RANDY “TEX” HILL AND THE OREGON VALLEY BOYS

GOODTIMES WITH RANDY “TEX” HILL AND THE OREGON VALLEY BOYS

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This article has been a long, long, time comin’. Yep, life has been movin’ at a gallop even this ol’ horse hasn’t been able to keep up with…neeeiiigh(nay)

Originally this post was going to be just about Randy “Tex” Hill and the cool guitar art assemblage projects that he has done.

The man, Randy “Tex” Hill, is quite talented. He’s been a fine drummer & singer – forever… and has traveled the globe entertaining for just about as long as that.

This just in via Facebook:  Randy “Tex” Hill…”I got a call on Thursday. It’s confirmed. I’ll be inducted into the Northwest Western Swing Hall of Fame on August 10th in Auburn, Washington. Wow. Blows my mind. I am extremely honored.”  Words from a humble talented guy.

He’s also a graphic designer, artist, has his own radio program, and even runs his own magazine. How he finds time to do all of this, I’ll never know. He makes me tired, he does so much.

Recently, (in the scheme of things), I had the opportunity of getting out to hear his band The Oregon Valley Boys perform at Ringlers, right here in Portland, so I figured I’d just tell you a bit about the band also. These guys are the best Western Swing Band that I’ve heard in a long time. They have it down and they have it down good.  Talk about a bunch of Swingers…(Western style that is).

Continue reading RANDY “TEX” HILL AND THE OREGON VALLEY BOYS

SOME WAY COOL GUITARS ARE NOW AVAILABLE FROM STEVE SOEST

SOME WAY COOL GUITARS ARE NOW AVAILABLE FROM STEVE SOEST

THAT’S RIGHT! Some WAY COOL GUITARS are now available from STEVE SOEST(Soest Guitar)! Get ’em while they’re hot before somebody else does… because STUFF THIS COOL WON’T LAST LONG…

Steve-MustangSteve Soest with more than a carload of COOL and DROOL!

I may have to sell my SPECIAL PEDIGREE ALBINO MILKING CHICKENS and “MUSEUM QUALITY” CHIA PET COLLECTION to get in on this action and getting one of these babies for myself!

FOR SALE: 6.5 milking chickens-WELL TRAINED -THAT’S RIGHT – 1/2 a milking chicken too! (NON SHEDDING VARIETY!!!)

FOR SALE: 13 CHIA PETS -they don’t eat much and come from a VERY CLEAN CHIA FAMILY!!!

My apologies.  These guitars are just SO WAY COOL I got a little caught up and carried away about how I was going to bag something here for myself.  Back to the guitars…

Check out this list of WAY COOLNESS:

1. 1920 Gibson Style “O” Artist $3850

2. 1959 Martin OO-18G (he said he has this one sold, so it might be going back to him)

3. T. Haruo Fancy Martin Style Model 80 $450

4. 1942 Epiphone Century Electric $1100

5. 1930’s Washburn (Tonk Bros.) Model 5200 $1200

6. 1960’s Ampeg by Burns of London “Wild Dog” $1200

7. Hamer Parallelogram Solid Body? MILLER BEER Promo  (Graphics covered with sparkle sticky paper) $350

8. 1960’s Yamaha SG-2 Red Solid Body, Tremolo, Weird Cool Link Wray Model $1400

9. 1960’s Crucianelli (Italy) “Panoramic” Solid Body $485

10. 1968 (?) Fender Mustang Bass C.A. Red/Racing Stripe $1400

11. 1930’s S.S. Stewart Carved Top Archtop Model 7008 $850

12. 1972 Fender Strat Sunburst, Maple Neck Staggered Pole Pickups $2600

13. 1978 Gibson Les Paul Custom Artisan 3 Pickups, Walnut, Fancy $2600 SOLD

14. 1968 Fender Telecaster Bass, Blonde (Keeper)

