Thin Lizzy Family Tree

October 12, 2023 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.

Thin Lizzy are a very influential rock / hard rock band. They even occasionally dabbled in heavy metal. Phil Lynott was the bassist and vocalist as well as at differing times being the primary writer. Him and drummer Brian Downey were the only consistent members that lasted until the death of Phil in 1983. Since that time the band has remained active essentially as a tribute band. Because Phil died young some of his influences will be from second hand sources as original sources are limited, but the difference will be noted.
Starting with the first album the band consisted of Phil, Brian, and guitarist Eric Bell for their first three albums. After that time the band switched to a four piece consisting of Scott Gorham on guitar, who has been the only consistent member since that time, and on second guitar was Brian Robertson for five studio albums. Gary Moore was in for one album, and Snowy White was then in the band for two. Finally John Sykes filled the second guitar role for the final Thin Lizzy album. The final two albums also saw an additional role in the band with Darren Wharton on keyboard.

Note: I’ve seen several guitar player mention that they didn’t receive as many writing credits as they probably deserved, some more bitter about it than others. Each have some credits to them though.

Phase One

Phase one of Thin Lizzy consists of the first three albums on which the band played as a three piece with Eric Bell.

Django Reinhardt

Max Roach

Buddy Rich

Elvin Jones

Elvis has been dubbed the king of rock and roll. He is said to be an influence on Phil

Roy Orbison

The Shadows were the backing band of Cliff Richards and would eventually be an instrumental rock band. Eric and Gary both named Hank Marvin as his first influence. Snowy named them as the first band he was listening to before hearing Clapton.

Wes Montgomery

Curtis Mayfield

Joe Pass was a jazz guitarist who collaborated with many other notable jazz players. Eric named him as an influence.

The Animals was a blues based rock band. Phil named their version of “House of the Rising Sun” as an influence.

The Yardbirds had a slew of important guitar players come out of the band, such as Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Eric named them as an influence. Gary named Jeff Beck with the Yardbirds as an influence.

Johnny Kid and The Pirates

The Kinks where a rock band he receive a lot of credit for the distortion on their hit “You Really Got Me”. Downey named them as an influence.

The Mamas & The Papas were a folk/pop band. They are said to have been an influence on Phil

The Rolling Stones are among the biggest bands to come out of the 60’s Downey named them as an influence. Scott is a huge fan.

Jimi Hendrix is one of the most revolutionary and influential guitarists of his day. He is said to have ben an influence on Phil. Gary also named Hendrix as an influence.

Van Morrison

Jeff Beck is one of the early guitar legends with his Jeff Beck Group. Phil named their album *Beck-Ola* as an influence. In particular he named Rod Stewart as a vocal influence and said he thought Stewart’s voice had really improved for this album. Scott is a huge fan.

Sly and The Family Stone were a Soul / Funk group. Phil was a fan.

Billy Cobham was an influential jazz and progressive rock drummer. Downey named him as a favorite.

Heads, Hands, & Feet were a British country rock band. Phil named Chas Hodges as an influence on his bass playing.

Phase Two

Phase Two of Thin Lizzy saw a change from a three piece band to a four piece with two guitar players. This phase consists of Scott Gorham on guitar along side guitarists Brian Robertson for five studio albums, Gary Moore was in for one album, and Snowy White for another two.

B. B. King is a blues great. Robertson named him as a player he admires. Gary also names him as an influence.

Freddie King

Otis Rush

Dick Dale

Albert King

John McLaughlin

Albert Collins

John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers are an important blues / blues rock band featuring many important players. Gary named Eric Clapton Peter Green, and Mick Taylor with John Mayall as influences. Snowy said when he first hear Clapton with John Mayall that was what he wanted to play like.

Fleetwood Mac were a blues based rock band. Scott said he is a big fan and their stuff with Peter Green

Free were a blues based rock band. Scott named Paul Kossoff as an influence.

ZZ Top are a big blues rock band. Robertson said he was a big fan after discovering them on tour through Texas.

Return to Forever were a jazz fusion band. Gary named Bill Connors as an influence.

Rush are an influential progressive hard rock band. Downey named Neil Peart as a favorite drummer although Thin Lizzy was active prior to rush or Neil’s joining of the band.

Vinnie Colaiuta

Phase Three

Phase Three of Thin Lizzy like phase two adds a change in the band structure with the addition of keyboardist Darren Wharton. He joins for the final two Lizzy albums, and is a prominent writer on the final. The final album again sees a change in the second guitar spot, adding John Sykes. John, previously in Tygers of Pan Tang, was quite a bit younger than other guitarists of the band and his influence reflect that of a younger generation.

