Even though he was a (gasp) GUITAR PLAYER, (sorry) Tommy Tedesco remains one of my favorite musicians of all time and one of my biggest influences.
You’ve been hearing Tommy all your life. He played on 100s of movie and television soundtracks and 100s of Top10 Hits. Ever watch “M*A*S*H”? Tommy. How about “Bonanza”? Tommy. “The Waltons”? “Airport”? “The Deep”? “Jaws”? “Jaws II”? All the Indiana Jones movies? Tommy. Virtually ANY movie, or TV show from A-Z. All Tommy.
OK, how about recording artists? From Elvis to Stevie to Frank (BOTH of them) to Cher to Tina to The Ventures to Barbara to …. well, you get the idea. Name it, Tommy probably did the date. As a member of the famous “Wrecking Crew“, Tommy played on thousands of sessions for everybody.
But, that’s not why he such an influence. Tommy Tedesco’s attitude, professionalism, musicality, technical skill and most of all, sense of humor, have made a huge impact on me. I read Tommy Tedesco, Confessions of a Guitar Player regularly and love every word. I also go back and reading the pile of columns that I saved from his “Studio Log” series in “Guitar Player” magazine. The man was hilarious… and genius.
I highly recommend any or all of his books: For Guitar Players Only, Anatomy of a Guitar Player, and Confessions of a Guitar Player; An Autobiography. All are available from Amazon.
When I wear my black Greek Fisherman’s hat, it’s not only because I’m a sailor, but also in honor of Tommy and what he’s taught’s me. Tommy’s gone, but we can still enjoy his playing and learn from him everyday.
Enjoy this video of him performing at The Musician’s Institute in 1985….