‘CROSSROADS’ TURNS 35

I RECEIVE A lot of Sounding Board letters and Defenders of the Faith submissions from Guitar World readers of the Crossroads generation — people who, like me, probably saw Crossroads at least three times when it came out in 1986. Therefore, I’d bet decent money (the price of a used Charvel Pro Mod San Dimas, for instance) that a healthy percentage of you will get a kick out of Eric Kirkland’s truly engrossing feature, “Chasing a Devil’s Tale: A Quest to Solve the Mysteries Behind Steve Vai’s Enigmatic Crossroads Jackson Guitar — the Most Famous Guitar That Was Never Heard,” which starts on page 62. The story, which is timed for the 35th anniversary of the film, documents Kirkland’s two-decade-long odyssey to track down the guitar that Vai plays — and drops — in the film; it then pivots to Kirkland’s quest to perfectly replicate that devilish candy red sparkle axe.

Before I started editing the feature, I watched Crossroads for the first time in a few years. I couldn’t help but notice the same thing I noticed back in ’86: the fact that, although the movie celebrates the blues in all its forms — musicians, myths, legends and music — the film’s protagonist, Eugene Martone (played by a Tele-wielding Ralph Macchio) has to play something other than blues to win the head-cutting contest in the film’s most famous scene. It’s a blues film where classical-inspired music saves the day. Am I the only one who thinks that’s odd? P.S., sorry for the spoiler, but come on, the movie came out in 1986!

Anyway, Crossroads is a fun, generation-defining movie (and hey, it’s got Steve Vai in it!), so if you haven’t seen it in a while, it’s probably time to revisit it. Truth be told, you’ll probably want to watch it again after reading Kirkland’s feature.

MY TYPE OF TYPE: I’d like to give a shout out to Steve Mitchell, who designed the eye-catching custom “Greta Van Fleet” typeface on our cover, and to Mixie von Bormann, who designed said cover. I am shouting right now!