By Noë Gold
Doctor Noe is a veteran cultural commentator, former Features Editor at the Hollywood Reporter and Founding Editor of Guitar World.
For the complete interview of Frank Zappa by Noë Gold for Guitar World, go to http://wiki.killuglyradio.com/wiki/Zappa%27s_Inferno
... in this chapter on the legacy of the late guitar genius, Ted Newman Jones, we tilt toward the future of Newman Guitars
"Ted left a lot of work to do so we're doing it," says Jeff Smith, the current proprietor of Newman Guitars. Smith was Newman's sous chef and Keeper of the Flame for the past nine years, with the intention of updating the guitar maker's craft for the 21st Century. And now, he is sailing the ship that is Newman Guitars through 21st Century waters. He made the pilgrimage to Ted's mom's home in Dyersberg, Tennessee bringing with him the Newman guitar he'd acquired and cherished – and that, like it says at the end of Casablanca, was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. You can see the fruits of that relationship on the company's website. I have detailed in the first three chapters of this story how Ted Newman Jones toured with the Rolling Stones, Tracy Nelson and Isaac Hayes made guitars for Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Ron Wood and Tom Petty. And how his work on Clapton's Stratocaster named "Blackie" was his calling card to meeting his employer, Richards. This story is not that.
While there was plenty of anecdotal pickins in their regular visits, with Newman's cancer diagnosis a couple of years ago, says Smith, "... in the last years of his life I didn't feel like we needed to waste his energy talking about old Rolling Stones stories. We had lots to discuss about how we would build the future rather than reliving the past. I had one interview with him two weeks before he passed. But usually our conversations in the last year-and-a-half were all about guitar design, pickups, woods, materials – and about how we needed to create standardizations to his innovations in order to continue building them." Here's Newman in the final interview. Asked to comment on on the passing of the torch, he says: "I've watched this transition, I've taken the Newman Guitar to its fullest extent, five-string, six-string, neck-through, bolt-on, and then I met Jeff Smith and he enhanced everything that I have accomplished and created some stuff to go along with it."
'I want to bring awareness to the fact that Newman Guitars has been a company for the last 35 years and has been reestablished as a vital guitar to the guitar world. The five-string should be a milestone in that history – part of the evolution of the electric guitar. In all these years, Keith Richards can't be wrong.'
– Jeff Smith
Smith: It's unique. It's not a Fender ripoff, not a Gibson ripoff, it's a new state of the art of guitar.
TNJ:No man, I got my own deal.
"It is a great American shape. A unique design," says Smith of the process whereby he and luthier Jacob Harper worked on a prototype Newman guitar until they were able to present it to the master and have him say, "It's a Newman!" "He was a great pioneer, and it was humbling to me to see what we could do on a consistent basis. Do we concentrate on five-strings, on neck-through-bodies? Is it a thick neck, is it a thin neck? The aesthetics of the guitar's shape with relation to the feel and the player's relationship with the guitar. "When his illness started getting worse, we needed to concentrate on refining the design and find somebody who could help us make them and that was Jacob Harper." The process was a painstaking one of putting all the whimsicality and genius of Newman's creation into a computer model. "You can replicate history in this modern age. Ted knew that and we agreed – let's build one right and we can replicate that. During the last nine months of his life we – with reverse-engineering – recreated the turqouise guitar. It had to be whimsical, how do you build whimsical? It had to be unique. "I said, 'We could sign a contract, but your signature on the guitar is like Picasso's seal of approval. The only approval I ever sought was Ted's.
