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Make * Gibson

Model * Melody Maker

Year * 1963

Color * Cherry Redhead

Finish * Glossy

Pickups * 1 Singlecoil

Condition * Mint

The Melody Maker was introduced in 1959 as an entry-level solid body electric for beginners. The line ran till 1971 and had a good few variations in its life.

This is a ’63 Cherry Red version with the larger and longer body and rounder cutaways. This particular design ran till ’66.

The Melody Maker was played by Mick Jones, Robby Krieger and Keith Richards to name but a few.

Tags: 60′s, blues, electric, epiphone, gibson, guild, guitar, keith richards, les paul, lightweight, melody maker, mick jones, rare, recording, robby krieger, sg, single-coil pickup, sixties, vintage

The Fillmore East was Bill Graham’s NY companion to his home base at The Fillmore West in San Francisco. The Fillmore West had been open since ‘65 and was an integral part of the psychedelic scene and the counterculture movement of the mid to late 60′s. It closed along with the Fillmore East in 1971.

The Fillmore East was opened in ’68, on Second Avenue near the corner of East 6th Street, in the East Village, Manhattan. It hosted some of the biggest music acts of the period until ’71, when Graham closed the doors because of “Woodstock Syndrome” – a term he coined to describe the inflation of the live music scene from “musicians” playing in small venue’s to ”stockholders in large corporations – only they happen to have long hair and play guitars”. He didn’t like the industries (and its musicians) move towards “gigantic-hall concerts” with “high-priced tickets” and “miserable production quality.”

Graham felt that the “Music Industry” was (even 40 something years ago) destructive to the music and the countercultures it created and supported and he was “not assured that the situation” would “improve in the future.”

“The rock scene in this country was created by a need felt by the people, expressed by the musicians, and, I hope, aided to some degree by the efforts of the Fillmores. But whatever has become of that scene, wherever it turned into the music industry of festivals, 20,000-seat halls, miserable production quality, and second-rate promoters.”

He felt that larger venues lacked intimacy, that his hand was forced to support artists that were more commercially popular than musically valid and that “in the early days of both Fillmore East and West, the level of audience seemed much higher in terms of musical sophistication. Now there are too many screams for “More” with total disregard for whether or not there was any musical quality.”

In ’67 it was called The Village Theater and began to present bands like The Doors, Cream and The Who but when Graham took it over it had fallen into disrepair. It provided Graham an East Coast counterpart to The Fillmore West and became known as “The Church of Rock & Roll”.

The “Joshua Light Show” was an integral part of band performances at the Fillmore and Joshua White’s psychedelic backdrop of liquid light art was a staple at performances in the Fillmore East.

Many amazing Live Albums were recorded at the Fillmore East because of the great acoustic’s that Bill Graham felt was an important part of the presentation of live music. Hendrix’s classic “Band of Gypsys” was recorded at the Fillmore East on New Years Day, 1970. The Allman Brothers Band, (sometimes called the Fillmore East Hose Band because they played there so many times), released “At The Fillmore” in 1971 and Frank Zappa’s Mothers – “Fillmore East” released in 1971.

Many recordings of other Fillmore East performances have been released over the years including Joe Cocker, Miles Davis, Derek and the Dominos, The Grateful Dead, Humble Pie, Jefferson Airplane, King Crisom, Al Kooper & Mike Bloomfield, John Lennon, Taj Mahal, John Mayall, Ten Years After, Johnny Winter and Neil Young & Crazy Horse.

Tags: 60's, 70's, Al Kooper & Mike Bloomfield, america, Band of Gypsys, Bill Graham, blues, counterculture, Cream, Derek and the Dominos, East 6th Street, East Village, Fillmore, Frank Zappa, Hendrix, Humble Pie, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Cocker, john lennon, John Mayall, Johnny Winter, Joshua Light Show, Joshua White, King Crisom, Live Albums, manhattan, Miles Davis, Music Industry, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, new york, new york city, nyc, psychedelia, psychedelic, recording, San Francisco, Second Avenue, sixties, Taj Mahal, Ten Years After, The Allman Brothers Band, The Church of Rock & Roll, the doors, The Fillmore Auditorium, The Fillmore East, The Fillmore West, The Grateful Dead, The Who, Woodstock

Cafe Wha? opened in ’59 and is on the corner of Macdougal Street between Bleecker and West 3rd Street in the Greenwich Village about two blocks from Washington Square Park in Manhattan.

The club has been home to (and began the careers of) many musicians and comedians including Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Velvet Underground, Lenny Bruce, Woody Allen and Richard Pryor.

As a hangout for Ginsberg and the “Beat Generation” it became a stomping ground for many great artists at the start of their careers and known for its support of great talent.

Opened by Manny Roth – the uncle of David Lee Roth, frontman in 80′s Van Halen, the place was referred to by New Yorkers as one of the cities basket-houses - a den for intellectuals, hippies and aspiring folk and rock muso’s – who got paid whatever was chucked in the basket by it’s basket-case patrons.

