The Steel Guitar Forum

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My Tribute to the Hot Club of America in Hi-Fi


<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Dave Van Allen on 19 June 2004 at 11:55 PM.]</p></FONT>

Dave, Thank you so much for all you have done for us. I have told you that many times
over,but each time it means more to me than ever.

There have been many people on this Forum who
would not been aware of the Hot Club Of America (you gave it the buzz word (hcoa) which has been what people refer to it as.

No one would have ever heard of Johnny and myself if your wife Liz didnt find the LP in a yard sale,that was our lucky day all those years we were in back yards with all the neighborhood cats.

I cannot express my appreciation for all you have done for Johnny,Augie,(August) George and myself.My words are not equal to the way
I feel.

Your web site interestesd many people on this Forum and one Forum member who is laid back and seldom posts,e mailed you when this
web site was first introduced and he asked your permission to burn a CD off of your site.

You gave him that permission and since that time he has become a friend and someone who
insisted that however,and whatever I do in my
life that I have left is to get that hcoa going and for that I want to thank my good friend EVERETT COX from Marengo Ohio.

So to both EVERETT and yourself and the many members and friends on this Forum,and for the
umpteenth time....

I thank you for Johnny,Augie,George and myself for taking the lively interest in us and making Johnny's dream come true.It will mean more to me when the beautiful leaves of Autumn start falling from the tree's to blanket Johnny's grave which serves as his headstone,he wouldnt have wanted it any other way.


Thank you ever so much and thank Bobby Lee's
Forum for alllowing us to to use the Forum as the launching pad.

Best my friend

Happy Fathers Day.

Your Friend
Jody

Thank You EVERETT. for all the e mail and pushing me to get this done.

Thank You from Marilyn,Lorrie and Casey and myself and Marie and Hans.You got me off my butt.

Best to you always and Happy Fathers Day to you as well.

Your friend

Jody<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 20 June 2004 at 05:01 AM.]</p></FONT>

If you haven't seen Dave Van Allen's "Tribute" to the HCOA, click on the link he gives above. It's really a great site, and a great trubute to a great man and a great album. Well worth your time to browse through it.

Whatta Guy

Thanks so much.

Trade you 1 hcoa for 1 Footprints.

On Jodys behalf I also want to express my appreciation for the nice friends he has on this Forum.

I lost my dad back in the 1980's and no other
salesman or supplier was at my dads service but for one, and that was Jody.

I look upon Jody as my second dad and want to wish him the happiest of Fathers Day.

Jody,you have many friends on here and I know
that you are thankful for that. Our Best to
you and Marilyn in the coming year and pray that all your problems are behind you.

Fondest Best Wishes

Greg & Lisa Sullivan

Jody: Don't forget your promise to me.... you must sign our CD for us! I can tell already this is going to be a BIG HIT AGAIN! But then, you and Marilyn have always been a hit with me! Thanks for your love always....Laurie

Hi
I spoke to Jody Carver today and he told me
Johnny's and Jody's Hot Club Of America CD is in its final stages and except for fine tuning the first batch will be ready to ship
by the second week of July if not sooner ( I hope).

I heard the master copy disc and its great.
I or Jody will keep you updated as to exactly when he can get those cd's out to those who wish to own one.

Mr and Mrs Ayres Jody asked me to thank you both for the lovely gesture sending a special copy of Mr.Ayres new cd.

I was able to hear it yesterday and although
Im a trombonist and a wanna be steel guitar player I can only say your cd is great. Jody
is elated that you sent the cd to his granddaughter Casey Reynolds,thank you.

Mrs.Ayres Jody sends his love back to both you and Mr.Ayres.

I'll be in touch as soon as the cd is ready to ship.

Sincerly

Greg Sullivan

Just in time for my Birthday on the 24th!
Woo Hoo!!!
-andy-

Hey, Jody. You' seem to have changed your email address since I last wrote you in March. I just tried to send you another email but it was returned 'address unknown.' Let me know your new address and I'll send it again.

Jody-
I too would love to have a copy of your HCOA CD. Please let me know when they are available.....
Curry

The Quest for the Holy Grail and the Unraveling of a Thread

It’s interesting how some instruments pass hands from one person to another. How one owner’s prized axe ends up in the hands of another who appreciates it just as much. The Fender Stratocaster on the cover of Hot Club of America is one such example of an owner’s quest for such a prized guitar and the unraveling of the thread to trace its history and lineage.

