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Artist / Heroes,

Cream, Hendrix, the James Gang and the wah wah

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Posted by: Source Audio | Posted in: Artist / Heroes,

I was thinking today about some of the music I used to hear as a teenager - especially the songs that made me want to pick up the guitar in the first place.

It was so easy in the early to mid-1970's to be inspired by great music - and one of the chief reasons being that radio stations had such a varied mix of artists and genres.

I remember on KHJ, you could get motown, British Invasion, easy listening and bubblegum - that's everything from the Temptations to the Carpenters and the Beatles. A quick switch to KRLA on the FM dial, you could add in Hendrix, Steppenwolf, Led Zeppelin and Cream.

I had a reel to reel tape deck, and I would put the microphone right next to the speaker of my portable tube radio, and I could "burn" my own custom playlist.

I recall that the first songs I recorded were "Walk Away" by the James Gang, and "I'm So Glad", "White Room" and "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream.

I really had no idea who Joe Walsh and Eric Clapton were, but they sure made a lasting impression. I mean, can anyone really be more expressive on guitar than those two fellows?

I recently found this article, outlining a number of great Clapton riffs/solos with Cream:  http://www.guitarplayer.com/story.asp?sectioncode=5&storycode=14113

One part that always knocked me out was the ending solo in "White Room", after that tension-building 1 bar of slience, that explodes into that great wah wah fueled solo. I had no idea what that sound was, yet I was soon not only a budding guitarist, but interested in getting as many of those sound-making devices as I could.

The wah wah has been with us for 40 years - and it's sound is recognized by not just guitarists, but non-musicians as well. We've got to thank Eric for giving it perhaps it's first fingerprint on modern music.

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