Clarence White gear

Arnquist

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May 5, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/5/00

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I am new to this group and I am curoius if any one knows what Clarence used
for equipment .Specifically ;

string gauges,
amps live and studio,
stomp boxes-the fuzz/distortion from 'This wheels on Fire''

these are of course when he was playing the Telecaster that Marty Stuart now
has.

Mark Arnquist

Arnquist

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May 5, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/5/00

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make that curious..

MDArnquist

Arnquist <Arnq...@email.msn.com> wrote in message
news:#0N5aett$GA.351@cpmsnbbsa04...

Arnquist

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May 5, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/5/00

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I talked to Gene a couple of years ago and he doesn't remember the things I
wanted to know.He was too busy with the bender and playing drums/singing/and
attending the whole Byrds thing.

It seems as though Clarences pedals and amps have gone the way of the wind.

Mark Arnquist

By the way ...I went back through all my old Guitaer Player Magazines and
could not find anything on this question.

Tele=Marty Stuart
CF Martin D-28 =Tony Rice
the rest of his gear= ?????? Twilight Zone?

Jeffery & Lisa Dunn

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May 5, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/5/00

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According to an article on Clarence in the Sept. '92 issue of Guitar Player, he
used medium gauge Martin, or Gibson strings on his acoustics. For his electrics,
he used "light guage, using a setup of either.009, .011, .012, .022 or .024,
.032, .042..., or .010, .012, .013, .022 or .024, .032, .042. "It was basically
a super-slinky set," reports Bob Warford, "except he threw out the .016 third
string and put a .012 in its place, which allowed a lot of snap on that third
string," Clarence used very heavy tortoiseshell picks, Gibson heavies, or for
the fun of it, a 50-cent piece. He ran his Tele through a beefed-up Fender dual
Showman along with a couple of Supers or Twin Reverbs. A Hammond Leslie or a
smaller Fender Leslie gave his guitar a swirling effect. A homemade fuzz built
by Valley Sound was his only other special effect besides the Stringbender"

Jeffery Dunn
Nashville, Tn.

Arnquist

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May 5, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/5/00

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Do you mean Valley Arts Sound from the LA area?

I wonder if Red Rhodes made the pedal.I have photos of clarence playing thru
a Fender Leslie cabinet/Vibrotone and a Showman .
But a beefed up Showman. A Fender Showman is basically a Twin Reverb without
the Reverb. It is / was the Dick Dale amp.Dick used a Reverb with the 3
controls to get his sound/tone.Clarence ...I doubt it .I don't see him as an
amp freak .Meaning ...go thru the amp and put 5% or tighter components in.
Matched Tubes yes .

Mark

Jeffery & Lisa Dunn <jef...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:3913A583...@bellsouth.net...

Rubrsol97

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May 6, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/6/00

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Hi Mark,

Not sure about amps or string gauges but we discussed his guitar in depth
pretty recently. You are right that Marty Staurt now own his original Tele with
the Parsons-White B-Bender. Fender Custom shop has a version of this, but here
is a really cool site I found that has a more accurate repro of his guitar (at
least from the looks of it). Check out the following link

http://208.28.236.25/guitar_picture.asp?guitar=67202&home=dealer

and the www.stringpull.com amd www.stringbender.com link (Gene Parsons website)

Brian

Jeffery & Lisa Dunn

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May 6, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/6/00

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Bob Warford has one of Clarences other Tele's. A lot of stuff was stolen and/or
disappeared. My Nashville neighbor Roland White has Clarences double cutaway
Randy Wood mandolin and the Mark Whitebrook acoustic, if I'm not mistaken.

Jeffery Dunn
Nashville, Tn.

Arnquist wrote:

> I talked to Gene a couple of years ago and he doesn't remember the things I
> wanted to know.He was too busy with the bender and playing drums/singing/and
> attending the whole Byrds thing.
>
> It seems as though Clarences pedals and amps have gone the way of the wind.
>
> Mark Arnquist
>
> By the way ...I went back through all my old Guitaer Player Magazines and
> could not find anything on this question.
>
> Tele=Marty Stuart
> CF Martin D-28 =Tony Rice
> the rest of his gear= ?????? Twilight Zone?
>
> Arnquist <Arnq...@email.msn.com> wrote in message
> news:#0N5aett$GA.351@cpmsnbbsa04...