Dylan’s first ever NY appearance was at Cafe Wha? in ’61 – his very first day in NYC. Roth hired him off the street and put him on as backing for Fred Neil (who later wrote songs for Harry Nilsson). Dylan would also play solo performances for Manny but only in the afternoons, “from twelve to eight,” Dylan recalls, also saying that it was tough to get noticed at Cafe Wha? because of the huge amount of performers that went through there and that it was usually just “tourists looking for beatniks in the Village.”

Jimi Hendrix was most famously discovered by Chas Chandler while playing at Cafe Wha? during the summer of ’66 with his short lived outfit called Jimmy James and The Blue Flames. Chandler (who was ending his time as bass player of The Animals) promptly signed Hendrix and immediately brought him to the UK to form a new outfit called The Jimi Hendrix Experience and get to work recording his debut album “Are You Experienced”.

Hendrix was suggested to Roth by Richie Havens, who also got his start at Cafe Wha?, and Roth hired Jimmy James and The Blue Flames for three months, from May thru till July, to play their psy-funked cover versions of tunes.

During their residency as the Cafe Wha? house band, the band also featured Randy Wolfe who Hendrix dubbed “Randy California” and who would later go on to found Spirit with his step-father drummer, Ed Cassidy. Randy California was only 15!!! at the time he was in The Blue Flame and it niggles me that he didn’t go to England with Hendrix and become part of The Experience, but still, Spirit are amazing, so it’s not all that bad.

A girlfriend of Keith Richards, Linda Keith, befriended Hendrix in New York sometime in ’66 and recommended him to the Stones flamboyant manager – Andrew Loog Oldham – but he wasn’t interested so she later recommended him to Chas Chandler who saw Hendrix at the Cafe Wha? on July 5th and reckoned he could make a killer single out of “Hey Joe”. The rest is history…

Although Hendrix and Dylan were Cafe Wha?’s most famous exponents, they only met once during that time in New York, at another village bar called The Kettle Fish.

Cafe Wha? is open to this day, although it was sold by Manny Roth in 1988, and is still supporting up and coming talent with its open mic nights and open door procedures.

Tags: 50′s, 60's, 70's, america, Andrew Loog Oldham, Are You Experienced, Bleecker Street, blues, Bob Dylan, Cafe Wha?, Chas Chandler, David Lee Roth, Ed Cassidy, Fred Neil, Greenwich Village, Harry Nilsson, Hey Joe, jimi hendrix, Jimmy James and The Blue Flames, keith richards, Lenny Bruce, Linda Keith, Macdougal Street, manhattan, Manny Roth, new york, new york city, New Yorkers, nyc, Randy California, Randy Wolfe, Richard Pryor, Richie Havens, sixties, Stones, The Animals, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Velvet Underground, Van Halen, Washington Square Park, West 3rd Street, Woody Allen

Here’s a few shots of the most famous venue in the America – the Harlem Apollo.

The famous theater – almost exclusively associated with black artists – became renowned for being the launchpad for many important artist’s for over 50 years. It’s Amateur Night is “where stars are born and legends are made.” The Apollo launched the careers of artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Marvin Gaye and the Jackson 5 to name but a few. Hendrix even won first place prize at an Amateur Night in 1964.

It fell into disrepair and closed in the mid 70′s and became a movie theater but re-opened in the mid 80′s as a venue and continues to be one of the most famous landmarks in the world of music and a key part of black history in the USA. It’s situated on 125th Street in the heart of Harlem, one of the most significant colored neighborhoods’ in the US, and from the 30′s thru to the 70′s hosted the likes of Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Sammy Davis Jr, Johnny Otis, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Bob Marley, Funkadelic and John Lennon. Buddy Holly is thought to be the first white performer to play The Apollo in 1957.

Tags: 125th Street, 50′s, 60's, 70's, Amateur Nights, america, apollo, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Billie Holiday, blues, Bob Marley, Buddy Holly, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Funkadelic, gig, harlem, Harlem Renaissance, Jackson 5, James Brown, John Coltrane, john lennon, Johnny Otis, Lionel Hampton, live, Marvin Gaye, Miles Davis, music hall, new york, new york city, nyc, Otis Redding, performances, Sammy Davis Jr, Showtime at the Apollo, Stevie Wonder, the apollo, Thelonius Monk, venue, Wilson Pickett, Yoko Ono

Here is bunch of cool pieces I found along the famous Music Row in midtown Manhattan.

These aren’t really guitar stores anymore. They are more like museums, whose customers must be the rich and famous but whose history is undeniable. Below are a few bits that caught my eye.

A 75 thousand dollar Strat (which is just laughable). Hendrix’s invoice for a Harmony, an Epiphone and a Les Paul, the classic sixties tape delay – The EchoPlex (also pictured from another store), and a couple of packs of strings as far as I can read.

I also snapped a quick shot of Dave Glimour’s famous Blacktop Strat.

The most interesting thing on Music Row though was the great “Old Yellow” – the guitar used to demo amps and effects in-store for the famous and the common alike – the coolest looking coke bottle double cutaway Danny I have ever seen – probably the coolest guitar I have ever seen. I mean what a history that thing has. Played by so many of the greats. “Old Yellow” is a legend in its own right now.