Ritchie Blackmore

Pink Floyd are one of the more well known progressive rock bands. Darren named them as an influence.

Genesis were a big progressive rock band. Darren is a fan.

Led Zeppelin are one of the most important hard rock bands to exist. John named Jimmy Page as an influence.

UFO are an important hard rock band. John named guitarist Michael Schenker as an influence.

Steely Dan were a soft rock / Rock band. Darren named them as an influence.

Scorpions were among the earliest heavy metal bands and teetered between hard rock and heavy metal over the years. John named Uli Roth as an influence as well as Michael Schenker who filled the same lead guitar spot in the band a different times. In particular he named *Virgin Killer and Taken By Force*, both Uli albums.

John named Gary Moore (yes, previously also of Thin Lizzy) as an influence on him.

In previous bands Phil played covers from The Beatles, The Byrds, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Free, and Jeff Beck.

Phil mentioned Slade having great live shows when they toured together. He didn’t specifically mention their music as an influence, but praised their state performance.

Brian Downey’s earliest influence was from his dad who was the drummer in a local pipe band when he was younger and was a lover of jazz. He said back then all he had was radio which played Irish jig music, dance bands, plus a little pop and also crooners. He also had an older cousin who lived with them and through heard country and western. He first wanted to play after hearing stuff like Elvis Presley, Billy Fury, Cliff Richard, The Shadows, Hank Williams. Then there was the Beatles which had a big impact.

Eric is influenced by Jeff Beck according to Downy. Eric didn’t name him directly, but did name the Yardbirds.

Eric says he first fell in love with music listening to classical music as a kid. He said eh first wanted to play guitar after hearing Lonnie Donegan. He also said he is influenced by some Rockabilly.

Scott’s real love of music came from the British invasion, so much so it was the reason he moved there.

Brian Robertson first began as a classically trained pianist for eight years before picking up guitar. He says he’s not a fan of flashy players like Hendrix. He mentions being a fan of ZZ Top, after discovering on tour in through Texas. He said he admires guys like B. B. King. I have seen other blues guitarists as his influences, but have not been able to corroborate them.

Gary named some favorite songs which are all songs by his noted influences with the exception of “Sarah” from the first Thin Lizzy album.

Darren was classically trained on piano as a kid.

John said Think Lizzy was one of his all time favorite bands prior to joining them.

Bands influenced by Thin Lizzy!

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

Bay Area Thrash Legends

Dio needs introduction, several of his guitar players were influenced by Lizzy

Grindcore to Death Metal to Melodic Death

eclectic heavy metal with a melodic death root

Sources:

https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/1353355/Phil-Lynott-Thin-Lizzy-influences-Elvis-Presley-Jimi-Hendrix-Van-Morrison-Phil-Lynott-doc
https://www.loudersound.com/features/phil-lynott-birth-of-a-legend
https://geirmykl.wordpress.com/2022/05/24/article-about-phil-lynott-thin-lizzy-from-new-musical-express-april-21-1973/
https://blues.gr/m/blogpost?id=1982923%3ABlogPost%3A488526
https://www.musicconnection.com/in-the-box-eric-bells-thin-lizzy-journey/
https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2022/11/thin-lizzy-eric-bell-interview.html
http://www.thinlizzy.org/brian_d.html
https://www.hotpress.com/opinion/happy-birthday-brian-downey-revisiting-a-classic-interview-22889009
https://www.loudersound.com/features/scott-gorham-and-brian-downey-life-with-thin-lizzy-and-the-phil-lynott-we-knew
https://glidemagazine.com/234573/scott-gorham-of-black-star-riders-and-thin-lizzy-shares-stories-on-lynott-kossoff-new-lp-interview/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea-C83L8FWY
https://geirmykl.wordpress.com/2019/04/01/article-about-brian-robertson-thin-lizzy-from-sounds-september-28-1974/
https://www.goldminemag.com/features/brian-robertson-happily-exists-out-of-the-spotlight
http://rockandrollgarage.com/guitarist-gary-moore-and-the-13-musicians-that-inspired-him-the-most/
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/gary-moore-favourite-songs/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osWvZX3ZzNc
https://www.rockpages.gr/dare/
https://web.archive.org/web/20080410173028/http://www.johnsykes.com/AtomicInterview.htm
https://www.metalexpressradio.com/2008/01/28/interview-with-john-sykes-thin-lizzy/

Uriah Heep Family Tree

September 12, 2023 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.