RICK12DR

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May 6, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/6/00

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>Subject: Re: Clarence White gear

>From: "Arnquist"

>Arnq...@email.msn.com
>Date: 5/5/00 10:55 PM Centra

As to Clarences amps from that period, I can tell you from having seen the
Byrds in early '70.He had a couple Fender Twin
Reverbs, a couple Showman XL cabinets
and 1, maybe 2, Fender Vibratone/Leslie
units.All amps had JBLs in them. Marty Stuart told me a couple years back that
Clarence used a Mosrite Fuzzrite fuzztone,while Gene Parsons told me he
couldn't recall what kind of fuzz was used, but that he thought it may have
been
custom made.I suppose both reports could be true, though.At the same Byrds
show, Roger had a Fender Twin, a Fender Super
Reverb, and a Showman[dual] all w/ JBLs.
Skip had 3 Showman 2x15" setups.I had
front row floor vantage point, and the guys
took my head off that night, on Many levels; I 've never been the same since!!
Made me go out a couple months later
to acquire my 1st Rick 12 string[just like Roger's ,of course!!And, that night,
Clarence and Roger Both used Ovation
roundback acoustics[Roger with the Glen Campbell 12 string model] while Gene
Parsons had an old Guild flattop 6 string.
Hope that's enough detail for you!!!BTW,
Marty Stuart Also has an old Strat that
Clarence owned as well.I'd never seen him play it, but did see somewhere a pic
of him with it.

Harvey Gerst

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May 6, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/6/00

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Here are some pictures that I took from that period that may answer some
questions some of you have.

http://user.aol.com/hifigerst/byrds7.gif
http://user.aol.com/hifigerst/byrds8.gif
http://user.aol.com/hifigerst/byrds10.gif

http://user.aol.com/hifigerst/rose1.gif
http://user.aol.com/hifigerst/rose2.gif
http://user.aol.com/hifigerst/rose3.gif
http://user.aol.com/hifigerst/rose4.gif
http://user.aol.com/hifigerst/rose5.gif
http://user.aol.com/hifigerst/rose6.gif
http://user.aol.com/hifigerst/rose7.gif
http://user.aol.com/hifigerst/rose8.gif
http://user.aol.com/hifigerst/rose9.gif

Harvey Gerst
Indian Trail Recording Studio
http://www.ITRstudio.com/

Arnquist

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May 6, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/6/00

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Thanks for the look into the past.Those are great photos.

Well at least live we have the varification of Fender Twin Reverb and dual
Showman amps.Cool black guard Bursted Esquire !

This must of been one of Genes first benders.

And the photo of them ( Clarence,Chris and Roger with naked chins!)WOW!

Mark

Harvey Gerst <har...@ITRstudio.com> wrote in message
news:781687885716206F.BE0E7C15...@lp.airnews.net...

Rubrsol97

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May 6, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/6/00

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could you upload the last 'rose9' photo? It appears as if it is incomplete.

thx

byrdsfan

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May 6, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/6/00

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Yes, please re-upload that last one (or attach it to message
here, we will forgive you!). re-upload it please. Also what a
great site, but those pix of Linda Ronstadt could be bigger.
Terrific work Harvey.

* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!

Harvey Gerst

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May 6, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/6/00

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rubr...@aol.com (Rubrsol97) wrote:

>could you upload the last 'rose9' photo? It appears as if it is incomplete.

Try it again - here are the new names (4 and 10 are the same picture):

http://user.aol.com/hifigerst/byrd4.gif
http://user.aol.com/hifigerst/byrd7.gif
http://user.aol.com/hifigerst/byrd8.gif

Harvey Gerst

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May 6, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/6/00

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byrdsfan <byrdsfan...@hotmail.com.invalid> wrote:

>Yes, please re-upload that last one (or attach it to message
>here, we will forgive you!). re-upload it please. Also what a
>great site, but those pix of Linda Ronstadt could be bigger.
>Terrific work Harvey.

I did upload it. And I now have a real negative scanner, so I can finally put
up some decent pictures on my site. I'll work on Linda's pics.

Arnquist

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May 6, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/6/00

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That's a good question .What it appears to be is an Esquire.But it is a
sunburst 2 tone finish.

