Rare Rickenbacker With Classic Beatles History Up For Auction

 

A 1962 Rickenbacker guitar played by both George Harrison and John Lennon is to be auctioned off in New York in May (14).
The instrument will be among the highlight items going under the hammer at the Julien's Auctions Music Icons event at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square on 16 and 17 May.
Harrison bought the Rickenbacker 425 guitar in 1963 in Mount Vernon, Illinois while visiting his sister Louise. He asked the owner of Fenton's Music store to revamp the axe so it looked just like Lennon's Rickenbacker.
The guitarist played his prized possession when the Beatles first performed on Tv show Ready Steady Go! in October, 1963, and again during an appearance on Thank Your Lucky Stars the following December.
A spokesman for Julien's Auction picks up the story: "He also used it during a week-long tour in Sweden. Harrison was photographed with the guitar extensively and the entire band has been photographed posing with the guitar.
"George Harrison played the 1962 Rickenbacker in the Abbey Road studios when the Beatles recorded I Want to Hold Your Hand - the song that gave the band their now infamous big break in the United States."
Lennon played the guitar backstage before a Beatles performance in Glasgow, Scotland on 5 October, 1963. A photograph published in an August 1964 issue of Beat Monthly magazine shows the Fab Four frontman with the guitar.
Harrison gifted the instrument to pal George Peckham, after he asked to borrow one of the Beatles star's guitars for an appearance on British music show Top of the Pops with his band The Fourmost.
The Julien's Auction spokesman tells Wenn, "Peckham kept the guitar on the condition it would never be modified."
Even the guitar's case has a history - Slade singer Noddy Holder reportedly bought it for Peckham when he spotted the guitarist carrying the instrument around.
The source adds, "Holder saw Peckham walking around with the guitar without a case and could not personally bear to see a Beatles guitar carried around without one."
The Rickenbacker 425 guitar is accompanied by two letters from Harrison's office, which confirm he gave the guitar to Peckham - one from Harrison's wife Olivia and the other from Caroline Foxwell, Harrison's assistant.
Other highlights included in the collection of Beatles memorabilia up for sale in New York include a Paul MCCartney-used Hofner Bass guitar with mother-of-pearl pick guard, which was often rented by MCCartney from Harris Hire in Beckenham, England, and a rare, signed Beatles '65 album.

Source: http://www.contactmusic.com



La búsqueda espiritual de George Harrison

 

Era jueves. 25 de febrero. 1943. En Liverpool, Inglaterra, nace el integrante menos famoso (porque así lo quiso) de los Beatles: George Harrison. Músico, guitarrista, cantante, compositor, productor musical, cinematográfico, y sobre todo quien ayudó a constituir un puente entre oriente y occidente. Le decían el Beatle silencioso, pero es en realidad un hito generacional que buscó, lejos del materialismo que ofrecía la sociedad de consumo norteamericana y europea de los años 60, las respuestas espirituales de una generación carente de propuestas trascendentes.
Tanto él como John Lennon, Paul McCartney y Ringo Starr, hijos de la posguerra, necesitaban un mundo que tuviera salidas hacia la creencia de divinidad más allá de la razón y la ciencia moderna. Se revelaron entonces otras formas de conocimiento, que se consideraban superstición en la sociedad occidental, como la fantasía, la sensibilidad e imaginación para dar sentido a una espiritualidad, cuya mirada sobre el cosmo es muy amplia en relaciones, respiración y búsquedas esotéricas. Pero es la influencia de Ravi Shankar, músico virtuoso con el sitar, la que acerca el grupo más famoso de rock de todos los tiempos, a la India.
George fue el único Beatle que tomó el hinduismo como una forma de vida, aproximándose a una tradición religiosa tan inmensa como los más de tres millones de dioses que la habitan. Una religión en la que existe un ciclo de trasmigraciones del alma que busca la perfección, por lo que cada reencarnación es un aprendizaje hasta que se llega al final de los nacimientos o Nirvana. El grupo pasó transitoriamente por esta doctrina pero es de allí que se desprenden otras búsquedas como los vedas, o el Bhágavad-guitá. Por eso Harrison empieza a cantarle a su guitarra (Mientras mi guitarra dulcemente llora – While my guitar gently weeps) cómo aprender a manejar su amor, cómo no venderse ni pervertirse. Le dice que ha venido a advertirle que no puede volverse parte del consumo.
Ante todo, se encarga de reconciliar antiguas tradiciones que estuvieron que ser separadas, sobre todo entre el siglo dieciocho y veinte. Le comunica a muchos, mediante la búsqueda en paralelo de la consciencia expandida, que la esencia de la vida no es el consumo, que esa circunstancia apenas es una capa o un reflejo.
Transitoriedad del alma
En la alternativa espiritual del hinduismo descubrió que podía participar de la divinidad y de lo sagrado, que la muerte es sólo un cambio de etapa pero que el alma sigue en los diferentes avatares o reencarnaciones. Él mismo lo plantea a toda una generación en el tema Beware of darkness (Cuídate de la oscuridad). A través de un diálogo directo con el espíritu le dice que se cuide de los oportunistas, de los pensamientos obsesivos que anidan por dentro y no dan salida, de la desesperanza que se cierne alrededor y que lleva a la muerte en la noche, de la tristeza “porque esa sí hiere, esa sí te golpea y ni siquiera es para lo que estamos acá”,
En consecuencia, Harrison empieza a narrar en su obra el concepto de la transitoriedad de los diferentes estados del alma en el hinduismo, la permanente inpermanencia, dejando plasmado, tanto en una canción como en un álbum triple, que “Todas las cosas están destinadas a pasar” (All things must pass). “El amanecer no dura toda la mañana, ni los nubarrones van a durar todo el día porque siempre hay amor debajo de eso, no siempre va a ser gris”. Porque, para él, nada está destinado a durar
En el esplendor creativo, y luego la separación de los Beatles, se siente parte de la catástrofe humanitaria que sucedía en lo que hoy se conoce como la República de Bangladesh (Paquistán oriental). Tras el millón de muertos que costaría separar la India se había formado el estado musulmán de Paquistán (El país de los puros), fundacionalmente religioso y dividido entre el extremo occidental y oriental. Este último trata de separarse al ser considerado un Paquistán muy inmerso en el hinduismo, por lo cual acaba cercado por hambre, detonando una tragedia inminente que lo desangraba.   “Mi amigo vino a mí, con tristeza en sus ojos. Me dijo que necesitaba ayuda antes de que su país muriera. Aunque yo no podía sentir su dolor, sabía que tenía que intentarlo, ahora les pido a ustedes para que nos ayuden a salvar vidas”.
Es ahí cuando Ravi Shankar se acerca a Harrison para pedirle apoyo porque su pueblo, Bangladesh, está muriendo. Juntos organizan un concierto gigantesco, no sólo por la calidad de los músicos que alunizaron en el Madison Square Garden de Nueva York, sino por los más de 40 mil asistentes que se congregaron ese 1 de agosto de 1971.
Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Leon Russell y Billy Preston, entre otros, convocaron para proteger.
La dulzura de su música se percibe en varios niveles. Se palpa en la idea maravillosa de poner el rock y el arte al servicio de causas humanitarias, porque para él todas las formas de vida están juntas. Reconociendo su espíritu se ocupó del sentido universal del alma. De ahí que nunca le haya interesado ser famoso. Suficiente espectro de la fama había contemplado siendo un Beatle. No. El dolor humano le era propio y su condición de músico debía aportar en algo para aliviar el sufrimiento.
Mirada cósmica
Porque gracias a su curiosidad volcada a una apertura mental se formaron nuevos concilios entre el mundo occidental y el oriental. De allí emerge toda la nueva era, la relación inmanente entre cuerpo y alma, las terapias con aromas, el yoga, el budismo zen, la herencia árabe de los sufís, grandeza del cosmos que involucra inevitablemente a la razón y a la ciencia, sí, pero apenas como dos canales, de los múltiples que existen, para interpretar la realidad.
George murió un jueves. Hacía frío y noviembre. Había llegado con sus 58 años al 2001 y la muerte lo sorprendió tranquilo, sereno, en una de las propiedades de su amigo Paul McCartney en Los Ángeles, Estados Unidos. Un cáncer de pulmón, que hizo metástasis en su cerebro, fue el anunciante de que debía continuar en el camino de la transmigración de las almas, su avatar debía culminar y quizá por eso sus familiares dijeron que “abandonó este mundo como vivió: consciente de Dios, sin miedo a la muerte y en paz, rodeado de su familia y amigos”.
Como testimonio de sus búsquedas espirituales nos queda una nueva mirada en el oficio de componer desde una perspectiva que hermana culturas y que crea sincretismos entre el cosmo y lo divino, entre la ciencia y las emociones, entre la fantasía y las herencias culturales que van más allá de lo histórico, sentimientos que rebasan a los recuerdos.