Tags: $75000, 1954, 50's, 60's, 70's, acoustic, america, american, amplifier, bands, blackie, blacktop, blues, brooklyn, classic, collector, danelectro, dave gilmour, DC-1, DC-2, deep south vintage, double cutaway, ds vintage, electric, fender, gigs, guitar, guitarist, harmony, hofner, import, ireland, jimi hendrix, jimi hendrix experience, kay, liverpool, mitch mitchell, new york city, noel redding, nyc, old yellow, pink floyd, rare, recording, rock, silvertone, single-coil, soid-body, strat, stratocastor, sunburst, supro, teisco, telecaster, vintage

Deadly sounding late 40′s Silvertone Lapsteel made by Harmony in Chicago circa 1948.

The electronics are very similar to Gibson’s early 40′s Kalamazoo units and it’s reckoned that Gibson sold the unused stock of these pickups too Harmony after WWII.

Very cool, ultra-light and powerful lapsteel that still sounds great nearly 70 years on.

Tags: 40′s, 50′s, blues, chicago, danelectro, electric, fifties, forties, gibson, guitar, harmony, kalamazoo, kay, lapsteel, nathan daniel, rare, sears, silvertone, single-coil pickup, slide, vintage

Tags: 1448, 60's, amp in case, beck, blues, chicago, danelectro, electric, guitar, lipstick pickup, masonite, nathan daniel, rare, recording, sears, sears and roebuck, silvertone, sixties, slide, sparkle, vintage, vinyl sidewalls

This beast is a 4-octave range, dolphin-nosed Silvertone 1444 U1 bass. This one is a 1961 model (I think) because of the lined pickguard.

It’s in mint condition. Super fast playing. You can solo away to your hearts content on this one. Comes with the original hardcase!

The 1444 was the first 4-string bass offered by Sears and was the longest running member of the 4-member Silvertone bass family that started out with the rare, and ahead of its time, 1373 6-string “Baritone” bass in 1958.

Feautures a Dano style U1 body and the famous Dano bridge and the Dano skate key tuner system.

This one sounds really cool, real twangy honky sounding and especially cool with a nice load of ratty distortion.

Tags: 1373 6-string “Baritone” bass, 1444, 4 octave range, 4-string, 60's, bass, blues, chicago, danelectro, dano u1 body, dolphin-nosed, electric, guitar, lipstick pickup, long scale, masonite, nathan daniel, original hardcase, rare, recording, sears, sears and roebuck, silvertone, sixties, skate key tuner, super long-scale, vintage, vinyl sidewalls

This is more commonly known as the Jimmy Reed Model for it’s association with the late, great blues man. It’s a much sought-after instrument. Its a heavy, fat-necked beast because of the huge pickup magnets and the electronics hidden behind the expansive pickguard and all fastened to a solid block that extends from the neck to the bottom of the body.

All this gives it great warmth and body. It’s a great playing guitar, fast frets and a really beautiful piece of 50′s design. Sounds amazing with lovely feedback tones up and down the neck, huge bottom end and a lush mellow presence.

The 1381 dates from ’55 / ’56. The Kay version was Jimmy Reed’s preferred guitar but Howlin’ Wolf and his sideman Hubert Sumlin also played these beauties.

Tags: 1381, 50's, blues, chicago, danelectro, electric, fifties, guitar, harmony, howling wolf, hubert sumlin, jimmy reed, kay, lipstick pickup, nathan daniel, rare, recording, sears, sears and roebuck, silvertone, slide, vintage

This is the guitar that started it all for me. It was the first vintage guitar I ever bought after being the proud minder of a Silvertone Twin Twelve (possibly the greatest sounding guitar amp ever made) for a friend of mine. After hearing that I was convinced this was the way to go so I hunted down a U1.

And I found this little mutant, which was put together by some other slide guitar loving friends of mine in Woodstock Atlanta Georgia. I think this is a modded ’59  as it has the top mounted jack out, and the Georgia lads handmade tele-style bridge and pickguard for her and also added the phat studio style control knobs.

Amazing sounding short scale lipstick tube pickup glory…

The Silvertone 1304 Wishbook model was the only model offered from the Sears & Roebuck “Wish Book” Catalog. This odd changeling was only available for 3 years between 1958 and 1960, with each yearly model having a few subtle differences like a top or side mounted jack, a circular cut-out or metal back panel or a straight or sweep cutaway.

All were a mid-positioned single lipstick (just like the classic 1448), but this was a unique pickup placement for the U1 series family, only available on these models.

This guitar has a coke-bottle headstock, loads of player wear on the neck, plenty of nicks and scratches, a circular back panel cut-out, and a straight cutaway unlike the 1960 version.

Tags: 1304, 50's, 60's, blues, chicago, coke-bottle headstock, danelectro, electric, fifties, guitar, lipstick pickup, masonite, mid-positioned lipstick pickup, nathan daniel, rare, recording, sears, sears and roebuck, silvertone, sixties, slide, u1 body, vintage, vinyl sidewalls