Legendary Guitar: Elvis Presley’s Gibson J-200

Gibson.Com
Dave Hunter
April 17 2009

Music historians have thoroughly documented how blues and country came together with an extra shot of energy and a dash of panache to give birth to rock and roll. You could define one of the genre’s biggest stars, Elvis Presley, in precisely the same terms, then turn around and apply the formula to Elvis’s all-time favorite acoustic guitar — the Gibson J-200. Developed as the ultimate punchy, cutting rhythm machine for country stars of the late 1930s, the J-200 (originally, and again today, called the SJ-200) offered the maximum volume and clarity available from an acoustic guitar in its day, while also stepping out in the bold, flashy looks that really helped a performer stand out on stage. Both its look and sound translated perfectly to rock and roll, and Elvis embraced his own Gibson J-200 with a passion that The King rarely, if ever, displayed for a musical instrument.

You can see — and hear — Elvis’s blonde J-200 in the movies Jailhouse Rock, King Creole, and G.I. Blues, as well on surviving concert footage from the period, where he puts it to good use cranking out the rhythm chops in his own inimitable and under-sung style. It’s interesting to consider, though, that this enormous star came to his instrument, very likely, out of his admiration for those who had played it before him, and who had already established it as the pinnacle of its breed. The forefather of the J-200 hit the scene in 1937 when “Singing Cowboy” Ray Whitley ordered a 17”-wide flat-top from Gibson with a unique, rounded profile and deluxe cosmetic appointments. The original one-off was labeled “L-5 Special” for the similarity of its neck and body proportions to those of Gibson’s L-5 archtop, and other early examples of the design were made on a custom-order-only basis. C&W crooners Gene Autrey, Tex Ritter, Roy Rogers and Ray “Crash” Corrigan commissioned their own customized versions of the instrument (some historians believe Corrigan’s to in fact be the first SJ-200 built). The guitar appeared in the Gibson catalog a year later as the Super Jumbo, and was soon known simply as the SJ-200.

Aside from being the grandest looking flat-top on the planet in its day, the SJ-200 had the goods to get these stars heard, too. The prewar model had a solid spruce top and solid rosewood back and sides for a full, rich voice that could really fill a room, partnered with a maple neck and 25 1/2” scale length. After the war, however, the SJ-200 (soon shortened for a time to J-200) returned in 1947 with back and sides of solid maple, and this is the most famous incarnation of the model, accurately represented in the SJ-200 TV made today by Gibson’s acoustic craftsmen in Bozeman, MT. A crucial ingredient of many large-bodied archtops, maple helps to add brightness and definition to a guitar that already produces plenty of warmth from the sheer breadth of its dimensions. (At least one maple-bodied SJ-200 is documented as having been custom-ordered prior to WWII, as is a custom-ordered rosewood-bodied J-200 in the 1950s).

Elvis came into his own J-200 just as he was approaching the early peak of his career, and Presley lead-guitarist Scotty Moore’s memories of those days provide some interesting insight into how his employer acquired the instrument. As Moore tells it, Elvis was given a 1956 J-200 in October of ’56 (actually a J-200N, the “N” denoting the natural finish on this model) thanks to Moore’s own endorsement deal to play a Gibson Super 400CESN. Ever tight on the reins, however, Presley manager Tom “The Colonel” Parker wouldn’t let his star accept endorsements, so Elvis was invoiced for the guitar, and purportedly paid in full (further fascinating details of the story of this guitar and others are available in Scotty Moore’s own words at www.scottymoore.com).

Elvis’s Gibson J-200 quickly became his favorite instrument, and he sought protection for it a year later in the form of a custom-made tooled-leather cover, which the guitar is frequently seen wearing in live concert photos and film footage. Originally a stock-factory model, the guitar received the custom appointments that it was later known for after being sent out for restoration upon Elvis’s return from Army service in 1960. In addition to getting it back into playing condition, the famous “ELVIS PRESLEY” inlay was added to the fingerboard, and the original pickguard was swapped out for a pointy, black custom affair, first prominently seen in the movie Wild in the Country. This is the guitar Elvis again turned to for his live performance comeback of 1969-’71, a period that is well documented in photos and on film—a great proportion of which beautifully shows off his modified 1956 J-200. The guitar is not on display with other Elvis Presley memorabilia at the artist’s Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tenn.

Source Article: http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/legendary-guitar-elvis-417/

Gospel group's roots trace back to 1934

LedgerEnquirer.Com
by Allison Kenney
Saturday April !8, 2009

For nearly 50 years, Ron Blackwood of the Blackwood Quartet has been mesmerizing audiences with the harmonies of “He Teaches Me,” “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” and other gospel favorites. He knew Elvis Presley, he’s performed with big names and notyet-big names and he likes to relax by watching Bill O’Reilly.

