by Paul Merry | Jun 27, 2019 | Uncategorized |
Dave “I invented the big beat” Bartholomew 1918-2019. The late, great Fats Domino left with Dave Bartholomew, who died in New Orleans on Sunday, June 23rd 2019. Born Davis Bartholomew in Louisiana in 1918, Dave helped write and record some of early rock ’n’ roll’s...
by Paul Merry | Sep 28, 2018 | stories, Uncategorized |
It’s indisputable, I’d guess, that most top lead guitarists are people who are good with their hands, whose fingers exude dexterity. They excel at fixing and making things, DIY, working with wood, constructing models, tinkering with car engines, that sort of thing....
by Paul Merry | Aug 10, 2018 | blogs, stories, Uncategorized |
Black guitar owners – rare as gelding balls before 1890s. If you read my last post, you’ll know I featured Henry Sloan, the African-American farmer in Mississippi who taught Charlie Patton how to play early Delta Blues guitar around the turn of the 20th...
by Paul Merry | Mar 9, 2018 | blogs, stories, Uncategorized |
An unbelievable true story crying out to be told. Below is a rough cut of my latest historical documentary, Battle for San Francisco. It’s a true story seemingly whitewashed from history. While not about my usual historic blues or rock, the soundtrack does...
by Paul Merry | Jun 21, 2017 | stories, Uncategorized |
I’ve just re-read one of the seminal books on the evolution of rock & roll, 47 years after I first obtained it, so if that doesn’t date me, nothing will. Perhaps I was given it by the author. I simply can’t remember. When I say ‘evolution’, I mean the...
by Paul Merry | May 2, 2017 | stories, Uncategorized |
There’s a bit of a misconception about the first electric guitar blues put on vinyl, with ‘Hittin’ the Bottle’ often being put forward as the earliest. This 1935 track featured the Texan multi-instrumentalist, Eddie Durham, playing his blues-nuanced guitar through a...