The Guitar that Marty Stuart has is the one that he was know for ,but...He
put a sticker on the face behind the bridge if I recall .Something to do
with Germany.

the bender device was a work in process,and Gene and Clarence kept at it
until they felt they had it correct.

This device on the guitar is NOT a whammy bar at all.I do not think that
there is a track on a Byrds recording where Clarence plays a 'WHAMMY Bar' .
The guitar that Marty Stuart now has ,is loaded with a Strat pickup in the
neck .That would be consistant with the mods of the day (mid 1960's)and this
could well be the same guitar.
If Tomcat is out there lurking,he is a teriffic detective of wood grain .I
would have to say ...what do you think?is it the same one?

Mark Arnquist -Arnquist Musical Desgns Inc. Everett,Wash.USA

Rubrsol97 <rubr...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000506221454...@ng-md1.aol.com...
> Is the Tele that Clarence is using the same one as he used later on in the
> Byrds (the one that had the B-Bender installed later)?
>
> The only reason I ask isthat this guitar definitely has a strange looking
> backing-piece that is attached, and the guitar looks like it has Fender
Jaguar
> style whammy bar. Those 2 strange features on a Tele, could have been an
early
> Bender of sorts. Anyone care to comment?

Arnquist

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May 6, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/6/00

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the guitar that M.S. has also has the extended back on it .I believe it's a
plexyglass extension that saves His belly from shredding.And at the same
time gives him the distance that the D-28 gave.As that was the guitar he
played the most before officially joining the BYRDS.

I know it does look like a Jaguar tailpiece.Gene may have made it that way
to retain a Fender appearance so when the approached them to use it as an
after market item it would look 'familiar' to the public. I'm only guessing
here.

Mark

Rubrsol97 <rubr...@aol.com> wrote in message

news:20000506230653...@ng-ch1.aol.com...
> Hi Mark,
>
> I mentioned that it 'looked' like a whammy bar from a Jaguar, but I was
> thinking all along that he was using it somehow as a bender lever in
> conjunction with that contraption stuck to the back of the guitar. That is
> definitely not a 1 piece double thickness body. You can clearly see that
> something of almost equal thickness was added to the back. Look near the
neck
> joint. You can see it is a normal Tele body.

Rubrsol97

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May 7, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/7/00

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Rubrsol97

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May 7, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/7/00

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Rubrsol97

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May 7, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/7/00

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I agree it only appears like a jaguar piece, but at closer inspection it looks
home-made. Maybe if that piece was removed later on, in order to install the
real B-Bender, we could see the outline left from the screw holes of that
home-made whammy thing. Kind of fun to speculate....

RICK12DR

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May 7, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/7/00

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>Subject: Re: Clarence White gear

>From: Harvey Gerst

These are interesting shots of Clarence with closeups of the BBender Tele, that
does Not yet have the white Strat PU in the neck, Or the Scruggs banjo tuners
on
both E strings. Also, the pickgurd appears
to be black, not tortoise as later pics show.Obviously, a "work in progress"
between him and Gene Parsons.It almost looks as though there is no PU in the
neck in these "black guard" shots[??]

Rubrsol97

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May 7, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/7/00

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What we have been discussing is the possibilit of whether or not it is the same
guitar at all. In these early photos it is clear that this guitar is an Esquire
since it does not have a neck pick-up at all. Also the real Parsons-White
B-Bender is not on this guitar yet. It appears to be some sort of bender device
fashioned with a lever gadget that migt have been an early design of Gene
Parsons. Anyway the familiar 'Tele' could be this guitar with further mods but
it is not conclusive at this point.

RICK12DR

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May 7, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/7/00

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>Subject: Re: Clarence White gear

>From: rubr...@aol.com (Rubrsol97)

> In these early photos it

>is clear that this guitar is an Esquire

>since it does not have a neck

>pick-up at all. Also the real

>Parsons-White

>B-Bender is not on this guitar yet.

>It appears to be some sort of bender device

>fashioned with a lever gadget that

>migt have been an early design of

>Gene

>Parsons

No, this Is "the" Clarence Tele.And since it was mfd by Gene, it Is a REAL
b-bender
no matter how you slice it. It's just the
prototype, which make it no less real than
the current ones.Since the whole guitar
was experimental,I'd say that concluding
it was actually an Esquire is conjecture, unless you can find a really good
headstock photo that closes in on the decal.