"When I took the white one back to him, he spun it around , looked at the finish, the neck, certain things he was looking for and felt it and said, 'It's a Newman.' And for him to say, "It's a Newman." that was it. It was his r&d and not a walk down memory lane. "
OK, a little memory lane is understandable when you're paying homage to a genius like Newman, who has spread his legend to so many legends. But seriously, the mission of Newman Guitars is all about the future. "I want to bring awareness to the fact that Newman Guitars has been a company for the last 35 years and has been reestablished and is a vital guitar to the guitar world. The five-string guitar should be a milestone in that history – part of the evolution of the electric guitar. In all these years, Keith Richards can't be wrong. What I am looking for is that Ted's body design, Made in USA, his name and his memory live on through this beautiful instrument. And that is Ted's legacy. His body style is gonna stay the body style; headstock is going to be the same. Everything was agreed upon prior to his passing, and everything is nailed down. He left me enough information and feedback to make sure his legacy would continue. "There's only one body style. You can get it in five-string or six-string with different colors and woods, but that is the Newman guitar."
... being the third in a series of four articles about the legacy of the late guitar genius, Ted Newman Jones
These two newspaper clippings were found in Newman's effects. They have never been published online.
The first one, reprinted here without transcription, is from the Austin American Statesman, dated December 8, 1980 and written by American Statesman staff writer Richard A. Abrams. Ironically, the date was the same as the night John Lennon died.
Next up is ... Daily Texan Friday July 27, 1979 Guitars for the Stars [no byline] The man began traveling with bands at the age of 15. He hails from Tennessee, is 29 years old and strikes one as being an ordinary, everyday country boy.
The man is sure of himself. He once reworked an old guitar that he "thought Keith Richards would like, got in touch with the number of the Rolling Stones through a friend, sold the guitar to Richards and has since made him several more.
The man is Ted Newman Jones and he intensely dislikes his surname and rarely uses it.
He has toured with the Rolling Stones, Tracy Nelson (then with Mother Earth) and Isaac Hayes. He has made guitars, both acoustic and electric, for Mick Jagger, Ron Wood and Tom Petty. At the moment he is working on guitars for Bob Dylan and Travis Holland. Jerry Jeff Walker plays a Newman guitar even though he doesn't know it (it was sold to him through a friend of Newman's). Newman can build "a totally customed instrument to fit just about any player."
Newman grew up next to a radio station. "Just listening to the Stones when I was a teenager made me want to play," he said. "It ws the first thing I saw tht made any sense – they were the only people who picked up on the black energy – and to see some white English guys do this just blew my mind."
In 1972, Newman moved to Arkansas to apprentice for a year under Leo Erickson, perfecting his craft as an instrument maker. Since then he has led an alternating lifestyle – living out in the country in Arkansas, travelling with bands, making instruments, writing, playing and recording music.
He visited this city a year ago, "liked the youth of Austin," and moved here in December, 1978.
Newman rented space in an old warehouse downtown, and with the aid of partner Danny McCullough and co-worker Joel Judlin, began once more to do what he apparently does best – making musical instruments.
He said he also has plans to form a band in Austin and has already done some recording. "Making music is probaly my most important dream," he said.
"Guitar making is more or less a hobby but turned into a business, so what would you call that – a serious hobby, I guess."
"Hell, I didn't know how it started. I started working on them (guitars) because I couldn't get what I wanted," he said.
The art of instrument-making is time-consuming and demands precision.The effort that the process demands, especially that which goes into the final shaping, sanding and application of finish takes no less than 120 hours to complete one instrument. The delivery time for one of these custom-made guitars is usually between three to six months.
The guitar for Dylan that he is working on at the moment has intricate abalone decorations – hearts and crosses – on the fretboard. Newman said "elaborate inlays make it an individual piece – a work of art – and they do serve their purpose. They show you where you are on the scale.
Newman chooses the wood carefully, considering it a crucial aspect, and that accounts for the price he is able to demand for his work. His instruments start at $1,000. The average cost is $2,500, while $3,000 is the highest paid or a Newan guitar.
Newman and Judlin prefer not to do repairs, because it is so time-consuming and not as satisfactory as starting from scratch. Sometimes starting from scratch is a literal statement. Newman himself said he has chopped down a tree to get the wood he wants. All the guitars he makes are guaranteed and should "last longer than the player." And if parts can't be bought, "we make 'em," said Judlin.
