24th Anniversary of my first guitar lesson!

(Paul says:)

Today's playlist is compiled in honor of the 24th anniversary of my first guitar lesson with George Best on Apr. 3, 1984. Also, as a housekeeping issue, I didn't mean to criticize playlist.com so much in yesterday's post, but there are limitations. That said, if it wasn't for that site, I wouldn't be able to post as I want to!

Track 1 - Van Halen - Panama
Actually, the whole MCMLXXXIV (1984) album by VH made me want to play guitar, but the limitations of the music site again made me choose a radio hit instead of "Top Jimmy" or "Drop Dead Legs." This was the song, though, that was both a hit and a microcosm of what made the DLR Van Halen so special - a kickin' rhythm, a brief but fiery solo, a break with an ad lib Diamond Dave lyric to make you laugh, and stellar background vocals. As Dave would later say, you can't get this stuff no more - but maybe, just maybe, if this tour is successful enough, the VH boys and DLR will record some new music. Well, I can dream.

Track 2 - April Wine - Just Between You and Me
This was the first song that I learned all of the solos to. I would rewind my cassette player and re-play the notes until I had it about right. The cool thing about April Wine is that the three leads are played by three different players, so they're similar, yet different. (There will surely be more April Wine on this blog in the future!)

Track 3 - Bryan Adams - Kids Wanna Rock
When I got this album, I learned to play just about all of the songs, because the leads weren't very challenging, and I liked the tunes. (The "Reckless" album from which this came has a bunch of great Bryan Adams hits - "Run to You," "Somebody," "Heaven," "Summer of '69," and "It's Only Love" - with Tina Turner - and a bunch of other cool songs that you probably have never heard like "She's Only Happy When She's Dancing," "One Night Love Affair," and "Long Gone." The only song I didn't mention was "Ain't Gonna Cry," which isn't bad, either - a most underrated album, and one that I spent more than a few hours jamming to.

Track 4 - Judas Priest - Living After Midnight
When I joined my first band, Asylum, at age 14, this was the first song we played together. We also played such KISS tunes as "Heaven's On Fire" and "Lick It Up" and Twisted Sister's anthems "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock," as well as Priest's "United" in our short-lived junior high-era band. We chose those songs because they were so easy to play, but we sucked anyway. Oh, well, it was fun, and the experience was good later.

Track 5 - Ramones - Oh Oh I Love Her So
Ramones was a great band to learn to play rhythm guitar to because it's all power chords at high velocity. I played along with the live album "It's Alive" until my wrists hurt, and this was one of my favorite tunes on there.

Track 6 - ZZ Top - I Need You Tonight
I have always thought that Billy Gibbons is the most easily identifiable influence in my playing style (although I only wish I could play like him). This is a classic example of Billy's feel for the song and playing to it appropriately. If you can't feel this song, there's something wrong with your soul or somethin'.

Track 7 - Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River
I also find that I play a bunch of John Fogerty licks, but that was just the natural evolution of my style; it wasn't until I began to play some CCR songs that I realized how similar some of my playing is to John's. I always liked the way he could play the same lick but vary it slightly as the song progressed, and the verse fills in this tune are a decent illustration of that.

Track 8 - Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble - Pride and Joy
The first time I realized that I couldn't play any SRV stuff was with this song, although I keep trying to this day! I only wish he could've lived about 50 years longer to give us more of his exquisite music. I still like to pretend I can play this one even now, though.

Track 9 - Stanley Clarke - School Days
About two years after I started to learn guitar, I switched to bass (primarily because Ross and I couldn't find anyone to play with us), and my teacher was Tom Halversen. He was into jazz fusion, and I was just curious enough to find this gem of a tune which has always been one of my favorites since.

Track 10 - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Mary Jane's Last Dance
One of my favorites to play and sing when I was in Spur of the Moment, my excellent band in Logan. (They were excellent; I was just a hack.) I got to play this and sing the lead vocal, and I enjoyed it even if Tom and Co. would be offended to hear me perform it.

Track 11 - Tesla - Signs
I chose this one because one of my favorite memories of Ricks College (and there are few), which is now BYU-Idaho, was when one of my roommates and I sang this in an English class I had. We had an ongoing assignment throughout the semester to write 300 words per day, and I wrote a lot of stories about music; that led to Danny and I agreeing to sing for my class. (We also sang "More Than Words," which was a big hit then, and the acoustic version of Warrant's "I Saw Red" which was not on playlist.com. That version is far superior to the electric version; check it out if you can find a place to hear the whole song.)

Track 12 - Gary Moore - Still Got the Blues
I have always wanted to learn this song and vowed that someday I will learn it, and so this one represents the future. (I also could've chosen SRV's "Lenny," Skynyrd's "I Know a Little," Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover" and a number of other songs that I've been meaning to learn but seem to lack the time/commitment/ambition or whatever.) Besides, it's a damn cool song!

'Til next time, enjoy!

P