First and foremost, my appreciation goes to the guitarists whose interviews appear in this book. Your music has enriched us all, your words continue to inspire. I also give thanks to the loved ones of those who have gone before us: Duane Allman, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Jerry Garcia, James Gurley, Barney Kessel, Nick Lucas, Rick Nelson, Roebuck “Pops” Staples, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Johnny Winter.
I thank Jon Sievert, my companion on many of these interviews, and Jay Blakesberg for allowing me to use their wonderful photographs. Dick Spottswood generously shared his research on the earliest American guitar recordings and fact-checked the “Guitarchaeology” chapter. Lynn Wheelwright, an expert on the early evolution of the electric guitar, also provided valuable details. Their astute edits greatly improved this section of the manuscript, as did the suggestions of Tom Wheeler, author of several enduring books on American guitar history. Kudos to the UC Santa Barbara Library for their online Discography of American Historical Recordings, and to the Library of Congress for making available many historical guitar recordings.
The insights of many others have informed and bettered these pages: Galadrielle Allman, Sam Andrew, Jeff Baxter, John Burks, Walter Carter, John Cuniberti, Eddie Durham, David Evans, Leonard Feather, Tony Glover, Wayne Goins, Benny Goodman, Tim Gracyk, George Gruhn, John Hammond, George Kanahele, Rich Kienzle, John and Twiggs Lyndon, Barry Melton, Steve Morse, Opal Louis Nations, Les Paul, John Renbourn, Malcolm Rockwell, James Rooney, Steve Rosen, James Sallis, Larry Sepulvado, Eldon Shamblin, Joel A. Siegel, Mavis Staples, George Van Eps, Bob Weir, Jerry Wexler, and Joel Whitburn. Over the decades, dozens of publicists, artist managers, record company executives, and booking agents helped make these interviews happen. A big thanks to you all, with a special shout-out to Cary Baker, Mike Kappus, Dennis McNally, Bob Merlis, Joe Priesnitz, Elliot Roberts, and Teddy Slatus.
I salute my colleagues during the early years of guitar journalism: the staff of GPI Publications, especially Don Menn, who gave me my start as a music journalist; Jim Crockett, the visionary publisher of Guitar Player and Frets magazines; and my friends and fellow staffers Jim Aikin, David Alzofon, Janine Cooper Ayers, Tom Brislane, Carla Carlberg, Tom Darter, Bud and Maxine Eastman, Rick Eberly, Andy Ellis, Judie Eremo, Clara and Rebecca Erickson, Dan Erlewine, Jim Ferguson, Dan Forte, Dennis and Cheryl Fullerton, Lonni Elrod Gauss, Chris Gill, Joe Gore, Jesse Gress, Jim and Terri Hatlo, Saroyan Humphrey, Richard Johnston, Chris and Liz Ledgerwood, Rich Leeds, David Leishman, John Lescroart, Kyle Kevorkian McCann, Dominic Milano, Tom Mulhern, Matt Resnicoff, James Rotondi, Jim Schwartz, Peggy Shea, Jon Sievert, Roger Siminoff, Sherry Thomas-Zon, Tom Wheeler, and Bill Yaryan. I thank Jim O’Neal and Amy van Singel, the cofounding editors of Living Blues magazine, and Jann Wenner, Ben Fong-Torres, Dave Marsh, and other first-generation editors at Rolling Stone. Your interviewing excellence provided enduring inspiration. I am also grateful to the current Guitar Player staff, especially Michael Molenda, Art Thompson, and Matt Blackett.
I send my thanks and love to those who nurtured, taught, and inspired me during the years in which most of the interviews in this book took place: Jason Becker, Paul Burlison, Brian Carroll, Craig Chaquico, Rory Gallagher, Billy Gibbons, Arvella Gray, Stefan Grossman, Buddy Guy, James “Al” Hendrix, Troy Leo Hendrix, Bonita Hertz, Steve Hilla, Mitch Holder, John Lee Hooker, Paul Hostetter, Matthew Kallie, Nina Dagostini Kasbow, Jorma Kaukonen, Phil Keaggy, B. B. King, Donald Kinsey, Peter Redvers Lee, Alan Lomax, Steve Lukather, Jim Marshall, Curtis Mayfield, Maureen Nesta Meek, Elmer and Margaret Pitcher, Michael Pitcher, Keith Richards, Howard Roberts, Rebecca Roper, George and Marie Staley, David Swaddell, Tommy Tedesco, Liz Tihista, Larry Townsend, Barbara Tyler, Steve Vai, Joe Walsh, Gayle Dean Wardlow, and Leslie West. I send a smile of appreciation to my friends and fellow writers who supported and encouraged me as I worked on the manuscript: Jessica Bibbee, Marco Bruschtein, Rosalie Denenfeld, Ira Fried, Mike Gentry, Roger Gonda, David Horowitz, Rod Johnson, Janet Kavanagh, Carrie Krantz, Diane Laboda, Teresa DeRuntz Leonard, Pauline Lowenhardt, Michael Moriarty, Nancy Nelson, Richard Rae, Helena Solano, Dave Solo, Lori Tucker-Sullivan, Jessica Wynn, and Tom Zimmerman. You’ve been pals!
This book would not have happened without the help of three fine gentlemen from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: my friend, mentor, and folklorist extraordinaire William Ferris; my editor Mark Simpson-Vos; and Steve Weiss, curator of the Southern Folklife Collection. I am also grateful to Brian Paulson for preparing the audio that accompanies this book, as well as to editors Jay Mazzocchi and Matthew Somoroff.
I express my love and appreciation for my family: my parents Arthur and Rozanne; my beloved sister Nancy Jean Wakefield, gone but never forgotten; my brothers Tom and John and sisters-in-law Kathy and Mary Ellen; my nieces and nephews Greg, Annie, Liz, Sean, Kevin, and Paul Obrecht; my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law Antoinette, Viana, and Maria La Place; and Sheridan and Betsey Warrick. Blessings upon you all. My deepest gratitude goes to my wife, Michelle, and our daughter, Ava—as Richard Rodgers taught us to sing, “You make me smile with my heart.”