Newman's own music consists largely of ballads and rock and roll. "I suppose the ballads would be considered a little bit country," het said.
"I never thought I could play an instrument until Keith Richards convinced me that I could. He encouraged me to play with him. All the Stones were real helpful and encouraging. They always showed me what I needed to learn," he said.
Newman is enthusiastic about the New Wave music that bounds back and forth on the airwave so often. "I think it's as important as the Beatles and Stones. They always showed me what I needed to learn," he said.
But the punk rock scene in Austin disappoints him. "It's designed around adolescent cliques," he said. It's bullshit."
Newman said he has "just about" reached the stage where he can make guitars when he desires and go on the road if the fancy shoud strike him. He will probably go on a U.S. tour with Mick Taylor in the fall, but only for three months. That's the most decadence he can take at one stretch, he said.
Ted Newman depends mainly on word-of-mouth to attract clients, and considering some of the mouths that are speaking his name, it's not surprising that the man is currently working on 13 intsruments, can charge $3,000 for a guitar and looks very satisfied himself.
Part IV will be entitled "Newman Guitars Lives," and will be about the passing of the torch to Jeff Smith, current proprietor of the legacy of Ted Newman Jones.
"Ted left a lot of work to do so we're doing it," says Jeff
Newman's response was typically awe shucks. "I've watched this transition, I've taken the Newman Guitar to its fullest extent, five-string six-string, neck-through bolt-on, and then I met Jeff Smith and he enhanced everything that I have accomplished, and we have a little dreamboat girl, a series of statuettes – who wouldn't want to finger and play on one. They are edible. And I always thought that was a part of it, being 'delectable.'"
... being a re-post of an article about the late guitar genius, Ted Newman Jones
Funny how things work out some time. I reposted this article from 1981 ...
Guitar World-May 1981 Andy Summers cover
... "Keith Richards' Guitar Maven" on Facebook a short time ago and I happened to tag "Newman Guitars." I got this response: "The interview you did with Ted did a lot for his self-respect and cemented his place in history. I believe he passed away reclaiming the glory you shed light on in the GW article. I am continuing with Newman Guitars."
But while this post was not written by Ted Newman Jones, Jeff Smith was its author, having set up the Facebook Page at Ted's request. More on that in Pt. III of this three-parter. Here is ...
Keith’s Right-Hand Man
from Guitar World May 1981, Page 51
By NOE GOLDWASSER
[This story was lifted wholesale from Guitar World magazine by its author, Noe Gold aka "Noe the G," who was the first editor of that illustrious magazine. It's adaptation was inspired by a post by Daniel Thornbrough on the Facebook page of its subject, Ted "Newman Guitars" Jones.]