 

Andrés Pinzón Sinuco @asinuco

 

Fuente: http://www.eluniversal.com.co

George Harrison-Scored ‘Wonderwall’ Film Getting Collector’s Edition Reissue

The film responsible for the first official solo album by a member of the Beatles is getting the reissue treatment.
‘Wonderwall,’ assembled in 1968 by director Joe Massot, will return to store shelves on March 25 with a new Collector’s Edition courtesy of Shout! Factory. Available on DVD and Blu-ray, the new version includes the theatrical and director’s cuts, as well as a new 32-page book collecting “essays, analysis and production details” as well as fresh contributions from Massot. Both cuts benefit from a recent high-definition remastering job.
Although its failure to procure a distribution deal prevented ‘Wonderwall’ from seeing wide theatrical release, it was well-received during its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 1968, and it’s surfaced periodically over the years, becoming a midnight-movie favorite during the ’70s and receiving various home video reissues. A fairly surreal effort, the movie follows the unrequited love that a scientist (played by Jack MacGowran) develops for the model next door (Jane Birkin) after he spies on her photo shoots through an expanding network of holes in the wall between their homes. For many viewers, it’s chiefly noteworthy because George Harrison contributed the soundtrack.
The first Apple Records release, the ‘Wonderwall’ soundtrack consists mainly of brief instrumentals Harrison recorded in London in Dec. 1967 and Bombay during Jan. 1968. Although the Bombay sessions were a fairly loose affair, recorded live to tape, the London tracks were somewhat more involved, and featured appearances from Monkee Peter Tork, Harrison’s friend Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr. In and out of print at various points over the years, ‘Wonderwall Music’ is currently available on CD only as an expensive import, making the movie’s Collector’s Edition — which features “additional music from Harrison’s score” — something of a bargain.
Paul McCartney technically had the first solo album by a Beatle when his score for the movie ‘The Family Way’ was released in 1967. However, the album was credited to the George Martin Orchestra, even though McCartney contributed bass, piano and vocals to the album, and had his name prominently displayed on its cover.



 

 

by Jeff Giles

 

Source: http://ultimateclassicrock.com

Dhani Harrison Minds the Gap

 

If you ride the London Underground you see signs warning you to mind the gap. In English (oh, wait, it is English, the Queen’s English) or to Americans it means be careful when you cross the “gap” between the train doors and the platform at the station.
I’m sure George Harrison’s son Dhani has minded the gap many times while taking the Tube. But now when he’s thinking the gap, he’s thinking the place where many folks have purchased their clothes since 1969. Dhani has recorded some commercials for the Gap. The amazing part of this story is that he covered a song his father wrote and recorded for The Beatles on the Let It Be album. For You Blue. It’s sweet. Dhani has been careful not to ride on his Dad’s coattails. His focus has been on his band Thenewno2 and an interesting project with Ben Harper and Joseph Arthur called Fistful Of Mercy.
But Dhani’s not the only one paying tribute to their father in this ad campaign. Alexa Ray Joel, Billy’s daughter, sings part of Just The Way You Are.
If you were working for the ad agency, what offspring of a rock star would you have performing their father’s song…and which song would it be?

Terri Hemmert

Source: http://wxrt.cbslocal.com



Illinois town celebrates first U.S. visit by a Beatle

 

Months before the phenomenon called The Beatles took America by storm, one of the group’s members spent a quiet fortnight in southern Illinois.

