Editing Joe Pass (section)

== Early life ==
Pass was born in [[New Brunswick, New Jersey]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/24/obituaries/joe-pass-65-a-jazz-guitarist-who-performed-with-the-stars.html |title=Joe Pass, 65, a Jazz Guitarist Who Performed With the Stars|website=[[The New York Times]] |date=1994-05-24 |access-date=2011-09-16}}</ref> on January 13, 1929. His father, Mariano Passalacqua, was a steel-mill worker who was born in [[Sicily]]. The family later moved to [[Johnstown, Pennsylvania]]. Although it is commonly believed that Pass became interested playing guitar after seeing [[Gene Autry]] perform in the Western film ''[[Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride]]''<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://musicianguide.com/biographies/1608000781/Joe-Pass.html|title = Joe Pass Biography|website=Musicianguide.com}}</ref> (an account that had been given by Pass himself),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sallis |first1=James |title=The Guitar in Jazz: An Anthology |date=1996 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |page=123 }}</ref> Pass later stated he did not remember who or what inspired him to pursue music.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=Wold |title=Jazz Guitar Icons: An In-Depth look at the Styles of 25 Masters |date=2012 |publisher=Hal-Leonard |page=94 }}</ref> 

Pass received his first guitar and started creating music when at age 9. Pass stated his first guitar was a Harmony, and that he had asked for a guitar for his birthday. He began playing for neighbors, and learned chords from his father's Italian friends.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sallis |first1=James |title=The Guitar in Jazz: An Anthology |date=1996 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |pages=122–123 }}</ref> He attended guitar lessons every Sunday with a local teacher for six to eight months and practiced for up to six hours per day, rapidly advancing in skill level.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Yanow |first1=Scott |title=The Great Jazz Guitarists |date=April 1, 2013 |publisher=Backbeat Books |pages=148 }}</ref> As he improved his craft, he participated in the local music scene of [[Johnstown, Pennsylvania|Johnstown]], where he would enjoy the company of other guitarists and listen to the music that was being created.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=Wold |title=Jazz Guitar Icons: An In-Depth look at the Styles of 25 Masters |date=2012 |publisher=Hal-Leonard |page=94 }}</ref>  

Pass was finding paying gigs at dances and weddings in Johnstown as early as age 14, playing with bands led by [[Tony Pastor (bandleader)|Tony Pastor]] and [[Charlie Barnet]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yanow |first1=Scott |title=The Great Jazz Guitarists |date=April 1, 2013 |publisher=Backbeat Books |page=148 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sallis |first1=James |title=The Guitar in Jazz: An Anthology |date=1996 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |page=121 }}</ref> honing his guitar skills while "learning the ropes" in the music industry. He began traveling with small jazz groups and moved from Pennsylvania to New York City. 

Pass would continue to perform with big bands until 1947, when he enlisted and served in the [[US military]].<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Yanow |first1=Scott |title=The Great Jazz Guitarists |date=April 1, 2013 |publisher=Backbeat Books |page=148 }}</ref> 

Pass developed an [[Opioid use disorder|addiction]] to [[heroin]] after his tenure in the military had ended.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yanow |first1=Scott |title=The Great Jazz Guitarists |date=April 1, 2013 |publisher=Backbeat Books |pages=148 }}</ref> He lived in New Orleans for a year, playing bebop at [[Strip club|strip clubs]]. Pass later revealed that he had suffered a "[[nervous breakdown]]" in New Orleans due to virtually unlimited access to drugs that enabled the musician to engage in severe benders. Pass recalled, "I would come to New York a lot, then get strung out and leave."<ref name="auto"/> 

Pass spent much of the 1950s in and out of prison for drug-related convictions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yanow |first1=Scott |title=The Great Jazz Guitarists |date=April 1, 2013 |publisher=Backbeat Books |pages=148 }}</ref> Pass said, "Staying high was my first priority; playing was second; girls were third. But the first thing really took all my energy." He recovered after a two-and-a-half-year stay in the [[Synanon]] rehabilitation program, largely putting his music on hold during his prison sentence.<ref>{{cite web|title=Joe Pass - Interview|url=http://www.gould68.freeserve.co.uk/Joe%20Pass%20Int_view.html|access-date=16 August 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903063915/http://www.gould68.freeserve.co.uk/Joe%20Pass%20Int_view.html|archive-date=3 September 2014}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yanow |first1=Scott |title=The Great Jazz Guitarists |date=April 1, 2013 |publisher=Backbeat Books |pages=148 }}</ref>