The oldest child of the late R.W. Blackwood Sr., one of the founders of the Blackwood Brothers, Ron Blackwood says he’s having as much fun in his career as ever.

“I’m telling you, I’m as excited and thrilled as I was when I was 20 years old,” Blackwood said in a phone interview this week from east Tennessee, where he lives with his wife and family.

Blackwood and his quartet will perform a free concert at 6 p.m. Sunday at First Baptist Church. The quartet’s “Super Tour” is keeping a full schedule, performing after Columbus in Kentucky, Indiana and Alabama.

Ron Blackwood’s musical roots began in 1934 in Mississippi. His father R.W. began singing baritone with the group as a 13-year-old. The Blackwood Brothers were Doyle, James and Roy Blackwood. Vardaman Ray and Gene Cartledge rounded out the group, which would evolve into a famous singing family. The quartet moved to Memphis in 1950. Four years later, the Blackwood Brothers lineup of Bill Shaw, James Blackwood, R.W. Blackwood, Bill Lyles, with Jackie Marshall on piano, won a national talent competition.

But tragedy struck just 16 days after the award. Ron’s father died in a plane crash in Clanton, Ala., along with Lyles and a friend who wasn’t in the quartet. Ron had a difficult time for many years following. He was 13 at the time of the crash.

“I hated the world,” he said. “I hated God. Daddy was my hero. I had all that anger. I was unruly,” he said.

Soon after, Ron said, he turned back to God. And turned to another gospel great in his family’s circle, J.D. Sumner.

“He took my daddy’s place when he died. I was an idiot back then. J.D. said to me, ‘I love you no matter what you do; I’m here for you.’ It was a turning point. Time has really helped.”

Sumner took over Lyles’ bass part in the quartet, and R.W. Sr.’s brother Cecil did the baritone part. In the following years, Sumner and James Blackwood became the first to customize a bus for group travel and are the also founders of the National Quartet Convention. Sumner, as well, contributed to the Blackwood Brothers as a songwriter.

Elvis Presley was inspired by the group’s bus. Upon seeing it, he went out and had one made for him. A replica of the early Blackwood bus can be seen at the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

Ron Blackwood remembers Elvis with affection. While recognizing the late singer’s problems with prescription drugs, he counted him among his friends.

“One time he looked at me and he said, ‘I’d give anything to sing with the Blackwood Brothers.’ Sometime later we were in Vegas and I saw him and said, ‘Elvis, if you sang with the Blackwood Brothers, no one would know who you are.’

“Elvis was a good man.”

Award winners

The Blackwood Brothers teamed up with the Statesmen in the 1960s to form a record label called Skylite. In 1969, they collected nearly 200,000 signatures on a “God And Country” petition in retaliation to the outlawing of prayer in school. They would go on to win Grammy awards (eight), as recently as 1982. They earned another nomination in 2004. James Blackwood won the male vocalist of the year seven times from the Gospel Music Association. (James died in 2002.) The quartet has 27 Dove Awards to its name.

Last summer, Ron and R.W. Jr. were named “Living Legends” by the Music City Gospel Showcase.

Ron Blackwood said he’s frequently asked if his old-style gospel sound, and that of his family, is on the way out — due in part to the rise in recent decades of contemporary Christian music.

“Churches have gone to praise and worship but the pendulum has swung so far. I’m thinking (worship music) is coming back more to a balance,” he said. “I have a saying: ‘No one likes (gospel) but the people.’ ”

Ron Blackwood said he kicks back in a couple of ways: by reading the Bible and by watching Bill O’Reilly.

“I like what he says.” Another hobby is work. He’s been a manager for the late Billy Walker, Hank Williams Jr., and the Stamps Quartet. On Tuesday, he and his group will appear on a national TV concert with Barbara Mandrell, who is being honored in Nashville. They just found out Monday.

In addition to Ron Blackwood, other members of the Blackwood family also use the family banner musically. James Blackwood also had a group late in his life, called the James Blackwood Quartet. Other descendents of the original group also have groups including R. W. Jr., who has the Blackwood Brothers Quartet.

About a year ago, Ron and R.W. Jr., split off into their separate groups but still sing regularly for family specials in the Smoky Mountains.

Terry Blackwood does solo engagements and dates with The Imperials. Mark Blackwood leads the Blackwood Gospel Quartet.

The Blackwood Brothers Quartet can be heard singing on the radio in the beginning of the movie “Walk The Line” about Johnny Cash when Johnny (actor Joaquin Phoenix) was in Memphis. The Blackwood family, Johnny Cash and the Cash family established a friendship that led to appearing together through the years on both recordings and live performances.

Ron Blackwood and his wife, Shelley, have eight children and seven grandchildren between them. Yet the musical genres sometimes compete, even in his own family.

“I just took two of them (ages 15 and 16) to see a Christian rock band,” he said.

Article Source: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/faith/story/690089.html