I remember riding on route 76 with my Dad as we were on the way from New Jersey to the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in Ohio. I was just a teenager then, but taking that trip changed my life.
When we finally arrived to the enormous glass building, I was in awe. I got to see props from Pink Floyd's the Wall tour, countless famous guitars, lots of amazing pieces from their Woodstock exhibit, and so much more.
The most important part of the trip was the CD that my Dad got for me in the RnR HoF store. I had just started to pick up the guitar, and that day he got me a greatest hits disc of Jimi Hendrix.
I listened to that disc over and over on my Discman on the ride home. It had such a profound impact on me, and I would go on to listen to it for years to come.
Hendrix was my first real "guitar" CD. I couldn't believe what he was doing or how he played. It was the same way when a couple of years earlier I had picked up Pearl Jam's Ten on cassette. Mike McCready blew me away, and Pearl Jam would go on to become one of my favorite bands.
Around the same time I was introduced to two other giants of music in the same day by my Uncle. He showed me Images and Words by Dream Theater, and then he put on Stevie Ray Vaughan's Texas Flood.
In both cases I was floored at how Petrucci or SRV could play the way they played. These four albums laid some of the early groundwork for my own playing.
But I know my story! What about you? What was the first guitar album you ever heard? Let me know by reaching out on Twitter or Facebook.
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Photo: John Henderson / Creative Commons