Uriah Heep have had a long career. Their sound is not without evolution but generally they might be categorized as Progressive Hard Rock. In the early days they even dabbled in Early Heavy Metal along side some of the earliest of the genera. Although some members have had very long stints in the band, guitarist Mick Box is the only member to be in the band since the beginning. David Byron was the vocalist for the early albums. He was co-founder along with Mick and remained in the band till 1976; he shared in at least some writing credits on every album but his last. Ken Hensley with Uriah Heep through 1980. He played keyboard, guitar, did backing vocals and occasional lead. He was a primary contributor to the writing and on some albums wrote nearly everything. Lee Kerslake was on drums starting on their 4th album and remained one of the longest running members of the band with writing credits on most albums. In 1976 Trevor Bolder joined on bass and was a contributing member for his very long stay in the band.
At a time there was a big line-up shift in Urhia heep following the return of Lee after his stint with Ozzy. Lee and Mick were joined by Bob Daisley on bass, John Sinclair on keys, and Peter Goalby on vocals this line up would do two albums before it began to change again with Trevor returning for what would have been the third. This line up would all contribute to writing during that time.
Following that line up, vocalist Bernie Shaw and keyboardist Phil Lanzon joined for their 1989 album Raging Silence. They have remained in the band ever since. In that time Bernie only has two writing credits, but Lanzon became a prominent writer.

Phase one

Phase one of Uriah Heep is marked by the the time The time David Byron was on vocals

Django Reinhardt

Les Paul and Mary Ford

Tal Farlow

Barney Kessel

Bill Haley and His Comets

Bill Haley was one of the earliest adopters of rock ‘n’ roll. Ken named him as an influence.

Eddie Cochran

The Everly Brothers were a rock ‘n’ roll duo known for their vocal harmonization. David named them as one of his favorites.

Buddy Holly

Ray Charles

Billy “Crash” Craddock

Billy Craddock was a poppy country / rockabilly singer. Ken named him as an influence.

Wes Montgomery

Johnny Kidd & The Pirates

John McLaughlin

Paco de Lucía

Them was a 60’s British rock band. Mick said seeing them live with singer Van Morrison was a big reason he picked up guitar.

The Kinks were a big deal for advancing a harder sound in rock with their hit “Your Really Got Me” Mick said they were an inspiration.

Small Faces were a British rock band. The had an influence on Mick, he said him and David copied their look after seeing them.

The Who brought rock in a harder direction. Ken said seeing them got him into harder rock. Trevor said there was bit of influence from John Entwistle.

Vanilla Fudge were an important psychedelic rock band. Mick said they influenced them to incorporate the hammond organ. Lee named Drummer Carmine Appice as an influence.

The move was rock based band changing style a bit as they progressed. Mick is a fan.

Jeff Beck is considered one of the best guitar players to come out of the 60’s. Mick said if he had a guitar hero, it would be Jeff Beck. Lee named drummer Cozy Powell. Ronnie Wood was one of Bob’s favorite players.

Led Zeppelin are fathers of hard rock and hugely important. David said he liked them and probably drew some influence from them. Lee named Bonham as an influence. Bob named Led Zeppelin as an influence

Al Di Meola

Phase One 1/2

Phase 1/2 continues following Uriah Heep’s fourth album with the addition of drummer Lee Kerslake as well as two stints on bass from Gary Thain, and John Welton, both of who’s influences are unknown.

Buddy Rich

Aynsley Dunbar

Deep Purple were and an important early hard rock band and later heavy metal dabblers. Deep Purple were not directly named and although older might be considered more of peers to Uriah Heep, but Lee named drummer Ian Paice as an influence for which he is best known for his time in Deep Purple. Rather or not Lee was familiar with Ian’s previous work is unknown, but the two bands also toured together early on and Lee could have taken influence during that time affecting his later playing.

Cozy Powell has played for many band including some already on this list such as the Jeff Beck Group and later played in Rainbow. He is one of Lee’s influences.

Phase Two

Phase two of Uriah Heep is marked by the departure of David Byron replaced by Lucifer’s Friend vocalist John Lawton. It is also marked by the joining of Trevor Bolder on bass. It adds additional influence new to the mix.

