Barney Kessel on TV last night

This is Barney Kessel in the basement of a Music Store in Oklahoma City some years ago. He is giving some tips to a local guitarist in a "Clinic" he conducted before appearing in the "Great Guitars" concert that evening. Last Saturday night, in a futile effort to “get our money’s worth” out of the Cable Fee, we watched the Lawrence Welk Show. It was a program rerun from the ‘70’s. It was pleasant to watch Welk and his tightly wound band, swishing through some old big band standards. His arrangements were usually note for note after the original scores and often tried to emulate even original instrumental solos associated with the original recordings. His musicians rarely made names for themselves, Henry Cuesta, an exception. But all were very professional and held the section parts together very well. About half way through the hour long program, as the camera panned across the bandstand, I made a discovery. The guitarist was Barney Kessel. No doubt. A couple biographies on line confirmed that Kessel often supplemented his income with gigs on the Welk television show. Here he was, in the evening’s red band uniform suit and all. He played it straight throughout the whole program. Just in case you are from another planet, Barney Kessel played guitar behind Julie London on the famous recording of “Cry Me A River.” It’s a classic. Well, Joe Cocker didn’t do the song any harm either. Of course, if you only know of Justin Timberlake’s version, then you probably are on the wrong page.

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Barney Kessel. He's from around here...

This is Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel and Herb Ellis on stage in Oklahoma City as the Great Guitars, a concert around 1980. And that they were. Happy Birthday Barney! And thanks. Excerpt from Wikipedia: Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. He began his career as a teenager touring with local dance bands before moving on to bands such as that led by Chico Marx. He quickly established himself as a key post-Charlie Christian jazz guitarist. In 1944 he participated in the Lester Young film "Jammin' the Blues" and in 1947 he recorded with Charlie Parker's New Stars on the "Relaxin' at Camarillo" session for Dial Records. Barney Kessel is known for his innovative work in the guitar trio setting. In the 1950s, he made a series of albums called "The Poll Winners" with Ray Brown on bass and Shelly Manne on drums. He was also responsible for the prominent guitar on Julie London's definitive recording of "Cry Me a River". Also from the 50s, his three "Kessell Plays Standards" volumns contain some of his most polished work. Kessel was also a member of the Oscar Peterson Trio with Ray Brown in the early 1950s. The guitar chair was called the hardest gig in show business since Peterson often liked to play at breakneck tempos. Herb Ellis took over from Kessel after a year or so. A "first call" guitarist at Columbia Pictures, during the 1960s Kessel became one of the most in-demand session guitarists in America, and is considered a key member of the group of first-call session musicians now usually known as The Wrecking Crew. In this capacity he played on hundreds of famous pop recordings including albums and singles by Phil Spector, The Beach Boys, The Monkees and many others. He appeared (in an acting part, not as a guitarist) in one episode of the Perry Mason TV show. During the 1970s, Kessel presented his seminar 'The Effective Guitarist' in various locations around the world. Kessel released several solo albums even late into his life. Kessel died of a brain tumor in San Diego, California. He had been in poor health after suffering a stroke in 1992.

These are the most popular pages: Alison Young Curl-up-and-dye Marilyn Art Pepper Gnat Trap Resident Alien Ginger Panda Barney Kessel Sunday Funnies Little Annie Fannie Yes, I refuse to use Kleenex until THIS stops. Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

Barney Kessel

Yes, I refuse to use Kleenex until THIS stops. These are the most popular pages: Marilyn Art Pepper Gnat Trap Alison Young Resident Alien Ginger Panda Barney Kessel Sunday Funnies

In the basement storage room of an east side music store in Wichita, Kansas, Barney Kessel demonstrates a new lick he is working on to a local musician. People were handing him various guitars to try out. Mr. Kessel was wearing dark glasses to obscure his identity. He said he was associated with a particular guitar company and didn't want to accidentally violate some unknown stipulation in his contract by inadvertently holding or strumming a competitor's guitar. The "clinic" lasted about an hour and later on that night, Kessel played with Herb Ellis and Charlie Byrd as the "Great Guitars." Kessel was a steadily innovative jazz guitarist with a discography that included sessions with Charlie Parker, Lester Young and Oscar Peterson. He did recording gigs with The Beach Boys and The Monkees. In the ‘50’s he won the reader-voted Downbeat Poll for best jazz guitar. This was followed with an album called “The Poll Winners” with Ray Brown and Shelly Manne. Though he was revered by jazz aficionados, probably his most widely known work was with a trio behind the throaty, smoldering vocals of Julie London. Her bluesy recording of “Cry Me A River” became a pop standard in 1955. Here is a very good source of information on Barney Kessel. Barney Kessel was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, October 17, 1923. Today, in 2004 we lost Barney Kessel. Thanks Barney.