Born on this day Mr.Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Noted in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups as well as a first call guitarist for studio, film, and television recording sessions. Kessel was a member of the group of session musicians informally known as The Wrecking Crew.Barney 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 playing a jazz guitarist named Barney in one episode of the Perry Mason TV show. In 1961 The Gibson Guitar Corporation introduced The Barney Kessel model guitar onto the market and continued to make them until 1973. One custom instrument Kessel played was essentially a 12-string guitar neck attached to a mandolin body that he played on the intro to The Beach Boys Wouldnt It Be Nice. Unfortunately we lost Barney in 2004.Kessel died of a brain tumor in San Diego. He had been in poor health after suffering a stroke in 1992. A true guitar hero R.I.P. the great Barney Kessel !
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 16:33:11 +0000
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