George Harrison was the first Beatle to set foot in the U.S., coming here in the fall of 1963 with his brother, Peter, to visit their sister, Louise Harrison Caldwell. Louise lived in Benton with her mining engineer husband, who worked in the region’s coalfields.
The George Harrison visit recently was marked with a daylong ceremony on the city’s public square, where an official state historical monument commemorating the event was unveiled.
Area native Jim Kirkpatrick, who wrote the book Before He Was Fab about Harrison’s time in southern Illinois, was in charge of organizing the tribute.
British historian Mark Lewisohn, considered one of the foremost experts on The Beatles, also referenced the visit in The Complete Beatles Chronicle, an exhaustive account of the band’s activities.
Harrison’s trip to America came while the members took a break from their busy schedule in England. John Lennon went to Paris while Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr traveled to Greece.
During Harrison’s two-week stay in Illinois he purchased records at a Benton appliance store and a guitar at a Mt. Vernon music store. He also enjoyed the region’s natural beauty, hiking and camping at sites within the Shawnee National Forest.
He even sat in with local bands, most notably at the Eldorado VFW club with the group Four Vests. Two of the original members of that band were present at the ceremony, along with Louise Harrison, who now lives near Branson, Mo. A number of musicians also attended, performing Beatles songs.
Though The Beatles were big in England at the time, with singles racing up the charts, they were virtually unknown here. That allowed George to travel around the region freely. Such anonymity was soon to end for The Beatles after the band became the world’s most famous pop group.
He and his sister, armed with the Beatles single “From Me to You,” even paid a visit to radio station WFRX-AM in nearby West Frankfort, where she convinced teenage disc jockey Marcia Schafer to play the record on the air. It was one of the first instances of a Beatles record being played on American radio.
Also among the VIPS attending the event, Schafer — now Raubach — is credited with being the first radio personality in America to interview a Beatle.
One story of Harrison’s visit is that he lost his wallet, containing $400, but a local resident found it and sought him out to return it. That incident reportedly made an impression on the 20-year-old Liverpool native, who marveled that someone would return such a prize.
Kirkpatrick said Harrison’s widow, Olivia, was informed of plans for the event, though she did not attend. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn declared the day of the tribute “George Harrison Day.”
The historical marker isn’t the first recognition of Harrison’s visit to rural southern Illinois. The house in Benton where he and his brother stayed with their sister was marketed as the Hard Days Nite Bed and Breakfast before it was sold. During its time as a hotel, it was decked out in numerous photos, posters and other Beatles memorabilia.
The band’s highly anticipated appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 ushered in what was to become known as Beatlemania. Though the band broke up in 1969, The Beatles still reign as the biggest-selling musical act in history, with estimated record sales of 600 million.
Harrison died of cancer in 2001.

Nat Williams, Field Editor

Source: http://agrinews-pubs.com



George Harrison Inducted Into the Ultimate Classic Rock Hall of Fame

Keystone, Hulton Archive, Getty Images

 

With nearly 56 percent of the vote, George Harrison becomes the first double inductee into the Ultimate Classic Rock Hall of Fame.
Harrison was inducted earlier this year as a member of the Beatles, and here his solo career beat out Bob Seger in the final round. He also triumphed over Genesis and Grand Funk Railroad in the previous rounds.
Harrison began his work as a solo artist while the Beatles were still together. He released the soundtrack to the movie ‘Wonderwall’ in 1968 and the avant-garde ‘Electronic Sound’ a year later. Harrison was usually only given two or three songs per Beatles album, so when they broke up, he had a huge backlog of material already waiting. The result was 1970′s triple album ‘All Things Must Pass,’ which contained the hit singles ‘My Sweet Lord‘ and ‘What is Life.’
A year later, Harrison organized the Concert for Bangladesh to provide relief to the South Asian nation that was torn apart due to a devastating cyclone and a war. The two nights, which featured performances by his friends Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and Ravi Shankar, helped create the George Harrison Humanitarian Fund for UNICEF, which continues to administer funds raised by sales of the album and film of the concert.
Harrison continued to have solo success throughout the ’70s, but after 1982′s ‘Gone Troppo,’ he took a lengthy sabbatical from recording, preferring instead to produce films, race cars and tend to the garden at his Friar Park estate. He returned to public life in 1987 with the smash album ‘Cloud Nine,’ which also spawned the Traveling Wilburys supergroup with Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne.
But just as soon as he resurfaced, he retreated from public life again. In 1997 he was diagnosed with throat cancer. Four years later, he contracted lung cancer, which spread to his brain. He passed away on Nov. 29, 2001. His final album, ‘Brainwashed,’ was released posthumously a year later, after having been completed by his son Dhani and Lynne.

by Dave Lifton

Source: http://ultimateclassicrock.com



Bob Dylan y George Harrison, juntos en el décimo volumen de las ‘Bootleg series’

 

Saldrá en tres formatos diferentes: estándar, con 35 canciones repartidas en dos CDs; deluxe, con cuatro CDs que contienen las fotografías de John Cohen y Al Clayton, el álbum ‘Self Portrait’ remasterizado y el concierto completo de Bob Dylan y The Band en la Isla de Wight, en 1969; y un triple vinilo con las 35 canciones de la versión estándar más un libro con los textos y fotografías.
Sin embargo, uno de los mayores atractivos de ‘Another selfportrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series Vol. 10’, el décimo volumen de las ‘Bootleg series’ de Bob Dylan, son unas grabaciones inéditas con el Beatle George Harrison.
Desde que en 1991 se publicaran los tres primeros volúmenes, la ‘serie pirata’ de Bob Dylan, con descartes de álbumes de estudio, grabaciones en directo, y demos caseras, trae nuevas sorpresas en cada nuevo lanzamiento.
El próximo 27 de agosto verá la luz el décimo volumen en el que, además, intervienen los músicos Al Kooper y David Bromberg, y que ya tiene un tráiler promocional en el canal oficial de Youtube del artista.

Fuente: http://www.teinteresa.es



El beatle silencioso aún se hace oír a través de su obra

EN ESCENA. Rocky Racoon empezó como trío y agregó 11 músicos. FOTO GENTILEZA DE SANTIAGO PAZ POSSE

 

El beatle silencioso, el melancólico, el tranquilo. Los sobrenombres con los que trascendió George Harrison dan cuenta, sin necesidad de comparaciones, de la poca popularidad que tenía respecto de sus compañeros. En los shows, en las conferencias y hasta en la propiedad de las canciones -al menos en los primeros tiempos-, el guitarrista quedaba conscientemente relegado a un segundo plano, siempre a la sombra del monstruo musical que se estaba creando. Los tiempos solistas le hicieron mejor justicia y hoy Harrison es, para muchos, el más completo y comprometido de Los Cuatro Fantásticos.

Pensando en esto y en la posibilidad de difundir más la obra del as que los Beatles nunca terminaron de sacarse de abajo de la manga, el Rocky Racoon ensamble pondrá hoy en escena el tributo "My sweet George", en el que evocarán las mejores canciones de su repertorio tanto beatle como solista. "Habrá una súper banda en vivo, con 14 músicos arriba del escenario. Es la primera vez que se hace algo así en Tucumán", explicó Santiago Paz Posse, cantante y bajista del grupo tucumano.

El intérprete señaló que la idea de hacer este homenaje surgió en 2011, cuando se cumplió la década de la muerte de Harrison (falleció el 29 de noviembre de 2001). "Por cuestiones de agenda, el show se fue postergando y ahora aprovechamos la difusión del Julio Cultural para realizarlo. Los músicos pertenecemos a distintas formaciones y nos reunimos bajo esta consigna; a todos nos gusta Harrison".

Desde las sombras
"George fue un compositor que fue creciendo desde las sombras de la gran cocina de los Beatles; sus canciones no eran tan comerciales y efectivas como las de John Lennon y Paul McCartney. De hecho, en la última etapa de la banda, tenía tanto material acumulado que apenas se separan, él lanza 'All things must pass', el primer disco triple de la historia de la música. Eso nos da una pauta de todas las canciones que tenía escritas y que antes no había sabido cómo canalizar", resaltó Paz Posse.

