The Players
News and happenings from the world of your favourite guitarists
We were saddened to hear that Bad Company and Mott The Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs suffered a stroke last month following his completion of a UK tour with the former band. We’d like to wish Mick all the best for his recovery.
Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and the band’s associate producer Jack Douglas will be honoured at the NAMM TEC Awards next month. Perry will receive the Les Paul Award, which honours “individuals that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of recording technology in the spirit of the famed audio pioneer, inventor and musician, Les Paul”. “Any time my name is mentioned in the same sentence as Les Paul, it’s a huge honour,” says the guitarist. “Getting an award bearing his name is the icing on the cake.” Aerosmith’s ‘sixth member’ Douglas will be inducted into the NAMM TEC Hall Of Fame for his production work.
It looks like Ozzy Osbourne is writing his new album with Billy Idol guitarists Steve Stevens and Billy Morrison. “There’s one song that right now is called Crack Cocaine,” Ozzy told Sirius XM radio. “It’s like a bluesy thing.”
Marty Friedman has returned to Jackson Guitars, 20 years after his first signature model was released with them. His all-new signature guitar will be unveiled at the NAMM show in January.
The ‘Evening For Jack’ tribute night for late Cream bassist Jack Bruce, previewed in Guitarist 413, took place at Shepherds Bush Empire on 25 October, with a host of players including former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor taking the stage, plus a rare appearance by Ginger Baker. The drum legend played a short performance, and, in his speech, he talked about his late friend and Cream bandmate, while apologising for not being able to play longer due to ill health. Lulu even took the stage for a rendition of Sunshine
Of Your Love. Alas, there was no surprise Eric Clapton appearance, Slowhand fans will have to wait until his May Albert Hall shows, if they’re lucky enough to have a ticket.
John Mayer’s next album could be called The Search For Everything, if the title accidentally revealed by his drummer Steve Jordan to Entertainment Tonight is to be believed. The first single,
Love On The Weekend, has already surfaced and finds him heading back to a pop-rock direction.
Glasgow blues heroes King King have been forced to reschedule shows through to March following main-man Alan Nimmo needing to recover from vocal issues. For more info see www.kingking.co.uk.
Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiftlett kindly replaced a fan’s Telecaster after he recently had it stolen. Musician Sinclair Belle of the Leeds indie band Happy Daggers had his Shiflett Signature Tele Deluxe stolen in September when his car was broken into. Shiflett saw Belle’s woes on social media and reached out to offer a replacement, saying there was “nothing worse than having your guitar ripped off”.