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Who's your musical hero?

#23
I tend to admire the singer/songwriter/musician. That's someone who can write a good song, sing it, and knows their instrument well enough to deliver a great performance.

Since I'm a child of the 60's-70's, for me it's Elton John, The Beatles, James Taylor, Queen, and similar bands featuring ultra-talented pop icons.
 
#24
wes montgomery, charlie christian, jimmy smith, john medeski, alphonso johnson, herbie handcock, pharoah sanders, cannonball adderly, miles, jeff coffin, adam nitti (seen him tear it UP with the jeff coffins mu'tet on a few occasions in nashville, rockin an old warrior bass) speedy west, jimmy bryant, danny gatton, chet, bob wills and his texas playboys, james brown, the james brown bands over the years, the funky 72' era band in particular (the pacemakers, its BOOTSY BABY!), bernard purdie, hendrix, rodger spencer, gene chrisman, andy reiss, pat bergeson, james jamerson.....all bad ma'ma jam'mas. thats narrowed down isnt it? :p
 
#27
Richard Thompson

Amazing songwriter, fabulous guitar player, funny dry sense of humour. I love his use of traditional instruments in non-traditional settings - and vice versa. He uses whatever tool is necessary for the song, rather than trying to shoehorn the song into a particular band setting. His lyrics are deep and haunting - or silly and provocative.

Not a great singer, but you can't have everything.

(For the uninitiated, listed to "Mingus Eyes" on the 'Austin City Limits'
Danny Thompson on DB with a sound and style that I'd kill for.)
 
#32
My musical hero was my father.
He was a big band orchestra leader during the 40"s through the 80's and played saxophone. He played all the large venues in NYC...Plaza, Hilton Waldorf etc. He worked steady for this entire period and during the latter part of his playing career he worked out of the great Lester Lanin office in NYC.. Sometimes 4 gigs a weekend.
He was the band administrator so he had to make sure the sheet music was in order, the musicians had all the information for the gigs, he had to pay everyone, he had to manage the union relationships and make sure all dues where paid, deal with the clients, club managers and all the bullcrap.
He did all this while raising a family of 9 and holding down a full time job at Chase Bank.
He was a great guy..we all miss him he left us in 1984. I did get to perform with him on a few occasions....we would sit in between the big band sets and do somes straight blues...
 
#34
My personal music hero was my late brother Eric. He was 12 years older than me and not only fostered in me a lifelong interest in music, he bought me my first guitar.

Of famous musicians?

Music heroes - Pete Townsend, Elvis Costello, Joe Strummer, Jimmy Page.

Bass hero - John Entwistle
 
#35
57pbass said:
My musical hero was my father.
He was a big band orchestra leader during the 40"s through the 80's and played saxophone. He played all the large venues in NYC...Plaza, Hilton Waldorf etc. He worked steady for this entire period and during the latter part of his playing career he worked out of the great Lester Lanin office in NYC.. Sometimes 4 gigs a weekend.
He was the band administrator so he had to make sure the sheet music was in order, the musicians had all the information for the gigs, he had to pay everyone, he had to manage the union relationships and make sure all dues where paid, deal with the clients, club managers and all the bullcrap.
He did all this while raising a family of 9 and holding down a full time job at Chase Bank.
He was a great guy..we all miss him he left us in 1984. I did get to perform with him on a few occasions....we would sit in between the big band sets and do somes straight blues...
Click to expand...

Nice Dan.
 
#36
Freddie Hubbard. When I played my sax I wanted it to sound like his trumpet of flugelhorn. Years later I found out he was trying to sound like his heros on sax. Today I still look up to him and how he faced his later years when he lost his lip.

Dennis Edwards and how he was able to step into the Temptations replacing David Ruffin.
 
#37
For overall vision, songwriting and musicianship:

Pete Townshend/The Who
Prince
Jimi Hendrix
Bob Dylan
Fela Kuti
Stevie Wonder
Paul McCartney/Beatles
Miles Davis
David Bowie
Lucinda Williams
Beck

The following bands collectively:
Rolling Stones
Pearl Jam
King Crimson
U2
Led Zeppelin
AC/DC

For bass specifically:

John Entwistle
Paul McCartney
Tony Levin
JMJ
JPJ

For guitar specifically, others mentioned above plus:

Jerry Cantrell
Joe Perry
Eddie Van Halen
Steve Stevens (Billy Idol)
Jimmie Vaughan
 

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