News comes today that Jim Marshall, designer of the iconic rock & roll guitar amplifier and speaker system, has died. His powerful amp/speaker combo became the standard equipment of late 60's/early 70s rock guitarists, supplanting, with the possible exception of Ted Nugent's use of series-connected Fender Twin-Reverb amps, as the amp of choice for high-volume use, by Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, and others. And, so far as I know, is still in revered use for the purpose.
An anecdote: I once worked in close proximity in shared office space with Al Nalli, Jr., who then managed a one-hit wonder band, Brownsville Station, whose hit song was "Smokin' in the Boy's Room." Al and siblings, and his parents, Al Sr. and Barbara, ran one of the Midwest's largest music stores, in Ann Arbor, supplying the usual school rental equipment, etc., but also supplying regional rock acts with equipment and consumable supplies --- guitar strings, drum heads, drum sticks, etc., as well as durable goods such as instruments, amps, PA systems, and etc.
Al Jr. told me that a local musician popped in one day to tell him that there was a "crazy black guitarist" playing at the nearby Green Door Lounge, a small bar with a postage-stamp-sized stage and very small entertainment budget. But, it was told, that the crazy guitarist played with the guitar behind his back, set his guitar on fire, played with dazzling brilliance and extraordinary showmanship, and also, had the most impressive amps he'd ever heard. This of course was part of Jimi Hendrix's fairly ignominious and unheralded "return" tour to the US, after woodshedding in England. Al Jr. told me that he stopped in at the Green Door, heard the amps, talked with Jimi, called Jim Marshall the next day, and worked out an eventually lucrative midwest distribution agreement with Jim Marshall.
The Green Door lounge is lucky to have structurally survived a Jimi Hendrix performance with Marshall amps.
An anecdote: I once worked in close proximity in shared office space with Al Nalli, Jr., who then managed a one-hit wonder band, Brownsville Station, whose hit song was "Smokin' in the Boy's Room." Al and siblings, and his parents, Al Sr. and Barbara, ran one of the Midwest's largest music stores, in Ann Arbor, supplying the usual school rental equipment, etc., but also supplying regional rock acts with equipment and consumable supplies --- guitar strings, drum heads, drum sticks, etc., as well as durable goods such as instruments, amps, PA systems, and etc.
Al Jr. told me that a local musician popped in one day to tell him that there was a "crazy black guitarist" playing at the nearby Green Door Lounge, a small bar with a postage-stamp-sized stage and very small entertainment budget. But, it was told, that the crazy guitarist played with the guitar behind his back, set his guitar on fire, played with dazzling brilliance and extraordinary showmanship, and also, had the most impressive amps he'd ever heard. This of course was part of Jimi Hendrix's fairly ignominious and unheralded "return" tour to the US, after woodshedding in England. Al Jr. told me that he stopped in at the Green Door, heard the amps, talked with Jimi, called Jim Marshall the next day, and worked out an eventually lucrative midwest distribution agreement with Jim Marshall.
The Green Door lounge is lucky to have structurally survived a Jimi Hendrix performance with Marshall amps.
