Johnny Ramone played this Mosrite Ventures II guitar on 15 Ramones albums. He toured with it from 1977 to 1996. This was his main guitar which means it saw a lot of action. A lot of down strokes. Often when a musician’s instrument goes up …
As a salute to founding member and drummer Charlie Watts, the Rolling Stones will be touring with a black Tongue logo. Black Tongue merchandise with also support the effort. Respect.
Deep down, we all know that the baker in the Lego village wanted to rock. But until now we had to admit that his hands were just too damn small to play an F chord. Well the village built on bricks can rejoice, the Lego Ideas Fender Stratocaster Set is an on point recreation of one of rocks most iconic six strings.
1074 pieces, the set includes six strings, tuning pegs, a pickup switch, a tremolo bar, a foot pedal and a ’65 Princeton Reverb amplifier. You can even open the amp up to reveal the motherboard and speakers. There is even a Fender guitar strap and guitar stand to lay the Strat down between sets. Yes, Lego people need a break to pee.
Available in Red or Black, the Strat is the creation of a Lego fan designer from Slovakia. Tomas Letenay originally submitted the idea as part of the Lego Ideas Music to Our Ears Competition.
At 6 inches, the Lego Stratocaster is still too big for Lego people to play, but even if the neck was small enough to fit in their hands, you know all we’d hear would be bar chords.
You can learn more about the Lego Ideas Fender Stratocaster Set on the toy maker’s site.
The best sites to find vintage vinyl records online. Part of the joy of being a vintage vinyl collector is leafing through crates at your local used-record shop. It’s usually musty and the displays seem to have been created to challenge you more than to …
Old 97’s Twelfth Texas Edition Songs about booze. Songs about love. Songs about regret. Songs about regretting the booze you loved. All delivered with signature Old 97’s twang and self-deprecating wit. Old 97’s latest album offers the maturity of a band that knows the never-ending …
When all is said and done, we will all have our memories of the moment we are living in. For some rock and roll faithful, one of those memories will be Adam Weiner and Low Cut Connie’s raucous concert series, Tough Cookies.
For all of us who have had to talk, or present, to a screen on zoom, you know that the energy Adam Weiner creates during each Tough Cookies performance is no small feet. Performing for a screen is just so one way. There’s no energy of the crowd to feed off. Not to mention the choice of groupies suck.
On the band’s web site, you’ll find a link to a bounty of Tough Cookie merch. The most limited of which are ripped shirts straight off the back of Weiner himself. A long standing bit of a Low Cut Connie show is Weiner ripping off one of his trademark wife beaters.
The shirts when available come with a signed poloroid taken at the moment of their destruction. Proceeds from each T go to Appel Farm Arts Camp. A New Jersey art & education program for kids.
Now if damaged pre-worn rock star apparel isn’t your thing. And I completely understand. You can underline your appreciation of the Tough Cookies series with t-shirts, tank tops, baseball Ts, sweatpants, posters, pins and bangles.
One can only imagine that back on March 11, Weiner was freaking out like the rest of us. After months of hearing about some virus having its way with China and Europe, things got serious in North America. Right in the middle of a game, the NBA shut down leading to the cancellation of live entertainment. Like everything. Everywhere. No sports, no theatre, no music.
Everything just stopped. As did the income of anyone who made a living entertaining us. Globe trotting athletes, comedians and musicians found themselves shut-ins.
The days of multiplatinum performers requesting nothing but red M&Ms has been replaced by musicians who have to tour to earn a living. The streaming formula just doesn’t pay what vinyl and CDs once did. So back in March, a lot of working class guitar heroes found themselves sitting at home instead of hitting the road.
Adam Wiener of Low Cut Connie was no exception. He also had a double album waiting in the wings. Private Lives was released on October 13. Throughout LCC livestreams, peaks of the new material has been frequent. And it’s fantastic. Which must have made it that much harder knowing that they couldn’t take the new material out on tour.
Right out of the gate, Low Cut Connie’s live streams have been recognized as some of the best on the web including in this Rolling Stone article.
