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Hello,
I have been reading this forum and decided to join just to share a great story about Howard Roberts and my father, Neil LeVang. My dad told me that in the mid-seventies, he was sitting next to Howard on a television recording session in Hollywood. My dad took an immediate liking to the guitar Howard was playing. At the conclusion of the recording session, Howard gave my father the guitar and said, "Here Neil, I have dozens of these!" I shot some pictures over to Mitch Holder for his expert opinion and to identify this guitar.
There are no serial numbers, no logo on the head stock or inside the guitar. However, after reviewing pictures and hearing of firsthand conversations between Mitch, my father and Howard, this is truly an Aria 2352 "Lawsuit" guitar that was a prototype sent to Howard for his endorsement. Probably built in the mid-seventies for Howard's private use! I'm blessed to be a steward to this fine guitar and its provenance!
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02-02-2022 04:44 PM
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I'm drooling! What a cool guitar, with an un-beatable provenance! 
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Welcome to the Forum Mark! I am a big fan of your dad. Yes, I really do still watch the Lawrence Welk Show in syndication and on YouTube. It was a weekly ritual when I was young and would keep my grandmother company. When visiting on a Saturday, I knew it would be either the Welk show or a Red Sox game. Truth be told, I always hope that the Sox were playing. But I became a fan of the Welk orchestra. I remember some great duets with your dad and the other guitarist, Buddy Merrill. I noticed that your dad often played an Epiphone and from what I can tell his amp of choice was a MusicMan. But that is only through random observation. In any event, nice to meet you virtually! Welcome!
Originally Posted by [email protected]
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I don't think there was a stringed instrument Neil couldn't play, what a talent.
Sometimes Welk could get corny but Neil never was, probably the biggest reason to watch for me.
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Welk's show was a Saturday evening feature in my youth. Great stuff!
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Great story, wonderful guitar! Thanks for posting, Mark, and welcome to the forum!
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I care for my 87 year old Mom, and she watches the show every Sat/Sun at 6pm on the local PBS station. She's always ticked off because they tend to replay the previous weeks show all the time. So over a month they might only show 2 new episodes. But like you, we have a fallback plan, ie. Bruins, Red Sox, Pat's, etc. Originally Posted by losaltosjoe
I can't get over the clothes that they wear. Even shows from the 80's can be out their style wise
P.S.
Welcome Mark,
That's a wonderful story and a beautiful guitar you have. Sherish the memories.
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I always tune into Lawrence Welk on Sunday to see if Barney Kessel is playing guitar in the band.
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I'm Huge fan of your father and I'm so glad you posted here.
Welcome and please stick around!
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For me, this may be the most life affirming thread in history! As a kid, I watched Lawrence Welk to enjoy and learn from Neil LeVang and Buddy Merrill. I watched the Perry Como Show to enjoy and learn from glimpses of Tony Mottola. I watched Ozzie and Harriet for James Burton. I listened to (on radio) and watched (when it was on TV for a few years) Don McNeill's Breakfast Club, "brought to you from the rooftop lounge of the Allerton Hotel" whenever I was home in the morning - he had a fabulous band. I can't remember who the guitarist was, but for some reason I think it was a woman. And I found some of the great guitarists of the 1950s and '60s in house bands on variety and general entertainment shows that none of my friends watched on TV or listened to on radio. Because I played the guitar pretty well for a kid and my band played many local dances and parties, I was never considered a geek. But even so, there was no shortage of ribbing about watching Lawrence Welk and Perry Como!
It took until now to discover that there are more out there like me - thank you, thank you, thank you all! And it's wonderful to "meet" Neil LeVang's son and know more about one of my earliest guitar idols. It's barely noon and my day is complete already!!Last edited by nevershouldhavesoldit; 02-03-2022 at 04:53 PM.
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How cool is this!?
What a neat guitar. Neil always sounded so good, whatever guitar he was playing. The Welk show might have been as square as it got, but not for those few minutes during a Neil LeVang feature!
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What’s square about this?
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Hey Jeff, Don't sleep on these guys Russ Klein (sax); Bob Havens (trombone); Johnny Zell (trumpet); Henry Cuesta (clarinet); Paul Humphrey (drums). I loved when Lawrence let the players step out a bit. Of course, I would never admit any of this to my grandmother! Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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Oh, I agree, the band was always top notch, at every instrument. Originally Posted by losaltosjoe
Hey Jeff, Don't sleep on these guys Russ Klein (sax); Bob Havens (trombone); Johnny Zell (trumpet); Henry Cuesta (clarinet); Paul Humphrey (drums). I loved when Lawrence let the players step out a bit. Of course, I would never admit any of this to my grandmother!
