AC/DC Family Tree

November 16, 2020 by Joe Cearlock in Family Tree

Metal Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

AC/DC are probably the most quintessential hard rock band. Their strait forward hard hitting rock style has made them super popular and influential. At the heart of the band has always been brothers Malcom and Angus Young on guitars until the death of Malcom in 2014 at which time nephew Stevie Young stepped in. Bon Scott was on vocals for the first 7 albums before his death. Brian Johnson then appeared on every album since. Music has always been written by Malcom and Angus with respective singers until the 90’s at which time everything is written by Malcom and Angus. Unfortunately I have had defaulting finding Bon and Brian’s influences and any help is welcome.

Muddy Waters

John Lee Hooker

Elmore James

Little Richard is one of the original rock ‘n’ rollers. Malcolm said he use to play the rhythms of his piano parts. According to Angus, Little Richard was Bon’s biggest idol.

Chuck Berry

Freddie King

The Yardbirds had some of the most important guitar players of their time get their start with the band including Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton. Malcolm named The Yardbirds as an influence.

The Kinks were were a 60’s rock band probably best known for their song “You Really Got Me”. Malcom named them as an influence.

The Rolling Stones were a huge blues based rock band. Malcolm named them as an influence.

John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers is an often cited band. It tends to be mostly because of period that Eric Clapton was on guitar. Malcolm named Clapton’s work with the Bluesbreakers as an influence.

Malcolm said him and Angus were playing guitar as kids before The Beatles. At the time they tried to play some instrumental surf music on an old acoustic.

The famous duck walk done on stage by Angus comes inspired by Chuck Berry.

Angus’s rock ‘n’ roll influences came first and he later got more into blues guys.

Angus would learn a lot from his brother Malcolm.

Angus isn’t a fan of Clapton. He says “even on a bad night Chuck Berry is a lot better than Clapton will ever be. Clapton just sticks licks together that he has taken from other people – like B B King and the other old blues players—and puts them together in some mish-mashed fashion." The only great album he ever made was the Blues Breaker album he did with John Mayall and maybe a couple of good songs he did with Cream. The guy more or less built his reputation on that. I never saw what the big fuss was about Clapton to begin with.” He said he wasn’t a fan of Eddie Van Halen and said “Malcolm’s still a better guitarist than Eddie Van Halen. Van Halen certainly knows his scales, but I don’t enjoy listening to very technical guitarists who cram all the notes they know into one song. I mean, Van Halen can do what he does very well, but he’s really just doing finger exercises. If a guitarist wants to practice all the notes he can play, he should do it at home. There’s definitely a place for that type of playing, but it’s not in front of me.” He said he saw Deep Purple and wasn’t a big fan. He said they were the poor man’s Led Zeppelin and called Led Zeppelin a poor imitation of The Who. Angus is very much an old school guy into Chuck Berry and old blues players. On the other hand he says Jeff Beck who is very technical knows how to rock and roll when he wants to. Angus says he was a fan of the early stuff he did with Rod Stewart. He said “Jumping Jack Flash” and “Street Fighting Man” from The Rolling Stones were the last progresses in a positive direction for Rock ‘n’ Roll. He’s not a fan of punk either.

Clapton and Hendrix are often miss cited as an influence on Angus. It comes from an interview where the context is him saying that they use blues techniques similar to Freddie King which he was influenced by.

Angus is a fan of Jerry Lee Lewis and said if he played piano he’d probably perform like him.

Bands influenced by AC/DC!

As this project advances, bands will be added here… there are many!

German Thrash and first wave black metal

FUCKIN’ SLAYER!!!!

Classic Death Metal

An eclectic metal band rooted in Melodic Death

Sources:

https://earofnewt.com/2016/08/14/that-time-acdcs-malcolm-told-me-that-his-biggest-influences-were-the-old-rockers-and-early-clapton/
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/8039617/acdc-malcom-young-interview-2003-death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byfweknh6Po
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcGAScb_woY
https://destroyerofharmony.com/2013/04/24/angus-young-guitar-world-march-1986-part-1/
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/angus_young_explains_major_guitar_struggle_as_beginner_recalls_brutal_acdc_shows_at_clubs_worse_than_toilets.html
https://www.loudersound.com/features/acdc-interview-angus-young-and-bon-scott-on-booze-sex-and-rocknroll
http://bravewords.com/news/ac-dc-guitarist-angus-young-remembers-bon-scott-when-i-think-back-in-hindsight-he-was-a-guy-that-i-always-knew-was-full-of-life