Early in the 1980s an issue of the Guitar Trader’s news bulletin had a picture of a blonde 1956 Stratocaster with gold hardware for $3,500.00. The current owner, a die hard blonde ‘Strat’ fan fell in love immediately with this elusive beauty. $3,500.00 however, was an impossible sum to raise for a struggling guitar player in New York City. Little did he know at that time that he would someday actually own that guitar!

Thirteen years passed and the struggling guitar player changed coasts and was working at a vintage amp shop in Hollywood when Alan Rogan (than tour manager with the band AC/DC,) came into the store. Both loving vintage guitars the talk quickly turned to a blonde ‘Strat’ with gold hardware that Alan had gotten from John Entwistle. John had gotten the guitar from a guitar collection he had bought when the Who was playing in Toronto in 1989 and Alan had headed up the transaction and eventually ended up with this guitar.

Later in 1995, in the August issue of Vintage Guitar Magazine a local Hollywood vintage guitar dealer advertised a ’56 blonde ‘Strat’ with gold hardware. Living in the area, the struggling guitar player immediately checked it out and also found out that this was the same guitar that had been Alan’s.

After taking pictures the guitar player was struck with how similar the ’56 looked to the one on the Guitar Trader News Bulletin from 1983. Digging out a copy of the Special Re-Issue of Guitar Trader’s Vintage Guitar Bulletin – Vol 2 by Timm Kummer, he compared that picture with the one he had just taken. Everything matched, the wood grain, even all the little nicks. This was the same guitar!

A guitar ‘Junky’ and fascinated with the history of vintage guitars the current owner was again looking through Richards Smith’s book Fender – The Sound Heard ‘round the World. This time he really zeroed in on a picture of this album cover Hot Club of America (1958). On the cover of this LP was Johnny Cucci holding a blonde/gold plated ‘Strat’. Even from a small picture it looked suspiciously like the same guitar. The player contacted Richard and requested a slide of the album cover. Upon blowing up the picture and comparing the grain of the wood…there was no question it was the same guitar!

But now the dealer no longer wanted to sell the guitar which actually was rather fortunate as our guitar player didn’t have the funds to buy it anyway. So began the waiting game.

Finally in 1998, our player approached the dealer with a serious offer for the guitar. They worked out the details and finally the current owner got to bring the ‘Baby’ home. At this point he figured that that was as good as it was going to get.

Curious about its early history, the owner tracked down Timm Kummer (formerly with Guitar Trader). Though Timm was not sure where they got the guitar he did remember that they sold it to Jimmy Crespo of the band Aerosmith who eventually traded it back to them. Unfortunately, he couldn’t remember to whom they eventually sold it. Well, his luck was about to change!

The current owner asked Richard Smith if Jody Carver might know anything about the guitar. Richard said that when he next talked to Jody he would ask. Eventually, the owner got an e-mail from Jody Carver saying that he understood that the current owner now had Johnny’s guitar. He went on to say, “By the way, I was there when Johnny got the guitar and if you have any questions about it, please ask.” Jody worked for Don Randall (then president of Fender.) Apparently, this ‘Strat’ was the first one made in this blonde/gold combination (January of 1956.). Don Randall kept the guitar in his office for six months before giving it to Johnny in the summer of ’56 at a NAMM show in New York. Johnny loved this guitar, more than his D’Angelico and Gibson Super 400, played it constantly but with failing health his wife sold it in the early Eighties to someone who sold it to Guitar Trader.

Jody also mentioned that before Don Randall gave the guitar to Johnny he let it be used for promo pictures by other Fender artists including Mary Kaye of the Mary Kaye Trio. Jody later confirmed this through Tom Walker (who at that time was Don’s ‘Right Hand Man’,) who not only remembered this guitar but also that it was the one that he actually brought to Vegas for the Fender prom shoot with Mary Kaye. She had also used this ‘Strat’ on another occasion in the 1956 movie Cha Cha Cha Boom!

The story was almost complete! The final gap between Guitar Trader and Toronto was closed when reaching the dealer out of Toronto (that Alan Rogan confirmed that they had bought the guitar collection from,) suggested that the guitar might of come from Elliot Mechanic!” Upon contacting Elliot in Montreal he confirmed that he sold the guitar to a friend of his, who than in turns sold it to the guy in Toronto. He also confirmed that he had bought the guitar from Guitar Trader in the mid Eighties. Bingo! There was the entire lineage of the guitar’s ownership as well as a time line.

Regardless of the history and rarity of Johnny’s guitar... it is a beautiful instrument, a modern day Stradivarius which is still today making beautiful music as well as impassioned with Johnny’s soul, brilliance and passion.

Please enjoy. And Listen to the Hot Club Of America in all their Glory

Author Iain Hersey Owner of Johnny Cucci's Stratocaster Guitar.

