Guns And Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine

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Angus Young

Angus Young was born on March 31, 1955 in Glasgow, Scotland. At school, Angus was an unenthusiastic student. His only real academic interest was art wich allowed him some freedom of expression. He gave up school at 15 and went to work for a soft porn magazine called Ribald as a printer. But his ambitions laid elsewhere anyway, and for a year prior to leaving school Angus had been practising guitar almost constantly, jamming around with friends and playing at school dances. In the beginning, Angus messed around with brother Malcolm Young's guitars for years before his mother finally bought him his own, a cheap little acoustic. By the time he was eleven Angus had flirted with a tutorial course, but he prefered to learn by himself and most of his musical education was pure trial and error. While his older brother Malcolm Young was hatching plans for his new band, Angus was well on his way toward establishing a distinctive stage persona. His spasmodic, seemingly out-of-control onstage body language has always come naturally. Such trademark Angus moves as his patented duckwalk and his on-the-floor body spasms could be handy attention-getting devices when playing for drunken, rowdy barroom crowds. Many of these gestures grew out of accidents.

One night Tantrum, the pre-AC/DC band Angus was playing with, was going down really badly. Angus walked across the stage and tripped over the guitar lead, so he felt a right dick and he kept running across the floor. He made it look like a death scene, screaming all hell from the guitar. It was the only clap they got that night. Angus told his brother about it. Malcolm Young asked him to join the band he was putting together.

The Beatles - She Loves You

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Slash

Saul Hudson, mainly known as Slash, was born on July 23, 1965, and was raised in Stoke-on-Trent. Both his parents worked in the entertainment business, his mother being a clothing designer (she did some of David Bowie's costumes) and his father being an art director for a record company. When Slash was 11 he moved with his mother to Los Angeles, leaving his father behind in England, although he eventually joined them in L.A. years later. Slash became sort of an outsider at school since he didn't really fit in with other kids. In the mid 70s his parents separated and Slash moved in with his grandmother. During this time Slash got interested in BMX riding, and went on to win several awards and money in competitions. When he was 15 he got his first guitar, and his schoolwork started to go downhill as he skipped class to sit playing guitar all day. Slash eventually got so tired of school that he dropped out in 11th grade. As he lived in Los Angeles, a city flourishing with new, young rock bands, he quickly got in touch with people to jam with. After meeting Steven Adler the two of them formed a band called Road Crew. Then he met Izzy Stradlin who played in a band with Axl Rose, and after hearing Axl sing live, he was set on getting him in his band. Soon a bass player answered one of Slash's ads in the paper, and Slash (guitar), Steven (drums), Izzy (guitar), Axl (vocals) and Duff McKagan (bass) formed Guns N' Roses in 1986. Soon enough, GNR were known across the globe as the new rock n' roll sensation. Album sales went sky high and the band was having a blast on their world tours, and during this time Slash worked with artists like Michael Jackson on the Dangerous album and Lenny Kravitz, just to name two. But after the Use Your Illusion tour, GNR decided to take a break. Slash however, needed to play music and so he formed his own band Slash's Snakepit. With the success of this bands album It's Five O'Clock Somewhere (1995), Slash told the public that Slash's Snakepit would be back again. During this time Slash and Axl were having some heated arguments about Guns N' Roses and what would happen next. Guns N' Roses as we knew them then, was terminated by the result as Slash decided to leave the band, handing all rights of the band name over to Axl. After this Slash did a few gigs here and there, formed a band called Blues Ball who played blues covers, and even brought back Slash's Snakepit as he said he would, although they didn't last very long this time either. In 2000, Slash met Perla Ferrar and on October 15, 2001, married her. It's not surprising that he wore black leather pants, a white shirt and his faithful black leather jacket to the wedding! His new status as a married man didn't slow him down, though. In 2003, Velvet Revolver was formed by the former members of Guns N' Roses; Slash, Duff and Matt (who replaced Steven in 1990), Scott Weiland (vocals) from Stone Temple Pilots and Dave Kushner (guitar) from Wasted Youth. Velvet Revolver's debut album Contraband (2004) was long-awaited and sold incredibly well. They are now going to show up on the second Live Aid concert along with many other huge artists, which will be held in London. Velvet Revolver's plans to become a rock band of great magnitude are definitely in the works, and Slash himself has earned his title as one of the greatest rock n' roll guitar players in history.

