Bert Weedon's Play in a Day: Guide to Modern Guitar Playing (Guitar)

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EVERLYPEDIA (Formerly the Everly Brothers Index - TEBI) Coordinated by Robin Dunn & Chrissie Van Varik The first amplified guitars were beginning to appear and Weedon became an enthusiastic exponent, playing in the orchestras of Ted Heath, Mantovani and Ronnie Aldrich. His career was interrupted by a bout of tuberculosis. After he was discharged from hospital, doctors advised him to avoid smoky dancehalls and nightclubs, so he switched the focus of his career to records, radio and television. Weedon was born in East Ham, east London, the son of a train driver who had a collection of hillbilly records and was an amateur singer. Weedon bought his first guitar aged 12 from Petticoat Lane market. (In 2003 he received an apology and damages from the BBC after the publicity for a radio programme had inexplicably claimed that he learned to play the guitar while in jail.) Right,' he said, 'what sort of music d'you like, son?' So I said, 'I love jazz' and he said "Jazz? I'm not going to teach that rubbish." Betts, Graham (2004). Complete UK Hit Singles 1952-2004 (1sted.). London: Collins. p.837. ISBN 0-00-717931-6.

a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19thed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p.595. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.As a teenager, he was the leader of such groups as the Blue Cumberland Rhythm Boys and Bert Weedon and His Harlem Hotshots. In the 1930s and 1940s the guitar was not the ubiquitous instrument it would later become and, Weedon said: "The only time you saw a guitar was in the hands of a cowboy in a western singing Home on the Range." Weedon also recorded prolifically for the Top Rank label under his own name. Guitar Boogie Shuffle (1959, by the American guitarist Arthur Smith) and Apache (1960, by Jerry Lordan) were minor hits, although the latter was a much greater success in the version by Weedon's disciples the Shadows. His own compositions included Sorry Robbie (1960), China Doll and the much-recorded Ginchy (both 1961). EVERLYPEDIA (Formerly the Everly Brothers Index – TEBI) Coordinated by Robin Dunn & Chrissie Van Varik Married to Maggie Weedon, he had two sons, Lionel and Geoffrey, eight grandchildren, and a great-grandson. [3] As a Water Rat, Weedon was highly active in charity work and fundraising, especially for children and disabled people, and was elected King Rat in 1992. [3] He was awarded an OBE in 2001 for his services to music. [1] Weedon died on 20 April 2012, following a long illness.

Many years later, Martin Taylor took over playing for Stephane and he played beautifully. He's a great guitarist and is also one of my heroes." Then I thought 'I've got to find a teacher'. After looking for about a year or so, I found a teacher and to my utter surprise he was in a place called Manor Park, which is adjacent to East Ham. His name was James Newell and he said 'You want to learn the guitar? Well, it's a shilling a lesson'. Among those who were inspired by the televised lessons was Mike Oldfield, who told me: "I saw him on television when I was seven and immediately persuaded my father to buy me my first guitar. If it wasn't for Bert I might never have taken it up in the first place."Neville Marten, editor of Guitar Techniques magazine, commented that Bert Weedon's contribution to the guitar world cannot be overstated: He said, 'Sit down, son' so I sat down and he got out a classical guitar, a gut strung Martin guitar, as I remember it very vividly. He played the Chopin Prelude No7. Suddenly the door opened and we all looked up, and in walked Sinatra. He'd borrowed a bowler hat, God alone knows where he got the bowler hat from but he'd got it, and a rolled umbrella. And he walked in with this bowler hat and a rolled umbrella, and he says 'Good morning, my dear fellows. Shall we make a little music together?' (in an English accent), and everybody burst out laughing and I thought 'Oh, this is marvelous'. He said to me 'Bert, you ought a come to America". He said, 'you would make a big hit there," you know because I was a soloist. During and after the World War II you played with many dance bands. You played with the Ted Heath Orchestra?

So I still play the Fender, but now I use the Parker guitar as well because it's so light and I can stand up and do the show without bending over, which for an old man is a marvellous asset. I'm very impressed with the Parker guitar and I'm impressed with the Fender guitar."

He said 'That's ever so nice of you'. I said 'Well it's a pleasure'. I said 'Here's the part, son'. And he sat down and he played it brilliantly. I said 'Good God! What's your name?' He said, 'Julian Bream'. And that's when I first met him. In this revealing discussion, Weedon talks about the origins of his guitar playing, working with a variety of musical greats and, of course, his much-loved book Play In A Day. The other night I was at a function and [English classical guitarist] Julian Bream was there and he said 'It's lovely to see you, Bert'. He said 'I haven't seen you since I used to come and see you in Plaistow hospital'. I said 'Good God! I'd forgotten all that'. And that was a subsequent flare-up that got better because by then they'd invented penicillin.

Lister); an American Folk Rhapsody Deutschmeister Kapelle/JULIUS HERRMANN; Band of the Welsh Guards/Cap Certainly in Britain, it was never issued in America. It's been very helpful. I suppose virtually every guitar player said 'I learnt from your book, Bert'. You've got a list down here of some of the people who did it." All credit to them, because The Shadows are nice blokes; Hank Marvin's a very nice man. And they wrote me a number to compensate for this, Mr Guitar, which they dedicated to me and I recorded it, but it wasn't a big hit. That's the story behind Apache. Nebraska was cut on crap equipment… It wasn't a proper recording setup. It was also recorded by somebody who'd never recorded anything before”: How Bruce Springsteen recorded his most important album in his bedroom with just a Gibson J-200 and a TEAC 144 Most of the big bands didn't carry a guitarist, but every time they did broadcasts or recordings, they'd call on yours truly. So I worked with all of them, which was nice.I found a little cheap boarding house and I went down there and I used to go and sit on the end of Southend pier every day and I got better from TB. Although, I did have a relapse a few years later. Absolutely. I recorded that in 1959. It was the first ever hit guitar record on an English label and the first ever hit guitar record by an English man to get into the Hit Parade. I was preceded by an American guitarist called Duane Eddy. So then I started getting more hits like Apache, which again was written especially for me by a man named Jerry Lordan."