Sonny Boy Williamson

Cream are an important psychedelic blues rock band. Trevor named Jack Bruce as a huge influence and said he would play along with all of his records. He first saw him playing with Graham Bond and Ginger Baker prior to the formation of Cream, but was blown away by his work with Cream. Jack Bruce was one of Bob’s favorite players.

John Mayall’s blues band at one time featured John McVie on bass which Trevor named as an influence. Lee named Aynsley Dunbar as an influence.

Phase 3

This is phase is marked by the return of Lee on drums after his time with Ozzy and the addition of Bob Daisley on bass, John Sinclair on keys, and Peter Goalby on vocals. It adds additional influence new to the mix.

James Jamerson was a session bassists for many Motown bands. He is one of Bob’s influences.

Dusty Springfield was a soul/pop singer. Peter named her as an influence.

Tom Jones

The Walker Brothers

The Nice were a progressive rock band featuring keyboardist Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake, & Palmer fame. John Sinclair named them as an influence.

Jethro Tull were progressive rock known for their front man playing the flute. Bob named them as an influence.

Yes were an influential progressive rock band. John Sinclair and Phil Lanzon named them as an influence.

King Crimson were an important progressive rock band. John Sinclair named them as an influence.

Faces was a blues rock band with at one time Ronnie Lane on bass who was an influence on Bob.

Bassists Boz Burrell of the rock band Bad Company was an influence of Bob.

Jaco Pastorius was a jazz bassist who besides his solo work also was in the jazz fusion band Weather Report. He is a favorite of Bob.

Phase 4

Phase 4 begins with the addition of Brian Shaw on vocals, and Phil Lanzon on keyboards.

Uriah Heep became an influence on itself as Phil said he draws inspiration from older Uriah Heep when writing new material.

Styx was progressive rock band later more pop rock. Phil named them as an inspiration.

Journey started as a progressive rock band and later was popular to more pop rock / arena rock songs. Phil named them as an inspiration.

Genesis is an influential progressive rock band. Phil named them as an influence.

Mick first guitar guitar teacher Allan Hodgkins played second to Django Reinhardt.

David says he liked 50’s and 60’s rock ‘n’ roll. He said he didn’t model himself after anyone in particular, but all things things he liked probably had subconscious influence.

Bassist Paul Newton was on the first few albums with writing credits on the first. I’m unsure of his influences.

Ken named Elvis as making him want to play music and named Cliff Richard as someone he listened to early on. He said in his first few bands he the guys he played with got him more into blues.

Mark Clarke was bassist for Demons and Wizards and had one co-writing credit. Otherwise he didn’t have significant influence on the sound of Uriah Heep, so I won’t include his influences here.

Gary Thain was on bass for four albums and had writing credits on 3 of the 4. I’m unsure of his influences.

John Wetton was on bass for two albums with co-writing credits on two songs. His influences are not noted here as his time and contributions to the band was minimal.

A musician named Jack Williams wrote some songs for and with Mick an a couple albums, but was never part of the band.

John Lawton formerly of Lucifer’s Friend fame, sung on three albums but has minimal writing credits. (his influences will be covered under Lucifer’s Friend if that tree is ever made)

Trevor Bolder started with brass instruments like trumpet and played in brass bands as a kid before discovering The Beatles. After that him and his brothers were inspired to start a rock band and he picked up bass guitar. His bass influence primarily didn’t come from The Beatles, but from blues players and mainly the of 30’s and 40’s. He notably played with David Bowie for several albums. Two of songs Trevor brought to the band were co-written with Pete McDonald whom was not a member of the band but a musical associate of Trevor.

Bob learned to play bass by playing along to his sister’s rock and roll albums from The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Ricky Nelson, and Elvis. Later there was The Beatles and Rolling Stones. (citation for Bob’s influences are linked on Ozzy’s family Tree)

John Sinclair played keyboard for three albums and has writing credits on each. He says he has a classical influence but doesn’t name specifics. He also named progressive rock in general with some more specific bands which are noted above.

Bernie Shaw has been on vocals since 1989, but has contributed little to writing. He mentions singing to The Beatles, Cream, and The Kinks as a kid.

Phil Lanzon began piano lessons at 8 years old. He says he had classical influence. He doesn’t name specifics. Phil studied harmony, counterpoint and composition at the Guildhall school of Music and Drama. He says he always draws influence from Uriah Heep when writing new material, but was not into Uriah Heep before joining.

Simon J. Pinto is a session musician who has writing credits on 2023’s Chaos and Colour. He did not perform on the album though, and I’m unsure in what capacity who wrote as he plays multiple instruments.

