7 Musicians You Can’t Live Without

In my "about me" post, I listed some of the bands and musicians I like to listen to. I decided to talk about them and describe what I like about the music they make.

The Doors

No matter what I've been listening to, I can always listen to The Doors and hear something interesting in one of their songs. By being very loose in the way they create music, the sounds that come from members of the band seem to be all on their own yet they always sound great together. Almost similar to listening to classical music, I can pick apart the different tracks while enjoying the songs.

Apparently, the group gets their name from the William Blake quote "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite". Whatever that means.

Led Zeppelin

A lot of what I like about The Doors, I like about Led Zeppelin. Contrasting instrumental tracks and driving rhythms with unique and changing sounds are real entertainment. Music shouldn't let me get bored. Robert Plant is always singing things with energy and variation, while Jimmy Paige plays sounds from all corners of his guitar. Led Zeppelin is always good to listen to, whatever the mood.

The contradicting name "Led Zeppelin" started as "Lead Balloon". Lead became Led because of the many other forms of lead, and Balloon became Zeppelin, because... well I guess it's just cooler that way.

Joe Walsh

When I tried to think of why I like listening to Joe Walsh so much, my brain said "stop it, you'll ruin everything!" Songs like "Ordinary Average Guy" and "Life's Been Good" are simply fun to hear and that is all. The singing is simple, the guitar is simple, and it's all good.

The James Gang (Joe Walsh's starting band) got its name from the outlaw Jesse James and his gang, who could probably fly just as well as a lead zeppelin.

Neil Young

Neil Young is an amazing singer, guitarist and songwriter. What he was able to create with just his voice and his guitar was perfect and will never get old. Few musicians incorporate such strong rhythms and pitch into their music. I'm also interested in his work with Crosby, Stills and Nash and Buffalo Springfield; his skills were valued.

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young was probably the most creative band name anyone could come up with at the time.

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Stevie Ray Vaughan is my favorite blues singer/guitarist. Unlike blues-like musicians before him, he stuck to the original style of blues music while developing his own personal style. His quick guitar licks are easily identifiable as his. He uses his voice to strongly communicate the words he's singing. The blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan are always good to listen to.

Stevie Ray Vaughan's backup band "Double Trouble" used to "The Triple Threat Revue", though in his solo career he wasn't known as "Single Danger".

Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash decided to do everything new and simple, and do it well. He found the perfect way to combine his low voice with low guitar that ended up creating music everyone can love.

Throughout his childhood, Johnny Cash used his first two initials "J. R." as his name but apparently J R was already taken by "J. R. R. Tolkien".

The Beatles

Do I really have to explain why I like The Beatles? I've heard a few people say they don't like The Beatles; my answer is that they haven't listened to enough of their music. The Beatles have created so many different types of music, and in each song they play it brilliantly. There are some of their songs I could do without but there are plenty of songs I definitely couldn't live without.

The Beatles went from "The Beatals" to "The Silver Beetles" to "The Beatles". Now no one knows how to spell the word beetle.