James Rosenkranz

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May 7, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/7/00

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Sierra Records CD release "Nashville West" has a picture (circa 1967) of
Clarence in suit and tie playing a pre-bender sunburst tele with maple neck,
white guard. It clearly has a pickup in neck position which if the same guitar,
would indeed make it a tele, not an esquire. String tree looks like the one on
the bender tele. June 94 edition of Country guitar magazine has an article on
Marty Stuart which lists Clarence's guitar as a 1954 Tele. There is also a
photo showing Marty with the Guitar and the word Telecaster is legible next to
the Fender logo.

Richard Harison

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May 7, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/7/00

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Clarence's distortion unit from 1970-1971 was a Fender Blender. It is the unit
you will hear on the Live sections of Untitled. On the same line of thought,
When the Byrds were reformed in 1968, Roger used three Fender Twins for a while.
I know because I made the patch cables which would allow him use one foot pedal
to trigger all three vibrato units at once. (This Wheel's on Fire)
--
All the Best,
Richard Harison
~~~~~~~~~~~
"RICK12DR" <rick...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000506011413...@ng-bh1.aol.com...

> >Subject: Re: Clarence White gear
>

byrdsfan

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May 7, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/7/00

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Harvey thanks a lot for going through all that trouble.

Sevenseas

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May 7, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/7/00

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Great threads! Concerning fuzz pedal that Clarence used, I saw
a post by Benderguy (?), in which he wrote that it was Mosrite
fuzz pedal.

Regarding Vally Sound that was mentioned in GP, I think it was
in fact Valley Arts, not sure though. The late Red Rhodes was
running am amp shop "Red's Royal Amp" in LA -- but am still
wondering as to how he revamped Clarence's Fenders.

If my memory serves, Paul Rivera (now head of Rivera amp)
used to work at Royal Amp. I'm not certain whether Paul did
know Clarence, but it would be good idea to ask Paul about the
details of amp modification done by Red.

Rubrsol97

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May 8, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/8/00

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It is completely possible that he had both a tele and an esquire. Why not? The
guitar in the photo looks like an esquire by mere absence of the neck p/u.
Without being able to read the headstock label on the guitar posted in the B/W
pictures, the most logical guess is esquire - but who knows. He would have had
to have an esquire pickguard put on that guitar to hide the p/u hole if it
really was a tele - which is completely possible.

TomThunder

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May 8, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/8/00

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>Try it again - here are the new names
(4 and 10 are the same picture):

>Harvey Gerst
>Indian Trail Recording Studio
>http://www.ITRstudio.com/

>har...@ITRstudio.com

Harvey, You've got to put all your stories and pics into book form. If you ever
decide to do this, I will help you in any way possible...just ask...Tom

TomThunder

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May 8, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/8/00

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>Do you mean Valley Arts Sound from
the LA area?

>Arnq...@email.msn.com

BTW, my I had my 12-string Yamaha
acoustic repaired and adjusted by
Valley Arts Guitar about 10 years ago,
but I don't think they are around any
more, or else they have a different
name. I was impressed by the number
of working pros who were clients
(e.g., Leland Sklar)...Tom

Rubrsol97

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May 8, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/8/00

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There's a website, www.pullstring.com, that sells pickguard/pu assemblies
constructed with Red Rhodes Velver Hammer pick-ups. Supposedly the same mods
that Clarence made. If you look at this links it is a guitar they sell which is
a replica of Clarence's Tele.

http://www.stringpull.com/telepu.html
http://208.28.236.25/guitar_picture.asp?guitar=10373&home=dealer
http://208.28.236.25/guitar_picture.asp?guitar=67202&home=dealer

Arnquist

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May 8, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/8/00

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Randy hill who was one of the 3 guys working in the shop was my apprentice
for a long time.We still keep in contact and he now is at Sam Ash in Conoga
Park.
You may want to try him.When it comes to 12 strings he calls me to see if I
have any new ideas /tips to tweak them.

Mark Arnquist

TomThunder <tomth...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000508024030...@ng-df1.aol.com...

Harvey Gerst

