Alright, not your favourite after you started... but who (top five) REALLY inspired you to begin to learn to play...

For me:

1. Simon and Garfunkel
2. BB King
3. Pink Floyd
4. Jim Croce
5. Don Mclean

[This message was edited by Ed on May 04, 2003 at 08:14 AM.]

In chronological order, _not_ order of importance:

1) The Kingston Trio
2) Joan Baez
3) John Herald (his work on the early Ian and Sylvia albums)
4) Doc
5) hard to say

I also give credit to a little-known Theodore Sturgeon story, "The Education of Drusilla Strange," that I read when I was 12 or so.

So now you know how old I am. Wanna make something of it? As the sign says, "Don't criticize the coffee, you may be old and weak yourself some day!"

Peter.

If I go back to when I first started(but didn't stick with it) when I was a teenager in the late 60's it was The 3 Yardbird greats - Clapton, Page, and Jeff Beck - then Clapton in the Cream years, then of course Hendrix, Densmore (Dunsmore?) of the Doors....and a bunch of others - but probably the guy who really got me intersted in taking it up again a couple of years ago was Mark Knopfler- I think the guy is absolutely unreal on all his albums from the last 10 years... and of course since I got into it again I've got a pretty big collection of a whole bunch of fingerstyle guys - Laurence Juber, Michael Hedges, Doyle Dykes, Robbie McIntosh, Don Ross, Pat Kirtley,Phil Keaggy, Tommy Emmanuel,Pete Huttlinger, John Jackson, etc etc and on and on.....Ken

It was girls. As I started to play I discovered that guitar seem to attract girl's attention. The more I played the more I got laid. Talk about inspiration and incentive!

Over the years there have been so many, but a few stand out.
Doc Watson
Chris Smither
Geoff Bartley
David Qualey
Don McLean
Ed, glad to see you also list Don McLean. I was fortunate enough to have Don as my first guitar teacher (he was a college classmate of my older brother). His recordings do not really reflect his range on the guitar.
David Qualey probably does not ring a bell for any of you. While from California, David has been living and playing in Germany for the past 3 decades. Most of his recording is with a classical, but a few pieces on recorded on a Lakewood steel string. He is worth searching out and listining to He has a website that I think is davidqualey.de

I was lucky enough to actually learn the basics of guitar in elementary school. Also recently found a photo of my receiving my first guitar (a Kingston) for Christmas 1974.

However, the folks that made me want to learn the guitar were probably:
Mike Nesmith (yeah, the guy from the Monkees or really one of the many studio guitarists who actually played the lines)
John Denver
John Renbourn (got me re-interested in acoustic)
Norman Blake (same for flatpicking)

Eric Platt

John Denver - In the early 70's, I had the same hair and glasses
Steven Stills, though I just knew him as part of CSN
Paul Simon

And I still like them all.

David

I learned to get chicks! (well, partly anyway).. First inspired to play by hearing Johnny Winter (still can't play like him) and then I mellowed a bit over the years and find that guys like Norman Blake and Harvey Reid really do it for me on acoustic guitar, although I'm still trying to sound like Johnny when I play electric or slide on my National.

Mike

A 90 year old lady who ran a little teaching business and had coke bottle glasses lived next door. She gave me a Stella and started me with Mel Bay #1. After that I met a friend in junior high and we thought Yes (Steve Howe) was simply the greatest thing ever, so we both learned the opening 12th fret harmonic to Roundabout and were just the absolute coolest thing ever. But my biggest early influence was Duane Allman. Eat A Peach and the Fillmore East albums were played to absolute death, and I can still sing (and now play thank god) every note of every solo on that album. I eventually added Jeff Beck with Cause We've Ended as Lovers, and Santana with Europa as my searing guitar god solos and I still dust those off every six months or so. They are timeless. Then I got very cool and into fusion with Al DiMeola and Jon Mclaughlin (sp?) and thought that playing a hundred thousand notes in a bar was the ultimate form of expression. Then it became the LA Sound Steely Dan/Larry Carlton era, and 335's with Mesa Boogies were everywhere. That carried me for a while, and then other things grabbed my interest and the guitar sat for 7 or 8 years. Now I'm back into it with a vengeance, and have really grabbed onto Piedmont blues and the acoustic set. Hence my Collings purchase and membership on this board. I bet this is a very common story. Love to hear yours!

Joe

"There are 10 types of people in the world, those that understand binary and those that don't."