- EDDIE VAN HALEN
This might seem weird,
but pre-punk Armstrong was
a hard-rock nut and asked his
guitar teacher how to play the
pinched harmonics in Ain’t Talking
‘Bout Love. Shredding wasn’t
his bag, but the technique
stuck with Armstrong adopting
a thumb-heavy right-hand
pick grip to this day. - BOB DYLAN
Taking a complex social issue
and turning it into a simple,
accessible song, easily articulated
on an acoustic, is something that
Armstrong surely took from
Dylan – who won the Nobel Prize
for Literature on the back of his
lyrics. That urgent immediacy is
all over Green Day’s more
political compositions.
2.CHUCKBERRY
JohnnyB. Goodewasthefirst
songArmstrongeverlearned,
andGreenDaycoveredit and
referencedit onRevolutionRadio.
AlongsideElvis’sprodigiously
talentedsix-stringerScotty
Moore,Berrywasa hugeinfluence
onArmstrong.If youwereto
parse punk’s DNA, you’d find
traces of his spare,
aggressive licks.- JOHNNY RAMONE
The Ramones’ breezy four-on-
the-floor eighth-note blitz is all
over Green Day’s style. Proto-
pop-punk? Maybe, but more
melancholic and damaged.
Armstrong has performed at
Johnny Ramone tribute shows
and cites him alongside Johnny
Thunders, the Sex Pistol’s
Steve Jones, and Paul Weller
as source material.
Photo:Lex van Rossen/MAI/RedfernsTOTAL GUITAR MARCH 202060
BLITZKRIEG
BILLIE!
10 PLAYERS BEHIND
THE GREEN DAY
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