Yannis Spathas (30 November 1950 – 6 July 2019) was a Greek guitarist, founding member of the rock band
Socrates Drank the Conium (or simply Socrates), and one of the most famous Greek electric guitar players.
Biography
Born in 1950 in
Paxos
Paxos () is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, lying just south of Corfu. As a group with the nearby island of Antipaxos and adjoining islets, it is also called by the plural form Paxi or Paxoi (, pronounced in English and in Greek). The main t ...
, Yannis came in contact with music through his father and uncles and he learned how to play various instruments. He grew up in
Pireas
Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Athens ...
, where he formed the band Persons (1966-1969), with Antonis Tourkogiorgis and Ilias Asvestopoulos, and later on formed the Socrates band again with Tourkogiorgis.
In 1983, after the split of the Socrates band, Spathas collaborated as an orchestra and guitarist with artists.
In 1999 he released his first personal album, in which
Haris Alexiou
Haris Alexiou (, ; born 27 December 1950 in Thebes, Greece as Hariklia Roupaka, , ) is a Greek singer whose career has spanned over 5 decades. She is one of the most popular singers in Greece. She has worked with important Greek songwriters and c ...
participated. According to Spathas, his greatest influences were
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
and Anastasios Chalkias.
References
Greek guitarists
Greek musicians
1950 births
2019 deaths
Musicians from Piraeus
{{guitarist-stub