Bert Weedon

Larry Miller · Post by **Larry Miller** » 4 Jan 2011 5:19 am

How many of you "across the pond" learned to play guitar from Bert?

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 4 Jan 2011 8:52 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVMpT4DG ... re=related

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 4 Jan 2011 7:00 pm

Bert's had some rough press over the years but, to give him credit, he was smart enough to publish a basic guitar tutor in time to exploit the huge demand created by the UK skiffle-boom. He's a solidly-trained reading orchestral guitarist who also played some lamentable solos on some of Britains' earliest so-called rock and roll records.

he had no feel for it, and I realised this even as a beginner; it was hard to take hime seriously when I was also listening to Chet and Hank Garland on the Everly's records, and James Burton with Ricky Nelson.

Here's what I had - not a guitar-tutor as such, but a book from which I learned about chord-construction and my very first steps in theory.

Here's a rather fuzzy scan of a picture showing Bert - I was going to say 'He's the one with the white hair..', then I checked out all the rest of us - the occasion was Lonnie Donegan's Memorial Service in May, '03.

Bert's thrid from the left in the back row....

I'm not going to say that Bert DIDN'T 'teach' Eric Clapton to play - if EC had wanted to execute 'Home On The Range', then he may very well have consulted 'Play In A Day'....

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 4 Jan 2011 8:35 pm

He seemed to be the "showman", like Britain's Liberace on a guitar.

Billy Murdoch · Post by **Billy Murdoch** » 5 Jan 2011 1:22 am

I bought the "Play in a Day" book and I am still trying to play after many many days.
I guess it was a well promoted book and at the time seemed the only book available to youngsters.
I absolutely hated Bert's playing,He covered all the big U.S. hits and being British He got nearly all the airplay,I had to listen to radio Luxembourg to hear the real deal.
Bert was soooo wooden,as Roger said,no feel.
He seems to have made a good living at it though.
Billy

Michael Lee Allen · Post by **Michael Lee Allen** » 5 Jan 2011 3:59 pm

REMOVED

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 5 Jan 2011 4:25 pm

Seems like Bert was the guitar snake oil salesman..

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 5 Jan 2011 4:47 pm

If there'd been an internet back then, he'd have had a weekly newsletter!

Larry Miller · Post by **Larry Miller** » 5 Jan 2011 6:48 pm

Bert played on this one by Kenny Lynch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGUL0381eGQ

Geoff Barnes · Post by **Geoff Barnes** » 6 Jan 2011 11:34 am

Bert is currently being introduced to a whole new generation via a game called Fallout New Vegas. He has 2 tracks
"China Doll" (renamed Happy times for the game);
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhpuaJJE ... C&index=81
and "Lazy Day Blues";
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hk30QjO ... re=related

The game has a fair share of C6 tunes as well being set in a post apocalyptic Mojave... Interesting sound design... 40's/50's classics mixed with mayhem and murder

nick allen · Post by **nick allen** » 10 Jan 2011 7:06 am

Quoted from a book called "17 Watts?" by Mo Foster:

"... an entry in Ivor Mairants' diary : 'Sunday, May 3, 1938 - H.M. [Bert] Weedon, of 1 Ashland Road, London E6. £4 for term of 6 lessons' "

I'm sure that will bring a smile to any London guitarists. And I highly recommend Mo Foster's book to any of you who enjoy Roger's stories of "the early days" of UK rock.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 10 Jan 2011 7:25 am

Hi, Nick!

Mo's book is, quite simply, a masterpiece! I wonder, though, if it would only be a musician who would find it funny?

By the way, in the UK it was published as 'Play Like Elvis' - a dig at those awful ads that they'd run in the gutter-press publications.

nick allen · Post by **nick allen** » 10 Jan 2011 7:50 am

I think that was the USA title, Roger, not UK

Of course, in the pre-Beatle era, Bert and Hank Marvin were the only "pop"/electric guitarists known to the general public in the UK, and appearing on the kind of TV variety show that existed back then. (There was also a steel player called Woot Steenhuis, Dutch I believe, who also turned up on those kind of shows). They seem to have completely disappeared now. I'm referring to shows like the US "Andy Williams Show", "Dean Martin Show", "Ed Sullivan" of course, etc - in the UK we had Val Doonican, the legendary "Sunday Night At The London Palladium...
All together now ! :
"Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end..."

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 10 Jan 2011 7:57 am

Ooops! I stand corrected!

thanks, Nick.