Queen

Last night I watched on PBS, clips from the "Queen with Paul Rodgers" live concert DVD. Wow. It brought back a lot of memories of when I was starting to learn the six strings! Brian May is one amazing guitarist - and that sound! People have asked me over the years who some of my main influences were and I tell them the usual suspects: Alex Lifeson, Neil Schon, Joe Satriani, Michael Schenker. I never mentioned Brian May but after watching and listening last night, I realized how much he actually influenced my playing. Mostly with his style. I know I don't sound like him (nobody does), nor play like him (nobody does) but the way he plays is something I relate to. I think only musicians might understand that (maybe more?) but there are players that when I try to jam their stuff it just comes easy and others where it doesn't. I think technique is not the reason (Satriani and Vai styles come easy to me). There is just some kind of stylistic relatability. On the other side of the coin, for example, I have always had trouble relating to how Eric Johnson plays. He is one of the best, no doubt. But, sometimes the language of of what he is playing can make it harder to do myself (although I still can do Cliffs of Dover!).

I do remember another way Brian May influenced what I do: originality on the guitar. I noticed on the concert that he used really the same custom guitar the whole time (unusual for many pros - you can see them switching guitars many times in a show). The variety of sounds he gets! I do remember way back when, looking for a new "good" guitar in that I wanted something versatile, yet original, like Brian had. Hence, I bought my Martin electric which I still use to this day. It is a very versatile guitar (I can safely play jazz to heavy metal on it). Granted, it is souped up a bit, but since I don't have the gift to design my own guitar stuff (like Brian May), this is the next best thing.

Speaking of Queen, anyone have favorite songs out there? It's funny that some of my favorites are the more obscure ones. "It's Late" from News of the World (which had "We Are the Champions") has always been one of my favorites from them. "Tie Your Mother Down" was one of the first songs I ever learned. The album "The Game" is one of my favorites from them. It had "Another One Bites the Dust" which was my least favorite song on the album. I really loved the song "Need Your Loving Tonight". I suppose I could go on.

So, while Rush is still the most influential on me, I think Queen is right up there. And I think many, many musicians out there (pros and amateurs alike) would agree,