15. 1960’s Mosrite Sunburst Ventures Style $2600

16. Silvertone/Danelectro Model 1457 2 Pickup Guitar Red Burst with Amp-In-Case. VERY NICE $785

17. VERY RARE Hallmark Mark IV Solid Body, Gold Sparkle With Matching Headstock, 2 Pickup, Tremolo Mosrite Influence , Made in Bakersfield by Former

TOMMY TEDESCO AND FRIENDS ON THE GOLDEN AGE OF STUDIO GUITAR BY JAS OBRECHT

One song comes to mind that takes me back to a time when I was fortunate enough to play guitar in a very cool, very authentic ’60’s cover band called Route 66 – (This band was hatched from The Tangents and Eddie & The Trays. Great memories.)  The song I’m referring to that was really fun to play now feels like it has really become the anthem of my life. It was by Booker T. and The MG’s and is called “Time Is Tight”.  Boy is it and that’s all I’ve got…

I was hoping to do so much with the site this year and I can’t believe that’s it’s already summertime.  I’m hoping “the living is easy” for you but I’m beginning to have my doubts even about that for myself as work has been plentiful and when one freelances, one must go for it while the gettin’ is good.

In the mean time I’m going to move a GREAT guitarist story to the top again that was run mid February as we now have some cool add ons that are put after the story (so as to not interfere directly with the pictures and flow of the story as it was originally presented by Jas Obrecht.)

The story, “Tommy Tedesco and Friends On The Age of Studio Guitar by Jas Obrecht” caught the eye of one of Tommy Tedesco’s sons, Wrecking Crew Filmmaker, Denny Tedesco.  After Denny saw the article, he shot me an email saying that he remembered the party and that he could get me some pictures to add to the story if I could use them.  I thought to myself that this was way cool.  (Thanks so much Denny and my sincerest apologies for it taking so long to get the photos up.)

I’m going to call this my disclaimer just in case there were any mistakes made in identifying some of the greats in the pictures.  Even though I had help in trying to figure out just who everyone was in the photos, it wasn’t an easy task by any means.  So here goes: My apologies to any persons, living or no longer with us, who might have a wrong name attached to the photo that was thought to be you.  It was purely accidental if it happened and if there were any mistakes, please contact me through the site and we’ll get things all sorted out.

Special thanks to Denny Tedesco and his mother Carmie Tedesco for use of the photographs, and the help of Denny, Mitch Holder, and Bobby Fury (aka Bob Mytkowicz) for their help in confirming the identities of those in the photos.  The b&w digital images used were taken from scans of 34 year old color snapshots which had faded and lost out to time, standard color processing, etc., etc., etc.,. As mentioned in the story, “The occasion was a sendoff for longtime session guitarists Al Hendrickson and Michael Anthony.”  Enjoy!      Jack

One really way cool thing about having this “fun little guitar site” has to do with the people that I have had the privilege to have contact with.  Jas Obrecht is one of these people.

Jas was an editor at Guitar Player Magazine for some twenty years and has interviewed so many great guitarists it would make your head spin.  Not only is he a noteworthy author and a fine guitarist in his own right, but he is also a founding editor of Pure Guitar Magazine.  Jas has an immense amount of  music knowledge.

Be sure to check out his way cool blog at Jas Obrecht.com.  It’s truly a GREAT site!  Please enjoy this really cool article that Jas has so graciously shared with all of us through Jackaboutguitars.      –   Jack

TOMMY TEDESCO AND FRIENDS ON THE GOLDEN AGE OF STUDIO GUITAR BY JAS OBRECHT

Tommy Tedesco, the most recorded guitarist in history, was also one of the most beloved characters to ever work the Los Angeles music scene. And work it he did: After arriving from Niagara Falls in 1953, Tommy spent four decades playing sessions for countless films, TV shows, record albums, commercial jingles – you name it. A ferociously good sight-reader, this wonderful, big-hearted Italian maestro of the strings became the town’s “first call” guitarist, meaning he was the first person to call for sessions.

Beyond being a brilliant player, Tommy was renowned for his mischievous sense of humor and willingness to help talented newcomers navigate the studio system. He was a much-loved character, and everyone who as part of that scene has choice Tedesco stories to share. I too have many fond memories him, and one stands above the rest. First, some background.

