Satriani's Hair

[geddyleedog]

I've always been a Joe Satriani fan. I don't really follow him and I don't own any albums, but nonetheless I like the stuff I've heard from him. I always felt he played with more feeling than Vai. Anyway, because I'm not a mega-fan, I don't know the story of what happened to his hair. He's been bald for a while. Did he just go bald, or does he shave it, or what. Not that it matters, I'm just curious.

[tschommer]

I think he started shaving his head in 1998 before the album Crystal Planet. Also, I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only person on this site that is aware of the FACT that Satriani is better than Vai. I don't think I have ever seen a post about him on this site that was not a snide dig.

Thanks you made my day!!

[TheGoodTexan]

The last pictures that I saw of him with hair were in the early to mid 90s....and it was still that curly mop that we all remember (not unlike Kirk Hammett's hair of that same period)...

...but I digress...

But those pictures seemed to reveal a fairly heavily thinning scalp. So I'm betting that he shaves it. I don't believe that he's bald due to illness. I think it's by choice.

I'm getting a bit of a bald spot myself...on the crown of the head...heck, I'm only 32. I'm not embarassed by it at all...happens to a lot of men....and my wife is hot, and she doesn't care, so why should I? But I do keep it short these days...long haired dudes with a bald spot make me laugh.

I just told my wife to be sure and let me know when the day comes that I just need to give up and shave it. The last thing I want to do is be one of those guys that trys to hang on to the hair on top of their head....WAY after it's stopped growing there (my dad).

I don't want to look like I'm trying to hide baldness....that looks so rediculous....you have so much more diginity if you just embrace it.

[tschommer]

I just did a little research. He had hair on the cover of his 1995 CD titled Joe Satriani, but he had a shaved head on the 'G3 live in concert' DVD which was filmed in 1996, so I guess it was in the 1995-1996 time frame.

[TG]

Originally Posted by TheGoodTexan

...happens to a lot of men....and my wife is hot, and she doesn't care, so why should I?


I don't want to look like I'm trying to hide baldness....that looks so rediculous....you have so much more diginity if you just embrace it.

Biologically speaking it's actually a sign of virility. The only way to 'cure' it is to stop producing male hormones...ie, castration.

It's only our youth obsessed culture that has made it something to be ashamed of.

[lenny]

bald dudes with long hair look funny
shave it joe!
:)

[skinnyguy]

IMO geddyleedog and tschommer are right. Satriani is much more listenable than Vai. Obviously they're both phenomenal players, but Satch just creates better music. Vai's stuff is just a little weirder. Satch seems to have a great pop writing sensibility - even though he plays instrumentals. His stuff is much "hookier" than Vai's. Pulled out Surfing With The Alien last week - first time in about ten years - and really enjoyed hearing it again.

[beez]

agreed.....I always thought Joe's stuff was a lot more FUN to listen to than Vai's. Both have chops out the wazoo, but Joe always sounded more organic to me, while Vai seems a little more sterile and clinical.

[tschommer]

It seems that this thread has taken a bad turn and it's my fault. This was kind of a simple question and answer thread and the question was answered so I don't mind hijacking it (a thread about a bald guy's hair can only go on so long). I just don't want this to turn into a Steve vs. Joe battle. These two guys are great friends and I know for a fact that they both rightfully feel that they owe their careers to each other in one way or another (Steve helped get Joe signed to a record deal and Joe taught Steve how to play guitar). My point was just that it really irks me when people who obviously don't really listen to Satriani don't have a problem using him as an example of everything that is wrong with rock guitar. He is one of my all time favorite musicans because he is such a brilliant writer / composer. One of the things I love about him is he always seems to go with the flow of his own music. I know that he gets lumped into the 'shredder' crowd but I think that he rarely if ever over overplays (OK, maybe once and a while but we're all guilty on that). Sure he opens up the throttle, but really just on his up-tempo boogie stuff, when he play ballads he always puts down a great beautiful melody. I have been on kind of a Satriani kick over the last few months and I find the melodies of his ballads going through my head all of the time sometimes several days after I hear them. He does just seem to have an uncanny ability to write instrumentals that you can almost sing along to. I like steve Vai too and I own a few of his CDs but I just don't get much joy out of listening to him but I'm glad that others seem to. Just remember that Steve Vai is probably Joe Satrian's biggest fan, and Joe is probably Steve's biggest fan the last thing I wanted was to have this turn into a Vai bashing party. I do have to admit it's nice to see people giving Joe some love though!

