TomFest

10/26/16
Tommy James and The Shondells
 

I still can't believe the Chicago Cubs are going to the World Series!

Wow, too much of this certainly ain't enough. Full force turn the dial up to 11 heavy duty stuff going on here. Maybe this is why they call the good old days the good old days! Watch out for Mike seemingly hurting his finger around the four minute mark too. I think I need to go take a cold shower to calm down now! 
 

Yes, I've met Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Roger McGuinn and Paul McCartney.. I've also met Joe Walsh and Glen Frey from The Eagles, when they stopped by Virgil Lay's guitar shop in Akron, Ohio to pick up their damaged guitars after they were fixed. That was fun, there was just them and a couple of us customers and we all picked up guitars and played polka's......lol. I'll always remember that.

10/18/16
Jim Croce
 

10/17/16
This weeks LP is by Jim Croce. It's titled "Photographs and Memories", sit back and enjoy this LP.
 

This really is a case of a rider on the storm so obvious to cover and would fit so well that it is actually 'hidden in plain sight' ...and I bet Benmont in particular wouldn't say no to playing this, a great show case for him. Cool bass line is prominent too, so an opportunity to hear Ron groove more than usual which is always a good thing....and Tom's vocals and 'character' attitude would really get into this one too! Mike would add his noodling magic, Steve could get the drum stick brushes out for this one....Scott could play the rain and thunder keyboard parts.....
 
 

10/13/16
Bob Dylan
 

#7
I'm going with my 1966 Hofner 500/1 Beatle bass that I bought in the summer of 1966.That makes my statement of my 1st guitar that I posted earlier of the 1st incorrect. That Ric was the 2nd guitar I bought in Nov 1966. I was just a kid and wanted this Beatle bass, that cost $240 for the original German bass (over 2K today). I tried to get it on loan from the small music store that I bought my drums at. They agreed, but I needed a co-signer for a $240 loan! Well, my father shut that down immediately and I had no where to go. I went to my aunt's house down the street and asked her to co sing for me. She told me she'd think about it and let me know. That only told me that she was going to call her brother (my father) and see if he would say ok, when he already said NO. Well, I got a big surprise when she said YES the following day. I went to the music store and got my Paul McCartney Beatle Bass and have it til this day. I don't remember how many months or how much money I had to pay each month I had to pay, but I'm guessing about $12 a month for 2 years.
 

#6
Sorry, I had to take a break and try to remember what I have without actually going to my secret hiding place for all things musical to see what I actually have.....HaHa. Isn't there a better way to laugh online than using the stupid "LOL" or Ha Ha? Online is being "Digital" when the world is actually "Analog".
Ok, let's get to #6
I have to go with an old favorite of The Beatles, that is the ONLY guitar they ever used on EVERY Beatle Album. It's the Epiphone EJ160E acoustic/electric tobacco sunburst guitar. Yes you did see them onstage with the same guitar with The Gibson logo that was supposedly a better guitar, but that came after they were famous and Gibson wanted to cash in on their success and sent them free guitars! Nice move Gibson, why don't you give an unknown a guitar?? Anyway, I bought this guitar for its sound, that is a brassy sound when strumming it. You can hear it on most early Beatles songs, like "I don't want to spoil the party" and so many more. The Epi version is probably better than the Gibson because of the supposedly cheaper components to make it and had a better sound that Gibson high priced components and construction costs. I bought this guitar a while ago in KC while on a trip to spend a week with friends here at the Farm. This Epi is actually a good non-American made guitar. You can get 1 cheap. Give it a try.

#5
I'm putting this at #5 ONLY cuz this is from my favorite Supergroup. The guitar is not great, but it's a must have for guitar collectors. It was made in Japan from the request of George Harrison to the legendary Fred Gretsch. These guitars were screen printed and no 2 were the same. They made 6 models, the cheapest being model TW100 that sold at Sears stores for $79.00!!!!!!!!!! They weren't big sellers. They had models 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and the 500 plus (with tromolo). George had model TW500 on the "handle with care" video and that's what I have with the original box. IF you didn't guess yet, I'm talking about "The Traveling Wilburys" guitar. Many moons ago, some of us were invited to go to Florida for a birthday party and you know what? We flew around the country and showed up!!!! We tried to decide what to buy for presents, so we didn't all bring the same thing. 1 of our young ladies suggested a Wilburys Guitar, but it would be too expensive for just 1 person to buy it for a gift. I suggested that if she could buy the guitar, we would all pitch in and pay for it. That worked great and that started the ball rolling for Marion to get a Wilbury guitar for her birthday when we all arrived at her home for the week. Oh, and I'll always remember me and Pete tuning that guitar and I broke the E string and going out to buy new strings and the store was closed, we had to wait til Monday! Such good memories.

