Inspirations?

[lazercat]

I was sorting through my record collection today, which got me thinking about bands that have influenced me. So, who do you look up to, musically?

For me, it's plenty, but here's the first few to come to mind as far as guitar-playing goes.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZANxW4iFnk[/youtube]
1. Jimi Hendrix - IMHO, the greatest player of all time. People say he's not the fastest or most technical, but he plays with more feeling than anyone i've heard.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iECUXQf2UKc[/youtube]
2. Sonny Sharrock - Little known free jazz guitarist, who did really cool -- and surprisingly melodic -- things with feedback and distortion. Like Hendrix, he only has a few pedals, but does more with them than most guys with huge rigs. Also, he did the theme song to Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, which is a big plus in my book.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDy6t1XZr_I[/youtube]
3. Tom Morello - of Rage Against the Machine. He's good. Oh...he's good. He's a master of effects, and has made loads of money, but he's still a totally humble guy.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uogkw6GHDPE[/youtube]
4. Robert Johnson - If you play the blues, you owe this man, and as legend has it...the devil.


So that's the first few off the top of my head. Who inspires you? I doesn't have to be guitar either, just anyone you look up to.

[Ghost Hip]

Guitar:
Billy Corgan
Jack White
Johnny Ramone
Kurdt
Craig Nicholls
Hendrix to some extent
Joe Strummer

Singing:
Craig Nicholls
Kurdt
Jack White
Billy Corgan
Arcade fire
Daniel Johnston

Song Writing/Lyrics:
Billy
Jack
Kurdt
Craig
John Lennon
Daniel Johnston

Then throw in some Sonic Youth/Pixies around for good measure.

[smile_man]

[youtube]http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=hPYwlamCzB8[/youtube]

[youtube]http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=SE2vidProeY[/youtube]

[youtube]http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=TGMT7hb8hT8[/youtube]

[youtube]http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=PqqLe9uiLl4[/youtube]

[youtube]http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=RlQrNv-vn6U[/youtube]

[youtube]http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=uPoNoNvyu5k[/youtube]

Sorry for the obnoxious post!

[CBGB]

+ 1 on Sonny Sharrock

[metalmariachi]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl5hknXqXps[/youtube]
why I fell in love with bass lines.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjfhsLuOEWI[/youtube]
Jack Casady, never over plays and keeps time with his eyebrows.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mqZqhTl4A8[/youtube]
Jack Bruce, Rock on the jazz side.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDGLDLbfSgU[/youtube]
John Paul Jones, Ya just gotta move.
on the guitar side.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR1KqKcTwaY[/youtube]
Roy Buchannan, very nice but strangely troubled.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOuey2_h7oM[/youtube]
Danny Gatton; A good friend, but also very troubled.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW97ydJo1zo[/youtube]
Eva Cassidy; She always made me feel happy and sad at the same time.

MM

[metalmariachi]

Andres Segovia; may be a bit high brow, but always an inspiration.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9efHwnFAkuA[/youtube]

MM

[metalmariachi]

sorry for the double post, pc crashes every time I bring this page up.
So edit via laptop.
MM

[Gunner Recall]

Usual stuff got me into guitar in the first place...Hendrix, Corgan, Hammet, Cobain, SRV, Rhoads.

Some others more recently:
Claudio Sanchez of coheed and cambria...dude can rip leads and sing at the same time. Also a talented writer.
Jack White - Didn't get into him till the Raconteurs, but am now a huge white stripes fan as well.
John Mayer - Later stuff once he started playing with Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino (bite me...have you ever been personally invited to jam with bb king and tour with eric clapton and buddy guy? Me neither.)

The person that has really kicked my ass and forced me to start practicing wayyy more is Paul Waggoner of between the buried and me.
Check out the awesome proggy intro...and if the screaming turns you off skip to 4:50 for the jazzy solo, and stay tuned for the amazing sweeps toward the end. Yea, everyone has sweeps these days, but how many do it cleanly. This dude executes near perfect sweeps EVERY time they play.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIXSFXk7pdE[/youtube]

[Seizurema]

When it comes to bass...
Squire
Wetton
The Ox
Levin
Bootsy
Larry Graham
Fripp
Zappa
Belew
Jaco

But music/songwriting,

Zappa, all incarnations of KC, Genesis, Yes, Nektar, Magma, Spock's Beard, most prog and post off-shoots as well.

I'll get some youtoobs up here if I can find them...