Something Strange Came Out Of The Skies

Please excuse this post for being not particularly guitar-related. Having said that, there are quite a few guitars, basses and mandocellos (!) used on the album. I'll go over all that in more detail in a follow-up post.

I am delighted to be taking pre-orders for the brand new Spurious Transients album, our very first to be released as a vinyl LP (and on Sky Blue coloured vinyl too!)...

"Something Strange Came Out Of The Skies" is a documentary soundtrack concept album using genuine eyewitness testimony to tell the story of "The Welsh Triangle" UFO phenomena of 1977.

Journey through bizarre tales of UFO sightings and close encounters via songs, musical soundtrack and spoken word content, taking in a variety of musical styles through psychedelia and dub to trip hop and ambient electronics.

A very limited quantity of the LP are available with a 12" square fine art print on 300gsm matte board PLUS a 12-page A4 full colour "UFO zine" complete with lyrics, sleeve notes, UFO newspaper cuttings and articles!

For your 10% discount code, what item of "flying" crockery is synonymous with the term UFO?

Expected release date of physical product: 15 January 2021

Now available to pre-order at:  spurioustransients.bandcamp.com

Status Quo's Rick Parfitt passes away

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Yet more very sad news in a year that has seemed crueller than usual to some of our most beloved musicicans. The latest to be taken from us is Rick Parfitt of Status Quo. He'd recently made the decision to quit playing live shows with Quo, and wasn't too keen on their recent preference for acoustic-biased material. He was however looking ahead to 2017 with a solo album and autobiography planned.

More>>

G L Wilson

© 2016, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Greg Lake: King Crimson and ELP star dies aged 69

guitarz.blogspot.com:

2016 has been an extraordinarily bad year for our favourite musicians passing away, and now I'm sorry to learn that Greg Lake has died.

No doubt we'll be hearing his 1975 solo hit "I Believe In Father Christmas" over this festive season; although not explicitly about Christmas it's one of the better records to be categorised by many as such, but now will be tinged with sadness.

G L Wilson

© 2016, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Viral video of the new SENSUS Smart Guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:


Could this change guitar forever? What do we all think?

G L Wilson

© 2016, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Prince RIP

guitarz.blogspot.com:

What the hell is going on this year? We've lost so many of our beloved creative geniuses from the worlds of music and entertainment. First we lost Motorhead's Lemmy in the very tail end of 2015 (as close enough to 2016 as damn it). Then David Bowie's death in January hit a lot of us really hard, and now Prince - another omni-talented highly creative individual - has also passed away.

Not to mention the sad demise of Merle Haggard, Maurice White (Earth Wind & Fire), Paul Kantner (Jefferson Airplane), Glenn Frey (The Eagles)... RIP, all of you.

Lonnie Mack

Now I hear that Lonnie Mack has passed away too. Sad times.

G L Wilson

© 2016, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Legendary Cream bassist Jack Bruce passes away, aged 71

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Legendary CREAM bassist/singer Jack Bruce died today of liver disease. He was 71 years old. His family said in a statement: "It is with great sadness that we, Jack's family, announce the passing of our beloved Jack: husband, father, granddad, and all round legend. The world of music will be a poorer place without him but he lives on in his music and forever in our hearts." More...

Design your guitar with Moniker Guitars

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Kevin from Moniker Guitars here. Moniker Guitars is a small/brand new Austin, TX based guitar maker. We build custom electric guitars that you can design and order at MonikerGuitars.com. No one else is doing anything quite like this and guitar players have responded to the chance to design their guitar by choosing colors, parts, and even adding text or graphics.

We're currently running a Kickstarter campaign and have some awesome deals on our new semi-hollow guitars. Early bird specials starting at $800.