Van Halen Family Tree

October 21, 2020 by Joe Cearlock in Family Tree

Metal Family Tree

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Van Halen were revolutionary when they emerged. They have been on my list to do for a long time and with the recent passing of Eddie Van Halen I decided I can’t put it off any longer. As much as Jimi Hendrix brought forth a revolution for guitar players, a decade later Eddie would revolutionize guitar again. Besides guitar Eddie also played all keyboards in the band. Easily Eddie is one of the most influential guitar players there has ever been. The core lineup of Van Halen was consistent with Eddie and Alex at the heart of the band. Michael Anthony was on bass from the first album through 2006 at which time bass was taken over by Eddi’s son Wolfgang. The classic line up would be with David Lee Roth on vocals for the first six albums. He was replaced with vocalist/guitarist Sammy Hagar for the next four albums. This period is often referred to as Van Hagar. Gary Cherone would be the vocalist for one album. Dave would return for an album again in 2012. Writing in Van Halen has always been a collaborative effort with writing credits shared but Eddie was the one behind the riffs. Because Gary Cherone was only in the band for one album I will put his influences at the bottom instead of with the main list.

Showtunes

Broadway brought to the T.V., Dave’s earliest influences from from showtunes like West Side Story and Damn Yankees.

James Brown was Soul Brother No. 1. He was a big influence and Dave.

Major Lance

Marvin Gaye

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles

Dick Dale

Wilson Pickett

The Temptations

Lou Rawls

The Dave Clark Five were a rock / pop band very similar to the Beatles. After moving to the US, DC5 was the band that made Alex and Eddie want to play rock music.

The Yardbirds featured the most influential guitar players of their time including Eric Clapton. Sammy named them with Clapton as an influence.

The Who were rock band occasionally verging on progressive and hard rock. Eddie named Pete Townsend as a big influence on his rhythm playing. Michael is also a big fan of John Entwistle. They are also an influence on Gary.

Cream were a very influential psychedelic blues based band. Eddie named Eric Clapton as his biggest influence and said he use to learn his solos note for note. Particularly he was a fan of the live stuff. Michael named Jack Bruce as one of his bigge… — Cream were a very influential psychedelic blues based band. Eddie named Eric Clapton as his biggest influence and said he use to learn his solos note for note. Particularly he was a fan of the live stuff. Michael named Jack Bruce as one of his biggest influences. Like Eddie, Sammy said he tried to learn all of Clapton’s solos.

John Mayall had several guitar players notably Eric Clapton and Peter Green. Eddie said he prefers Clapton’s stuff with Cream but Sammy was into everything Clapton and was equally inspired by his time with John Mayall and also named Peter Green as … — John Mayall had several guitar players notably Eric Clapton and Peter Green. Eddie said he prefers Clapton’s stuff with Cream but Sammy was into everything Clapton and was equally inspired by his time with John Mayall and also named Peter Green as an influence.

The Electric Flag were a psychedelic blues rock / soul band. Michael named them as the first band that made him want to play bass and named Harvey Books as one of his biggest influences.

Led Zeppelin are one of the most influential and earliest hard rock bands. Michael named John Paul Jones as one of his biggest influences. They are also an influence on Gary.

Elton John

The Persuasions

Mother’s Finest is a Funk based rock band. They are an influence on Dave.

The hard rock band Montrose was where Sammy got his start. Sammy said that Ronnie Montrose was an influence on him and he still plays guitar like him.

Alex and Eddi’s dad was a musician who played saxophone and clarinet on live radio. They both started playing piano and taking lessons around 6 or 7 years old as their parents wanted them to be concert pianists. They played classical style. Originally Eddie played drums and Alex played guitar but Eddie says they switched when Alex got better at drums than him. They both studied music (theory) under Truman Fisher who also taught Frank Zappa. Eddie said he learned what not to do but Alex learned theory very well although Eddie writes most of the music.

In a interview with Eddie in 78, he said that Dave didn’t even own a stereo and listened to what ever was in the radio.

