One of my favorites!
Best moment in rock history?
- Thread starter DoesItFloat
- Start date
The anthem of teenage lust
To the OP, Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed introduced the phrase “rock 'n' roll” on mainstream radio in 1951.
For guitar nerds, there's a couple of interesting things about this "time warp" guitar.
BttF1 was set in 1955. At that time only archtop; aka (full) "hollowbody" and solid body electric guitars were available.
The iconic Gibson ES-335 was the first production "semi-hollowbody" guitar beginning in 1958. It had a solid wood middle core with the pickups, bridge, and tailpiece mounted on it, the neck attached to it, and hollow "wings" on the sides.
The Marty McFly Gibson ES-345 with the small crown headstock inlay and "Varitone" notch filter switch (the "chickenhead" knob) next to the *Bigsby vibrato tailpiece* was produced from 1959 to 1981. It was designed as a jazz guitar and an upscale version of the ES-335.
This article telling about Norman Harris of Norm's Rare guitars who rented the guitar to the studio tells most of the story.
reverb.com
Also, going further into the minutia (weeds)...
The standard "stop tailpiece" posts are still in the top so the *Bigsby* is an aftermarket addon.
The most obscure and curious thing is the 12th fret marker being a block instead of the original double parallelogram that is on the rest of the neck.
My Dad worked in violin and guitar luthier shops and I started played playing guitar in 1965 so I'm always interested in vintage guitar stuff (minutia).
For guitar nerds, there's a couple of interesting things about this "time warp" guitar.
BttF1 was set in 1955. At that time only archtop; aka (full) "hollowbody" and solid body electric guitars were available.
The iconic Gibson ES-335 was the first production "semi-hollowbody" guitar beginning in 1958. It had a solid wood middle core with the pickups, bridge, and tailpiece mounted on it, the neck attached to it, and hollow "wings" on the sides.
The Marty McFly Gibson ES-345 with the small crown headstock inlay and "Varitone" notch filter switch (the "chickenhead" knob) next to the *Bigsby vibrato tailpiece* was produced from 1959 to 1981. It was designed as a jazz guitar and an upscale version of the ES-335.
This article telling about Norman Harris of Norm's Rare guitars who rented the guitar to the studio tells most of the story.
The True Story of the Time Traveling Gibson in Back to the Future
In that famous scene, Michael J. Fox plays a guitar that didn’t exist in 1955: a cherry red Gibson ES-345 TDC with Bigsby, a model only made available in 1959.
reverb.com
Also, going further into the minutia (weeds)...
The standard "stop tailpiece" posts are still in the top so the *Bigsby* is an aftermarket addon.
The most obscure and curious thing is the 12th fret marker being a block instead of the original double parallelogram that is on the rest of the neck.
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Chris Johnson
Steelhead
joefromchicago
Steelhead
Robert Fripp once described Al as "a guitarist I taught who didn't listen to a thing I said.", in a light-hearted manner. Didn't hurt Al's career any.
Chris Johnson
Steelhead
He had a band with him from Chicago which included a pretty good guitar player, Al just played rhythm. He's a good showman though, interacting with the crowd, which was decidedly older, giving historical reference to all his songs. It was an enjoyable evening.Robert Fripp once described Al as "a guitarist I taught who didn't listen to a thing I said.", in a light-hearted manner. Didn't hurt Al's career any.
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joefromchicago
Steelhead
If you like story-songs such as 'Roads to Moscow' and are not aware of the band Big Big Train, I would urge you to check them out. Start with the recently reissued "The Underfall Yard', after acquiring it, it has been stuck in my head and I liked it the first time but now consider it a true classic.
Sagebrush
Smolt
Saw Al Stewart in 80 or 81 at Gill colliseum in Corvallis. Was part of the OSU crew team ushering concerts for travel money. The stage was dark and he and his band all came out with some kind of glowing eyeballs. Very interactive with the crowd, very memorable concert and one of my favorites.
The 1st video to air on MTV. The Buggles, Video Killed the Radio Star.
joefromchicago
Steelhead
I (and my brother) saw Golden Earring in the Portland State University cafeteria at the height of 'Radar love-mania. They finished with a maximum r and r version of the Beatles song 'Money' that was as killer as any song I ever witnessed live.
That may be the worst day in Rock history. Too much truth in that song.
Chris Johnson
Steelhead
"Roads to Moscow" is my favorite Al Stewart song.
One of my favorite rock trivia questions!
Maybe not the BEST moment, but a good one and cool to see it's being rereleased. Saw it originally in a little theater under Pike Place Market.
Glad to have come of age in an era when a concert cost was around $2-$3.50 to see some of the best of the era. I can’t believe people pay hundreds of $$$ to see today’s artists. Seen a few at local fairs when admission to the fair got you into the concert for free but those days are no more, it seems. At fairs we’ve seen CSNY, REO Speedwagon, Grand Funk, 3 Dog Night and others. Nowadays I’ll only attend a small venue like my local restored Fox theater.
Anyone here attend Springers Ballroom shows in late ‘60-‘71 or thereabouts? Saw almost all of them, iirc the fire marshal capacity was listed at 250, think it was greatly exceeded most nights.
Anyone here attend Springers Ballroom shows in late ‘60-‘71 or thereabouts? Saw almost all of them, iirc the fire marshal capacity was listed at 250, think it was greatly exceeded most nights.
joefromchicago
Steelhead
Yes, THAT show.
RCF
Life of the Party
Radar Love is my go to song. An iconic song.
An old memory: driving through Greenwater, Radar Love blasting out of my Datsun roadster. Got pulled over for it being too loud. Cop said great song, just turn it down a little and let me go...
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