Bert Weedon is one celebrity with a Coventry connection who seems to be little mentioned in Coventry related sites or
books.
I seem to recall my father, who was a Hoover Representative, telling us, in the mid sixites that he'd been to fix Bert Weedon's Vacuum cleaner at his home Allesley Village, Coventry. Although Bert was born in London, I think he was resident in Coventry in the 60's at some stage. However I've found no mention of this anywhere and so I googled it and the only thing I found was a You Tube of Bert and on the comments I found this -
"Don't blame me but I used to cut his hair when he lived in the Allesley village area of Coventry area, I always found him very friendly, good luck Burt where ever you are.. "
You Tube
You can watch the You Tube here but to see the comment, you'll have to click through to You Tube itself.
CAN ANYBODY THROW ANY LIGHT ON THIS?
Bio (excert from the Independent)
Back in 1957, Bert Weedon was Britain's first rock guitar hero who turned into a cult figure virtually overnight by writing a book that would enable would-be rock kings to learn his strumming technique. The aim of the book, Play in a Day, was set out in its title; someone picking up the guitar for the first time would be able to play something recognisable within a few hours. The book became hugely successful, selling millions of copies worldwide, and helped to produce new generations of rock guitar idols.
When the 12-year-old from London's East End bought a battered guitar from a market stall on Petticoat Lane, he had no idea how big a part the instrument would play in his life. he found an elderly music teacher who showed him how to play some beautiful classical pieces. Weedon, the son of a London Tube driver, had suddenly stumbled on his vocation. He became adept at playing classical, dance, jazz and flamenco - a talent that took him into the leading bands and orchestras of the time. His growing reputation in the Fifties paved the way for him to work with legends such as Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby and Judy Garland. With the arrival of rock 'n' roll, record producers turned to Weedon when they wanted a guitarist to back Britain's new stars - he can be heard playing on classic hits by the likes of Billy Fury, Cliff Richard, Marty Wilde, Tommy Steele, Johnny Kidd and Adam Faith. And when Weedon wasn't in the recording studio working with young rock idols - some of them nearly 20 years younger than himself - he was releasing his own records. Countless teenagers, with dreams of becoming pop stars, tentatively fingered their first guitar strings with Weedon's book, Play in a Day, open in front of them. Some, such as Eric Clapton, Brian May, Pete Townshend, Mike Oldfield and Sting, went on to achieve stardom. Hank Marvin: "In the Sixties, Bruce (Welch, Shadows colleague) and I wrote `Mr Guitar' about Bert Weedon.
Read the full Independant Bio HERE
He occasionally helped out local teachers. I think on the LEA scheme for peripatetic teachers that was one of the flagships of Socialist Coventry. I dont think he actually taught classes, rather was involved with the qualification side. It may even have been completely unofficial. After one visit to Woodlands , there was suddenly another 10 bands on the estate.
Living In Coventry in those days made sense for travelling to shows all over the country.
Posted by: BroadgateGnome | 07/02/2008 at 10:14 AM
Thanks for that BG - interesting. Pete Chambers also mentioned that he and Bob Brolly interviewed Bert Weedon for BBC Radio Coventry programme 'Pop into the Past' and on page 35 of Pete's book Godiva Rocked to a Backbeat Pete writes -
"Bert Weedon was Briatain's guitar pioneer and his 'Play in a Day' tutorial has inspired millions of budding musicians to pick up the guitar. I contacted him about living in Coventry and he replied, "Yes we did have a second home in Allesley, Nr Coventry for some years"
Posted by: HOBO - Coventry Music Magazine | 07/02/2008 at 11:11 AM
In fact on the same page of Pete's book I've just noticed a comment by Roy Harrity of the Vendour Twins in 1962 that reflects the BG comment -
Roy says "One night we were at the Bamber Club on Foleshill Rd, guitar legend Bert Weedon was there setting up and he heard us warming up. He must have liked what he heard because he asked us to back him. He lived in Coventry at the time, Allesley way I believe so it was easy for him to go to gigs all around the country. So he told us what he wanted to play and gave us our cues and off we we went. He was good enough to sing a picture of himself."
Posted by: HOBO - Coventry Music Magazine | 07/02/2008 at 11:17 AM
I wonder where he was calling his " first" home, Ealing or Florida?
Just browsing through some mags from those times. A lot of his work seemed to be in the North west clubs or the South coast. Theres a smattering of Brum gigs but very little in London.
One of the old Cov bikers used to tell a story about a bunch of them giving Bert a cavalcade escort back from Watford gap one night. I think it had become a bit elaboarted i the telling over the years.
It easy to forget just how important a change the M1 was to the music scene especially in Cov. And dont just mean looning about at the Blue Boar all through the night. The Matrix was really in a vey good position for cashing in on it.
P
Posted by: BroadgateGnome | 07/02/2008 at 12:34 PM
Yes the M45 from Cov and the M1 were opened in November 1959 - good point about this important change - it is easy to forget the developing infrastructure that facilitated the cultural developments.
Posted by: HOBO - Coventry Music Magazine | 07/02/2008 at 01:25 PM