El cantante de Rocky Racoon admitió que él mismo fue descubriendo poco a poco a Harrison, sobre todo a partir del trabajo de analizar sus canciones para interpretarlas. "Es muy impactante conocer a un músico de esa forma, es como si te metieras en su cabeza. George era muy virtuoso y estaba muy comprometido con su mensaje: tiene canciones, como 'Something' o 'Here comes the sun', que al público les sorprenderá descubrir que eran de él. Su carrera solista fue muy prolífica y con buenas críticas -concluyó-. Este tributo será una buena forma de acercarse a su obra".

ACTÚA HOY

• A las 21, en el teatro Alberdi (Jujuy 99).

 

Fuente: http://www.lagaceta.com.ar

Harrison and friends' rock with a role

 

The 1971 war that pitted East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan was stained with atrocities, resulting in the exodus of 10 million refugees from the newly established Bangladesh.

Master sitar player and composer Ravi Shankar, heartbroken at seeing so many fellow Bengalis faced with the threat of starvation, floods, cholera and other deadly diseases, resolved to act.
In a move that foreshadowed the Live Aid relief concert of 1985 and all humanitarian aid extravaganzas to follow, Shankar convinced friend George Harrison to use his enormous pulling power for the good.
He soon had the ex-Beatle dialling numbers from a wish-list of big-name performers, and setting in place a ''George Harrison and Friends'' doubleheader at Madison Square Garden that would go on to generate millions for Unicef from concert, album and film royalties.
The Grammy-winning triple album The Concert For Bangladesh is not only a moving memento of the August 1, 1971, performances, it is start-to-finish great musical experience.
With the usually stage-shy Harrison playing MC, Shankar's own supergroup opens proceedings with stunning raga Bangla Dhun, setting the scene for the top-flight ''rock with a role'' that follows.
Throughout the concerts, the air crackles with the crowd's anticipation of just which of Harrison's other friends will take the stage to join a house band that includes Billy Preston and Leon Russell on keys, Eric Clapton and members of Badfinger on guitar, Klaus Voormann on bass and a six-piece horn section.
Ringo Starr is rewarded with affection for a version of It Don't Come Easy, and Harrison himself is in rare form taking on his own compositions and Beatles hits alike, but when the then-reclusive Bob Dylan takes the stage to nail five of his most influential songs of the '60s, the true weight of the circumstances that brought these artists together is felt.
As it needs to, the spotlight then shines on the people of Bangladesh.

By Jeff Harford

Source: http://www.odt.co.nz



Rescate emotivo: "All Things Must Pass" de George Harrison

 

Algunos mensajes se resignifican con el paso del tiempo, en especial todos aquellos que hacen alusión a la trascendencia. Bastante de esto hay en "All Things Must Pass", el tema que titula el primer disco solista de George Harrison tras la separación de los Beatles, y su significado se reconfigura también al saber que lo que fue una de las piedras angulares de su carrera solista podría haber sido uno de los momentos más altos del final de la banda de Liverpool.
Al igual que varios de sus colegas ingleses, Harrison había quedado boquiabierto frente a Music from Big Pink, el debut de The Band de 1968. Los elogios cruzaron el Atlántico, y Robbie Robertson no dudó en invitar al guitarrista a visitar a su amigo en común Bob Dylan, que se encontraba retirado en su casa de Woodstock. Cara a cara, la influencia fue más fuerte aun, y el resultado haría notar sus efectos.
Inspirado por el estilo compositivo de Robertson, Harrison compuso "All Things Must Pass" durante su estadía en la casa de Dylan. Al volver a Inglaterra, intentó trabajar la canción con sus compañeros de banda en las fallidas sesiones que los Beatles tuvieron en los estudios Twickenham en 1969, pero la idea no prosperó. Por eso, al año siguiente, ofreció su tema a Billy Preston y, pocos meses después, decidió grabarla por cuenta propia para su colosal álbum triple (el primero netamente de canciones, después de los experimentales Wonderwall Music y Electronic Sound), acompañado por amigos de peso como Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Klaus Voormann y Bobby Keys.
La letra, inspirada en un poema del activista místico Timothy Leary, usa un recurso que sería una constante de la carrera de Harrison: los fenómenos naturales como metáfora de los ciclos de la vida. El mensaje general es el de que todo en la vida tiene un ciclo, incluido lo bueno y lo malo. Se han hecho varias lecturas posibles, tanto desde su punto de vista sentimental, como también buscando una adelantada carta de despedida a los Beatles. Pero su alusión a la finitud de los ciclos (humanos, personales y de los otros) adquirió otra dimensión a partir de la muerte de George, como si hubiera escrito una despedida amable de este mundo con más de cuarenta años de antelación.





 

Fuente: http://www.rollingstone.com.ar

George Harrison memorial garden opens to the public

 

The Beatle – who passed away in 2001 – gave the site, formerly known as Piggots Manor, to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in 1973 after becoming a follower of the Hare Krishna religion. Following Harrison's death, a garden was created in his remembrance. His widow Olivia Harrison said: "I am grateful to the devotees for honouring George in the form of a garden. A manifestation in the material world of which he would be very proud."

 

Olivia and gardener Monty Don will both attend the garden's official opening. Don commented: "I am delighted and honoured to open the garden commemorating George Harrison at Bhaktivedanta Manor and that the public will be able to share George's great love of gardening and deep spirituality."

Temple leader Gauri Das added: "There is a deep spirituality in the lyrics of George Harrison, some through metaphor and others more direct. The garden reflects his spiritual journey, it is a mystical one and it correlates with some of the oldest sacred texts known to man. For us it is a tremendous honour that garden is opened on the 40th anniversary of Bhaktivedanta Manor, one of Britain's most prominent temples and donated by George."

Earlier this year, George Harrison and John Lennon received a Blue Plaque in London. The commemoration was at 94 Baker Street - the site of the Apple Boutique clothing shop, which was owned in the 1960s by The Beatles company Apple Corps Ltd. A plaque to Lennon was already on the site, but was replaced with one that also remembers Harrison.

