MAIL
February 1996
Just a note to say thanks for the well-done profile of the much-missed Joe Pass [Solo, October 1995] and for the transcription. Two quibbles. The author says Songs for Ellen is the only acoustic album Pass did. If memory serves, Virtuoso 2 was acoustic (an unplugged archtop). And it would be great to see a transcription of a Pass version of a standard. There are plenty of his blues treatments in print (a whole Mel Bay series), but trying to find transcriptions of any of his solo standards has proved difficult. Second, the list of his guitars was clearly incomplete. See, for instance, the picture on the transcription book for Virtuoso 3 (Mel Bay); It's a two-pickup Gibson ES-175. As I said, quibbles. Getting your mag is the high point of my mail each month.
Paul Hintz
St. Paul, Minnesota
I'm glad to see that going monthly hasn't damaged the quality of Acoustic Guitar. I especially enjoyed the November 1995 issue. Jack Elliott was a hero of my misspent youth, and it was good to read of his more recent activities. There was, however, one small error of fact. In the introduction to "Pastures of Plenty," it was implied that Woody Guthrie wrote "Pretty Polly." Not true. "Pretty Polly" dates back to an English broadside ballad first published in 1750. Guthrie often used preexisting tunes for his songs. The brilliant "Tom Joad," also mentioned in the introduction, was set to "John Hardy," a great old "badman" song.
John Gribble
Tokyo, Japan
I am currently researching a book on California classical and flamenco luthiers and invite readers of Acoustic Guitar to write me should they have an instrument made in California. The art of guitar building nears a golden era once again, but there were makers working as early as the 1920s of which little is known. It is my hope to place in focus the innovations and importance of makers working n California. Please send all correspondence to John Grimes, 231 Morro Bay Blvd., Morro Bay, CA 93442.
John Grimes
Morro Bay, California
Thanks for a great magazine. We Europeans produce some nice instruments too. I've lost my heart to the great English acoustics from Sobel and Fylde. These guitars can be heard played by the Norwegian singer-songwriter Jonas Fjeld on the album Danko, Fjeld, Andersen.
Astor Andersen
Sandefjord, Norway
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