Stevie Ray Vaughan Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix Cover)

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What's This Blog About?

Many people may think, what's this blog about? Well I wanted to make a blog dedicated to all the people, events and stuff that made possible all this wonderful music in rock and blues history, so I would post bios, videos and more about this. Stay tune. Best Wishes, Rock on! ~ Juan

AC/DC Back In Black

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Jimmy Page

Born: 9 January 1944
Birthplace: London, England
Best Known As: Lead guitarist of the rock band Led Zeppelin

Jimmy Page was a studio session guitarist before joining the U.K. rock band The Yardbirds in 1965. In late 1968 Page joined Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones to form Led Zeppelin. Their 1969 debut album was a successful blend of heavy rock and blues, and their second album soared to the top of the charts on the strength of the hit "Whole Lotta Love." Throughout the 1970s they were rock's most successful act, and Page became a "guitar god," famous for his obsession with the occult as much as for his heavy riffs. After the death of drummer Bonham in 1980, Led Zeppelin disbanded and Page went on to perform and record sporadically. In the late 1990s Page made something of a comeback, performing with old bandmate Plant, rapper Sean "Puffy" Combs and rock band The Black Crowes.

B.B. King

Name at birth: Riley B. King

Known as the King of the Blues, guitarist B.B. King has been performing and recording since the 1940s. He grew up sharecropping in Mississippi and learned to play gospel music on the guitar when he was a teenager. In the late 1940s he turned to playing blues and moved to Memphis, Tennessee to start a music career. After popular performances in clubs and on radio, he kicked off his recording career with "Three O'Clock Blues" (1951), a top hit on the R&B charts. King's early records in the '50s produced some R&B hits, but mainstream success eluded him. He and his band toured almost non-stop, performing hundreds of shows a year and building an audience. He finally had breakthrough success in the late 1960s, when white audiences began to discover rock's debt to the blues. Guitarists like Eric Clapton and Keith Richards sang his praises, and King began performing in rock and jazz clubs and had crossover hits like "Paying The Cost To Be The Boss" (1968) and "The Thrill Is Gone" (1970). King has recorded more than 50 albums, won 13 Grammys and received dozens of awards and honors over the years, and he still performs four or five nights a week.

King is known for his distinctive sound, especially his use of the sliding "bent" note, and for calling his electric Gibson guitar "Lucille." His albums include Live At The Regal (1965), Blues Is King (1967), Deuces Wild (1997) and Blues On The Bayou (1998).

Extra credit: King owns night clubs in Memphis, Los Angeles and New York City... He originally called himself Beale Street Blues Boy, which he shortened to Blues Boy King and then B.B. King... In 1996 he published an autobiography, Blues All Around Me.

Chuck Berry

Guitarist and singer Chuck Berry's output from 1955 to 1965 includes some of the earliest classics in rock history, from "Maybellene" and "Rock 'n' Roll Music" to "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Johnny B. Goode." Berry began playing professionally in St. Louis in the early 1950s. His 1955 hit "Maybellene" made him a national star, and he followed with a string of hit records that appealed to both black and white audiences. His career was briefly derailed in the early 1960s, when he ran afoul of the law and ended up spending three years in prison. He bounced back with new recordings and performances, but his best years seemed behind him. Ironically, Berry's biggest hit came in 1972, a live recording of the innuendo-heavy novelty song, "My Ding-a-Ling." In addition to his status as a rock legend, Berry earned a reputation for unpredictable performances, erratic behavior and legal troubles (he was sentenced to more jail time in 1979 for tax evasion). Like his contemporary Little Richard, Berry is an African-American whose influence on rock 'n' roll was overshadowed by the popularity of white artists such as The Beatles and the The Rolling Stones. Nonetheless, he is recognized as one of the founders of rock 'n' roll music.

Extra credit: Berry's signature on stage was the "duck walk" -- playing the guitar while squatting and hopping on one foot... A sample of "Johnny B. Goode" was included in a compilation of music aboard the spacecraft Voyager I, launched by the United States in 1977... Berry claims he was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but others insist he was born in San Jose, California.

