Bert Weedon's Play in a Day: Guide to Modern Guitar Playing (Guitar)

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a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19thed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p.595. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. He soon graduated to the semi-professional Dixieland jazz group Harry Gold's Pieces of Eight and performed with the violinist Stéphane Grappelli and the pianist George Shearing in the early 1940s. Weedon and the classical guitarist Julian Bream provided the music for a postwar London production of Lorca's Blood Wedding. Many years later, Martin Taylor took over playing for Stephane and he played beautifully. He's a great guitarist and is also one of my heroes." Suddenly the door opened and we all looked up, and in walked Sinatra. He'd borrowed a bowler hat, God alone knows where he got the bowler hat from but he'd got it, and a rolled umbrella. And he walked in with this bowler hat and a rolled umbrella, and he says 'Good morning, my dear fellows. Shall we make a little music together?' (in an English accent), and everybody burst out laughing and I thought 'Oh, this is marvelous'. Betts, Graham (2004). Complete UK Hit Singles 1952-2004 (1sted.). London: Collins. p.837. ISBN 0-00-717931-6.

The first amplified guitars were beginning to appear and Weedon became an enthusiastic exponent, playing in the orchestras of Ted Heath, Mantovani and Ronnie Aldrich. His career was interrupted by a bout of tuberculosis. After he was discharged from hospital, doctors advised him to avoid smoky dancehalls and nightclubs, so he switched the focus of his career to records, radio and television. He said, 'Sit down, son' so I sat down and he got out a classical guitar, a gut strung Martin guitar, as I remember it very vividly. He played the Chopin Prelude No7.Then I thought 'I've got to find a teacher'. After looking for about a year or so, I found a teacher and to my utter surprise he was in a place called Manor Park, which is adjacent to East Ham. His name was James Newell and he said 'You want to learn the guitar? Well, it's a shilling a lesson'.

My mouth fell open and I said 'Please teach me that" because I'd never heard a classical guitar, never knew anything about Chopin. I was a kid from the East End of London. He said 'I'll teach you'. And that man, apart from my father, was the biggest influence of my life ever because I stayed with him for about 4 years. He taught me to read music, write music, the basic harmonies, major and minor chords, etc." He is survived by his second wife, Maggie, two sons, Geoff and Lionel, eight grandchildren and a great-grandson.As producers, you struggle to get inspired if you're using the same thing. A lot of times, a piece of analogue gear can break you out of that rut" – Shaun Lopez on crafting synth sounds for the long-awaited second album from Crosses I found a little cheap boarding house and I went down there and I used to go and sit on the end of Southend pier every day and I got better from TB. Although, I did have a relapse a few years later.