Bands influenced by Uriah Heep!

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

Sources:

https://www.musicradar.com/news/uriah-heeps-mick-box-i-try-to-stay-away-from-the-scales-and-just-go-with-my-heart
https://www.loudersound.com/features/uriah-heeps-mick-box-10-records-that-changed-my-life
https://defendersofthefaithmetal.com/mick-box-uriah-heep-interview/
https://houseontherock.avevita.net/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,print,0&cntnt01articleid=2&cntnt01showtemplate=false&cntnt01returnid=67
https://geirmykl.wordpress.com/tag/david-byron/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MCatj1h9jw
(A Ken Hensly 2016 radio interview was previously on youtube, but has since been removed)
https://bobdaisley.com/interview/the-fuze-lee-kerslake#:~:text=My%20major%20influence%20was%20John,really%20get%20on%20the%20beat.
https://dmme.net/interviews/bolder
https://vwmusicrocks.com/2021/11/22/an-interview-with-peter-goalby-of-trapeze-uriah-heep/#:~:text=Who%20were%20some%20of%20your,Walker%20Brothers%2C%20and%20The%20Beatles.
https://50gigsinaday.home.blog/interviews/interview-with-john-sinclair-uriah-heepozzy/
https://dmme.net/interviews/shaw
https://www.thegreatfroglondon.com/us/blog/interview-uriah-heeps-phil-lanzon/
https://www.phillanzonwordsandmusic.com/about#:~:text=Lanzon%20married%2C%20started%20a%20family,direction%20he%20would%20head%20towards.
https://bobdaisley.com/interview/the-fuze-lee-kerslake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRIPJYR6hSQ&t=249s

AC/DC Family Tree

November 16, 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.

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

Deep Purple Family Tree

August 11, 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.

Deep Purple have been hugely influential on metal music although they have only played a limited amount of metal songs being more rock/hard rock band. Because we don’t consider Deep Purple a metal band and because only their classic line ups have been influential to metal this list of influences will only focus on the classic line up (1970-1975). Ritchie Blackmore is one of the most influential guitar players on metal and the same can be said about John Lord on keys, Ian Paice on drums, Ian Gillan and Glenn Hughes on vocals. We will not focus on David Coverdale because I haven’t seen him named as an influence by any metal bands although I will revisit this list if that becomes the case in the future. I haven’t seen Roger Glover listed as an influence by anyone but we will still look at him because he had a hand in the classic Deep Purple sound. Deep Purple have very diverse influences ranging from many style of music.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Antonio Vivaldi

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Ludwig van Beethoven

Beethoven is probably the most well known classical composer. He is one of Jon’s classical influences.

Frédéric Chopin

Chopin was a classical pianist and composer. He was one of Jon’s classical influences.

Franz Liszt

Fraz was a Romantic period pianist, and composer among other things. He is one of Jon’s “classical” influences.

Enrico Caruso

Django Reinhardt

Les Paul

Oscar Peterson

Ella Fitzgerald was a jazz/swing/ classic pop singer. She was an influence on Gillan.

Gene Krupa

One of the most important rock and roll stars, Little Richard had an influence on both Jon, and Gillan from both his singing and piano playing. Paice said LIttle Richard’s band was probably the greatest rock n roll band.

Little Walter

Dave Brubeck

Buddy Rich

Scotty Moore

Elvis the dubbed “the king of rock n roll” by many, was an influence in Gillan.

Tommy Steele

Cliff Gallup

Jimmy Smith

Who? Ricky or Rick Nelson was basically a 50’s teen idol who played rock n roll, country, pop, basically a 1950’s Justin Bieber. Not so much of an influence as Ritchie just strait up stole the riff he would use for “Black Night”

Ray Charles was pioneer of Soul music and an influence on Gillan.

Big Jim Sullivan

Nero and the Gladiators

Cliff Bennett and The Rebel Rousers were a British R&B group. Ian Gillan said he spent the next 30 years trying to get his voice to sound like Cliff Bennett after seeing them.

The Shadows were the backing band for Cliff Richards before being an instrumental rock band. They one of the most important and under mentioned bands for the creation of heavy metal being both an influence on Ritchie as well as Tony Iommi. Both we… — The Shadows were the backing band for Cliff Richards before being an instrumental rock band. They one of the most important and under mentioned bands for the creation of heavy metal being both an influence on Ritchie as well as Tony Iommi. Both were influenced by Hank Marvin of The Shadows.

