Mandolin Decline in Bollywood
Here’s a short but interesting article about the declining use of mandolin on Bollywood soundtracks.-MJS
Add comment December 30th, 2006
Archive for December, 2006
We’re in the Top Ten!
Mike Joyce has listed the Fretbord Journal as one of his Best of 2006 items in the Washington Post. Thanks! -MJS
Add comment December 30th, 2006
James Page, Skiffle Master
Here’s an amazing video of a 14 year old Jimmy Page playing guitar in a skiffle band on an English TV show from 1957. It’s amazing to think that 11 years later he was in the studio recording the first Led Zeppelin LP.-MJS
Add comment December 27th, 2006
James Brown, 1933-2006
As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, James Brown passed away. I held off on posting this just in case he was going to throw off the cloak of death and come roaring back like he threw off the capes and kept returning to the stage at the end “Please, Please, Please” but it doesn’t look like he’s going to do it. He will be missed.-MJS
Add comment December 26th, 2006
Harpy Christmas
Gregg Miner, the co-author of the Howe-Orme article in issue 3 and the proprietor of Harpguitars.net and Harpguitarmusic.com, was kind enough to let me post his wonderful holiday photo. So, what I’m wondering is, where did he get those harp guitar ornaments? Or, are they real harp guitars, in which case, where did he get a dog the size of an elephant?-MJS
Add comment December 23rd, 2006
What the Heck is the Thing Eddie Peabody is Playing in this Video?
My guess is that it’s a custom Vega Tenor Lute with a plectrum neck set up with six strings in which two of the pairs are tuned in courses and played as a four string. (Peabody had Rickenbacker make him an electric version in the 1960s which he dubbed the Banjoline.) Anyway, if anyone out there has better info, I’d love to know about it. Also, there are a couple of other interesting things to note in the video. One, there is a Gibson Style U Harp Guitar that doesn’t get played. Two, back in those days, ladies seemed to really, really like plectrum banjo players.-MJS UPDATE: Barney notes in the comments that the complete Eddie Peabody clip, with the missing harp guitar footage intact, was on YouTube all the time but the guy who posted it misspelled Eddie’s name, which is why I didn’t find it. Anyway, here’s the link to it. Thanks, Barney!
3 comments December 22nd, 2006
Vinyl Making a Comeback
Here’s an interesting article about the small resurgence vinyl 45s are undergoing in England. If you’re the kind of person who still buys 45s, you may want to stock up on those dealy-bobbers you stick in record’s large hole so that it will play on a regular turntable. (scroll to the page bottom) As for me, I’m still waiting for the cylinder to make its comeback.-MJS
2 comments December 22nd, 2006
Guitar Art
Here’s a great article by Dan Sorenson about kids decorating guitars, which are then sold off for charity. The instruments were donated by Tuscon’s Chicago Store, a place we covered in our now sold out first issue. Make sure you watch the audio slide show. Oh, and you can see some of the photos Elias Butler took for us of the Chicago Store here.-MJS
1 comment December 18th, 2006
Green Linnet’s New Webpage
Green Linnet, the label that releases excellent CDs of Celtic music, has redesigned their website. One particularly nice feature is the free weekly mp3 download.-MJS
Add comment December 18th, 2006
Missing 1959 Les Paul Standard
This is a sad story. A fellow passed away and when the family went through his stuff, his original 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard was gone. They would, of course, like any information about what happened to it.-MJS
Add comment December 18th, 2006
