Tool’s Adam Jones: “Tom Morello sucked at guitar when I met him - and now no-one can touch him”
Guitarist of the moment remembers the duo’s first band
By now, it’s common guitar knowledge that Tom Morello and Adam Jones grew up together, but the Tool man recently revealed what kind of player the Rage Against The Machine electric guitar maverick was when the pair first met.
“Tom, he was just very inspiring,” Jones told Chris Jericho on Talk Is Jericho.
“Growing up, he was very animated. I always thought he'd be, like, this actor. He was in a lot of plays and I remember they had this band, and they were terrible. They were called The Electric Sheep.
“But it was fun - there were no concerns of being signed or how important it is. It’s a high school band, and at some point, he needed a bass player, and I have grown up playing violin, and then in high school, I started playing bass, but I always played guitar on the side.
“I'm self-taught, and it's just amazing to me now how much Tom sucked at that moment when I met him, and now no-one can touch him.”
Despite Jones’s admiration for the player Morello became, he didn’t make the cut as one of the 10 guitarists who shaped the Tool guitarist's sound.
A few years back, Morello shared a picture of the Electric Sheep, complete with Jones on bass - dig Morello’s Explorer power stance below.
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#WTFwednesday: my highschool band The Electric Sheep rocking "Born To Be Wild". Adam Jones of Tool at far left. pic.twitter.com/qerx4J5cuwMarch 5, 2015
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Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and over a decade's experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.
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