Wes Montgomery

Jerry Lee Lewis was a rock n roll singer/piano player. He had a huge influence on Jon being the first rock n roll he heard.

James Brown is the king of funk and an influence of Gillan.

Bob Dylan

Dusty Springfield was a pop singer in the 60’s. She was an influence on Gillan.

The who was one of the first bands to move rock into a harder sound. Ritchie named them as an influence. He said hearing them let the guitars feed back was an eye opener for him. He also said Pete Townshends style of writing is what made him want to… — The who was one of the first bands to move rock into a harder sound. Ritchie named them as an influence. He said hearing them let the guitars feed back was an eye opener for him. He also said Pete Townshends style of writing is what made him want to write his own stuff.

Ritchie named Mike Bloomfield of The Paul Butterfield Blues band as an influence on him.

Graham Bond

One of the most influential guitar players of all time Jimi Hendrix was playing a flashy blues rock / psychedelic style. Blackmore has written riffs inspired by Hendrix.

Cream was one of the heaviest bands around prier to heavy metal, playing a hard blues rock / psychedelic rock. Ritchie wrote riffs inspired by Eric Clapton. Jack Bruce was an influence on Roger.

Vanilla Fudge was a psychedelic band in the late 60’s. When Deep Purple started to take a heavier approach, they were a big influence on Ritchie, Paice, and Jon.

Jeff Beck is one of the influential guitarists that got a start in the Yardbirds before starting his own band. Ritchie named Jeff as his idol.

Shuggie Otis

Led-Zeppelin is more of a peer to Deep Purple, but Ritchie said after hearing the first Zeppelin album the band decided to go in a heavier direction.

Mountain with guitarist influential guitarist Leslie West was another band that was big influence on Ritchie as Deep Purple moved to a heavier sound.

Ritchie named a lot of country guitar players as being really good but didn’t name them as direct influences. These include Jimmy Bryant, Chet Atkins, Glen Campbell, and Buck Owens & The Buckeroos. He would do the same for blues players Peter Green with John Mayall, B.B. King and Mick Taylor who played with both John Mayall and The Rolling Stones.

Jon Lord played classical piano till he was 18. In an interview in 1989 he said he was going back to re-learn classical stuff that is noted above. I keep seeing Jimmy McGriff and Jack McDuff listed as influences but I haven’t’ seen any sources to back this up yet.

Ian Paice, besides what is noted above he is also influenced by Bobby Elliot of The Hollies.

Ian Gillan came from a musical family and was exposed to a verity of styles. He first got into rock n roll after hearing “Heartbreak Hotel.” He said he is influenced by a lot of blues singers like Sonny Boy Williamson but there are two blues singers that went by the name and he did not specify which one. Before being in Deep Purple he sung in a harmony group and is a big fan of the Beach Boys.

Roger says he is more influenced by writers than players. He said even though he has a lot of respect for someone like Jaco Pastorius he prefers good song writers even if they are not technically as proficient.

Rodger Glover’s bass influences include many motown players. He says he wrote the riff to Maybe I’m A Leo after hearing John Lennon’s “How Do You Sleep”.

Bands influenced by Deep Purple!

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

The influential Michael Schenker named Deep Purple as an influence.

Scorpions of one of many bands with a vocalist influenced by Gillan.

The Metal Gods

Out of the NWOBHM, Iron Maiden are one of the most influential bands.

If you don’t know Ozzy, I don’t know how to help you.

Deep Purple were the once named as Ronnie’s favorite band as well as them influencing members of his band.

Hugely influential thrash masters

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l22yOjWthGI
https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-real-rock-roll-hall-of-fame-ritchie-blackmore
https://www.newsweek.com/ritchie-blackmore-deep-purple-rainbow-blackmores-night-539420
https://guitar.com/features/ritchie-blackmore-recalls-life-deep-purple/
https://www.vintageguitar.com/32424/ritchie-blackmore-3/
https://noisecreep.com/deep-purple-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame/
https://www.chrissjuicebar.com/portfolio-items/ian-gillanlead-singer-songwriter-and-lyricist-for-deep-purple-one-of-the-most-influential-artists-of-hard-rock-and-heavy-metal/
https://www.thehighwaystar.com/interviews/lord/jl19890100.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM7TidriOz4
https://www.thehighwaystar.com/interviews/paice/ip199812xx.html
https://pearldrum.com/artists/drumset-artists/ian-paice
https://www.rogerglover.com/bass-players-question-time/personal/