 

Source: http://www.nme.com



Made in Bangladesh

 

The independence of Bangladesh in 1971 was ushered in by one of the most spectacular concerts in musical history. George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh featured a supergroup of rock and roll royalty, including fellow ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton, as well as performances by Indian classical music icons Ravi Shankar and Ali Akhbar Khan.
"In one day, the whole world knew the name of Bangladesh," Shankar later said of the event. Shankar conceived the concert with Harrison as a fundraiser for Bangladeshi refugees. The brutal atrocities of the Bangladesh Liberation War combined with the devastating effects of the Bhola cyclone had forced millions of Bengali people to flee the emerging nation.
Today, Bangladesh is facing a very different sort of threat. As of this writing nearly 400 workers have been confirmed dead in a tragic garment factory collapse in Dhaka, with hundreds more still unaccounted for.
The tragedy in Dhaka is not an isolated event - - it's merely the latest in a series of deadly industrial disasters that have claimed the lives of hundreds of Bangladeshi workers over the last several years. After China, Bangladesh has become the world's second largest garment exporter as corporate vultures have flocked to the impoverished nation to take advantage of the rock bottom wages and low safety standards.
Accounting for 80 percent of the country's exports, the garment industry has started to define Western perceptions of the South Asian nation, and for many Americans, Bangladesh is nothing more than a name on a clothing label. But the Bengali region - - which includes Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, is home to one of the richest cultural heritages in the world.
I've always believed that if we took took time to enrich ourselves by learning about the cultures of our neighbors around the globe, we would be less likely to remain indifferent as they experienced suffering and exploitation. So in the spirit of that thought, I'd like to share a few of my favorite Bengali musicians with NUVO readers.
Purna Das
At 80 years old, Purna Das is the greatest living representative of the Bengali Baul music tradition. A syncretic religious sect merging elements of Vaishnava Hinduism with Sufi Islam, the Bauls are famous for their mystical repertoire of song.
The Bauls live outside the constraints of conventional society, leading a nomadic existence as they travel the countryside performing their ecstatic music rituals. Purna Das has described the music of the Bauls as, "The fastest way to get close to god and find the divinity in human beings."
Known for his fantastic soaring vocals and brilliant artistic improvisation, Das achieved his greatest notoriety in the late '60s when a U.S. tour brought the singer in contact with Bob Dylan. Intrigued by Das and the Baul culture, Dylan featured Purna Das on the cover of his 1967 release John Wesley Harding while inviting Das to record an LP of Baul music at his famous "Big Pink" studio.
R.D. Burman
Born in Kolkata in 1939, the late R.D. Burman became one of the most influential music directors in Bollywood history. A gifted composer and songwriter, Burman was known for his unique ability to integrate international pop music trends with traditional Indian melodies and rhythms.
Rockabilly, funk, bossa nova, psychedelia, jazz and disco are just a few of the styles that Burman explored. He left behind a massive catalog of recordings and his best work is on par with the greatest pop artists in Western music.
Ananda Shankar
A nephew of Ravi Shankar, Ananda Shankar explored a more unconventional method of sitar music than his famed uncle. Like R.D. Burman, Ananda's atmospheric sitar soundscapes embraced the Western influence of funk and psychedelic rock.
Largely unknown during his prime years, Shankar's groundbreaking fusion of electronic music instrumentation and Indian rhythms would provide significant influence for a future generation of musicians, inspiring artists from Talvin Singh to Thievery Corporation. He also pops up in numerous DJ sets and hip-hop samples.
These artists represent just a brief snapshot of the extraordinary world of Bengali culture. My intent in presenting this information is an attempt to provide an identity for a people who are so often portrayed as a faceless and nameless industrial commodity.
What happened in the Bangladesh garment factory last week was not an accident - - it was the inevitable byproduct of a system that puts profit ahead of human welfare. As media reports continue to expose the links between the deadly Dhaka production facilities and retail outlets like Wal-Mart, JC Penney and H&M, it's becoming clear that American consumers have a complicit role in the Dhaka tragedy.

Posted by Kyle Long

Source: http://www.nuvo.net



10 Les Paul Stars of the 1960s

 

The 1960s was on odd decade, in some ways, for the Gibson Les Paul. Single-cutaway Les Pauls (Goldtops, Standards and Customs) were discontinued in 1960 and didn’t return to production until 1968: for the intervening years, the SG was Gibson’s main electric solidbody in production.

But by playing Les Paul Standards mostly built in the 1950s, these 10 players – many of them British - helped create the legend of the Gibson Les Paul. And our first player was key in a lot of it…

Eric Clapton

Clapton’s 1960 Les Paul Standard is the stuff of legend. Clapton’s playing on John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers’ Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton album of 1966 (forever after known as The Beano Album) was heady stuff - tuneful, searing and dynamic. Its impact resulted in “Clapton is God" graffiti on the walls and train stations of London, and did much to bring the sunburst Les Paul Standard back into vogue.

Clapton’s ferocious playing on tracks such as “Hideaway,” “Double Crossin' Time,” and “Key to Love,” still astound today. Sadly, this groundbreaking guitar was stolen from Clapton later in 1966 while EC was rehearsing with Cream for the band’s first tour.


Freddie King

 

It was the cover of King’s LP Let’s Hide Away and Dance Away, featuring King with his Goldtop, which inspired Clapton to buy his first Les Paul. And for his instrumental hit “Hide Away” (a hit in 1961), King warrants inclusion. Indeed, Clapton says King's 1961 B-side “I Love the Woman” was “the first time I heard that electric lead-guitar style, with the bent notes... It started me on my path.” “The Stumble,” “I'm Tore Down” and “Someday, After Awhile” all become key King tracks for 1960s Les Paul lovers.


Jeff Beck

Beck started playing Les Paul Standards in ’66 – inspired by seeing, yes, Clapton. Beck’s earliest was a ’59 sunburst Standard, all over The Yardbirds’ Roger The Engineer album and his own highly influential albums The Jeff Beck Group and Truth. He bought it second-hand it in London for £175.

Beck later himself stripped its ‘burst finish to a raw blonde… a sort of DIY ‘Goldtop’ if you like. Beck was already a huge fan of Les Paul, his music and original Les Pauls.

The look of this one influenced the same treatment that Mick Ronson who starred with David Bowie in the 1970s. Beck’s famed ‘Oxblood’ Les Paul that he made famous in the 1970s is a different guitar: that’s a 1954 Goldtop refinished and modified.


Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page has been so loyal to LPs; his “Les Paul Legend” status fits any decade since the 1960s. His first was a black 3-pickup Custom he bought in 1964, and used it many of his early session recordings. You’ll still see him with it occasionally, but mostly in photo-shoots.

By 1969, (Led Zeppelin II era) Page had what he calls his #1 Les Paul, purchased from Joe Walsh for $500 in April 1969.  By the dawn of the 1970s, Page and Gibson Les Pauls would be synonymous. Alongside Clapton and Beck, Page was the third Yardbird to re-popularize Les Pauls in the 1960s.