 

Before arriving at Guitar Player magazine in May ’78, I’d never heard of Tommy Tedesco. That all changed my first day on the job, when I was handed my regular monthly assignments. Among them were editing columns by Jeff Baxter, Barney Kessel, and Tommy Tedesco. Baxter, I learned, liked to dictate his over the phone. Kessel carefully hand-wrote his on a yellow legal pad. Tommy’s “Studio Log” column showed up in the mail, neatly typed and with an attached page of music from a recent session. These columns provided unsurpassed insight into studio life at the time, as Tommy detailed who each session was for, what gear he played, how he modified the music, and what he was paid. He’d always call to ask if the column was okay. I found him to be a wonderful guy through and through, and I ended up editing his column for fourteen years. I always enjoyed being around him at seminars, trade shows, studio dates, and when he’d visit our office.

 

My fondest memory of the man dates to May 18, 1980. That night Tommy and his wife Carmie threw a party at their spacious home in Northridge, California. The occasion was a sendoff for longtime session guitarists Al Hendrickson and Michael Anthony. By early evening, cars of all shapes and sizes had pulled up in front of the house. The signatures in the guest book included Bob Bain, Dennis Budimir, Larry Carlton, Steve Carnelli, David Cohen, Joe DiBlasi, Herb Ellis, Ron Eschete, Robben Ford, Grant Geissman, Jay Graydon, Al Hendrickson, Mitch Holder, Carol Kaye, Pat Martino, Tim May, Greg Poree, Lee Ritenour, Alan Reuss, Tony Rizzi, Thom Rotella, George M. Smith, and Barry Zweiss. In retrospect, this party proved to be a once-in-a-lifetime gathering of Los Angeles’ top studio guitarists.

 

As I reported in the April 1981 issue of Guitar Player, “The tenor of the evening was laid-back and polite, with no sign of inflated egos. Over clinking glasses and infectious laughter, most conversations centered on families, girlfriends, memories of old pals and times gone, humorous events in the studio, scams at the golf course, and friendly wagers. Although several instruments were inconspicuously stacked in a corner of the living room, none of these sharpshooters opened a case all night.” Several times that evening, I heard the quip, “If someone dropped a bomb on this party, L.A. would be a wide-open town for guitarists!”

Continue reading TOMMY TEDESCO AND FRIENDS ON THE GOLDEN AGE OF STUDIO GUITAR BY JAS OBRECHT

THE BEATLES ON THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW BY EDDIE DEEZEN

FIFTY YEARS SINCE THE BEATLES CONQUERED AMERICA AND CHANGED ROCK MUSIC FOREVER

Who can believe that this week marks the fiftieth anniversary of The Beatles arriving in America?  That’s an event that doesn’t really mean too much to those who weren’t born at the time or were too young to even know that it was going on.  To those who were around at the time and old enough to remember, it was an event of huge significance.  It was music history in the making.  I’m thankful I have a couple of great older brothers who knew exactly what was happening or I would have probably missed it.  Thanks Al & Ger!

Just as people remember where they were when JFK was shot, or what they might have been doing when the horror of 911 revealed itself, The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show was one of those few moments that really made that same sort of impression on a person’s memory.

The great thing about this event was that it was a pleasant entertaining spot of time with no sadness whatsoever as wasn’t the case concerning the other two events mentioned.  I even remember reading that criminal activity in New York City had come to a halt during this first broadcast of The Beatles performing on The Ed Sullivan Show as some 73 million people tuned in.

In honor of this fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the British Invasion, Jackaboutguitars is pleased to present another GREAT article from one of the biggest Beatles fans on the planet!

Now, here’s another cool Beatles story from actor, voice over artist, and writer, Eddie Deezen.

As time and space permit, Jackaboutguitars will continue to share some very cool articles on The Beatles during this fiftieth anniversary celebration year of The Beatles conquering America that Eddie has written for www.eddiedeezen.com – “The Official Eddie Deezen Website” and for neatorama.com where Eddie has done many way cool guest posts on The Beatles and a variety of other people and subjects.

