The story of how Slash started playing guitar at just 14 years old involves a crush on an older girl, quickly forgotten when he discovered Aerosmith and rock n' roll in her record collection.
Back in his school days, young Saul Hudson was a troubled student with long hair and a platonic crush on an older girl named Laurie, whom he could never get a date with, until he decided to go to her house.
Slash's family worked in rock music, and the boy knew many classic bands, such as the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and The Who , as he recounted in an interview with Guitar World . But he had never heard the album that would change everything: Rocks (1976), Aerosmith's fourth album.
The moment “Black In The Saddle” started playing in Laurie’s apartment, Slash completely forgot the purpose of his visit and became mesmerized by the album. “After digesting the album six or seven times in this girl’s apartment, I just got up, grabbed my cigarettes, jumped on my bike and went home. I never slept with her. But not long after, I picked up my guitar and I’ve been doing it ever since,” he said.
In a recent interview, the iconic guitarist spoke again about the importance of this album in his career, mentioning one song in particular as a major influence on his playing style: "Nobody's Fault".
“When I first picked up the guitar, that was the record, that particular album, the fact that I listened to that record at the time I heard it has a lot to do with where I've gotten to and who I am. And [that song] was probably one of the heaviest hard rock songs – very indicative of the 1970s and Aerosmith at that time,” he said in an interview with WMSC radio (via Blabbermouth ). “It wasn't heavy metal, but it had a very hard rock undertone, I've always loved that song.”
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