Gibson ES-175 sighted in '70s rock - Drift Away

[jazzkritter]

Saw this video on Quora, Dobie Grey doing his (1?) hit Drift Away. And in the band is afinger picking sunburst ES-175...cool!

[pingu]

Beautiful song , great rendition

That Geetar player ..... he's GREAT
and the part is wonderfull


Who is that geetar player ?

[Rob MacKillop]

Reggie Young was in his studio band, and played on the original single, but he doesn't look like the guy in the video Reggie Young - Wikipedia

[TOMMO]

And in the band is afinger picking sunburst ES-175...cool!

He's hybrid picking there actually (not that I want to be picky here....;-) )

[jazzkritter]

tommo for a classical player I’m not real picky, only on my nickel flats)

Rob no there’s no pix I could find of Reggie that looked anything like that player, so yea, doubt it’s he. This is a great research test!

So I dug through the IMDb, tv.com, and a couple of rock history sites trying to find mention of a house band for Midnight Special but none are listed that I could find. They prided themselves as a no- lip syncing zone (pretty rare in ‘73).
My guess is since it was an LA show and LA was then the capital of on call studio musicians (Wrecking Crew type players) that band may have been a pickup?

A clue on Wikipedia is that DG worked with the studio set (one of his first recordings was with Carol Kaye) so since he was familiar with them.. maybe? “ "See You at the Go-Go", recorded with such top session musicians as Kaye, Hal Blaine, and Larry Knechtel,”

BTW The guy doing the intros was Wolfman Jack a famous (and seminal) late night radio DJ in LA. He paved the way for DJs to get pretty crazy. (“Are your peaches fuzzy baaabee?”)

[neatomic]

these guys liked the tune too

drift away- the rolling stones

cheers

[Gitfiddler]

Wow, I never would have thought that sound was from an ES-175. I used to play that song a lot back in the day, and always liked the guitar parts.

[BickertRules]

Nice warm fat tone.

[neatomic]

ps- someone in youtube comments says the guitarist is ben bonay...not much on him via google..but he was a guitarist of that era


the dobie gray original had reggie young on les paul and troy seals on tele

cheers

[pingu]

great , thanks guys

thank i have a go at it tonight

[Doctor Jeff]

ps- someone in youtube comments says the guitarist is ben bonay...not much on him via google..but he was a guitarist of that era


the dobie gray original had reggie young on les paul and troy seals on tele

cheers

Ben Benay. He played on a lot of albums of the time, including Countdown to Ecstasy--acoustic guitar. BAcked Ted Neeley on his albums. Interesting.

[jazzkritter]

Apparently did studio work, along with doing..... sad...

It’s only when my co-writer of “NEVER SAY I LOVE YOU ON A LUDE”, studio guitarist Ben Benay, dies of a drug overdose, do I re-examine the direction my own life is taking.”
Artie Wayne.

[icr]

Eric Gale of the 1970s band Stuff. Probably more R&B than Rock, but he did play with a heavy gain, sometimes overdriven sound using a L5 and 400. Also took the pickup covers off at one time.

Eric Gale is a huge influence for myself. I'm not really a Jazz player but I love archtops. Personally I thnk what Gale is doing here is the natural progression of the original Charlie Christian sound.
I like this sound and I have moved away from a CC pickup to humbuckers.

[citizenk74]

Wow, I never would have thought that sound was from an ES-175. I used to play that song a lot back in the day, and always liked the guitar parts.

In my experience the ES-175 is a remarkably versatile tone machine. Good enough for Jimmy Nolen, Joe Pass, and Steve Howe; good enough for me.

[neatomic]

^ and don't forget this guy...jim hall...his recording & gigging guitar for near 20 years!




cheers

[TOMMO]

...and this guy (sorry, couldn't find a larger and better pic):



That's John Fogerty. He mentioned in his autobiography that he used an ES 175 a lot on the first few CCR albums until it got stolen and he bought his black Les Paul Custom.

[Brumleyprunk]

It is the late great Ben Benay. I wrote with Ben when he was recovering from Heroin addiction back in the 80s while living in Nashville.

[Cunamara]

Wow, I never would have thought that sound was from an ES-175.

Yup. Classic middle position ES-175 sound. Mine sounds pretty much just like that.

[Jimmy Mack]

I hear a 175 in some of the CCR recordings. "Bad Moon Rising", "Down on the Corner".

Reggie Young has said that he used an LP Deluxe IN THE STUDIO session for "Drift Away", with some kind of chorusing going on? I also hear a Tele (separate parts).

Not to be confusing with the video above.

[DawgBone]

Eric Gale of the 1970s band Stuff. Probably more R&B than Rock, but he did play with a heavy gain, sometimes overdriven sound using a L5 and 400. Also took the pickup covers off at one time.

Eric Gale is a huge influence for myself. I'm not really a Jazz player but I love archtops. Personally I thnk what Gale is doing here is the natural progression of the original Charlie Christian sound.
I like this sound and I have moved away from a CC pickup to humbuckers.

Eric Gale and Cornell Dupree played on more records than I can count. The way they built interlocking rhythm guitar parts together was seamless, and beautiful.