r/holyshit

The Groundhogs, were an influential British blues-rock band formed in 1963. Fronted by guitarist Tony McPhee.

Evolving from a blues foundation, they transitioned into progressive-oriented hard rock in the early 1970s. Known for a heavy, distorted guitar sound, and a power trio format that produced 1970s hits. Like split and Who Will Save the World?,

The Groundhogs sold a lot of records in the early 70s: after supporting the Rolling Stones on their 1971 UK tour, they found themselves subsequently filling the same venues as headliners.

But to the end of his life, McPhee maintained that the highlight of his career wasn’t their run of Top 10 albums but the time he had spent in the 60s as a sideman with John Lee Hooker.

He downplayed his shift from playing straight blues to something more experimental as merely a matter of pragmatism – “to keep the Groundhogs working and recording” when the late 60s blues boom began to wane – which didn’t really account for how far out he was prepared to take his music.

He was also stubborn, (clearly he hadn’t been nicknamed Tough Shit for nothing). Happy to follow his muse into waters, that alienated the Groundhogs’ growing following. Fans enticed by the furious power, of Split’s most famous track "cherry red".

"I basicly took the classic blues, and added hard rock. It wasn't my intention, i just wanted to blow everybodys mind. And in the 70s teenagers expected more than in the 60s."

Mississippi Queen" appears at number 10, on a 1995 chronological list of the "50 Heaviest Riffs of All Time" by Guitar magazine editorial staff.

Author Scott R. Benarde describes the song as "an enduring anthem", with a "guitar riff that sounded like a carnivore choking on dinner".

The song is ranked 230th in The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time by biographer Martin Popoff.

It also appears at number 10 on the Ultimate Classic Rock 2011 list of the "Top 10 Southern Rock Songs".

Spin magazine described it as "the cowbell jam to end all cowbell jams. Mountain are to the cowbell what Dostoevsky is to the Russian novel". Naming it number one on its 2004 list of the "Fifteen Greatest Cowbell Songs of All Time".

Ozzy Osbourne recorded "Mississippi Queen" for his 2005 album Under Cover, with a guest appearance by West on guitar. The song reached number 10 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

Leslie west called himself the great fatsby, standing 5'10 and weighed 350 lbs at his heaviest. "At one point all i ate was burgers with fries and chocolate donuts. I abused alcohol and heroin too, i looked like s*** and felt like s***."

"when i was in 8th grade i bullied skinny girls, the reason being that i was one of them but didn't want to see it. It's easier to attack others, for having the same issues. Rather than changing i had an eating disorder."

And after i became a big blogger, and youtuber i became very arrogant and egocentric. I remember saying to my parents, that they could retire. Because i had soooo much money, and my dad took me to the basement."

"He slapped me very hard, and said that he's f'g tired of my attitude. And the principal had called them, about me bullying an autistic kid. He actually grabbed my ponytail, and pulled me up to my bedroom."

"And like most teenagers i started crying and whining, playing the victim. And he lifted up his hand, and i sat down on my bed. My mom came in and said they are disappointed. That money and fame dosen't make me better than them."

"So basicly i was a skinny b***h, that bullied people because i hated myself. And i blamed my sponsors, for making me addicted to makeup. But who signed the contracts?, who shaked their hand?."

"Who said that money sounds great? oh yes me. The hypocrite blaming others, thankfully i grew up. So this is my brutal story, i hope young girls can learn to avoid ED. And the feeling of needing makeup from they are 12."

"The chronic insomnia started when i was 11, spending a long time falling asleep. I still have it and coffee since 17 has made my days way easier (laughs)."

"I remember in 1991 I’d been asking him for months, to put a radio in my car but he’d been too disorganised or drunk to sort it out. So I asked my bodyguard Dave to do it."

"When Dad heard me asking Dave, he just flipped. He went crazy and started attacking me."

“I told him he’d regret it for the rest of his life if he hit me again but he just carried on and on."

“I was already on the floor curled up hiding in the corner and covering my face when he started kicking me and screaming, ‘You look like your f***ing mother. You’re just like her."

“I thought he was going to kill me and begged him to stop. When I tried to get up he kicked me so hard in the stomach it winded me and he wouldn’t stop."

“My little sister Vanessa heard what was going on and jumped on his back to get him off me. She was only 18 and saw our father behave like a madman."

“I crawled out from the front door, then he threw his duty free bottle of vodka at my head and kept shouting, ‘I’m supposed to be the one helping you, not Dave.’”

With two fractured ribs, a gash to her forehead, a black eye and her hair matted with blood, Sam stumbled into the street where she was told by a neighbour not to call the police, as it would ruin her father’s life.

Instead Sam returned to collect her belongings the following day, and encountered a broken man.

“I’d never seen my dad cry, not even at funerals. He used to keep everything inside and it was the first time I’d ever seen him break down,” she recalls.

“He said he loved me and wanted me to forgive him and for us to carry on like before but I told him I’d had enough.”

She discovered that her father, had not paid tax on her earnings for several years. And had embezzled millions of pounds, most of which had gone on alcohol and cocaine.

Despite this double betrayal – and even though she barely spoke to him before he died in 2000 – she has forgiven him and feels his behaviour was driven by his addiction and difficult childhood

“I thought about how his ­impoverished upbringing and alcoholism caused his behaviour, and that’s what I blamed it all on. I felt sorry for him really but that’s the only way I could make sense of it all."