Eddie_Deezen Eddie Deezen is a character actor who is best known for his acting roles in Grease, Grease 2, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Surf II: The End of The Trilogy, 1941, Zapped!, WarGames, Disney’s Midnight Madness, and Punky Brewster, to name a few, as well as the voice of characters Lenny The Know It All in The Polar Express, Mandark in Dexter’s Laboratory on The Cartoon Network, Ned in Kim Possible, and Snipes The Magpie in Rock-A-Doodle.

Besides all of his Hollywood credits from being a talented character and voice actor, Eddie Deezen is a HUGE BEATLES FAN! His Beatles knowledge is nothing short of amazing.

Be sure to check out more from Eddie at www.eddiedeezen.com, neatorama.com, and give him a like on Facebook.

Once again, Eddie, a very sincere big THANK YOU!      –   Jack

THE BEATLES ON THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW BY EDDIE DEEZEN

On February 9, 1964, The Beatles made their American television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. (For those of you unfamiliar, The Ed Sullivan Show was a hugely popular, legendary variety show which ran in America from 1948 to 1973.  If you can imagine American Idol or Dancing with the Stars, and multiply it times 20, that was how popular The Ed Sullivan Show was in the 1960s. Pretty much everyone watched the show.

The Beatles had been seen in clips and recorded interviews before this, but this was their actual performance debut on U.S. television.  The show was watched by an all-time record (at the time) of 73,000,000 people.  The show remains a landmark in television history and is an indelible memory to any of us who watched the historic performance.
The show is, quite possibly, the single most important moment in the history of rock and roll.  Like September 11, 2001 or the day President Kennedy was assassinated, no one who witnessed this show will ever forget where he or she was at the time.

Continue reading THE BEATLES ON THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW BY EDDIE DEEZEN

INDEPENDENT MUSICIANS RISE AGAINST CORPORATE GIANTS: THE STORY…

INDEPENDENT MUSICIANS RISE AGAINST CORPORATE GIANTS: THE STORY

 

EVER FELT TOTALLY HELPLESS AND RIPPED OFF?

Have you ever felt totally helpless after being ripped off by a big corporation?  Maybe it only had to do with the ultra ridiculous charges inflicted upon you by a MEGA GIANT CABLE COMPANY just to be able to enjoy a little T.V. watching and have internet service.  They get you to sign up for what seems like a fairly reasonable fee, give you all of the “EXTRAS”, only to stick it to you for the next couple of years until the contract expires (who has time to read, let alone understand everything on those 3 pages of fine print that happens to be in a language which only resembles English!)

 

 

Maybe it’s only the high out of pocket expenses that you work so hard for to pay for your $5000 deductible insurance only to find by year’s end you put out only $4950 towards medical expenses besides the extremely high premiums you’ve paid all year long just to try to protect your family.

 

Imaging inventing a way cool product and people seeming to work with you under the guise of helping you to bring that invention to market!  Big corporations pretending to help you out but really behaving like THIEVES and stealing and marketing the product that YOU INVENTED! Would you like the opportunity to feel a little bit better about some of the wrong doing that goes on in this world that seems to rain on you and I (the little guy)?

 

I know that just presenting this article to you for my friends Michelle & Steve helps me to feel quite a bit better about the unfortunate unfair things that most of us have to endure on an almost daily basis by the “big boys” who reign it all over us.

Continue reading INDEPENDENT MUSICIANS RISE AGAINST CORPORATE GIANTS: THE STORY…

A GREAT EVENING WITH DEKE DICKERSON AT FIVE STAR GUITARS

It’s crazy how busy life can get especially around the time of the holidays.  As most of you know, I don’t bother wasting my time with anything on Jackaboutguitars unless I consider it fun, at least somewhat worthwhile, feel it’s way cool, or even all three.  After all, the tagline for the site is “just a fun little guitar site”.  I guess that’s my disclaimer too – (fun for me.)

