My good friends over at CybersMusic have unearthed this rare gem – the Fender Stratocaster that Jimi Hendrix set ablaze at the Miami Pop Festival.
The guitar was apparently given to the late, great Frank Zappa by one of Hendrix’s roadies, and is now being cared for by son Dweezil.
Frank waxes poetic about his famous guitar–
I had it hanging on the wall in my basement for years until last year when I gave it to Rex and said, “Put this sucker back together,” because it was all tore up. The neck was cracked off, the body was all fired, and the pickups were blistered and bubbled. That’s the one that’s got the Barcus-Berry in the neck. A lot of people thought I had Hendrix’s guitar from Monterey, but it was from Miami; the one at Monterey was white and this one is sunburst.
In Other News: Dweezil Zappa and his band of audio maniacs are now on tour performing the music that made Frank Zappa famous (infamous?!) The tour is aptly titled Zappa Plays Zappa. Here’s a description from the official ZPZ blog–
AUTHENTIC: This is the first OFFICIAL presentation of Frank Zappa Music since the Composer himself departed for his final tour in 1993.
AUTHORITATIVE: Having mastered QUITE A BIT of the most challenging repertoire ever conceived for a Rock & Roll stage, ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA brings it to the road. The Tour de Frank launches in Spring 2006 for the ever-popular hygienic European version following final finishing touches in San Francisco! Plus – new dates just added for October 2006…
Sounds like a night of complete musical insanity… where do I sign-up?
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June 29th, 2006 at 2:11 am
Zappa is my favorite musician of all time, bar none. I’d be thrilled to have this guitar just because it sat untouched in his basement for a period of time. If I’m lucky, I’ll be half the musical genius that he was.
Mastering Zappa’s repertoire though? There’s a mighty claim. The sure mark of a top-tier musician however. (Though it helps when you’ve got people like Terry Bozzio in the group ha) Unfortunately, there’s no upcoming Dallas date (or really anyhwhere nearby) so it looks like I can’t experience this in person. Sigh.