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Willie G. Moseley
Pieces of a Prototype
Secrets of a Socal "Parts" Guitar
If you were a guitar – particularly one with a natural or translucent finish – your “fingerprint” would be the grain of the wood used to make your body. And if you were the assembled-from-parts Fender Stratocaster belonging to Jerry Madderra, that fingerprint would be the key to unlocking your important history. Madderra’s family
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Willie G. Moseley
Javier Batiz
Mexican guitarist Javier Batiz, a teacher and inspiration to Carlos Santana and other musicians, passed away December 14 at his home in Tijuana, Baja California. He was 80. Known as the “Godfather of Mexican Rock,” “La Layenda” (The Legend) and other sobriquets, Batiz came to appreciate American blues guitarists such as B.B. King and John
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Willie G. Moseley
Albert King’s THC Flying V
Coterie Complete
Robert Johnson has been a fixture in the vintage-guitar community for more than a half-century. As a player and music producer, he has collected an assortment of instruments and music memorabilia, particularly related to his home town of Memphis. One of his guitars recently became part of a recording project that began at the renowned
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Willie G. Moseley
Michael Manring
Bass Convergence
Most music fans who learn that the eclectic trio 3Below is all bass players will react with, “You gotta be kiddin’!” However, musicians who appreciate the unusual will stay for a listen, especially given the lineup – Michael Manring, Trey Gunn, and Alonso Arreola. Spearheaded by Alonso on his six-string or a hybrid ascoustic, their
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Willie G. Moseley
Midge Ure
The Unexpected Retrospective
While guitarist Midge Ure was a member of Visage and was briefly in an early version of Thin Lizzy, he’s best known as the front man of the British power-prog band Ultravox. Ure has enjoyed an active solo career since Ultravox split three decades ago, and the recent three-CD/three-LP Royal Albert Hall 04-10-23 is a
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Willie G. Moseley
Pop ’N Hiss: Taste
Breakout Blues
The ’60s may have been the most musically significant decade in the history of popular music, but very few countries were represented then or in the years that followed. Fronted by Van Morrison, Them emerged from Ireland mid-decade and became popular in Europe, but were little-known in the U.S. Their countrymen in Thin Lizzy didn’t
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Willie G. Moseley
Pop ’N Hiss: Hot Tuna
Sonic Contrast
As lead guitarist and bassist for Jefferson Airplane, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady were frontline in pop-music history, propelling the band’s loud, dense sound to iconic status on the San Francisco psychedelic scene and performing at Monterey Pop, Woodstock, and Altamont. So it seemed a contradiction when, just after playing for hundreds of thousands in
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Willie G. Moseley
A Mick Ralphs Sampler – Definitive Listening
Curated by Vintage Guitar’s Willie G. Moseley, this playlist showcases the evolution of Mick Ralphs’ sound through various songs he wrote or co-wrote. Included are tracks from Mott the Hoople, which Ralphs sang, along with selections from Bad Company featuring all three lead vocalists: Rodgers, Howe, and Hart. Mott the Hoople “You Really Got Me”
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Willie G. Moseley
Jeff Kollman
Validating Versatiltiy
A perusal of guitarist Jeff Kollman’s resumé forces a double take. Alongside decades of studio work and live gigs with artists like Chris Isaak, Lou Gramm, and Glenn Hughes are major projects that seem contradictory. For example, there’s his instrumental fusion/metal band, Cosmosquad, of which he says, “The music goes in directions that are unpredictable,
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Willie G. Moseley
Joe Long’s “stack-knob” Fender Jazz Bass
If you’re a fan or aficionado of vintage instruments, odds are that any early-’60s Fender Jazz Bass catches your eye. And “lefty” versions are especially intriguing, given their rarity. The Jazz was Fender’s second electric bass, following the groundbreaking Precision, which was introduced in late 1951 and underwent three stylistic changes by the time the
