Jas Obrecht

2 weeks ago | jasobrecht.substack.com | Jas Obrecht

During his teens Barney Kessel jammed with his hero Charlie Christian and played in Oklahoma swing bands. Moving to Los Angeles in 1942, he became a first-call studio guitarist and played bop in nightclubs. As the 1940s and 1950s progressed, he performed and recorded influential jazz with Artie Shaw, Bennie Goodman, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, and the Oscar Peterson Trio, to name a few. He was voted the number-one guitarist in DownBeat, Metronome, Melody Maker, and Esquire polls.

4 weeks ago | jasobrecht.substack.com | Jas Obrecht

His birth name was Huddie William Ledbetter, but he was best known as Lead Belly, the self-proclaimed “King of the 12-String Guitar.” The brawling, stocky, 5'7" songster had done hard time for murder and then virtually exchanged worlds in 1934. Leaving behind his chain-gang shackles, he became lionized by New York City’s high society and performed for receptive audiences on college campuses, concert halls, and over the radio. He was among the most recorded blues artists of the 1930s and ’40s.

1 month ago | jasobrecht.substack.com | Jas Obrecht

While I was a staff editor at Guitar Player, we decided to feature Eddie Van Halen on the cover of the July 1984 issue. Since I’d already interviewed Eddie four times for the magazine, we asked if he’d be willing to give our readers a crash course in his playing style. Eddie agreed, and our music editor, Jim Ferguson, was dispatched to Los Angeles to meet with him for the “My Tips For Beginners” section of the cover story.

1 month ago | jasobrecht.substack.com | Jas Obrecht

When met at a San Francisco rehearsal space on January 23, 1993, none of us realized Albert would be giving one of his final interviews. That Friday afternoon he seemed bright, upbeat, and full of energy. He enjoyed being asked about his roots, heroes, Texas blues, and, especially, his guitar. Midway through, he picked up his unplugged Telecaster and gave my co-editor Andy Ellis and me an impromptu performance.

1 month ago | jasobrecht.substack.com | Jas Obrecht

When I interviewed Joe Walsh for his April 1988 Guitar Player cover story, I made a special request. Would he be willing to go through his record collection and choose his 12 favorite guitar solos? Joe happily agreed and got to work doing choosing songs and making notes. A few days later he dictated his findings to me. Here they are, in his own words. These are what I consider to be the 12 best all-time-forever guitar solos. They aren’t in any particular order.