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Copyright(c) 2004 by
Jody Carver "All Rights
Reserved"

That's one for the book, Jody. Fantastic.

Roy,that and others like it will be in the book "The Last Fender Guitar" as well.

My SPECIAL Thanks to my friend Ian Mc Latchie
for all his support to help me and encourage me to get this done.Its not my last one,but natrually I wont have the same people to work with. Another HotClub CD is in the works

Thank you Ian my friend.

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Copyright(c) 2004 by
Jody Carver "All Rights
Reserved"

Hi, Jody, add me to the list of folks anxiously awaiting your "new" CD!

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Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com

Thanks again for your kind words, Jody. All of us who have had the privilege to get to know you and your music these past few years are so happy to see that, finally, your struggles have paid off. Having the chance to own a couple of those first copies of the reissue will be a proud moment for me. And a second Hot Club CD in the works - damn! What will some of the tunes be this time around?

as usual Sir Knight of Legendary Tweed, you've got some great tales
i love readin'about'em and of course, i jes'caint wait till you get yer book done and up 4 sale
All the Best to ya'

Hey Jody,
Sign me up for a copy too!

Waiting for the cd, Jody. I got a casette of the HCOA and knew I wanted a cd.

Jody, I'll take 2 copies, one for me and one for my pal George!

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Rick Alexander
Fender Stringmaster D8, Fender Dual Professional, Fender Champion, Rickenbacker 6 String

Thanks to all of you who have posted your interest in the CD "The Hot Club Of America".

I am at the present time waiting for delivery
of the Cd's. If those of you who will not be attending the ISGC, I will be happy to ship a copy before the show.

I will be attending the ISGC and will be offering them for sale at that time.

There should be a first run of Cd's available
prior to the St.Louis Show and I will post
the mailing address for those of you who would like to have a copy. This should be within the next two weeks or so.

Thanks for all your compliments and well wishes, I hope that those of you who have not
had the opportunity of hearing Johnny Cucci
and August La Monte and George Nida will enjoy the fine musicians that they were.

Try to take into consideration that this long deleted LP was recorded back in 1958.

I know how proud Johnny and the fellows would be to have been here to experience this

Thanks again to all of you.

My Best to all of you.

Jody.....

Please refer to my post in the NO PEDDLERS thread on "Dating My Stringmaster".

You -- quite properly corrected an error I posted regarding the Fender Stringmasters -- and I posted again to tahnk you for setting me straight.

In that one I mentioned that I had always been a big fan of your HCOA album and still have it -- and stil play it on 33.3 vinyl -- after all thes years. The picture on the web looks exactly like my album cover!! (Where Johnny's Fender isn't even plugged in--HA!)

Now after looking around on the Forum -- I am a fairly new mamber and just learning my way around -- I happened to check out the threads on events and low and behold there was the topic on the HCOA coming out on CD.

I am really glad to hear this and I would definitely like to put an order in as I don't know how much longer the vinyl will last.

Just let me know where to order and when:

Bill Brummett
Greensburg PA
wmbt62@earthlink.net

Fender D8 "Diamond Head" Pro, Fender T8 26" Stringmaster, Remington Steel Sustainmaster 2000 D-10 6/5

OK Bill

I should have the first shipment sometime next week. I will post the exact dates that I can ship the Cd's with an address etc.

Thank you for the compliment.I appreciate it very much. I'll let all those who are interested know the details. edited..the reason Johnnys guitar was not plugged in is because we were sitting on the floor for the photo to be taken. Not kidding..I had the 1000 on my legs and the frame was digging in to my legs.The 1000 was not set up when that photo was taken. I didnt play the 1000 on the recording I played a triple neck Fender Custom non pedal guitar.

Fender asked that I take the photo with the 1000 because that was what they were promoting back then.I wished I had the same 1000 back again.

Thank You.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 19 July 2004 at 09:22 PM.]</p></FONT>

Jody my long time friend....

After an abscence from the Forum I have just discovered this thread about the availability of your CD. I am even more excited that you will be at the St Louis show with a supply of your CD's.

This new information has motivated me to make plans to attend this year to receive my autographed copy. This will be my first time at the convention...in the past I always had work obligations and bills to pay!

Even though we have exchanged e-mails for some time exchanging information about our family medical situations, I am looking forward to meeting you for the first time in person.

Give Marilyn my best wishes and a hug...

Gene
www.genejones.com

Gene,

Jody and I have had plans made for a long time to open up a keg of nails in St. Louis. Be sure to look me up. I will be playing a set in L.T. Zinn's Hawaiian Room.

Roy