DIGGING THE ROOTS
Chris and Ben on the players of the past who still inspire them
Ben: “We grew up with southern rock and country, it was such a big thing in our area and naturally it’s in our DNA. That’s the quilt we’re cut from, basically. But my parents also listened to The Beach Boys, Neil Diamond, Robert Palmer… I’m a huge Elvis fan, so his guitarist Scotty Moore ended up being my favourite of them all. He had the most notifiable sound, the one I can hear a mile away and know exactly who was playing. At the time, it was incredibly innovative… to be coming out in 1955 with a Gibson plugged into an amp playing rock’n’roll. It was very risqué music back then! Sure, it’s not the best guitar playing in the world. It’s raw and original, which is what I prefer. I love the old hymns and all that gospel music, especially Elvis’s take on it. Hetouchedme is one of my favourite songs of all time.”
Chris: “It’s difficult because it’s a toss-up between Steve Gaines or Allen Collins from Lynyrd Skynyrd. With Steve, it was all about the precision of his delivery. We’ve heard some of the isolated tracks of just him and the playing is pristine. Damn, that guy was perfectly clean – yet still extremely soulful. Listen to him on That Smell, the amp has little gain and he’s playing a Strat. I think I heard him first when we watched Freebird the movie, when they’re playing Knebworth in 1977 and Steve Gaines came out ripping it all to pieces, doing his own thing. The guy was a total beast! Allen Collins was a massive Clapton fan so there was a lot of Freddie King in there too, in many ways he’s my favourite, but actually I think the best Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist was hands-down Steve Gaines.”