If you haven’t seen any of the shows, I suggest starting with the very first. Available here on Low Cut Connie’s FB page. 7 months later it doesn’t have the emotional weight of the moment, but still the energy of Adam Weiner and guitarist Will Donnely will lift your spirits. I think my favourite part is that they start broadcasting with the image on it’s side. The fact that they weren’t 100% clear on how to create a FaceBook Live only adds to the beauty. This is live unpolished rock and roll with nothing but a piano, a guitar and a lead singer in a robe. Spoiler alert for the uninitiated, Weiner ultimately ends up in some stage of undress before the end of each show.
On the first of Low Cut Connie’s live streams, you’ll note that the show was going by a different name back in March 19. The shows are dubbed Live From South Philly. Tough Cookies didn’t come until later. As did the merchandise and the Patreon membership. Unable to tour Low Cut Connie has not only had to find ways to get their music heard, but they’ve also had to get crafty with how to pay the bills.
It’s about buying into a idea that music can lift us up through difficult times. Live music and performances can connect artists and fans. It’s about commemorating a moment and a band making the most of that moment.
The Beatles Butcher album cover isn’t their most notorious scandal. It doesn’t hold a candle to the time they snubbed the Queen or dissed GOD. But the image of the lovable mops tops draped in raw meat while holding decapitated baby dolls did create a …
Three years ago The Sex Pistols and Converse released a collab to celebrate the band’s 40th anniversary. This year, The Sex Pistols and Dr. Martens are putting out a Dr. Martens x Sex Pistols limited edition collection. It’s enough to make a UK punk fan drool. Or …
You may have just bought it, owned it for years, or even if you don’t own it yet. Especially if you don’t own it yet. George Gruhn knows your guitar. And this is why Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars is the bible of identifying American string instruments.
If you are a seasoned collector, you know this already. You’ve probably used it. For casual enthusiast or newbies to the vintage guitar collector’s game, you need to know.
While in university in 1963, George was looking for a guitar that would help him sound like the folk musicians he was in to. He went through a number of guitars before landing on a Gibson L-5.
And here is where George Gruhn fell into a hobby that would earn him a living for the rest of his life. While searching for his guitar, Gruhn came across quality instruments that he didn’t necessarily want, but he knew he could flip for a profit.
George Gruhn didn’t invent vintage guitar collecting, but for most of his adult life he has been the go to guy when someone wanted an elusive axe. Eventually he set up shop in Nashville opening Gruhn’s Guitars in 1970. For 49 years now, the shop has been servicing guitar enthusiast from all walks of life and musical tastes. Customers of the now famed instrument shop include Dylan, Clapton, McCartney and Swift. That would be T Swift as in Taylor.
In 1991, George with the help of Walter Carter put together the 1st edition of Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars. The second edition was expanded by 25%. The current and 3rd edition was published in 2010. It was not only expanded once again, but the categorization of the information has change. The change has mixed reviews on the amazon’s listing, but overall this guide has excellent user reviews.
This is not a catalogue, but a tool to help collectors identify what they are looking at. Don’t expect things to be served to you on a platter. Gruhn’s Guide is for those who love the thrill of the hunt.
Say your uncle from London, knew a guy who knew a guy, who shagged a girl who was a groupie for John Mayall and the Bluebreakers. Story has it that the girl got bored of waiting as the band rehearsed and left with a Gibson Les Paul which she traded for some heroin and a shag. Years later your uncle won the guitar in a poker game. At first, he tried to learn how to play, but couldn’t master an F bar chord and the Les Paul soon found itself under his bed collecting dust.
Could this be Eric Clapton’s long lost Beano Sunburst? Well no, the story I just told you is a fabrication. If the story was true could Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars identify this as a Clapton Les Paul. No again. The guide cannot trace DNA.
But Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars could help you identify if the guitar is a rare ’59 Les Paul. At which point ka-ching, you’ve got something worth $500,000+. The guide will also let you know if your uncle is full of crap and the guitar was built in Gibson’s lacklustre mid-70s.
If you’re interested in investing in a vintage axe and don’t have a personal buyer, the answer is yes. If you like to sniff around garage sales the guide is a must. If you’ve got an Uncle with a great story and a dusty guitar, well that all depends on how well you know your uncle.