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I’m now going to make mention of a pretty cool evening I spent several weeks back at the local guitar shop that had all three of the above mentioned qualifications.

I walked in one Saturday afternoon and was greeted warmly (as is the usual scenario) when I walked into the way cool guitar shop, Five Star Guitars.

My agenda that day was to inquire about placing some 4×6 cards up on their bulletin board concerning The Wrecking Crew Film Article and Interview with Filmmaker Denny Tedesco which at the time was the latest Feature Post on Jackaboutguitars.com.

Filmmaker Denny Tedesco, (son of the late, great, guitarist, Tommy Tedesco – who was one of the members of The Wrecking Crew), had just got the Kickstarter going to raise the final $250,000 needed to get The Wrecking Crew Film up onto the big screen…and it was a HUGE success when the Kickstarter ended at $313,157 with 4,245 backers!

Jeep Simonet, one of the three owners of Five Star Guitars, said sure (that it was okay to post the cards) and asked me if I knew about the event happening at the store that evening, to which I replied a simple no.  After Jeep told me, I did remember a short simple post that I had done some months before concerning the Special Guest of the Evening (See:http://www.jackaboutguitars.com/namm-danelectro)

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT FIVE STAR GUITARS

Let me tell you about Five Star Guitars…Five Star Guitars is a really way cool guitar store that has been in business since 1998.

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It’s located at 2303 N.W. 185th Ave. in Tanasbourne (officially Hillsboro, Oregon 97124 – 503.439.9500).  If you aren’t familiar with where Tanabourne is, it’s right at the point where far, far, north, and even farther west than north, N.W. Portland meets N.E. Hillsboro meets N.W. Beaverton where N.E. Aloha creeps in.  Talk about being centrally located to all of these different areas!

Five Star Guitars has everything in their store that a guitar player could want in a local guitar shop.  Even if you have seen an item elsewhere at a price that’s even lower than the great and competitive prices that they already offer, Five Star will match that price!  They will even match internet pricing too.  You can even check out Five Star Guitars Inventory online.

5 Star GretschsUmmm…..Gretschs!

Continue reading A GREAT EVENING WITH DEKE DICKERSON AT FIVE STAR GUITARS

THE FIRST BEATLE TO VISIT AMERICA BY EDDIE DEEZEN

TIME FOR A BEATLE STORY THAT YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD ABOUT

Here’s a story that’s pretty cool from actor, voice over artist, and writer, Eddie Deezen.  It’s about George Harrison, the first Beatle to visit America.

Jackaboutguitars will be sharing some very cool articles that Eddie has written for www.eddiedeezen.com – “The Official Eddie Deezen Website”.  Many of these articles have also appeared at neatorama.com where Eddie has done many guest posts on a variety of themes.

Eddie_Deezen Eddie Deezen is a character actor who is best known for his acting roles in Grease, Grease 2, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Surf II: The End of The Trilogy, 1941, Zapped!, WarGames, Disney’s Midnight Madness, and Punky Brewster, to name a few, as well as the voice of characters Lenny The Know It All in The Polar Express, Mandark in Dexter’s Laboratory on The Cartoon Network, Ned in Kim Possible, and Snipes The Magpie in Rock-A-Doodle.

Besides all of his Hollywood credits from being a talented character and voice actor, Eddie Deezen is a HUGE BEATLES FAN!  His Beatles knowledge is nothing short of amazing.

Myself, having been bit by the guitar/Beatle bug way back when(see: A LITTLE BIT ABOUT…how the guitar bug bit me BIG TIME) thought I knew a few things about The Beatles.  Compared to Eddie, I know “just a few things” about The Beatles.

As we have just landed into 2014, I find it almost unbelievable that this is the year that celebrates the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles setting foot on the shores of America, along with Beatlemania and the first three appearances of The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show – the venue where most of us caught our first glimpse of The Beatles performing.

Jackaboutguitars.com will also continue to present some of these way cool articles by HUGE BEATLES FAN, Mr. Eddie Deezen in the near future.

