DB122 delivered in 1964

wolfgang · Post by **wolfgang** » Sat Feb 14, 2004 6:13 am

hello everybody,
it is just 40 years ago that the new 325 DB122 was delivered to John Lennon, wasn't it?
Much research was done in the recent years, so this is what we know today:
He used the new guitar immediatly at the Miami Ed Sullivan Show as well as in the Abbey Road studios recording 'You can't do that', 'I'm happy just to dance with you', 'Long tall Sally', 'I call your name' and others. To me 'I'm happy just to dance with you' would not have been (at least in this way) without the new guitar (watch him play it in the A hard day's night movie!) a song with just one guitar, the DB122. Long tall Sally: Lennon plays lead guitar (his Chuck Berry/ Carol-solo), breathtaking, just one take needed for the whole song. I guess he was very pleased with it and after finnishing the shooting of the A hard day's night movie he tried it again: Matchbox. He even used the Ac'cent vibrato at the beginning of the solo but this time he spoilt it, for some reason we can hear that solo in the mono mix of the song. So a dubbed solo was needed (we can hear it in the stereo mix), but it must have been a big frustration to him ( we can hear on take seven of 'She's a woman' later in 1964 how he started again playing these guitar solos at the chaotic end of the take).
Well, the old 325 V81 was with no doubt his adored Rickenbacker guitar. It brought him from Hamburg to the States. But his new toy, the DB122
even boosted his enormous creativity in the beginnig of 1964!
I was almost ten then, buying my first Beatles singles. Since 2002 I am very happy with my fist
Rickenbacker guitar, a 325v63!

hamiltone · Post by **hamiltone** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 2:41 am

My first Rickenbacker was the 325v63 which I bought back in 1995 after watching "A Hard Day's Night" on video more times than I care to mention! I saw the black 325 model and thought, "Wow, I have to have one of those...."

admin · Post by **admin** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 3:37 am

Wolfgang: Thanks for this post. A very nice review of the role of DB122 in Beatles' music. Do you have photograph evidence or engineering data to support your interesting comments? I would be interested in knowing how you reached your conclusions.

wolfgang · Post by **wolfgang** » Sun Mar 28, 2004 12:46 am

hello Karl, hello Peter,
if there was only one Spanish Electric, I would
go for a black 325. What a beauty it is.

Peter,
thanks for your comment. I am afraid there are no pictures of the 1st of June Session when Matchbox was recorded, although Carl Perkins was at Abbey Road (what is worth a picture). So it's more a circumstancial proof. In Matchbox (as well as in Long Tall Sally from 1st of March) Lennon does not only play solo, but, to me, does some of his best rhythm guitar work at all. Unfortunately, this was mixed down far too much in the case of Matchbox.

But, having my 325V63, pickups winded down to 7,5kOhms, Pyramids 13 to 52 on it, and fiddeling with my small WEM amp until it sounded almost like a VOX AC15/30/50/100 , and (in the case of Matchbox) the Ac'cent vibrato arm in my hand, I trust my ears, that it was the DB122 Lennon used. He tried out his new guitar, even the Ac'cent vibrato.
I guess the vibrato arm was not bent then.

By the way and to keep the discussion going: could it be that the picture of Lennon with his old V81 (Lewisohn, p.46) and the picture Lewisohn p.43, right side, Paul laying on the carpet, are of the fall of 1963 or very early 1964?
And could it be that, on Lewisohn p.51, John is only checking his old V81, after touring?

hope to receive more posts soon
Wolfgang

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sun Mar 28, 2004 1:22 pm

Hi Wolfgang,
are you saying that even in the beginning of "Long Tall Sally" that is Lennon playing those leads? I always thought of Lennon as a "dirty" sounding guitar player like in " I want You, She's so Heavy" and those leads are clean as a whistle like Harrison always played, I'm not doubting you, I also found that to be very interesting, if that is true it gives a new dimension to Lennon's playing that I was not previously aware of.

larrywassgren · Post by **larrywassgren** » Sun Mar 28, 2004 6:36 pm

Wolfgang, I think I have a different Lewisohn book than you because none of those photos are on my pages. Could you please let me know what book you have? And I agree that Lennon had more of a dirty, great rock-n-roll off-the-cuff sound where Harrison learned his parts note perfect. Both were awesome.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 5:41 am

I had read a quote from Keith Richards somewhere that had Keith saying he had to show GH the intro for long tall sally.

wolfgang · Post by **wolfgang** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 11:18 am

Larry, my Lewisohn is a hard cover of
The Beatles Recording Sessions, Harmony Books New York, c 1988, third Impression 1984.