An original pressing of The Beatles White Album, number 0000001 to be exact, has the distinction of being the most expensive album ever sold. In December of 2015, it was auctioned off for $790, 000. Now some will point out that The Wu Tang Clan’s …
Give ‘Em Enough Rope artwork print signed by Mick Jones and Paul Simonon If you’re lucky enough to have a first pressing of Give ‘Em Enough Rope, you’ll know that the cover is not exactly the same as the limited edition print featured above. The …
If you’ve seen U2, you’ve seen the Edge’s Explorer. To be specific his 1976 Limited Edition Gibson Explorer.
The year is important, because this is when Gibson re-introduced the model to the public after a flop of a launch. In 1958, Gibson released two futuristic models: the Flying V and the Explorer. Both guitars from the launch are now some of the most expensive vintage guitars in the world.
Gibson produced very few of each model. It is believed that only 50 Explorers were produced during the model’s first incarnation. It wasn’t until the 70s, when guitarists like Lynard Skynard’s Allen Collins started to plug them in, that Gibson decided to give the design a second go.
The story behind how the Edge bought his first Explorer is remarkably similar to how the Kink’s Dave Davis picked up his Flying V. Davis walked into a Manhattan music store with the intention of leaving with a Les Paul.
In 1978, Dave Evans was visiting New York City with his parents when the Irish teenager walk into Stuyvesant Music. The Edge recalls that he probably had a Les Paul in mind, but he left with the little known Explorer.
With punk morphing into the new angular sounding New Wave, it’s hard to imagine a better guitar for a guitarist in ’78. And, hello, body called himself the Edge, so of course he’d forgo the curves of a Les Paul.
Today it’s hard to image U2 without the Edge’s Explorer. He has used it on many of their first recordings and the guitar’s unique sound has as much to do with U2’s chime as Bono’s vox.
In 2008, the guitarist donated the hefty proceeds from an auction to Music Rising, a foundation he co-founded to help musicians in the New Orleans area affected by Hurricane Katrina. When you think about the sentimental value this axe must have had for the musician, it’s enough to forgive him for spamming our iTunes accounts.
10 years later, another of the Edge’s Explorers was auctioned off. I know, you’re saying how many of these things does Mr. Rock Star have? Are they any rarer to him than red Smarties? I may not forgive spamming my iTunes after all.
But this is a 1976 Gibson Explorer. They are rarer than a street with no name. Love it or hate it, these models were put together like no other. An important distinction is the wider necks.
The guitar was expected to get between $60,000 and $80,000. On 11/09/2018 the Edge’s stage-played 1976 Gibson Explorer was bought for $90,625.
The ’59 Sound 10th Anniversary Autographed Tour Poster The Gaslight Anthem got back together this summer to celebrate their greatest moment. The ’59 Sound is the band at its best as can be heard on the 10th anniversary box set. The lucky few got to …
Joe Strummer 001 Limited Edition Super Deluxe Boxset The Joe Strummer 001 compilation tells the story of Joe before (and after) The Clash. The Limited Edition Super Deluxe Boxset offers collectibles that are as diverse and random as the music that fills the 2 CDs, …
Hands down one of the most famous album covers of all time, Snap Studios has been promoting limited edition Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band screen prints signed by co-creator Sir Peter Blake.
The Beatles tapped the UK pop artist know for his popular culture infused collages to produce a cover for its alter ego. Beatles’ lore tells the story that Paul came up with the idea that the band should write as this new creation allowing members to head into territories that they would not naturally go as the fab four.
The album cover embraces the idea of breaking free from The Beatles taking it one step further, or maybe four, creating the funeral for the most popular band in the world.
At the time, Just as the Beatles were everything. rock and roll was the now music and Peter Blake was an artist in step with the rhythm of the times.
The album cover is timeless and brilliant distillation of a moment in 1967.
Sir Peter Blake went on to produce a number of other great album covers. None of which matched the notoriety of Sgt. Peppers, although 1984’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? Band Aid cover ain’t too shabby.
This is a door crasher for fans of album art. Before I hit publish, Snap Studios had quickly sold two copies of these limited edition Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band screen prints. They promise to get more and you can put your name down on a waiting list as more come in here.