Hubert Sumlin

As sideman to Howlin’ Wolf, Sumlin became his own legend. Pat Hare and Willie Johnson are the guitarists that play on much of Wolf’s early ‘50s output but by ’57 or so, Sumlin was playing lead guitar. A hugely idiosyncratic player, Sumlin used his ‘50s Les Paul Goldtop to superb effect on a host of Wolf classics and was held in supremely high regard. The hugely influential “Spoonful” (1960) features Sumlin on guitar. Sumlin’s most famed guitar was 1956 Les Paul Goldtop with P-90s and a Tune-o-matic bridge.

Interesting fact #1? When Eric Clapton was invited to guest on The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions album in 1970 (which you thought would be honor enough), Clapton said he would not show if Leonard Chess didn’t send also Hubert.

Watch the late, great Hubert Sumlin teach “Smokestack Lighting” below on a Les Paul Goldtop, with the New York Dolls’ David Johansen on vocals

 

Keith Richards

 

The Rolling Stone was actually one of the first Brit players to widely use a Les Paul in the ‘60s. His ’59 sunburst originally belonged to John Bowen, guitarist for Mike Dean and the Kinsman, and it was he who fitted the Bigsby. He later traded at London’s Selmer Music Shop in late 1962, where Keith bought it.

Keith’s ’59 Bigsby-loaded Les Paul was his main guitar of choice in the early years of The Rolling Stones, famously seen during their debut performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Keith also used the guitar to record some of The Stones earliest hits including,  “Little Red Rooster,” “Time is on My Side,” “The Last Time,” “Get Off My Cloud,” “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and "Satisfaction".

Richards also lent it out. Jimmy Page used it on at least one mid-’60s sessions and Eric Clapton used the ‘burst in 1966 with Cream at the Windsor Jazz & Blues Festival. In 1967, Keith sold the guitar to his future Rolling Stones bandmate Mick Taylor: you can see Taylor playing it in the movie of the Stones at the infamous Altamont Speedway in 1969, Gimme Shelter.

 

Paul Kossoff
In the late 1960s, Free’s Paul Kossoff was another Les Paul devotee of the U.K blues-rock scene. His main recording guitar was a ’59 sunburst Les Paul, Koss also played his 3-pickup black mid-50’s Les Paul Custom through Marshall and Laney amps and other Les Paul Standards. Read more about Paul Kossoff’s Les Pauls and music.


Peter Green

Another Brit who used Les Pauls to stunning effect in the Brit blues boom was Peter Green. His ’59 burst had a distinct, sweet tone due to a pickup mod. Green says he reversed a magnet in the neck position humbucker while tinkering with the guitar: another tale has a repairman accidentally re-winding a pickup in reverse. But its “out of phase” tone became legendary in the late ‘60s with Fleetwood Mac. Green later sold the fabled LP to the late Gary Moore.


Michael Bloomfield

Chicago’s Mike Bloomfield played an early 1950s Gibson Les Paul Goldtop on Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited. But as with Eric Clapton in the U.K, Bloomfield’s use of a sunburst proved highly influential in the U.S. His ’burst was a 1959 Les Paul Standard bought from guitar expert Dan Erlewine, then guitarist for Michigan band Prime Movers. The Gibson Custom Shop later recreated every detail as the Mike Bloomfield 1959 Les Paul Standard.

Bloomfield played his ’59 burst in the Electric Flag, on Super Session and The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, and on Live at Bill Graham’s Fillmore West. Vintage guitar expert George Gruhn credits Bloomfield’s Les Paul playing as kick-starting the collectors ’burst market in the U.S.


George Harrison

The Beatles’ George Harrison was usually associated with other guitars, but his “Lucy” Gibson Les Paul remains an icon. It was used by Harrison on many latter-day Beatles recordings, and was given to George by Clapton – there were a lot of Les Paul love in 1960s England!

Like Beck’s blonde LP and Neil Young’s “Old Black,” it was another refin. It was originally a 1957 Goldtop with Bigsby vibrato that belonged to Lovin' Spoonful's guitarist John Sebastian, then Rick Derringer, then Eric Clapton. EC gave it to George as a gift in August of 1968… only for Clapton to himself play it on The Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” a month later.  Harrison used it in the "Revolution" promo film and the sessions for Let It Be and Abbey Road. It was the guitar Harrison played on The Beatles “Something,” and it was still in George’s possession when he passed away.

Read more about George, the story of “Lucy” and the Gibson Custom Replica.

 

Source: http://www2.gibson.com



The Traveling Wilburys – Handle with care (Trátame con cuidado)

 

Era imposible que el experimento saliera mal. La unión de tal volumen de talento sin duda tenía que generar obras de arte. Y así ocurrió. Pero en este caso fue una canción la que dio lugar al supergrupo y no al revés. ‘Handle with care’ consiguió unir a finales de los ochenta a Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison y Tom Petty, una combinación de genios imposible, que no se había dado antes y que difícilmente se volverá a repetir. Es como si en el mismo equipo jugaran Pelé, Cruyff, Maradona, Messi y Zidane.
A Harrison su compañía discográfica le había solicitado una canción sin demasiadas pretenciones para que ocupara la cara B de un single que quería promocionar. El tercer beatle aprovechó una cena con Lynne –su productor– y Orbison para hablar del tema y sus dos comensales ofrecieron su ayuda para solventar la urgencia.
Contactaron con Dylan para que les prestara su estudio de Santa Mónica (California) y éste se presentó acompañado por Tom Petty, quien quería entregar a Harrison una guitarra que le había prestado. El quinteto ya estaba constituido y nació ‘Handle with care’.
El resultado gustó tanto a la discográfica que optó por no desperdiciar el tema en el lado oculto de un single y acabó por convencer a todos para que integraron un grupo para grabar un disco entero que estaría encabezado por ‘Handle with care’.
George, Jeff, Roy, Tom y Bob prefirieron abordar el proyecto amparados en el anonimato y en el disco aparecen con nuevas identidades: las de los hijos del personaje ficticio Charles Truscott Wilbury. Así Harrison fue rebautizado como Nelson Wilbury, Petty como Charlie T. Wilbury Jr., Lynne como Otis Wilbury, Dylan como Lucky Wilbury y Orbison como Lefty Wilbury. Juntos conformaban The Traveling Wilburys. A su lado tocaría la batería Jim Keltner, convertido en Buster Sidebury.
‘Handle with care’ constituyó un éxito inmediato y se mantuvo durante casi un año en las listas de popularidad de Estados Unidos, vendió dos millones de ejemplares y ganó varios premios incluyendo un Grammy. Pero su parto no fue tan fácil. Con la melodía dieron pronto, pero la letra costó más. «Andaba por el garaje de Dylan con un trozo de papel y un lápiz intentando pensar en algo cuando detrás de la puerta vi una gran caja de cartón que decía ‘Handle with care’. Ya teníamos el título. El resto salió solo», explicó años más tarde Harrison.
Armónicamente ‘Handle with care’ tiene ritmo country, suena también a folk por el uso de la guitarras, y su energía y potencia asimismo permiten que pueda ser considerada rockabilly. Los coros asemejan conversaciones, con eco en la voz principal.
En cuanto al contenido de la canción poco hay que decir porque su letra es diáfana. Nos refleja un sentimiento universal que vive el ser humano cuando se hace mayor y se enfrenta a nuevas relaciones tanto humanas como amorosas. Has vivido tanto y te han engañado tantas veces que tienes que andar con mucho ojo. Porque las heridas ya tardan mucho más en curar y evitas en todo momento que te rompan el corazón una vez más.