I just found more photographies probably of the same session on p. 13, PM and JL with his old 325
and black AC 30, and another one on the Impressum side 2, George Martin and JL with the old 325.
What I want to say is: although the picture on p 46 (showing John with his old 325 V81) is in the context of June 64, it might be taken far earlier.
So it is not a proof JL was playing his old 325 in
studio after he got his new 325 DB122...

Bob and Jerry,
Long Tall Sally: John Crowley wrote on his web site John Lennon's Guitars (c) 2000:
(Lennon played solo on YCDT)' ...followed a few days by a solo on "Long Tall Sally"'.
And John did play the first solo of the song when
touring in autum 1964 (and left the second solo to George).
If you have the stereo take of the song on CD you
may listen to only one channel (the right one?)
drums, vocals, bass, and John's guitar, no piano, no 2nd guitar. Very nice to hear...

Keith Richards played a Casino,he's a good guy!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 12:41 pm

Kieth richards is the best Chuck Berry type guitar player around, (one of my favorites and doesn't get the dues he deserves IMHO) even though that's a Little Richard tune. (except for Chuck of course)

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 6:38 pm

Keef rulz!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 12:09 pm

larrywassgren · Post by **larrywassgren** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 1:34 pm

Thanks Wolfgang, my pictures are on different pages but I think I know the ones you are talking about. One photo shows John with his '58 and he is adjusting his harmonica holder. This is shown around October of 1964. It is taken at Abbey Road and it looks like the guitars were just hauled into the studio after their Scottish tour. John's hairstyle and his sunglasses look correct for late 1964. I believe he used his '58 as well as his '64 on that tour although I haven't found any photos to prove it. I'm fairly certain he would have used his '58 in the studio after getting DB122. The guitar had been recently refretted by Burns and had no problems. In mid-65 he tells Ray Coleman at his home in Weybridge that his first Rickenbacker is his most prized possession. I believe he took his '58 out of Abbey Road and home sometime in the first half of 1965 and he would show V81 to Coleman in mid-65. Jerry, I don't believe the claim that Keith Richard's had to show George the intro to Long Tall Sally. George had been playing it note perfect long before The Beatles met the Rolling Stones. George was a perfectionist when it came to guitar playing and really did his homework/practice which you can hear on Live At Hamburg(although they may be lacking a little of the enthusiasm at this point as they were ready to move on to bigger things).

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 1:47 pm

Yeah that quote from Keith was made some time ago and if I remember correctly it was said with a hint of derision. It was about some Chuck Berry riff or solo, not sure which (should have made that point earlier!). After George's passing, Keith was full of praise for George's playing, and I think that was truer to his actual feelings.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 1:48 pm

Roll Over Beethoven! That's it. (???)

larrywassgren · Post by **larrywassgren** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 4:20 pm

Thanks Jerry, I can relax now

George and Keith are both great players and paid their dues. I'm sure they had mutual respect for each other. If anybody wants to see how George played during the early days(Liverpool and Hamburg) just check out his playing on that Carl Perkins special. It's amazing and he's doing all that Scotty Moore stuff perfect. He said he could pull those off anytime as he played them so much when they were just rockers. My friend Alan Stratton from Liverpool played on the same stage as The Beatles back in those days and has told me George and the rest of The Beatles worked harder than anybody else. He will tell you they played all night long, slept until noon and then rehearsed new material in the afternoon for several hours before going back in for another six hour show. They were very intent on getting the guitar parts and the harmonies right.