“If he’d been sober when the attack had happened it would have been a different story. But alcohol will make a good man turn bad."

The band is best known for Marino's soaring lead guitar, which bears a strong resemblance to the playing of Jimi Hendrix.

Marino has described the band's sound, as "The Grateful Dead meets jazz".

In an effort to gain press attention, the original record company created a fictional story. Stating that Frank Marino, prior to starting the band. Had spent time in a mental institution, after taking LSD and was visited by Jimi Hendrix in a vision.

Jimmy Ayoub, the original drummer died in 2023. Frank Marino stated in 2021, that they would never perform together again. Because Jimmy had become ill.

In 2000 they released their final album, known for containing mostly only guitar solos. In 2001 they performed, their infamous concert at club soda. Wich lasted 2,5 hours, the longest show Frank had ever played.

In 2021, he announced his retirement from music. In October 2025, he stated in an interview, his nerve damage had recovered sufficiently. Enough to play guitar publicly again, when and how was left up in the air.

He has been criticized by some as a Hendrix clone. Marino himself claims, that he did not consciously set out to imitate Hendrix. "The whole style just came naturally. I didn't choose it; it chose me."

In 1979 baiage released a mini album, the same year as they disbanded. Apparently performing 200 shows in 16 months were brutal.

Although they performed only those 4 songs, and a medley of rockabilly songs. Their shows lasted only 30 to 40 minutes.

They were all 19 so it's probably understandable, they planned a triple album. Covering american rockabilly songs, sung in english but sadly it never happened...

One of those "what if" bands, if they kept themselves dedicated. I mean the beatles, performed 1300 shows in 6 years for christ sakes...

"I wasn't the first girl in america to adapt the goth/scene look, but for some reason i was called the scene queen. I was bullied alot for how i looked, schools weren't ready for goth and scene wich i felt was a big shame."

"One of my favorite guitar players on the planet. From a melodic standpoint and just in terms of the conception of what he plays, he's fabulous. I like Jeff." - Frank Zappa

"I couldn't believe how incredible he was, not only with his technique but his sound too. I became a fan of his ever since. He could reach up into the stars and make magic with his playing. Jeff cheats because he has notes that i don't have, my favourite guitar player." - Ritchie Blackmore

"the best British player of all time" and a "maverick" who takes risks. My favourite guitarist" - David Gilmour

"guitar genius the Guv'nor, little wing and where were you my two favourites." - Brian May

"Very unprofessional, really. We felt that Jeff had his own furrow to plow, and that he was not a team man. He was a soloist to the max. He was such an individualist, it wouldn't have worked with the Stones at all. But don’t get me wrong, he was a tremendous player. I was always amazed by the stuff that he did with his tremolo bar. He was one of the best man. and he’s going to be missed." - Keith Richards

the most unique and dedicated guitarist, he would blow the place apart. And his technique i still can't believe it." - Eric Clapton

"An profound mentor and "wondrous soul", who taught me how to approach the guitar. His innovative right-hand technique, the guitar player's guitar player" who redefined the instrument's boundaries. Me and Jimi listened to truth, and he was obsessed with the record." - Billy Gibbons

"I’d actually met Jeff in 1968. The Moving Sidewalks had played a few dates with him, and we got to be quite friendly. We were using Vox amps at the time, and I was eyeballing these big tall structures – Marshalls. Because the sound was fierce. Jeff sent us the amps and that's how ZZ top got the sound." - Billy Gibbons

"Jeff Beck plays like no one else, how does he do it?." - SRV

"He is legendary... a true innovator...i don’t have those notes on my guitar..." - BB King

[removed]

[deleted]

While primarily the icon of punk rock, Joey Ramone and the Ramones heavily influenced heavy metal. Through their fast, distorted, and minimalist sound. Though staying true to their 1974 punk roots, the band adopted heavier, metal-tinged sounds on tracks like "Too Tough To Die" and "I'm Not Jesus.

Jeff Beck frequently hailed Django Reinhardt as the greatest and most "astonishing" guitarist in history, often calling him "superhuman". Beck, a renowned rock innovator, was deeply humbled by Reinhardt's ability to play fast, complex electric jazz licks in the 1940s using only two functional fingers on his left hand.

Despite partial paralysis in two fingers of his fretting hand due to a fire, Reinhardt created a unique, influential, and lightning-fast style of jazz, which Beck studied in slow motion.

Even when slowing down Django’s recordings, Beck found it nearly impossible to grasp the full complexity of his licks. He died suddenly, of a brain hemorrhage in 1953 at the age of 43. He recorded 900 songs from 1928 to 1953, i hope that a box set containing all the 900 songs will be released.

Django's sons, Lousson (1929-1992) and Babik (1944-2001), followed their father's passion for the guitar. Babik's son David (1986) also picked up the guitar.

Two of Lousson's five sons also picked up the guitar.

At 15 i could never imagine being inside my mother's p***y jeez...

240 kg bench press

260 kg squat (injured his right knee as a teenager fell with an iron door on top)

110 kg bicep curl

1840 kg vikingløft

285 kg one handed deadlift

375 kg deadlift

diet was just as impressive as his lift's

25 eggs (boiled snacking)

2 entire rye bread (ham and cheese on each slice)

2 steak

10 boiled potatoes

1 pack bearnaise sauce

Alot of broccoli and cauliflower

16 litre milk