FRIDAY FUNNIES / JEREMY'S BIG JINGLE JANGLE WISH FOR CHRISTMAS

COMING OF AGE TOGETHER: FOLK-ROCK AND THE NEWLY INVENTED RICKENBACKER 12-STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR. 

Everyone who read last Sunday’s comics in newspapers across the country probably came across the popular “Zits” series, where the teen’s mom asks what Jeremy wants for Christmas. On his list is a 12-string Rickenbacker guitar in jetglo black. 

What’s so special about that guitar? It debuted in the early 1960s. 

 For one, it has a unique sound. Let’s start with the intro to Traveling Riverside Blues by Led Zeppelin. Then listen to that jangle found in Ticket to Ride by the Beatles and Mr. Tambourine Man by the Byrds. 

ROGER THAT! In 1965, inspired by George Harrison,
it was Roger McGuinn’s passion for the Rickenbacker
12-string that became central to The Byrds' sound,
further popularising the instrument and the folk-rock genre. 

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In 1965, inspired by George Harrison, Roger McGuinn made the Rickenbacker 12-string central to The Byrds' folk-rock jingle-jangle sound, further popularizing the instrument. 

 And, for a garage band kid like the cartoonish Jeremy Duncan it is the epitome of cool.The music the 12-string Rickenbacker makes is unforgettable once you realize you’ve been listening to it all your life. 

 For example, listen to other amazing 12-string Ricky’s in action in the following mega hits: 

 --Don’t let me be misunderstood—Animals 

--Over the Hills and Far Away and Stairway to Heaven--Led Zeppelin 

--Free Falling--Tom Petty 

--More than a feeling--Boston 

PLAY IT JOHN. Here’s John Lennon in the early 1960s shortly after the Rickenbacker 12 string was created by the California guitar maker Adolph Rickenbacker, a Swiss/American electrical engineer. Image from early appearance on the Ed Sullivan TV show, a program where the Beatles and the Rickenbacker 12-string made their American debut. 

 

 

BIRTH OF FOLK ROCK. When Mr. Tambourine Man exploded high on the music charts, "it was Dylan meets the Beatles," said rock icon and 12-string maestro Roger McGuinn once of the Byrds (on the far right of the picture), and indeed it was – a blend of the finest Beatles-like pop melodies and profound lyrics by Bob Dylan.