As a young child in the mid 50's, growing up on a farm in Southern Minnesota, the most common source of entertainment was the AM radio. We didn't own a TV until years later. Although, as a typical child in a state of dim awareness of that going on around me, I very distinctly recall that this was the source of my first exposure to the sound of an electric guitar. I also know that it was on The Arthur Godfrey Show, and it was a very jazzy sound - with the tonality of an ES-175 style guitar. I only know this in retrospect, of course. I believe that these shows aired on both the radio and TV. My question is this - does anyone have any idea who the guitar player in the show's orchestra was, or what type of instrument he played? I have found that the show had 3 orchestras over the years, led by Archie Bleyer (1948 - 1954), Jerry Bresler (1954 - 1955) and Will Roland and Bert Farber (1955 - 1958). In trying to drill deeper, I have not been able to come up with much more detail about the composition of these orchestras. I note that one of talents that Arthur promoted on his show was a youngster named Roy Clark. It's possible that it is he is who I recall hearing, but I believe not, as I remember hearing that guitar sound on many of the shows.
It would be fun to know for certain who it was that first generated my interest in the guitar. TIA to anyone with more information.
Tom Moll
It would be fun to know for certain who it was that first generated my interest in the guitar. TIA to anyone with more information.
Tom Moll
