5 Guitarists Who Got Started on Christmas Presents
 |
| Photo by Ueli Frey |
Steve Howe doesn't get nearly enough credit in the guitar world. A lot of that is the fact that he's moved in and out of various projects over the course of his career. He introduced a groundbreaking style of playing on Yes' Close to the Edge that revolutionized progressive rock for years to come, but he's also played with Asia, Queen, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and many more acts.
He got his first guitar, an f-hole acoustic, for Christmas at age 12, . It was good enough to get him into gigs at local concert halls, but five years later he would purchase the Gibson ES-175D, a guitar that he is still playing to this day.
2. Eddie Hazel, Parliament/Funkadelic
Listen to that solo, and I mean the whole damned thing. It's one of the greatest pieces of guitar music ever birthed screaming into the world, and the man behind it is Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic. He was the living embodiment of rock star cool. Talented, flamboyant, in trouble with the law, and living fast until internal bleeding and liver failure cut him down in 1992.
Until that happened, Hazel was the face of funk guitar, and all because his older brother thought his sibling might enjoy a guitar for Christmas. By the age of 12 he'd already met Billy "Bass" Nelson and formed the backbone of what would eventually become a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-level musical institution.
Email to Friend
Write to Editor
Print Article