por Anje Ribera

Fuente: http://blogs.elcorreo.com



Music of Ravi Shankar and George Harrison to be celebrated Saturday

 

The music and friendship of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar and Beatles guitarist George Harrison will be celebrated at a tribute concert tomorrow, from 6 to 9 p.m., at the Monroe Center Theater on the second floor of 720 Monroe St. in Hoboken.
Sitar instructor Yoshita Chandrani and her students will perform the work of Shankar.
Chandrani teaches sitar at the Heritage Arts Academy in Middlesex County, which was developed to promote Hindustani Classical music and traditional Indian arts.
“I think music as a whole is an art, a spatial reflection which is created by a mere thought of an artist,” Chandrani said.
George Harrison’s classic songs, perhaps more familiar to American audiences, will be played by the Justin Lerner Band.
When Harrison was introduced to Shankar in the mid-60s, the sound and mentality of the world’s biggest band changed, and they went on to release arguably the best stretch of albums in the history of rock, critics have said.
Shankar took Harrison under his wing and the two developed a strong friendship that would have a drastic effect on everything released by the Beatles and George Harrison moving forward.
“We are very excited to host this concert,” said Monroe Center owner Hershy Weiss. “This is a wonderful opportunity to pay tribute to Ravi Shankar and George Harrison.”
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children. To purchase tickets and for more information visit monroecenter.com or call (201) 795-4130.

By Ron Stein/The Jersey Journal

Source: http://www.nj.comThe Jersey Journal

George Harrison’s ‘Blue Jay Way’ Former Rental Sells for $3.8 Million

 

The former home of English musician George Harrison, where he famously was inspired to write “Blue Jay Way” has been sold for $3.8 million.
After first appearing on the market in April 2012 with an asking price of $4.599 million, the home has now closed for $3.8 million and is located near all of the essentials of Beverly Hills, the Sunset Strip and Century City, according to the listing.
LA Curbed reports that Harrison rented the home back in 1967 and while waiting for friends to arrive, he began playing a Hammond organ left by the landlord and wrote ‘Blue Jay Way’, which ultimately landed on The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour.
The 4,116-square-foot Mid-Century U-shaped home features walls of glass, a screening room, large living spaces and a pool/sauna in the center, which is accessible from all sliding doors. There are also three bedrooms and three bathrooms, an open floor plan idea for indoor/outdoor living, and a verbal approval to build up to 28 feet, adding to the overall square footage, according to the listing.
The single-family home includes city, ocean and Park/Green belt views.

by Alison Cavatore

Source: http://www.hauteliving.com/2013/03/george-harrison%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98blue-jay-way%E2%80%99-former-rental-sells-for-3.8-million/348124/

'George Harrison' Bhaktivedanta Manor Hindu temple at 40

Major Hindu festivals attract thousands of worshippers to Bhaktivedanta Manor

Members of the Hare Krishna congregation chant prayers in Sanskrit around a sacred fire as part of an ancient Hindu ritual at Bhaktivedanta Manor.

Nestled near Aldenham in the Hertfordshire countryside, the 18th Century mock-Tudor mansion was purchased for the Hare Krishna movement in 1973.

It was a gift from George Harrison who had developed an interest in Indian spirituality during a visit to the holy city of Rishikesh with the Beatles.

Hindu monk Kripamoya Das was one of the first to move in and has lived there ever since.

"Our aspirations were really shaped by the founder, the spiritual teacher, A.C Bhaktivedanta swami Prabhupada," he recalls.

"He told us there should be a farm, a popular temple and that we should celebrate grand festivals and that anyone who comes here should have free food."

'Very zany'

However, at this time during the early 1970s, the Hare Krishna movement was viewed by many as a hippie eastern cult.

"All of a sudden, these young western people were dancing down Oxford Street, looking very zany, bit crazy perhaps, singing with their full hearts, worshipping God and thinking they're going to change the world…it was an alien beginning," says devotee Gauri Das.

That Bhaktivedanta Manor became so popular was due largely to the influx of ethnic Indians expelled from east Africa who made their home in north London during the early 1970s.

Kripamoya Das says many found solace in visiting the manor: "All those people who didn't have a place to worship now discovered they could have a place to worship, just a few miles into the country.

"They were refugees, and how wonderful it was for them to see the compassion of Lord Krishna in this beautiful shrine when they were in exile - when they had lost everything."

The growth in popularity resulted in new problems, with complaints about noise leading to the closure of the temple for public worship in 1994.

A lengthy legal battle against Hertsmere Borough Council culminated with more than 30,000 Hindus marching on Parliament, with Bhaktivedanta Manor finally told it was allowed to continue worship in 1996.

About 40 monks now live on the 78-acre site, which includes a theological college, organic farm, herb gardens, a cow sanctuary, primary school and kitchens providing meals for the homeless.

So what is life like at Bhaktivedanta Manor?

"All the monastics living at the temple get up at 3.30 am, there's a morning ceremony of lamps, and they sing devotional songs and meditate, then we have a philosophical lecture with a vegetarian meal, then it's a working day for everyone" says Gauri Das.

"Around nine o'clock all the school children who study here arrive, along with coaches from visiting schools who come to see this place as a devotional centre of excellence."

The farm is run by volunteers with about 200 devotees preparing for major Hindu festivals which attract thousands of worshippers.

Hare Krishna is also known as the "kitchen religion" in that all visitors are offered a meal.

Each day, 1,000 meals are prepared at Bhaktivedanta and taken to central London to feed the homeless.

On festival days, volunteers will prepare more than 30,000 meals.

The temple has attracted attracted high profile guests including Boy George, Chrissie Hynde , Russell Brand and Prime Minister David Cameron.

And 40 years after it opened, the spiritual retreat once viewed by critics as a hippie commune, now hosts Janmashtami, the largest Hindu festival in Europe, which marks the birth of Krishna, a popular God in the Hindu Pantheon.

"I think its part of the British fabric now," says Gauri Das.

"We are considered to be a major influence within the Hindu community in the UK."