Be sure to check out more from Eddie at www.eddiedeezen.com, neatorama.com, and give him a like on FaceBook.

Eddie, a sincere big THANK YOU to you!         –   Jack

 

THE FIRST BEATLE TO VISIT AMERICA BY   EDDIE DEEZEN

1380037470-0 It was mid-September of 1963, fifty years ago.  The Beatles were already the biggest stars in the history of Great Britain and had a number one song with “She Loves You,” as well as having had a #1 album, their debut album Please Please Me.

But after over a full year of steady recording, playing gigs, and touring, the band finally had a few weeks off for a holiday.  John went to Paris with his then-wife Cynthia.  Paul and Ringo took off with their respective girlfriends for a vacation in Greece.  That left George, who went with his older brother Peter to visit their sister Louise in America.  Thus, George Harrison became the first Beatle to visit the U.S. (Ringo had originally planned to go with George, but changed his mind and went on the Greek trip with Paul instead.)

Continue reading THE FIRST BEATLE TO VISIT AMERICA BY EDDIE DEEZEN

NOW THAT THE SMOKE HAS CLEARED, IT’S TIME FOR SOME KEEPIN’ IT REAL

FORGOT YOUR MEDICINE? TIME FOR A DOSE OF KEEPIN’ IT REAL BY STEVE SOEST

That’s right, the GOOD DOCTOR is in!Even-Steven

…and I thought I was busy. Steve Soest is playing gigs all over Southern California, fixing EVERYBODY’S GUITARS, living life large, and he still has time for us here at Jackaboutguitars.com What a great guy!

 

Woops! Two Steve’s…

I’ll have to send him out one of these new extremely way cool Jackaboutguitars.com tee shirts when they become available in the very near future! They’ll look something like this:Jag Shirt240-3

This is only a mock up. Of course the real shirts will look way much cooler than anyone can even begin to imagine or anticipate!!!

Prices aren’t set in stone yet but the way it’s looking I’m guessing they’ll probably be somewhere around $25 which will include shipping within the continental U.S. and for any of you other readers in the other 102 countries where we have been seen, we’ll have to calculate that extra shipping cost (sorry Paul M., Eric C., Jeff B., Jimmy P., Peter F., and Pete T.) (Besides, if you guys mentioned here request a shirt, I may just send ’em with no extra shipping charge if you promise to give ’em plenty of exposure.)

As we get this all figured out (depending on demand and feedback – please drop us a line at [email protected] and if there’s enough response, we’ll probably put up an order form in the right hand column to make it easy to get one of these cool tee-shirts that boast a logo design by the same artist who designed the famous AC/DC logo, my talented brother, Gerry Huerta.

Continue reading NOW THAT THE SMOKE HAS CLEARED, IT’S TIME FOR SOME KEEPIN’ IT REAL

THE WRECKING CREW FILM: ONE OF THE COOLEST MUSIC FILMS TO COME ALONG…EVER

MY DINNER WITH DENNY TEDESCO (WELL, NOT REALLY…JUST PICKING THE MIND OF THE MAN BEHIND ONE OF THE COOLEST MUSIC FILMS TO COME ALONG EVER…THE FILM “THE WRECKING CREW”) by ED HUERTA

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WELL, THE TIME IS AT HAND, AND THE WAY COOL MUCH ANTICIPATED WRECKING CREW FILM IS ALMOST HERE…

KICKSTARTER IS IN PLACE AND NOW IT’S TIME FOR EVERYONE OUT THERE TO DO WHAT EACH OF US CAN

 

That’s right.  It’s  finally almost here.  Getting close to the release of THE WRECKING CREW FILM.  Many of you have heard the buzz.  Filmmaker Denny Tedesco, son of the late, great guitarist, Tommy Tedesco, is getting very close to releasing his “labor of love“, The Wrecking Crew Film.  Talk about excitement building…

This is the story that has needed to be told and it’s time for the final push for funds to get this amazing film up on the BIG SCREEN for all to see and enjoy, to be WOWED and AMAZED.  And what a story it is…

Let&