On the 100th anniversary of the birth of Herb Ellis...

[ThatRhythmMan]

Here are some pics taken today of the 1953 Gibson ES-175 which was the guitar of choice of the great Herb Ellis for most of 57 years on the 100th anniversary of his birth. This is the very guitar used on most of the great recordings, and used during his time in the Oscar Peterson Trio, as well as used to back the great vocalists of the era, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and at least once, Nat King Cole. Surely this is one of the most recorded guitars in history. The pickup was changed from the original P90 to a patent number Gibson sometime in the 1960s, but I haven’t determined the exact year. A lot of other repair and restoration jobs were done over the years. Here it is as it is.

[ThatRhythmMan]

[ThatRhythmMan]

[ThatRhythmMan]

[MarkRhodes]

Another singer Herb accompanied....

[MarkRhodes]

One of my favorite recordings of Herb. (Roy Eldridge and Stan Getz on the horns.)

[ThatRhythmMan]

Another singer Herb accompanied....

That’s one of my favorite videos of Herb. I have a whole playlist on YouTube of him playing the guitar.

[MarkRhodes]

"Swingin' On A Star" with Ray Brown and Oscar Peterson.

[wintermoon]

I was fortunate to catch the Great Guitars a few times, including once just Barney and Herb in a small club as a duo w no rhythm section which was phenomenal. The one moment that really sticks out of that night was when Barney quoted Eleanor Rigby in one of his solos and my friend and I looked at each other and laughed.
We were so close to the stage my friend stood up after an encode and slapped Herb on the back so hard he almost knocked him down.

Herb and Barney live, w Barney's dry humor thrown in.

[D'Aquisto Fan]

So fabulous Herb's guitar is in a loving, appreciative home! Thanks for sharing more pictures! Happy birthday, Herb!!

[Stringswinger]

I knew Herb Ellis. The day his wife called me to tell me that he passed was a sad one for me. But I did get to see him many times playing that iconic 175.

He was a legend of the jazz guitar. Oh yeah, his favorite guitarist? Joe Pass (Charlie Christian was a close second).

[mickmac]

About 1980/ I spent a couple hours talking to Herb. At that time he told me that the show he did with Red Foxx was the highest paying job of his career. LOL Mickmac

[MarkRhodes]

[QUOTE=Stringswinger;1138656 He was a legend of the jazz guitar. Oh yeah, his favorite guitarist? Joe Pass (Charlie Christian was a close second).[/QUOTE]

Herb and Joe played together brilliantly.

[MarkRhodes]

Herb recorded "Gravy Waltz" at least three times. This is my favorite version.

[vinnyv1k]

TRM…..thanks for sharing ! Herb is one of my biggest heroes.