Rundgren
J. Page
Mutt
...and a host of other notables, too many to list...

I think my brain's absorbed everything I've ever listened to, even from artists I don't like very much, or at all. It all gets stuck and mismashed in my head, which is probably why my playing is so weird for original songs.

Always learning, always absorbing. Now I'm on a Link Wray and Wall of VooDoo kick.

GUITAR:

Earl Hooker
Hip Linkchain
Big Smokey Smothers
Jimmy Dawkins
Luther Tucker
Magic Sam
Fenton Robinson
Dave Meyers
Buddy Guy (early)
Billy Flynn

HARMONICA:

Big Walter Horton
Rice Miller (Sonny Boy Williamson II)
George Smith
Little Walter
James Cotton
Paul Butterfield

The Kingston Trio, and John Stewart in particular. Odd, since I was born six years after they broke up, but true none the less. Learned to play guitar and banjo from their records.

Makes you wonder how I ended up on a Rickenbacker forum, huh? I guess folk leads to folk-rock?

Chris Squire, ever since I saw yes for the first time in '74. I saved up all summer and bought a 4001MG.
Also influenced by
John Entwhistle
James Jamerson
Roger Glover
Pete Way (UFO)
Stanley Clarke
And waay back in 73, a guy playing in a garage band in Glendale, CA

For bass, I would have to say that Chris Squire and Geddy Lee were the two people who made me want to play the bass.

I'm also a keyboardist and there my biggest influences are Rick Wakeman and Vangelis.