Kevin

Looks great to me - head on over to MonikerGuitars.com and/or their Kickstarter campaign for more information. - G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

You Rock Guitar launch YRG-Pro MIDI guitar Kickstarter project

guitarz.blogspot.com: Now this is something that really interests me, because although I am a guitarist I do have an active interest in producing electronic music. To be able to play synth sounds via a guitar-like interface, or to "silently" record straight into my laptop via USB is mightily appealing to me. I had considered the You Rock Guitar previously, but the original model does have the disadvantage of looking quite toy-like and plasticky. You wouldn't be so wrong to compare it to a guitar-shaped games controller, for it can operate in that capacity too.

However, when I saw the first images of the YRG Pro model with all the electronics housed in a proper wooden guitar body, well that made the package look much more like what I had in mind. (Having used a Yamaha EZ-EG, I know how limiting a flimsy plastic MIDI guitar is - you wouldn't really want to take it out and gig with it).

Anyway, You Rock Guitar are trying to raise $80,000 to get this project up and running, and you can pledge money via Kickstarter in return for a reward depending on the amount you pledge - and Yes, that does include the MIDI guitars themselves.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Davy Jones of the Monkees, RIP

guitarz.blogspot.com:

More sad news, I'm afraid. Davy Jones, famous as being "the British one" in 1960s manufactured pop band The Monkees, has passed away in his Florida home, aged 66. [BBC News story]

Although occasionally seen with a guitar or bass on The Monkees TV show (courtesy of Gretsch who supplied instruments for the programme), Jones wasn't particularly known as a guitarist, but in fact all four Monkees - Jones along with Peter Tork, Mickey Dolenz and Mike Nesmith were very musical.

They rebelled against their management's insistence that Monkees records should be made by session musicians and feature only one Monkee at a time on lead vocals (usually Jones or Dolenz), and on later albums they gained artistic control, playing their own instruments and writing the songs.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

The MC5's Michael Davis, RIP

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I'm a huge fan of the MC5 and although I was not old enough to have seen them in the days of the classic line-up of Rob Tyner, Wayne Kramer, Fred "Sonic" Smith, Michael Davis and Dennis Thompson, I did manage to catch the reformed DKT/MC5 version of the group (featuring Kramer, Davis and Thompson plus guest vocalists) three times in the early 2000s and these I remember fondly as some of my favourite ever gigs attended.

So, I was extremely saddened this morning to hear the news that bassist Michael Davis had died on Friday 17 February, aged 68. By a strange piece of coincidence I had chosen to wear an MC5 tshirt when I got up this morning, before I'd read the news.

By way of tribute I would like to share with you these photographs from my personal collection, which I took at a gig at the Oxford Zodiac (as it was then) on 14 June 2005. I apologise for the quality of the pictures (I was using a very basic, low-resolution digital camera) but I think they capture the spirit the occasion nicely.

Other people you may recognise in the photos include Wayne Kramer, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Gilby Clark and Julian Cope.

PLEASE NOTE: The photos in this blog post are all my own so if you do want to use any of them on a forum or a blog or whatever, that's fine, but please credit me and link back here. Thanks.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Gibson Moderne - "reissue" of a classic guitar that probably never existed in the first place

guitarz.blogspot.com - Guest blog by Steven Williams of www.dawsons.co.uk:

The Gibson Moderne is the closest guitar equivalent of the Bigfoot, in the sense that there is little evidence to prove its existence and there is yet to be solid proof of a real one anywhere on Earth. Guitar collectors consider the original Moderne the holy grail of Gibson collectable guitars. This is because the prototype designed in the late 50s as part of the ‘Futura’ range, along with the Flying V and the Explorer, failed to make it into production and simply vanished with no other prototypes appearing in pawnshops or even any trace of its existence until 1982 where it was released as part of the ‘Heritage Series’, and again later by Epiphone in Korea. Now decades later Gibson have released a new rendition of the fabled Moderne to start the hype, the mystery and the rumours all over again.

From what we know of this mystical creature, it appears to be almost identical to the original guitar. The very distinctive body, which looks like the cross-breed result of the Flying V and the Explorer, is made from mahogany along with its neck, which features a rosewood fingerboard and dot inlays. The Moderne is then finished off with a very cool forked headstock and to make sure it can replicate that vintage Gibson tone it has two ’57 Classic humbuckers.

