Cliff Gallup

Clifton E. "Cliff" Gallup (June 17, 1930 - October 9, 1988) was an American electric guitarist, who played rock and roll in Gene Vincent's band The Blue Caps in the 1950s. In February 1956, local radio DJ "Sheriff Tex Davis" (aka William Douchette, 1914-2007) heard Gene Vincent performing at a talent show in Norfolk, Virginia, became his manager, and put together a band of local musicians to back him. These included Gallup, who had previously played in a local band called The Virginians, and who was older than Vincent and the other band members. In May 1956, the band recorded in Nashville, Tennessee. Producer Ken Nelson had session musicians standing by in case the band was not up to par, but as soon as Gallup played the solos on "Race with...

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Chuck Berry

Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry (born October 18, 1926) is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and considered one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958), Chuck Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive, with lyrics focusing on teen life and consumerism and utilizing guitar solos and showmanship that would be a major influence on subsequent rock music. Born into a middle class family in St. Louis, Missouri, Berry had an interest in music from an early age and gave his first public performance at Sumner High School. While still a high school student...

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Chris DeGarmo

Chris DeGarmo (born Christopher Lee DeGarmo, June 14, 1963, in Wenatchee, Washington) is an American heavy metal and hard rock guitarist. He co-founded Queensrÿche in 1981 and played with the group during their most commercially successful period. Since departing from the band, DeGarmo has continued his involvement in the music business in a much smaller capacity. He is now a professional charter pilot. Career DeGarmo is best known for his seventeen-year tenure (1981-1998) as a lead and rhythm guitarist in the progressive metal band Queensrÿche. He was a founding member of the Seattle/Bellevue-based band, and together with fellow guitarist Michael Wilton and vocalist Geoff Tate, was largely responsible for writing the band’s intricate compositions....

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Carlos Santana

Carlos Augusto Selva Santana Ph.D. (born July 20, 1947) is a Mexican American rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion. The band's sound featured his melodic, blues-based guitar lines set against Latin and African rhythms featuring percussion instruments such as timbales and congas not generally heard in rock music. Santana continued to work in these forms over the following decades. He experienced a resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 1990s. Rolling Stone named Santana number 15 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in 2003. He has won 10 Grammy Awards and 3 Latin Grammy Awards. Biography Early life Santana...

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Carl Perkins

Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998) was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954. His best known song is "Blue Suede Shoes". According to Charlie Daniels, "Carl Perkins' songs personified the rockabilly era, and Carl Perkins' sound personifies the rockabilly sound more so than anybody involved in it, because he never changed." Perkins' songs were recorded by artists (and friends) as influential as Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Johnny Cash, which further cemented his place in the history of popular music. Called "the King of Rockabilly", he was inducted into the Rock and Roll, the Rockabilly, and the Nashville Songwriters Halls...

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Buckethead

Brian Carroll (born May 13, 1969), better known by his stage name Buckethead, is a virtuoso guitarist, and multi instrumentalist who encompasses several genres of music. He has released 30 studio albums, four special releases and an EP as of 2010. He has performed on over 50 more albums by other artists. His music spans such diverse areas as progressive metal, funk, blues, jazz, bluegrass, ambient, and avant-garde music. When performing in his theatrical persona, Buckethead used to wear a KFC bucket on his head, emblazoned with an orange bumper sticker that reads FUNERAL in capital black block letters, and an expressionless plain white costume mask. More recently, he has switched to a plain white bucket no longer bearing the KFC logo. He also...

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