Jimi Hendrix

Name at birth: Johnny Allen Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix grabbed electric guitar by the neck and wrestled it into a new era. His feedback-heavy solos and hallucinogenic tunes helped define the psychedelic 1960s. With his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience he recorded the albums Are You Experienced? (1967), Axis: Bold as Love (also 1967), and Electric Ladyland (1968, including Hendrix's version of Bob Dylan's tune "All Along the Watchtower"). The single "Purple Haze" from Are You Experienced remains one of rock's touchstone classics. The band broke up in 1969 but Hendrix remained a star, playing later that year at the Woodstock music festival. Hendrix was only 27 when he suffocated in 1970 after ingesting wine and sleeping pills in a London hotel.

Extra credit: Jimi, like Paul McCartney, was a left-handed guitar player... Hendrix's fuzz-guitar version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock has become a famous sound clip... He died two short weeks before another rock icon, Janis Joplin... A museum and interactive shrine to Hendrix, called the Experience Music Project, was built in Seattle by computer magnate Paul Allen.

George Harrison

George Harrison joined John Lennon and Paul McCartney in 1957, playing guitar for The Quarrymen. By 1962 the group had added Ringo Starr and become The Beatles, the most successful pop act in music history. George had a reputation as the quiet one, and his interest in Indian music and philosophy flavored the Beatles' work during the late 1960s. Several of The Beatles' most famous songs were written by Harrison, including "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Something." His early solo work included a benefit concert for Bangla Desh and a hit single, "My Sweet Lord," which later became the centerpiece of a legal battle that lasted almost two decades (ultimately Harrison was victorious). Harrison got into the movie business, producing two films by the comedy group Monty Python's Flying Circus, and in 1987 his album Cloud Nine was a popular and critical success. In the '90s he performed with The Traveling Wilburys, a superstar group that included Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan. In 1999 he was stabbed and wounded in his home by an obsessed fan. Harrison died in November 2001 after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Extra credit: "My Sweet Lord" was re-released as a benefit for charity after Harrison's death; the single reached #1 on the U.K. charts in January 2002... Harrison's first wife, Patti Boyd, had a famous love affair with guitarist Eric Clapton.. Harrison has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: as a member of The Beatles (in 1988) and as a solo act (in 2004).

Eric Clapton

In the 1960s Eric Clapton earned the nickname "Slowhand" while playing guitar for The Yardbirds, John Mayhall and the Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominoes. While with Derek and the Dominoes, he recorded the rock classic "Layla." During the 1970s Clapton played as a guest with some of the greatest performers of the era, and had solo hits in "After Midnight" and a cover of Bob Marley's "I Shot The Sheriff." In the 1980s and '90s, Clapton met with even more critical and popular success, and had a string of hits, including the top single "Tears in Heaven," about the death of his young son.

Extra credit: Clapton has been inducted three separate times into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame... Another guitarist who played with the Yardbirds was Jimmy Page, later of the supergroup Led Zeppelin.

The Fender Stratocaster

Regarded as a cultural icon, the Fender Stratocaster electric guitar has become one of the most popular models in electric guitars in history. If you think of a electric guitar, I bet you think of a 'Strat'. The Stratocaster has been copied a numerous times from other guitar makers, but there is only one original an it is Fender. Don't believe why the Fender Stratocaster is a great electric guitar? Well, ask these famous guitar players who played this guitar: Mark Knopfler, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Eric Johnson, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Rory Gallagher...the list is enourmous...

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Born: 3 October 1954

Died: 27 August 1990 (Helicopter crash)

Birthplace: Dallas, Texas

Best known as: Lead singer and guitarist for the band Double Trouble

Stevie Ray Vaughan learned to play the guitar as a kid, influenced by his older brother, guitarist Jimmie Vaughan. By 1972 Stevie had dropped out of school and was playing blues guitar in bands in Austin, Texas. In 1981 he named his band Double Trouble, and in 1982 caught the attention David Bowie of who in 1982 asked him to play on the hit "Let's Dance." In 1983 Vaughan released his debut album, Texas Flood, and the following year he released Couldn't Stand the Weather, a commercial and critical success. He continued to tour and record, playing a mix of electric blues, country and rock, until his death in a 1990 helicopter crash.