The Gibson Moderne is going to pretty popular with collectors, as it’s the next best thing to the original, and people who simply like unique guitars. The guitar will be available in amber with a black scratchplate, or ebony with a tortoiseshell scratchplate. For more information on this guitar and its release date check out this site or sign up to the newsletter to be kept posted.

Steven Williams

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Sad news: "Würzel", former Motörhead guitarist, reportedly dead at 61

guitarz.blogspot.com:

For today I was planning on doing a small piece about a couple of custom guitars as used by Motörhead. However, it's with a kind of sad irony that another Motörhead-related story has turned up; believe me, I'd much rather be blogging about the guitars.

According to various sources such as the Motörhead online forum and Facebook, former Motörhead guitarist Michael "Würzel" Burston died yesterday (Saturday, July 9).

The guitarist had recently been working on new material with his new band, Leader of Down, who had previously announced the release of their debut single for early 2010.

For more information see here.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Mick Karn, RIP

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This is sad news. The world has lost one of the most innovative musicians ever, a guy who couldn't read music, claimed to know nothing of musical theory, and yet his playing was fluid and innovative.

Mick Karn, most famously was bassist with 1980s glam/art rock band Japan, lost his battle against cancer yesterday (4 January 2011). His fretless bass playing was so unique in style, so very distinctive that you couldn't mistake it for anyone else.

My favourite of his recordings was "The Waking Hour" by Dalis Car (Mick Karn with vocalist Peter Murphy from Bauhaus and drummer Paul Vincent Lawford) which contains some stunning compositions from Karn plus some phenomenal fretless bass. However, the clip I am showing below is taken from BBC 2's "Old Grey Whistle Test" from when there was a Musician's Union strike (which is a disasterous situation for a music show) and no live music was allowed. Bending the rules slightly, the programme had Angie Bowie reading one of her poems accompanied by Karn improvising on fretless bass (a section of his bassline here would later be used in one of his Dalis Car compositions).

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Rare guitars found after 50 years

A collection of rare British-made electric guitars has been discovered in the basement of a house in Cheltenham.

The Supersound instruments came out of a brief partnership between Jim Burns and Alan Wootton during 1958 and 1959.

Guy Mackenzie from West Cornwall, who bought the guitars, described them as "the holy grail" of his collection.

"I don't actually play," he said "but I just love them in the same way that people collect old paintings even though they can't paint."

Mr Mackenzie heard about the find from a friend who knew he collected "weird and unusual" guitars.

"As soon as I tracked down these ultra-rare instruments - apparently some of the very first made by UK legend Jim Burns - I just had to meet the owner," he said.

"I discovered he'd bought them from Alan Wootton's son several years ago and had kept them virtually untouched ever since."

Jim Burns' guitars have been played by pop groups and stars including The Shadows, The Searchers, Slade and Queen's Brian May.

"Musicians who play them now include Andy Bell of Oasis, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs and The Kooks," said Mr Mackenzie.

Paul Day, guitar expert and author of "The Burns Book" on Jim Burns and his guitars said: "In nearly 50 years of playing, working on and writing about the electric guitar, this is the first time I have actually seen one Supersound instrument, let alone 12.

"These are among the earliest electric guitars and basses from any British builder and therefore comprise an important, but hitherto virtually unknown chapter in UK guitar-making history."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/7999615.stm

Folk legend Davy Graham dies aged 68

I've only just heard the sad news. The infamous and highly innovative folk guitarist Davy Graham passed away on Monday. Graham was the guy who inspired many other folk greats such as John Martyn and Bert Jansch. He took influences from Arabic and Indian music and experimented with various alternate guitar tunings, and reportedly it was he that developed the popular DADGAD tuning.

I remember seeing a gig of his in Oxford about 20 years ago, and let's just say it was a very eccentric performance with lots of tuning and re-tuning of his guitar inbetween the songs.