Although it might seem reasonable that Hendrix was an influence on Eddie, but in fact he said he liked him but never really got into him and never even bought any of his records. He said he was never really that inspired by Jimmy Page or Ritchie Blackmore either. He did however say he grew up with a lot of The Beatles, The Dave Clark Five, Cream, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix.

Eddie was also a fan of Allan Holdsworth.

The interesting thing about Eddie is that he’s questioned about influences and talks with respect about players like Tony Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Hendrix, but he doesn’t talk like he’s very influenced by anybody outside of Clapton and Townsend. He says his playing style isn’t like any of them. With as unique as Eddie is and what he has said in interviews, I’m led to the conclusion that his uniqueness comes from himself rather than being a combination of styles that influenced him. He was a very good piano player as well and I think some of his unique guitar style comes from playing piano first. That would also explain some of the classical sounding stuff in his playing. (On a side note him and Randy Rhoads both have a similar style and both started as piano players.)

Eddie said he never used to tune the guitar to anything and Michael would just tune to him.

In the early days of Van Halen playing clubs, Alex said they had like 300 covers they knew and played everything from James Brown and Ohio Players, to Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. At the time they were expected to play five 45 minutes sets of top 40’s. Eddie said that Black Sabbath was the closest to his heart out of the bands they covered. He used to also sing lead for Sabbath songs and was particularly a big fan of “Into the Void”.

I have yet to find any interviews of Alex naming influences. I’ve seen John Bonham, Keith Moon, Ginger Baker, Ray Phillips, and Buddy Ritch named by people, but I have not been able to find any confirmation of this.

If you are familiar with the “Panama” video and remember the band swinging on wires; this idea came from Dave seeing the Peter Pan Broadway show as a kid.

When it comes to Dave’s showman ship, dancing and jumping splits, that all comes from the The Berry Brothers and the Nicholas Brothers, both of which were dance teams. He also takes influence from Frankie Manning and other swing time dancers. Much of Dave’s influences come from early 60’s black culture. He names Soul Train and the movie Super Fly as having a big influence on him.

As a kid Dave played saxophone.

Gary was only on one album. His influences include Alice Cooper, Queen, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, and the Who.

Bands influenced by Van Halen!

As this project advances, bands will be added here… there are many!

Zakk Wylde names Eddie as a big influence.

The inspiration to extreme forms of metal.

Dio guitar players have been heavily inspired by Eddie.

FUCKIN’ SLAYER!!!!!!!

Widely considered the fathers of death metal.

An eclectic metal band rooted in melodic death

Sources:

https://web.archive.org/web/20111022020333/http://jasobrecht.com/eddie-van-halen-complete-1978-interviews/
https://www.guitarworld.com/features/eddie-van-halen-first-guitar-world-interview-1981
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/who-were-eddie-van-halen-influences-1071780/
https://www.loudersound.com/features/eddie-van-halen-the-1978-interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xgmZrMw7wc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXM62CQmwDY&t=4s
https://www.vhnd.com/2020/04/04/never-before-heard-alex-van-halen-interview-from-1981/
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/story/2020-10-06/ediie-van-halen-dead-at-65-revisit-our-interviews-with-the-singular-rock-guitar-great
https://www.vhnd.com/2009/03/24/michael-anthony-my-top-3-bass-players-of-all-time/
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/blogs/music-news/david-lee-roth-reveals-surprising-van-halen-influences-235352978.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0FpV3nZpEQ
http://bravewords.com/news/sammy-hagar-talks-about-influences-new-chickenfoot-album-his-voice-today-ive-got-the-tone-ive-always-been-looking-for
https://www.loudersound.com/features/sammy-hagar-interview-diamond-dave-the-van-halens-and-a-long-life-in-rock
https://www.americanmusical.com/content--name-Gary-Cherone-Interview
https://www.guitarworld.com/magazine/tony-iommi-and-eddie-van-halen-discuss-their-careers-friendship-and-past-three-decades-our-favorite-instrument

Led Zeppelin Family Tree

August 31, 2020 by Joe Cearlock in Family Tree

Metal Family Tree

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Easily one of the most important bands in rock history. Led Zeppelin may not be a metal band but they are as important as any band when it comes to influencing early metal bands. If Black Sabbath are the fathers of Heavy Metal, Led Zeppelin is like the cool uncle or something. Zeppelin had a consistent line up of members who all contributed to the writing so we will look into all of their influences. For the late John Bonham I will use non primary sources because of his early death. I feel like there are probably things missing from this list if anyone has good sources to share please do. With LZ being in trouble for not giving proper credits I can image why they may be less than forth coming about some influences whom they might have “borrowed” from.