I’d been trying to locate this guy for months, this Ted Newman Jones character – or Newman-Ted Jones or just plain Newman, by most ("I use that name because whoever heard of 'Jones Guitars?’ ”). I'd already decided that the magazine ought to have a story about the technician who handles a band's guitars. Hearing about this guy with a little guitar shop in Austin who has been going out on tour with the Rolling Stones since becoming Keith Richards' personal instrument caretaker, tactician and moral support, and who had been rumored by his close buddies to be quite bonkers and a lot of fun made me more than anxious to meet him. About the time I gave up on the idea of finding some excuse to go to Austin and talk to him. I got a call from a mutual acquaintance that Newman was in town on some projects that I'd be interested in, and that he was not averse to talking about them. So, the first thing I got to see Newman do was give some advice to our mutual friend (John Rivers Bicknell, the guy who draws the cartoons in this magazine) about a guitar he'd given up for dead. He also sold him one he was kind of looking for. John was telling us about the Telecaster he'd just committed to the shop for a new neck, since "some old guy in Shreveport redid it. It was an original 1953 neck. And he sanded it down so thin that the headstock was coming up. He sanded the first four frets almost flat." "Owwww,” howls Newman, truly in pain, "The guy didn't know what he was doin'." "No. he didn't. So it was rounded. About the sixth or seventh fret it started getting round. But it was flat before that. It was just a mess. So I'll have to throw the neck away, unfortunately." "Well, don't do that. You know I can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Any kind of neck like that, John, you know I got all these heat pressures and shit. I can –"
“– just bend it back. Well, I'll give you this neck," says John, "and you can, if you think it's savable.'' “Sure, it’s savable. I put heat lamps on 'em and all kinds of clamping devices you know, different tensions and pressures and add humidity and subtract humidity. Shake all the stuff up and, you know, dust it with a little gris-gris dust. Meantime, I'll ship you this Esquire I got that you'll really like better. It's got kind of a, I think it's a Dimarzio pickup. "It's a Schecter neck – a full-fitting neck, not too thin – it's probably gonna be real similar to what you've put on your Strat but it also can be taken down to any size – when they're too small is when you're in trouble. It can be shaped to any size. You know if you were to play it awhile and didn't like it you could say, hey put a V in it or make it thinner or somethin'. "It's got a chunky feeling – I like it 'cause I play so much acoustic guitar."
Newman was in town, it turns out, both on guitar business and on Rolling Stones business. Though they put out a lot of p.r. about farewells to touring in the future, the band was beginning to rustle into activity. Working on the recording of other acts like Max Romeo, signed to their Rolling Stones label; getting out into the street and partying and making noises like they were going to be touring in either spring or summer. Keith was doing all this running around. and writing some songs. Studio time had been booked at New York's Electric Ladyland for work on the next album. So Ted Newman Jones, the ''bubba" from Tennessee, is holed up with his lady at the Chelsea Hotel to look over Keith's guitars, share ideas with him about a few things and generally hang out and keep him company on various exploits like wild rides through the metropolis in a checker cab that Keith had bought as a New Year's gift for his girlfriend. Because that's been part of his job for the past eight years – to hang out with Keith Richards and keep him and his guitars in tune.
When the Stones go out on the road, Ted Newman Jones leaves his rather rustic surroundings for months on end of performing. His job for the past eight years has been to keep thirty-odd guitars in tune, and to keep Keith Richards together.
One of the ideas he's been talking over with Keith is the musician's support of a pet proiect – the Newman Keith Richards Model. Newman has already made a number of versions of the guitar for Keith and some players around Austin. The idea is to market the instrument on a limited-production basis via one of the major guitar manufacturers. The guitar is both futuristic-looking and classic. With an off-center double ellipse shape that suggests the curves of an acoustic guitar, it leans forward on its ellipses like a Strat, with the neat scallop of an otherworldly cutaway. It is both practical and sleek – the back and neck are cherry and the face is bird's-eye maple with a matching maple fingerboard. It has a simple dot inlay, though Newman has been known to create less traditional fingerboard ornaments) like the Woody Woodpecker Newman etched onto the one he made recently for Ron Wood). The guitar has EMG pickups with a built-in preamp to eliminate noise and static. Newman is pretty thorough about his craftsmanship. He builds his own fingerboards and a lot of his own hardware. He uses Schaller machines and some Schecter bridge parts and neck plates. He makes his own truss rods out of stainless steel ("It's stronger'') and even builds his own cases. Newman has been known to watch a particular cherry tree that was old and "seasoned standing" and save the wood for one of his special guitars. He's made a five-string model tor Keith, which is light and easy to handle. It's missing the bottom string, and is tuned to G D G B D – its G-tuning may be heard on "Jumping Jack Flash,” "Street Fighting Man,” "Can't Always Get What You Want,” "Brown Sugar," "Tumblin' Dice" and a number of other songs that would-be Glimmer clones always have a hard time figuring out from the record. The sound comes from the five-string that Newman made for Keith which was lost in a fire. That was the first guitar Newman built for Keith. The story goes that Newman, being ravaged by a Stones mania that grasped him trancelike, stole his father's credit card and flew over to Europe to show Keith a guitar. "That is a fucking wild story," says Bubba right now, clearing the record, "and not true at all. It grew from a joke I made in an interview. Some guys'll print anything. What really happened was I got a credit card loan – at that time I was eighteen or something, and you could get a Bankamericard loan for two hundred bucks. I went down and told 'em I was going to France to meet Keith Richards and give him a guitar, which turned out to be true. The guy kind of looked at me like – hmmmm, if you pull this one off. … A girlfriend of mine sent me a hundred bucks, and then my mother was so proud that I'd got this bank loan that she gave me a hundred bucks and I split for Europe.