By Poonam Taneja Reporter, Asian Network

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk

George Harrison And Eric Clapton Les Paul Recreated

Gibson Custom releases the limited edition Harrison-Clapton 1957 Les Paul Standard 'Lucy'

 

We ran a couple of previews of this guitar earlier this year but now Gibson Custom has released the limited edition Harrison-Clapton 1957 Les Paul Standard "Lucy" and put all the details online. So, over to Gibson for those details...

Some guitars are highly prized for their vintage; others are desirable for their associations with major artists; very few are both. Now Gibson Custom brings together George Harrison and Eric Clapton, two of the greatest rock legends of all time, with one stunning instrument--the Harrison-Clapton 1957 Les Paul Standard "Lucy." This historic Les Paul is a strictly limited edition of just 100 guitars worldwide and is offered exclusively by Guitar Center in North America.

Thanks to the painstaking research undertaken by guitar writer Andy Babiuk (author of the book Beatles Gear), the Harrison-Clapton 1957 Les Paul Standard "Lucy" arrives at a time when the full history of this well-traveled guitar is finally known.

The music world knows this guitar best as the red Les Paul that George Harrison used on so many Beatles recordings in the final years of the band's career, but the guitar--originally a 1957 Goldtop with Bigsby vibrato, with the serial number 7–8789--passed through the hands of three other major stars before landing with Harrison in 1968. Babiuk traced the first notable ownership of "Lucy" to the Lovin' Spoonful's guitarist John Sebastian. It went to guitar-legend Rick Derringer around 1966, and it was Derringer who had it refinished to an SG-style cherry red, and the Bigsby removed, at the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo some time shortly after. The only trouble was, the guitar just didn't feel the same to Derringer after the work, so he swapped it for a sunburst Les Paul at Dan Armstrong's guitar shop in Manhattan, NY... where Eric Clapton purchased it shortly after.

According to Mal Evans in The Beatles Monthly, Clapton gave the Les Paul to his good friend George Harrison in early August of 1968, but it first made Beatles history back in Clapton's hands again on September 6 of that year, when Harrison invited the Cream star to record the now-legendary solo to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," for which he used his recent gift to the Beatle. After a further hiccup in the ownership of Lucy--involving the theft of the guitar in a burglary of his Beverly Hills home and its convoluted recovery from an owner in Mexico--this refinished 1957 Les Paul stayed with Harrison throughout his career, appearing on several solo recordings and performances.

The Harrison-Clapton 1957 Les Paul Standard "Lucy" has been painstakingly recreated by Gibson Custom through intimate examination of the original, thanks to the generous cooperation of the George Harrison estate. Notable details include a plain-maple top with off-center seam (a feature of many '50s Goldtops) now visible through its transparent Cherry Red finish; a one-piece lightweight mahogany body; a nylon nut; and two Custom Buckers with lesser-seen Alnico III magnets, wound to closely match the specs and tone of Lucy's original 1957 PAF pickups. The playing feel of this legendary Les Paul is further retained in Lucy's neck profile, a full, rounded '50s shape that measures 0.907" at the 1st fret and 0.980" at the 12th, which has been taking from precise measurement of the original. Telltale modifications that Lucy received over the years--a set of nickel Grover™ kidney button tuners and a replacement '70s truss-rod cover engraved "Custom"--complete this stunningly accurate recreation.

In addition to the several details specific to the recration of this special guitar, the Harrison-Clapton 1957 Les Paul Standard "Lucy" also benefits from Gibson Custom's 20th Anniversary Specifications, newly adopted for 2013. These include a one-piece rosewood fingerboard, hot-hide neck glue, a Historic Truss Rod assembly with no tubing, and accurate body and fingerboard binding color. The entire guitar is hand-aged by Gibson Custom to match Harrison's original Les Paul as closely as is humanly possible, and available in a strictly limited run of 100 guitars. 50 of these are available exlusively through Guitar Center in the USA and Canada, with 50 more available through authorized Gibson Custom dealers around the World.

Every Harrison-Clapton 1957 Les Paul Standard "Lucy" includes an Eric Clapton hand-signed Certificate of Authenticity encased in a white leather bound and embossed folio which includes a 180 gram vinyl copy of the Beatles' White Album, owner's manual and adjustment literature, and coverage by Gibson Custom's Limited Lifetime Warranty and 24/7/365 Customer Service.


Features

• One-piece lightweight mahogany body with plain-maple top
• Mahogany neck with a full, rounded '50s profile
• One-piece rosewood fingerboard with nitrocellulose trapezoid inlays
• Two Custom Bucker humbucking pickups with Alnico III magnets in the neck and bridge
• ABR bridge with nickel-plated aluminum stop bar tailpiece
• Grover™ kidney button tuners with 12:1 tuning ratio

Pricing and Availability:

$22,235 msrp

More information: http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-Custom/Harrison-Clapton-1957-Les-Paul-Standard-Lucy.aspx?RSSName=Electric-Guitar

Source: http://www.sonicstate.com


La ciudad de Londres recuerda a John Lennon y George Harrison con una de sus placas azules

 

John Lennon y George Harrison cuentan desde el pasado domingo con una de las placas azules con que Londres recuerda los lugares relacionados con personajes eminentes de su historia. La nueva placa, que sustituye a una anterior dedicada solamente a Lennon, está situada en el 94 de Baker Street, lugar donde estuvo la Apple Boutique, la tienda de ropa propiedad de Apple Corps Ltd, la discográfica de los Beatles. La tienda, que fue un desastroso negocio, funcionó entre finales de 1967 y julio de 1968.

 

Texto de EFEEME

 

Fuente: http://www.efeeme.com

The Beatles' John Lennon and George Harrison get blue plaque in London

 

The Beatles' John Lennon and George Harrison have received a Blue Plaque in London. The commemoration was at 94 Baker Street - the site of the Apple Boutique clothing shop, which was owned in the 60s by the band's company Apple Corps Ltd, the BBC reports. A plaque to Lennon was already on the site, but has now been replaced with one that also remembers Harrison, who died in 2001.

The plaque was unveiled by Rod Davis, the banjo player in Lennon's first band, The Quarrymen, which formed in 1956 and would later become The Beatles.

Meanwhile, the world's first major exhibition about the life of The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr is set to open this summer. Ringo: Peace & Love will open at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles on June 12 and close in November 2013, before touring cities across the world in 2014.

The exhibit will look at "all aspects of Starr's musical and creative life", including his work as a musician, artist and actor and will, according to a statement, "aim to propel Starr's universal message of peace and love". On display will be never-been-seen photographs as well as letters, documents and original artefacts, including the drum kit Ringo played at Shea Stadium and on The Ed Sullivan Show as well as his 'Sgt Pepper' suit, 'Help!' cape and jacket worn during The Beatles' famous London rooftop concert.

 

Source: http://www.nme.com