#4
I'm going with the 1st guitar I ever bought. It's a 1966 Fireglo RIC model 325 (John Lennon) with F hole and Accent Vibrato. This was obviously meant to be shipped to England and sold under the Rose Morris name model 1996. I have recently seen a couple for sale between 10 and 15K. I bought this in Youngstown, Ohio in Nov 1966, a cold snowy winter day and thought it was the 1st RIC sold in Youngstown. A friend of mine claims he bought the 1st RIC in Youngstown that was a Fireglo 360/6. He was the guitar player for the "Human Beinz" of "Nobody But Me" fame. He now lives in the Florida panhandle and we still argue on the phone who bought the 1st RIC in Youngstown, Ohio.. Well it was me!!! At the time, I was, and am still a drummer, but loved guitars. My brother started playing guitars and bought a red Hagstram 3 guitar and a Magnatone amp. When I went to Youngstown and saw that RIC, I told my brother you have to see this guitar. I brought him there and it was love at 1st sight. He naturally didn't have any money to buy it (9th grade), so i stepped in and bought it for him and back then, made payments!!!! That's probably the best move I ever made, cuz he still loves guitars, collects them and plays them everyday. So this guitar is special to me cuz it started the love of guitars for me and my brother. I have another to list here instead of another top 10, cuz it's also special. It's a black JETGLO RIC 320 that I bought in 1980. It's special to me because it's a 1980 John Lennon model 320 (without tremolo) that I bought when John was murdered. This black 320 is autographed by the one and only Phil Keaggy.. I have soooooo many stories and memories to tell you. I guess that's what you can do when you get old!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#3
I'd have to say my 3rd fav guitar is my 1964 Gretsch model 6122 Double Cutaway Country Gentleman.This is the guitar you saw George Harrison play on the Ed Sullivan Show. George's model was most likely a few years older than mine (maybe a 1958), but pretty much the same. George's eventually fell off the back of a bus (small van) on the way to a show and was smashed to pieces and couldn't be repaired. Hence came the single cutaway Country Gents and Tennesseans in a color called "Wine". His original double cutaway was dark walnut stain and people thought it was black on the Ed Sullivan show, because the show was broadcasted in black and white. My guitar is dark walnut stain with gold plating, bigsby and leather back that snaps on and even has the string mute toggle switches. I've had this out in the past year and it plays great, most old Gretsch's have a problem with the wiring harness going bad after this many years, but mine played great. All the toggle switches work and it's unbelievable how many sounds you can get out of this guitar. I think back of how many sounds George got out of 1 guitar and 1 amp and now I can see why. This is another guitar I wish George would have signed. Well, that's enough for guitar #3.

#2
I'd have to go with my Mapleglo RIC 360/12, the original Roger McGuinn model. He now plays the same model with 3 pick ups and a built in compressor called a model 370/12RM.. This guitar has probably the greatest sound of all 12 string RIC's. I'm not sure if it's the slight change in the body style from George's or the fact that the 2 pick ups are slightly closer together than the 360/12V64. What also makes this guitar one of my favs is that I loved the noise The Byrds made. I had the pleasure of meeting Roger many times and he was always the nicest guy you could meet. We became friends and I would email him when I was going to attend a show and he immediately emailed back that he would see me before or after the show, and he always did. After a while, he gave me his phone number and home address so we can keep in touch. I used to have my wife or daughter take pix of us at meetings after the shows and have them blown up to 8 x 10's and mail them to his home and he would always sign them and send the back. I've always asked Roger about how he records, his mic's and everything else I can think of, and he always gives you his honest thoughts on what to use. For this reason, Roger is one of my idols and this guitar is my #2.

Great question!
#1 is definitely my George Harrison fireglo 360/12V64. I tried for years to get George to autograph it, I even sent a RIC pickguard to Friar Park for him to sign and included a return envelope addressed to me with real British postage that I got sent to me from our dear friend Johnni (thanks Johnni) that lives in England. Unfortunately, I never got it back with George's signature   I later took a pickguard for that guitar across the USA to Washington state and brought it to The Gorge to see TPATH. About 6 hours before the show I called a certain person on the phone and he told me to get down to the gate and he met me there and we went inside hours before the gates even opened. TPATH was already there and backstage the whole band signed my RIC pickguard that is still on this guitar til this day. So this guitar has a lot of meaning, emotion and struggles I've gone through to get it signed. I will always wish it was signed by George, But, if not by him, who better than TPATH? Thank you soooooo much TPATH. I remember after they signed it, they said "don't ever sell it", and I won't. I don't know if they were joking or not, but I take it seriously. I'll probably take it to my grave with me, so my headstone can read "Here Lies Nurktwin With That Damn Guitar".........LOL. OK, that's enough on my #1 guitar.

I've just ordered my next CD....a new live Clapton album, with special guest J.J. Cale.  I knew next to nothing about J.J. Cale before TP started playing him on Buried Treasure, and he soon became a favorite.  Cannot wait to hear this one.  Here's the story from Rolling Stone:  http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/watch-eric-clapton-play-soulful-wonderful-tonight-w443456
 

10/6/16
Paul McCartney
 

10/5/16
The Shirelles
 

10/3/16
This weeks LP is the 4th studio LP released in 1969 by The Who. It's simply titled "Tommy", enjoy the show.
 

Some segments in this documentary that I for one havn't seen before, some familiar bits too...Enjoy!
 

9/30/16
This weeks show is Jimi Hendrix live in Stockholm 1969.
This show sort of reminds me of Cream, when they all tried to outplay each other to see who could play loudest and eventually broke up. Notice how Jimi and Noel keep looking at each other to see if the other turns up their amp and then sneaks back to their own amp and turns it louder when the other isn't looking.
Here's the show, enjoy!!
 

The Waiting...
 
 

Great video and I love that RIC 360/12. I have that Mapleglo model signed by Roger McGuinn.

9/30/16
Danny and The Juniors
 

9/27/16
The Who