"Newman" has built guitars for the heavies. Tom Petty wanted one with broken heartson the fingerboard.Dylan got crosses instead of dot-markers.
"I had with me this little Rickenbacker solidbody which I'd found and fixed up. Put my touch on it and made it look the way I make a guitar look, which is pretty cool, and he liked it. I told him I'd done the work myself and so he could see where I was coming from and that's how I got the job to travel and take care of instruments and tune and stuff like that – actually. to be more or less a companion to him on the road." From 1972, during the touring heyday of the Stones, that was Newman's job. Working three months on, nine months off during peak seasons, he was with the group through all the major tours except the last one. He was at Altamont, tossing perfectly tuned guitars deftly to his man. He lived with the band in England for a couple of years and he and Keith became inseparable. He'd go on jet-jags and binges, hell-bent for leather tours at a stepped-up metabolism rate, then retreat to his more rustic surroundings in Arkansas, and later in Austin, where Keith sponsored him in his endeavor to set up a guitar shop. In between tours one time, he flew down to Nazareth, Pennsylvania and toured the Martin plant as a guest of Martin guitar historian Mike Longworth, who answered his many questions about how the instruments were put together. He went back to Arkansas and finished his apprenticeship with luthier Leo Erickson. After a few guitar projects for Keith he found himself in business. Today, Newman enjoys a reputation which gets him more work than any major ad campaign could. He is constantly getting referrals by people who have been pleased with his personalized attention. Newman's guitars are body-fitted to the individual, with neck scales made to taste as well. And inlays. “Dylan asks me what I could do for him and I just named out things that I had done. Some of the stuff had been things out of a deck of cards – there were hearts, diamonds, spades. He says, 'How about crosses?' I says, 'What kind of crosses?' He says, 'Christian crosses.' I said 'OK, sure.' It was a custom job.'
Indeed, when you look for Newman at the next Stones tour, he'll be somewhere behind Keith's ampswith a set of earphones tuned into a strobe-tuner,which is plugged into one of nine or ten guitars onstage.
He's also made a guitar tor Tom Petty that has broken hearts inlaid along the fingerboard, and special axes for Willie Nelson's band, Chris Ethridge, Joe Ely and a growing list of others. When this sort of life starts to pale, Newman will once again take to the road. In fact, he seemed to be open to the possibility of an Austin-based guitar tech consultancy, which would enable him to travel out with other bands than the Stones. "See, I think the Stones'll go out in spring or summer, and I'll probably go with 'em. But it would be nice to continue the momentum, going out on three or four gigs with the Pretenders, or even train their guitar action so it's more proficient, and then fly back to my home base and make some more guitars. That would be ideal. A real consultancy operation. Kind of do some preliminary road-work, go to gigs and see what's going to be happening operationally, preplan the tour. They're going on a world tour. I've been to a lot of places, but I'd be interested to go to some places I haven’t been, like Japan." What he does onstage during a show can be summed up in his own words by the motto "Don't Panic." These words are evident in his khaki-colored approach to stage pyrotechnics. "There's bound to be all kinds of things that can fuck up and you'll want to be there to catch a flying instrument, and have another one ready and in tune for the next number. That's the main thing to watch out for." Indeed, when you look for Newman at the next Stones tour, he'll be somewhere behind Keith's amps with a set of earphones tuned into a strobe-tuner, which is plugged into one of nine or ten guitars onstage. Some of these will be tuned for different slews of songs in, say a G tuning. For these, Newman will have guitars set up to play this tuning in both the natural arrangement and with a capo. "The other rule I have is if somebody on stage is pissed off about something, don't take it personally. On the other hand, don't cater to their every whim, otherwise you'll never get your work done.” After doing this for a few nights a week for three months, Newman will drag his ass back home, where the guy who turned him on to his first Rolling Stones record is still incredulous at the fact that Ted Newman Jones actually works with Mick, Keith, Ron, Charlie and Bill. He'll get back in that workshop and tell yarns all winter, getting ready for the next big blowout.