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May 8, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/8/00

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tomth...@aol.com (TomThunder) wrote:

>>Try it again - here are the new names
>(4 and 10 are the same picture):
>>Harvey Gerst

>Harvey, You've got to put all your stories and pics into book form. If you ever

>decide to do this, I will help you in any way possible...just ask...Tom

I'm working on making the Idyllwild Arts School in California the trustee for
producing prints and a book, and funding scholarships with a portion of the
proceeds.

Harvey Gerst

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May 8, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/8/00

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Ok, here's some more pics you might be interested in. I've pulled the GIFs
off anf changed them to hi-res JPG, so I was able to put a lot more up there.

This is some of the Byrds pics at the Rose Bowl:
http://members.aol.com/hifigerst/rose1.jpg
http://members.aol.com/hifigerst/rose2.jpg
http://members.aol.com/hifigerst/rose3.jpg
http://members.aol.com/hifigerst/rose4.jpg
http://members.aol.com/hifigerst/rose5.jpg
http://members.aol.com/hifigerst/rose6.jpg
http://members.aol.com/hifigerst/rose7.jpg
http://members.aol.com/hifigerst/rose8.jpg
http://members.aol.com/hifigerst/rose9.jpg

And this is me at the Forum with Sweetwater:
http://members.aol.com/hifigerst/harvey1.jpg

Jerry Lee Lewis opened, then we played, then The Doors.

byrdsfan

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May 8, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/8/00

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Go Harvey go! Didnt MTV do a movie on Sweetwater?

And the Hollywood Bowl, wasnt that Hillman's first and last show
with Gene Parsons? Supposedly he quit right after it and Gene
said, why did i do?

Harvey Gerst

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May 8, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/8/00

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byrdsfan <byrdsfan...@hotmail.com.invalid> wrote:

>Go Harvey go! Didnt MTV do a movie on Sweetwater?

No mention of me (their first manager, and road manager), or the fact that
there was a guitar player in the band - me. So the picture at least shows me
up there. <g>

>And the Hollywood Bowl, wasnt that Hillman's first and last show
>with Gene Parsons? Supposedly he quit right after it and Gene
>said, why did i do?

I don't know much about the goings on in the group, since I was usually doing
something else. Of all the members, I knew Clarence best, from the Kentucky
Colonels - I ran sound for them. I knew Roger from the Limelighters, David
Crosby from the Les Baxter Balladeers, and Gene from the Backporch Majority.

Harvey Gerst

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May 8, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/8/00

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Harvey Gerst <har...@ITRstudio.com> wrote:

And Chris from the Blue guitar - he sold me a 12 string.

byrdsfan

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May 8, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/8/00

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I just got around to looking at the middle grouping. If that's
Fleetwood Mac, then the Byrds are playing in FLorida this
weekend.
Any idea who they are?
thanks again. believe it or not im building a computer room with
a
Byrds theme. These will go great! (along with Henry McGuinns
stuff, which i already have up.)

TomThunder

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May 9, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/9/00

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>I just got around to looking at the middle grouping. If that's Fleetwood Mac,
then the Byrds are playing in FLorida this
>weekend.>Any idea who they are?

>byrd...@hotmail.com

I looked at the pics too, and they'd didn't look like any version of FM that I
remembered, until I recalled that FM's manger (Clifford Davis) formed a bogus
FM, which led to a lawsuit by the real
group. If you look at the pics you should be at least able to recognize John
McVie,
and it's pretty obvious that the woman is a Christine McVie clone. FYI - from
the All-Music Guide:
(Elmer) Gantry (Dave Terry) became notorious for participating in the "fake"
Fleetwood Mac that toured the U.S. in 1974; that group renamed themselves
Stretch and had a Top 20 hit in Britain that was inspired by the sordid
incident, "Why Did You Do It?"...Tom

byrdsfan

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May 9, 2000, 3:00:00 AM5/9/00

to

wow. that explains why the woman looks so much like a wanna-be.

Yeah i saw them right after Peter Green quit and then again after
he came back to fill in for Jeremy Spencer. Christine Mcvie was
around by then. i was leaning on the stage at a long island club
for that one. Peter Green from 12 feet away. totally mind
blowing.

Chris Larcombe Music

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Jun 21, 2022, 7:42:37 AM6/21/22

to

Going out on a limb here, 23 years later. You guys were discussing Clarence when I was a month old.

I can't find these pictures anymore...do you have an email I could contact you with to talk to you further about these photos?