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I still remember Welk saying "and-a now we are going to play the Duke Ellington classic, Take A Train"
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Al Hirt was with LW for a few years, along with Pete Fountain. Legend has it that Fountain quit because Welk wouldn't let him play a jazz tune in a Christmas show. Originally Posted by losaltosjoe
Hey Jeff, Don't sleep on these guys Russ Klein (sax); Bob Havens (trombone); Johnny Zell (trumpet); Henry Cuesta (clarinet); Paul Humphrey (drums). I loved when Lawrence let the players step out a bit. Of course, I would never admit any of this to my grandmother!
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I am also a big fan of your dad. I got in a bar fight once over who was better, Buddy Merrill or your dad. No contest.
Great story about that guitar. I don't remember seeing that guitar on the LW show. Did he play it much?
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Mark
Thanks for posting this. I have a similar japanese-made Howard Roberts guitar, but not with the incredible history that yours does.
I have always associated your dad with Lawrence Welk. But after reading this article Neil LeVang | Vintage Guitar(R) magazine I now realize Welk was only a small part of what he did.
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Originally Posted by WilliamScott
Here's a video of dad playing the guitar!
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So nice to meet you as well! When I was growing up, I always wanted to play guitar but dad steered me towards the keyboard department. He later said that the reason he didn't want me playing guitar is that he didn't want the competition! That worked out pretty good for us but now that I have some extra time, I really want to dive into the jazz guitar. Where should I start? Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
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Originally Posted by [email protected]
I'm absolutely the wrong person to ask! My wife says that I complicate things that are simple, but some things are more complex than they appear. It depends on many things, starting with how far you got on your keyboard odyssey, how good your ear is, how much basic musical knowledge you have (e.g. scales, harmony, and theory beyond them), how you learn best, etc. A skilled teacher attuned to your particular skill set, personality, and "learning ethic" is the best guide. Sadly, many of the teachers I've met and observed take a Procrustean approach, which turns off many students and frustrates a lot of those who persist. I'm not a good music teacher because I don't know how to transfer some kinds of knowledge and skill from my brain to someone else's.
If you're aleady decent on keys, diligent about practicing, and possessed of a good ear, you may do well to follow the path I and many others here have taken - learning scales on the fretboard while copying the recorded lines and chords of the greats. I was lucky enough to be born with a little talent for music. I was able to play by ear when I was 4 or 5, at which time my father gave up his piano lessons in frustration and his teacher took me on instead. So by the time I got my hands on a guitar at 9, I could read music, had learned a fair amount of theory, and was able to teach myself the guitar by learning scales on the fretboard and playing what I heard. I got The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery when it came out in late 1960 or early 1961 and spent at least an hour a day for the first year I had it memorizing lick after lick as well as a 14 year old could play them. And I'm still at it, both learning a new tweak every time I listen to someone else and trying hard to apply that fund of knowledge to shape my own style.
Finding a good teacher who's on your emotional and musical wavelength is almost certainly the best way for most people to do it. I hated my piano teacher - she was a rigid musical fundamentalist who tolerated no improvisation and (I suspect) had absolutely no funk or swing in her entire body. Frankly, I can't imagine how she had children. I quit when I was about 12 and rapidly became a better pianist and musician. I'm still no Wes, but I discovered long ago that the hunt is so much fun that I don't care if I ever catch the fox. May you find the same joy in your pursuit and your life!
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Hey, great thread and great stories! The article in Vintage Guitar really helped tell the story as well.
Can you tell us anything about your dad's Gianninni Craviola? I haven't seen one of those before!
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Yes, he had two of them that he purchased in the mid-1970s. One had the "moustache" bridge, the other had a straight bar bridge. The one with the moustache bridge was stolen from the Lawrence Welk touring truck along with his 1959 Strat, VEGAVOX banjo, D'Angelico and some accessories in the late seventies. I have the other here. It's a beautiful guitar and is perfect for Bossa Novas! Originally Posted by bluejaybill
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Yes, I've been playing professionally for 43 years. Most recently, played with Neil Diamond before his Parkinson's diagnosis and a good amount of motion picture, television and recording work. I'm well-versed musically, just hoped I could find a guitar method for training muscle memory and skipping the musical theory for advanced musicianship.
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From your experience and obvious talent / ability, I suspect you'd do well to start copping the lines of the greats. You'll be fluent enough within a few months or less to join the rest of us in being frustrated that we make haste very slowly now, despite intense desire and a lot of room for improvement Originally Posted by [email protected]
Others here may know of published methods for accelerating the pace of progress, but I'm sorry to say that I don't. The only book I ever bought was Mickey Baker's Jazz Guitar when I was about 12. I still have and enjoy it, and I recommend it highly as a reference. But you'll probably accomplish within weeks to months everything it took me a few years to do when I started.
Please continue to participate here and post clips as you progress. I'm sure you'll be making contributions to my further education soon enough!
David
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