[StratDal]

The guy just plain rocks and jams. I couldn't believe some of the sounds he got from his guitar and he didn't even have his fingers on a fret.

His back up guitar player was playing a Strat however I don't know what model.

If you get a chance to see Joe on this tour, go for it.

[4mal]

OK - I'm a fan of both Vai and Satch. I've ssen Joe live never had the opportunity to see Vai. Anyone who thinks that Joe is less 'left of center' than Steve didn't listen to Engines of Creation ... On the whole I do like Joe's playing more but Vai is an incredible player and his abilities as an engineer / producer are phenomenal.

... and now for something completely diffferent. Vai records remind me a bit of Pete Anderson's solo stuff. It's not really meant for general consumption. Cool if they sell a few copies, no doubt! It's more like an advertisement of their studio engineering / production abilities. Albums made for industry people who are shopping for producers ... obviously Pete is not a shredder in the Satch / Vai mode and can you imagine Vai doing Mississippi ... Satch's records on the other hand seem like more coherent compositions which is another reason to like Satch while remaining in awe of Vai (and Pete for that matter) ...

Was Stu Hamm playing bass for Joe at the Grove ?

[scot]

I am a tv journalist and interviewed Joe just before he cut his hair, and he had plenty of it. So I don't think he cut it because it was going away. He told me at the time he was thinking of cutting it because he wanted to be different than "hair" metal, which of course he never was. He also said when asked what he was listening to, "Nirvana...I love distortion." It is worth mention that Stu Hamm was there for the shoot with his bass. He was very proud that day of the pickguard, which was gold plated, and had the Boston Celtics logo engraved into the middle. I should also say Joe said he was listening to Moe-zart and Hey-den too....uh instead of Mozart and Hayden. I didn't have the guts to correct him....haha.

[PraiseCaster]

Joe bein bald, gives hima kind a alien look. Heck he surfed with one, ehy not look like one?

I think I saw a photo of him and Steve Vai together, and, well joe was poofin that hair up big time (ala 80's), and yeah, the top was lookin mighty thin. As someone else said, ridiculous lookin. Maybe he got a good look at that photo and said 'To heck with it! Honey, you seen my razor?'

[jhundt]

way back when one of Joe Satriani's early gigs was with Greg Kihn on Beserkeley records. He did a great version of Love's "Little Red Book".

[GopherTele]

I hear you Tschommer. The people that set the tone for What Is Cool--mainly critics, sadly (pickup the City Pages for an example) have universally decided that having technique and chops is not cool.

The punk attitude toward music is now the norm.

So, if there is a guy like Satch who they can peg a "Shredder" and dismiss as irrelevant--they do it. It's totally wrong and totally unfair, but this is why you will hear other musicians saying the same thing.

These critics are influential.

[teledude66]

they have their niche and i think they understand they'll never go multi platinum, but the cream always rises to the top or so i like to think ,and Satch and Vai have continued when so many "shredders" have gone by the wayside, and trying not to bash either i like to say i have a preference to Satch i have both G3 DVD's and i think Satch falls more into the bluesy rock genre than Vai does and thats what i prefer ....
i think the hair thing has a lil to do with the alien thing too he kinda looks outer spacey like that ...lol

getting slick here too...i asked my wife the other day if my hairline was receding, she said no it's hauling a**

[tschommer]

Originally Posted by PraiseCaster

Joe bein bald, gives hima kind a alien look. Heck he surfed with one, ehy not look like one?

I think I saw a photo of him and Steve Vai together, and, well joe was poofin that hair up big time (ala 80's), and yeah, the top was lookin mighty thin. As someone else said, ridiculous lookin. Maybe he got a good look at that photo and said 'To heck with it! Honey, you seen my razor?'

I agree I think that the shaved head really suits him and his style of music. His old hair almost had a mullet like quality to it.

[Reno Sepulveda]

That "Joe Satriani" album from 1995 is full of amazing, soufull playing from both Joe and Andy Fairweather-Lowe . I think he even played an Esquire on one or two cuts. He's my favorite shredder and practitioner of the Digitech Whammy pedal.

[UncleJarmo]

I don't know a lot about either guy but, from what I have heard, it's obvious those guys can really play.

The thing I wanted to comment on is that my son has met Vai several times and says he's just a super guy. As a matter of fact, the first time he met him was during the first G3 tour. Vai was outside visiting with the fans, autographing stuff, etc.. and my son asked him about Eric Johnson. Vai said that EJ was inside working on getting his equipment set for the sound check so he volunteered to take the kid's copy of "Tones" in and got EJ to sign it for him. That's going out of your way to be nice to a kid.