Big Joe Williams

Son House

Bukka White

Robert Johnson

Muddy Waters

Umm Kulthum

Charles Mingus

Ray Brown

John Coltrane

Gene Krupa

Art Blakey

Elmore James

Little Richard was a pioneer of rock n roll music. John Paul Jones names him as an influence and one of the people who got him into soul which he is a big fan of.

Miles Davis

Louis Bellson was a big band swing player. He is said to have been an influence on Bonham.

Buddy Rich

Max Roach

Elvis was a rock n roll icon that has is easily one of the biggest names in music. Jimmy says he first wanted to start playing music after hearing “Baby, Let’s Play House”.

Scotty Moore

Lonnie Donegan

Chuck Berry

Gene Vincent

On the country side of Rock n roll there were The Everly Brothers. John Paul Jones names them an influence.

James Jamerson was the bass player behind most of the Motown hits. John Paul Jones named him as one of his big influences.

Bill Evans

James Burton

Rick Nelson or Ricky Nelson was a rock n roll teen idol. He is one that Jimmy remembers bounding with Jeff Beck over.

Piano player and singer Ray Charles was a versatile musician. John Paul Jones names him as an influence and one of the people who got him into soul which he is a big fan of.

Scott LaFaro

Gil Evans

Again on the more country side of Rock n roll there was Jerry Lee Lewis who was an influence on John Paul Jones.

One of the great soul and funk singers, Plant remembers saving up to order a James Brown record when he was 13 and how “unbelievable” he was.

Marvin Gaye

Smokey Robinson

Otis Redding

Donald "Duck" Dunn

Jimi Hendrix was revolutionary. John Paul Jones named him as an influence despite not playing guitar himself.

Ginger Baker

Jimmy was learned guitar by playing along with records. He eventually learned how to read music. He pretty much took influence from any guitar playing he heard at the time but a bit more from the blues.

Jimmy mentions some guitar players the he likely had great respect for but didn’t specifically name them as influences: Classical player Segovia and Julian Bream, flamenco player Manitas de Plata, and gypsy jazz player Django Reinhardt.

Jimmy is often said to have “borrowed” things from other guitar players… some might call it stealing. Among the guitarists he is accused of ripping off are folk/jazz guitarist Bert Jansch for “Black Mountain Slide”. Over the years writing credits have been changed in order to reflect many of these songs.

John Paul Jones grew up with his dad who was a pianist and trumpeter who was into blues, jazz, and Latin music and was exposed to all of that. He like Page, was interested in many different styles of playing and not afraid to mix things up.

Plant in one interview talks about wanting his voice to be a tenor sax. He says he wanted to be Coleman Hawkins and Dexter Gordon.

Bonham was said to have favorite bands including Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, The Hollies and The Graham Bond Organisation.

Bands influenced by Led Zeppelin!

As this project advances, bands will be added here… there are many!

Although older than Zeppelin, Deep Purple changed to a harder sound after hearing them.

The Metal Gods themselves.

One of the most influential metal bands!

Influential Thrash Masters

Classic Death Metal

Taking Black Metal in a progressive direction.

Waving the flag of groove in the modern era.

Sources:

https://cosmicmagazine.com.au/news/led-zeppelins-jimmy-page-reveals-his-greatest-musical-influence-in-unearthed-1977-interview/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9AAEdFlRkc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2DmA6etwpQ
http://ledzepnews.com/2018/05/06/heres-everything-that-jimmy-page-said-about-his-extraordinary-friend-jeff-beck-in-a-new-documentary/
http://www.oldbuckeye.com/prox/jazz.html
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/bert-jansch-rememered-neil-young-jimmy-page-tales/
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/led-zeppelins-10-boldest-rip-offs-223419/
https://www.vintageguitar.com/2898/john-paul-jones/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-pDYq2VpOQ
https://cosmicmagazine.com.au/news/robert-plant-discusses-little-known-led-zeppelin-influence-in-new-podcast/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/10400729/Robert-Plant-interview-Everyone-feels-the-blues-from-time-to-time.html
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129993435
http://johnbonham.co.uk/biography/biography.html