JIM MARSHALL – A BIT ABOUT ‘THE FATHER OF LOUD’ by RICH MALOOF
The title of this post says quite a bit about the man responsible for the sound that Pete Townshend, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and even Nigel Tufnel and David St. Hubbins, to name just a few, came to make their own. Jim Marshall, R.I.P.
I’m usually not one who deals very well with even the mention of the word de@+#. Concerning it, I’ve never had sadder times in my life. I’m hoping, Lord willing, that I still have a bit of time left on this Earth, upon this treadmill I call life, to get various things accomplished that I would like to do. Only time will tell. I haven’t made any mention of all the guitarists and musicians of late who have stepped away from the planet as that’s just not my gig (see 1st sentence above).
However, if you’re into keeping up on thoses types of things, have I got a link for you! Also, this is where I’m making a special exception to the rule about any stories concerning the d-word. An important contributor to Jackaboutguitars, Author & Noteworthy Guitarist Rich Maloof, who wrote a biography of Jim Marshall called “The Father of Loud,” was just recently interviewed by Anchor Marco Werman of BBC/PRI’s ‘The World’.
Here’s that interview with Rich:
This second interview is also from BBC/PRI. It is an interview with Harry Shearer (Derek Smalls – bass player with the band Spinal Tap).
Jackaboutguitars kindly received Rich Maloof’s permission to reprint his article. Now here’s the story written by Rich Maloof, which appeared on Rich Maloof .com shortly after the news of Jim Marshall’s passing.
GOODBYE, JIM
Back in 2003, I received a phone call from an editor at Backbeat Books asking if I’d be interested in writing the biography of Jim Marshall. The iconic designer of Marshall amplifiers was turning 80 years old and his stateside distributor, Korg, wanted to pay tribute with a book about not only his amps but his life.
Within weeks I was on a plane bound for London with my wife and 6-month-old son. While my young family played in Hyde Park, I visited the Marshall factory in Bletchley and was chauffeured around West London with Jim to see his old haunts. We visited the humble home where he gave drum lessons and saw the institution where he spent years in a full-body cast due to a childhood