[gtrwrks]

i know this is supposed to be about hair, but just for the record - my vote is that satch ABSOLUTELY SMOKES vai AND ACTUALLY HAS GOOD TONE!!!

big satch fan from way back. the DVD "live in san fransisco" shows joe having the time of his life. it looks like he is having more fun than anyone else in the entire house. and, for what he's doing, he has fantastic tone. from my crows nest, vai has better hair....

[tschommer]

Originally Posted by UncleJarmo

I don't know a lot about either guy but, from what I have heard, it's obvious those guys can really play.

The thing I wanted to comment on is that my son has met Vai several times and says he's just a super guy. As a matter of fact, the first time he met him was during the first G3 tour. Vai was outside visiting with the fans, autographing stuff, etc.. and my son asked him about Eric Johnson. Vai said that EJ was inside working on getting his equipment set for the sound check so he volunteered to take the kid's copy of "Tones" in and got EJ to sign it for him. That's going out of your way to be nice to a kid.

That's a great story! In every interview i've read of either Joe or Steve they sound like great humble guys that know how fortunate they are to be gifted enough to make good livings doing what they love and their comments on their peers are always open minder and respectful.

LOL! There are now 20 posts in a thread about a bald guy's hair. :D

[EMan]

I was flabbergasted when I first heard Surfin' with the Alien....never heard any guitar guy do that stuff before ... !

I got a chance to see him and Stu Hamm in downtown Dallas..in about '88 (?). I've got his first 3 or 4 CD's, and always thought he is completely individual...and required no "comparison".

The show I saw him at...he played the same guitar..until halfway through the very last tune..and a string broke .. :)

I expected to see a panic'd roadie run out with another guitar...but Joe stopped the tune...held up the now injured guitar, and said - 'almost made it!' :)

He got another guitar, and started the tune over again...It was pretty cool!

[geddyleedog]

Wow, I thought I would be lucky if one person responded to my question! I will say this, in my opinion, I think Roth kept Vai under control and pulled some incredible music out of him. It was technical and yet catchy and listenenable. I've tried and tried to listen, but the stuff he does now is just over my head. Eat 'Em and Smile was incredible. I believe Roth did the same thing for EVH. Roth once said that he when he met the Van Halens they were doing this technically incredible stuff with 20 minute guitar solos. When Roth came to the band he tested every song for "danceablility". You had to be able to dance to it or tap your foot to it. I think that sometimes geniuses (like Vai or EVH) need someone to keep their talent under control or they just go way too far.

[teledude66]

Originally Posted by EMan

I got a chance to see him and Stu Hamm in downtown Dallas..in about '88!

please forgive me for leaving the bald guy topic, but lets not forget these backup guys for both, Stu Hamm and Billy Sheehan, Sheehan has been known to maybe overplay but those are 2 awesome bassists ...ok back on topic ...lol

[EMan]

..through the Dallas shoe I attended...the band quit, and Stu stayed on stage.

Stu then went into a solo....Stanley Jordan, type deal. He did a medley of about 5 or 6 tunes solo...and sounded like a whole orchestra..I had never seen (heard) anything like it.

[tschommer]

Originally Posted by gtrwrks

i know this is supposed to be about hair, but just for the record - my vote is that satch ABSOLUTELY SMOKES vai AND ACTUALLY HAS GOOD TONE!!!

big satch fan from way back. the DVD "live in san fransisco" shows joe having the time of his life. it looks like he is having more fun than anyone else in the entire house. and, for what he's doing, he has fantastic tone. from my crows nest, vai has better hair....

I just re-watched the Live in SanFran DVD it really is an amazing show! I think I need a giant plasma TV and a new stereo though.

[UncleJarmo]

Originally Posted by tschommer

That's a great story! In every interview i've read of either Joe or Steve they sound like great humble guys that know how fortunate they are to be gifted enough to make good livings doing what they love and their comments on their peers are always open minder and respectful.

Coincidentally, that story happened in your town, Mpls. I think it was right before the show that was recorded for the CD of that G3 tour.

[simonc]

I think both satch & vai are great players,but these days satch sounds,well...a little stale, whereas vai imo still manages to sound fresh.And he's better live as well
I know some will think differently to this, but its just my opinion.
ok with his hair,I think he musta started going bald, and took the plunge & shaved it.
both great players, I give satriani props for my interest in shred.