Keith Richards already knows that five strings can be better than six for fresh and out-of-the-box chord structures. He learned it from his encounter with the late Ted Newman Jones.
I guess my connection to Newman started way before I ever met him in the early '80s via a mutual friend, the funky Shreveport guitar player we had in common named Johnny Rivers Bicknell, for my Guitar World story. No, I actually "met" him on Mick Jagger's birthday, July 26, 1972 and we were on opposite sides of the line at what would turn out to be a most memorable Rolling Stones concert at Madison Square Garden.
Ted at Mick's 29th birthday party in 1972.
Ted is on the couch backstage on tour.
Now, Newman had his own take on this little scenario, and he only recently told it to his confidant Jeff Smith in an interview made just a month ago in June. "It took place in Manhattan on the rooftop of the St. Regis Hotel," the guitar maven recalled about the night of the famed MSG concert recorded for posterity on this bootleg collection: Welcome To New York Rolling Stones _ July 1972"It was Mick Jagger’s birthday of 29 years with Andy Warhol, Lee Radziwill, Truman Capote, Terry Southern and the whole Stones touring party. I danced all night with Carolyn Kennedy while Keith and Dylan laughed at our shenanigans. Music was provided by Count Basie and Muddy Waters."
My sister Anna and I went to see the Stones that night. We moved up to the front row – in those days you could do that; note the absence of a guard rail and phalanx of beefy mofos. That's us on the lower left hand portion of your screen:
New York Post, July 27, 197,
by Frank Leonardo
This was on the front page of the Post next day, July 27, 1972 – and here is that footage of the concert, actual footage of Mick splashing the crowd during "Jumping Jack Flash," with me and my sister getting gloriously soaked. The Rolling Stones-Jumpin' Jack Flash (1972) - YouTube
On the other side of the risers, always not far from Keith Richards, was Ted Newman Jones, described by Keith here as, "A young cowboy called Newman Jones." How Newman got there is a long and interesting tale (you'll need to wait for Pt. II) but what he was doing is much more important. His job was to keep Keith rolling while all around him were getting stoned.
Keith Richards story of Ted Newman Jones Guitars
What began as the fullfillment of Newman's dream to bring Keith a special guitar, wound up being not only a nifty gig but the beginnings of a beautiful friendship around the concept that blues are played more profoundly when they are filtered through the prism of a five-string, open-tuned instrument. "I started off by using ordinary guitars and taking off the sixth string, which is alright, but Newman brought me a five-string guitar he'd rigged up that makes it easier to play with five strings. He's made a couple for me since then," he continued, "everything made for five strings."
Then, along came Jeff – Jeff Smith, that is – a guy who went to a guitar show after reading my article and parting with some hard-earned dineros to take home a fabled Newman guitar. That, too, is a long and interesting story but what is a big takeaway from it is Jeff's determination to put Newman back on the map, to carry on his legacy and to declare once and for all that the "Five-String Open-G revolution has begun. So much fun to play. Nothing like it. It's a Newman.
