HISTORY DETECTIVES | Josh White Guitar | PBS
September 9, 2010 in Local Music by stagemaster
Buy the DVD: www.shoppbs.org for more: www.pbs.org Watch the full segment from the History Detectives Special celebrating African American contributions to music. A Michigan man owns a Guild brand acoustic guitar that he says once belonged to legendary African-American folksinger Josh White, who is credited with introducing black folk, gospel and blues music to a world audience in the 1940s. The contributor met White after a concert when he was a kid, and the guitar reminds him of a confidence White had shared with him: the Guild Company was talking to White about making a signature guitar built to his specifications and marketed under his name. If this is the guitar White had spoken of, it would be the first signature guitar ever created for an African-American musician in the United States. HISTORY DETECTIVES host Elyse Luray travels around New York City and New Jersey to explore the crossover appeal of Josh White’s music and his ability to win over a racially polarized music industry. Exploring historical objects and the stories behind them, HISTORY DETECTIVES crisscrosses the country, delving into legends, folklore and personal histories to discover potentially extraordinary objects in everyday American homes, cities and small towns. Watch for the new season of History Detectives premiering June 2009. For more information, visit www.pbs.org
Way cool – a great story about a truly great man.
Great*****5/5***** Video!!
thanks,
C.N.
Public Television just got freakin seXXXier
@rrw1981 She is 42…one sexy cougar indeed…but she looks 23
Elyse is definitely hot!
Her referring to that beautiful instrument as “product”, as if it’s only purpose is to be bought and sold, leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
I was originally looking for something else, but boy this video was a very nice surprise for a musician like myself.
heck yea…she is hot
As fascinating as Josh White’s music is his relationship with FDR & Eleanor.
SHE’S HOT LOL
This was great. Intelligent and interesting!
Come to think of it, I do remember one of them, something like “Butterfly”.. The first line was “Butterfly, flutter by my window, tell her that I love her so —-” or something like that. It was in the 1950s or 60s.
I seem to remember he had some songs in the British hit parade with his daughter Beverley, but I don’t see them anywhere in YouTube
this is a great video
My Father gave me Josh White records. I have a picture of Josh playing a kaykraft as well.. I have one of those.
Guild made such great instruments, too bad it didn’t work out. Kaman made a Josh White Ovation which is/was an inferior (far inferior) instrument.
WOW! What a great snip of history this is! Josh White was, in the 60s, one of my major influences as I learned Blues guitar. I saw him live many times, and I also distinctly recall marvelling at a Guild he played… with a slotted 12 fret classical neck…
To own this guitar, and to learn that it’s a one-of-a-kind, would be a thrill of a lifetime. It’s amazing to watch this story unfold.
Loved it! In the mid-50′s, while Josh was based in Europe, English music dealer, Ivor Mairants commissioned and marketed (with Josh’s approval) a Josh White model guitar under the Zenith brand. The guitars were made in Germany and advertised on the back of the “Josh White Guitar Method” which Mairants published in 1956. So wouldn’t that be the first signature guitar named for an African-American player? It’s not made by a US manufacturer, but then that wasn’t one of the stated criteria.
A barrier breaker before Hendrix.Wow!!
Very interesting, Glad i came across it.
*****