Completely Conspicuous 441: Holding Out for a Guitar Hero

This week, it's part 1 of my conversation with author Greg Renoff as we discuss the rise and fall of the guitar hero. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Buy Greg's book Van Halen Rising at Amazon or get a signed copy from the Van Halen Store - Greg: As a kid, started playing stepfather's old acoustic guitar - An uncle got him into Hendrix, Clapton, Leslie West - Jay: First guitar hero was Jimmy Page - Zeppelin II was the gateway - Greg: Realized early that I'd never be able to play like Eddie VH - Jay: Played guitar on and off over the years, never seriously - Childhood friend plays in a Journey cover band - Greg: Guitar was a good way to blow off steam - Big band Hendrix? - Jay: Other early favorites were Pete Townshend and Dave Davies - The evolution of Clapton - Early '70s were marked by great players like Iommi, Blackmore and Michael Schenker - Jay: Got into Sabbath and Ozzy in the early '80s - Gary Moore was an underrated guitar monster - Building your music collection via music clubs - To be continued   Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.