"His innovation of the five-string and guitar design are so pioneer that the whole world of guitar players have to catch up to Ted. The five-string concept is new chords and a new voice, which extends the typical known Guitar of today. Everybody deserves an opportunity to learn what Keith Richards already knows, which is five strings can be better than six for being fresh and thinking chord structures outside of the box. My role is to keep the work we have already planned on course. Ted left a lot of work to do so we're doing it."
More on this in Pt. II, wherein I will also reprise the Guitar World story that played out on Page 52 of the May, 1981 issue, the one with Andy Summers on the cover and a cover line that trumpeted, "Keith Richards' Guitar Maven":
The May, 1981 cover
So that is Part I of our saga. Sadly, it ends with my obituary that was posted soon after he died here. "Keith Richards’ Guitar Maker Ted Newman-Jones Dead at 67" was the headline and I proceeded to share the sad news that "... guitar designer and builder Ted Newman-Jones, who made a number of custom electric guitars for Keith Richards and was the Rolling Stones axe-man’s tour guitar tech in the 1970s, died last Friday (7/1). Simply known as Newman to his friends, he also built custom guitars for Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Ronnie Wood, the late James Honeyman-Scott of The Pretenders, Lucinda Williams, Willie Nelson and Joe Ely, among others. As well, he put together Eric Clapton‘s legendary Fender Stratocaster known as “Blackie” ...
Between my 1981 story and my 2016 obituary, there was one other major publication that attempted to place Newman in the proper historical context: "A Guitar for Mr. Richards," Vintage Guitar magazine's 2015 recap by its editor Ward Meeker, who writes ... "Behind Jones’ affiliation with the Rolling Stones lies a fascinating story of how a kid from Texas one day showed up unannounced at the Stones’ headquarters in France, where Richards and the band were hard at work making one of their best albums. The audacity and his skills then put him to work with the group through major tours and albums in the band’s prime. He was at Altamont, and lived with the band in England, staying close to Richards on 'jet-jags and binges' between retreats home during Stones downtime."
But that, is another story. Stay tuned for its unraveling in my next post, "Newman Lives! Pt. II."
This just in, about Zeke Schein, featured in Vanity Fair for finding a photo that has been debated ever since as either the third known photo (or not) of Robert Johnson. ... Chung Wongsez: "Day of the show, Matt Umanov Guitars featured RJ's guitar and the photo in question ...
... was displayed at Matt Umanov Guitars on May 5, 2011, when Robert Johnson's 100th Birthday Party was celebrated at Caffe Vivaldi (32 Jones, NYC). This was the first of two nights that week we hung out, in tribute to Robert Johnson. The second night at Knitting Factory I heard him play Mojo Pin. Too fabulous."
Here the "Thinking Man's Guitar Hero," Gary Lucas (The New Yorker) performs Skip James' "Special Rider Blues" with John Kruth sitting in on mandolin:
This night was actually hosted by Zeke Schein (of Matt Umanov Guitars), who found the photo. Now, ever since he unveiled it in Vanity fair, the debate rages about whether or not his find on Ebay is the third known photo of Robert Johnson. Lois Gibson (of JFK photo forensics fame) authenticated it. Although there are blues historians who disagree with her findings, Mr. Wong says, "I am with her and believe the photo has to be Robert Johnson, his fingers were uniquely long (and Lois is too good to be wrong):
Zeke Schein, btw played guitar at Patti Smith's 1996 Central Park show ...
Steven "Zeke" Schein at Umanov Guitars
... Patti bought a guitar from Zeke at Matt Umanov Guitars and noted that during a concert at Beacon Theater. "I had no doubt before, during and after the skeptics," notes Wong, "that that was Robert Johnson in Zeke's photo (the spider fingers are just too rare to be someone else whom we've never seen). I spoke about the photo to another blues player with Zeke there and said that ... and then I laughed and said, but what those skeptics didn't ask was, is that really Johnny Shines! I have some questions about that. Zeke had a good laugh."
Here continues my original fb "note." We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming:
