Incredible to think that its the 20th anniversary of Stevie’s death. I remember hearing the news as a fourteen year old. I went straight to the local record shop (we were on holidays in Port Macquarie) and bought a package which included Texas Flood, Couldn’t Stand the Weather and Soul to Soul. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Looking back I can see these records were the catalyst for me getting the guitar bug in a big way. It floored me. I listened to Couldn’t Stand the Weather for about two years solid. And of course a little bit later the Live at The El Mocambo video virtually lived in our video recorder. For mine Live at The El Mocambois still one of the best guitar performances caught on film to this day. We miss you Stevie.
“When multi-Grammy Award winning artist Norah Jones drafts you for a major project, that’s a pretty good sign that things are going well. Such is the life of Jim Campilongo, the man who is pushing the limits of what is possible with a Fender Telecaster. Using nothing but 1950’s era equipment, Jim has become known worldwide for being able create hypnotic and otherworldly tones.”
On the the 40th anniversary of the great guitarist’s death, Ed Vulliamy speaks to the people who knew him best and unearths a funny, if driven, superstar. Read the article.
This a bit of a Youtube favourite of mine. English blues guitarist Scott McKeon laying down a chewy little strat + univibe blues goodness. Really great sound and feel. I think I read somewhere that the univibe is a Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe Jr and the guitar is an original ’62 Fender Strat. Tasty. Chops.
Here is my beautiful new Tokai ES130, a Japanese reproduction of a ’58 Gibson 335, which was made in 2008 (Note: This is the same as the current ES155 model). Everything is right about this guitar. It looks stunning (check the lovely bit of flame), sounds superb (I like it a lot better than the Ibanez JSM1000 Scofield I had) and chicks dig it (my wife says this is the best looking and sounding guitar I own).
I found the Tokai during a late night Ebay session last week. I looked at it…thought about it…went to bed…thought about it some more…got out of bed…came back to the computer…and pressed Buy It Now. One of those “Oh my . . . I just BIN’d it . . . what am I going to do now?”. Anyway I scrambled to get the money together and picked the guitar up yesterday. The seller was a great old blues cat with great taste in music and guitars. He let me play his original ’62 Gibson ES-330 which was magical . . . like ‘other worldly’ good. He has also put me onto Ronnie Earl which I’ll be sinking my ears into this week.
Anyways, a great experience and a superb guitar. Have revived a few BB licks already and no doubt will be working on more. A few more photos if you click through. Continue reading →