Will Hodgkinson writes about Davy Graham at quite some length in his hugely entertaining Guitar Man book. It seems he was quite a character!

The Guardian's Music Blog has a video tribute page here.

I'm now going to give his final album, "Broken Biscuits", another spin in his memory.

Guitar George is cycling on ice

Here is a bizarre news story about 18-year old George Britcher who has been alarming patrons of his local ice rink in Norfolk with his party piece which consists of riding his unicycle on the ice and playing guitar at the same time.

I'm assuming he uses a wireless connection to his amp as a guitar lead trailing behind him would surely make this feat even more hazardous!

Joe Satriani sues Coldplay

The BBC News reports that "Grammy nominees Coldplay have been sued by rock guitarist Joe Satriani, who claims the band's song Viva La Vida uses one of his riffs."

Apparently the song uses substantial original portions of Satriani's 2004 instrumental "If I Could Fly".

Whilst I'm not the biggest fan of Satriani's music, I can only applaud his decision to take the arrogant Chris Martin and Co down a peg or two.

It's not the first time Coldplay have plundered someone else's songs and presented them as their own. As a big Kraftwerk fan I still shudder everytime Coldplay's "Talk" comes on the radio, which uses the entire melody line and main riff from Kraftwerk's "Computer Love". At least in that instance Chris Martin asked persmission and having heard a thing or two about Kraftwerk's Ralf Hutter, you can bet they get royalties. (It still irritates me though.)

It makes me wonder why Coldplay's Chris Martin asked permission from one artist but not from another. Did he think the Satriani piece was so obscure that no one would recognise it? And can't Chris Martin write his own music at all?

Breaking News: Image of Jesus seen on guitar

I'm not saying anything about this story. Make up your own minds!

"Employees at Instrumental Music and Sound in Ludington, Michigan say the wood grain of one of the store's guitars has an image that looks like the face of Jesus. Others believe it looks like an angel.

The guitar would normally sell for $500. But officials at the store have decided to take the instrument off the market."

See the story here where there's also a video clip.

Web's Premier Social Network for Guitarists MyGuitarSpace.com Announces Last Call for Entries

I'm copying this press release verbatim, as this may be of interest to readers:

Chicago, IL (October 21, 2008). The social network for guitarists MyGuitarSpace.com has announced the last call for entries in the MyGuitarSpace.com Best Instrumental Contest. Entries will be accepted through the last day of October, and the winner will receive a check for $250. Guitarists interested in entering the contest should sign up on MyGuitarSpace.com for free and enter a video clip of themselves playing any song of their choice. Voting for the contest is done by fellow members of the MyGuitarSpace.com network.

The MyGuitarSpace.com network, which is completely online, free to join and for guitarists of all levels, launched in July of 2008 and continues to attract hundreds of guitar players and guitar lovers daily.

MyGuitarSpace was launched on the web as a way for guitarists to share and receive tips, stories, videos, opinions, and more from other guitarists across the nation. In addition to the vast social networking available, MyGuitarSpace hosts instructional and entertaining videos, shares relevant guitar humor and stories, and holds contests and giveaways of guitars from participating partners.

The website has received great responses for its ease of use and ability to instantly connect guitarists with similar interests and tastes. MyGuitarSpace is free. To find out more or to join, visit myguitarspace.com.

The Story of the Guitar

Tomorrow night sees the first of a three-part series, The Story of the Guitar on BBC television (click link for full details).

As it says in the blurb:

Alan Yentob embarks on a three-part personal journey to discover how the guitar became the world's favourite musical instrument. Beginning with the rise of the acoustic guitar, the series takes him from an ancient Middle Eastern ancestor of the lute, to the iconic guitars draped round the necks of Bill Hailey and Elvis Presley and beyond.

Featuring interviews with Bert Weedon - the man who taught Britain to 'Play in a Day', Pete Townshend, Bill Bailey, flamenco player Paco Pena and classical guitarist John Williams.

Those of you in the UK, remember to set your video recorders!