GARAGE ROCK

Left to right: Gibson CEO,

Cesar Guiekian, Jimmy Page,
Brian May, Tony Iommi

Gibson Guitars opens new Garage superstore/venue in London

R
C attended the launch of the Gibson Garage London outlet at
Eastcastle Street, on 22 February. Gibson’s first flagship store
outside the US marks the brand’s 130th anniversary, with an
“Prototype guitars from Nashville
offering of 300-plus guitars suspended in wall- and ceiling-
mounted, rotating conveyor-belt displays. The ultra-plush will appear on a regular basis”
emporium was opened by Jimmy Page, who unveiled his own
signature double-beck 12/six-string guitar, out in March, and revealed that his stairs leading to the venue house a gallery for exhibitions, the first of which
trusted 70s model has been reproduced perfectly, down to its road-inflicted is a selection of Gered Mankowitz prints on sale at £2,200-£3,000 each,
dings and distressing. It took 18 months for the axe to come to fruition, after including The Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithfull, PP Arnold, Jeff
Gibson technicians visited his home to make a 3D-printed copy of it. While Beck, Joan Jett, Paul McCartney, Gary Moore, The Jam, Kate Bush,
Jimmy and Gibson’s CEO, Cesar Gueikian, were coy about planned future Cat Stevens, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Suzi Quatro, Cream and
Photos: (Gibdon launch) Dave Hogan

signature instruments, it’s unlikely to be their only collaboration this year.
The Garage features the Gibson Custom Shop Murphy Lab, which makes
one-off guitars, and framed prototypes in wall-mounted cases from BB King,
Johnny Winter, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, and Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi,
who was in attendance, alongside Queen’s Brian May. James Bay performed
in the newly-revamped basement venue in front of the trio, and RC was reliably
informed that more prototypes and vintage ephemera from the Nashville
Gibson Garage are set to appear in London on a regular, rotating basis. The
Noel Gallagher. His 20-copy signed Gibson ’78 Les Paul Custom guitar
was available exclusively at the Garage’s public opening on 24 February.
Mankowitz’s display is at the Garage for three months, before moving
to Redhouse Originals Gallery, Cheltenham Mount, Harrogate, while his
photobook on the Stones is out in March.
See Gibson.com, redhouseoriginals.com. Gered Mankowitz The Rolling
Stones Rare & Unseen book is on Hachette, 28 March.

12 Record Collector

Brian May plays his special red thing at the Gibson Garage, a couple of days before the premises went public
Left: May talks about joining the Gibson family
Left: prototype guitars in wall frames Right: Page applauds the boss for his new signature double-neck
Left: Noel Gallagher signs his custom axe for charity
Right: James Bay with Messrs Iommi, Page and May
Right: hitting the high notes in guitar heaven
NEWS
Indie Cont’d
notebook, Universal, 10 May.
■ Flowered Up A Life With Brian
12-track 2LP, orange, purple 2LP,
24-track 2CD with unissued, London,
19 April. ■ Ex-Belle & Sebastian’s
Isobel Campbell Bow To Love blue,
yellow LPs; 2CD with 13 bonuses,
Cooking Vinyl, 17 May. ■ The London
Tide show at London’s National Theatre,
10 April-22 June, includes new songs by
PJ Harvey. ■ EELS EELS TIME! CD,
purple, pink 180g LPs; box with CD,
purple 180g LP, T-shirt, poster, print,
hat, PIAS, 7 June. ■ William Reid/Jim
Reid Never Understood: The Story Of
The Jesus & Mary Chain book, White
Rabbit, 5 September. Due: May (31)
Bat For Lashes The Dream Of Delphi,
Mercury KX.
Jazz
Josh Johnson (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Unusual Objects, Northern Spy, 5 April.
Due: April (5) The Keith Tippett Group
Dedicated To You, But You Weren’t
Listening, Cherry Red (12) Kenny Garett
Who Killed AI?, Mack Avenue.
Metal
You Me At Six announced in February
that they’re to split up in 2025.
■ Withering Scorn’s latest, with Shawn
Drover, Glen Drover (ex-Megadeth),
Joe DiBiase (Fates Warning), Henning
Basse (Firewind), Frontiers, in July.
■ Freedom Call Silver Romance CD,
clear 2LP; box with 2CD, including 25
Years Of Metal, calendar, poster, sticker,
necklace, photocard, SPV, 10 May. ■
Tarja What Lies Beneath 180g 2LP; 2CD
with 15 bonuses, earMUSIC, 7 June.
■ Saltpig, with Fabio Alessandrini
(ex-Annihilator), Heavy Psych Sounds,
31 May. Due: April (12) Bloodbound
The Tales Of Nosferatu: Two Decades
Of Blood (2004-24) BD, CD, AFM (26)
ACCEPT Humanoid, Napalm June The
Eternal Skinwalker TBC Orden Ogan
The Order Of Fear, Reigning Phoenix.
Prog/Avant
Renaissance Tuscany Expanded 3CD,
with In The Land Of The Rising Sun –
Live In Japan, Stackridge The Forbidden
City – Live 2CD/DVD, Bath Rondo
Theatre, April 2007, Esoteric, 26 April.
■ Glad A New Tomorrow, with Feelin’
Glad, The Mono Singles, The New Breed
The Mono Singles, Cherry Red, 12 April.
■ Reimagining The Court Of The Crimson
King CD, LP, with King Crimson’s Jakko
Jakszyk, ex-King Crimson’s Mel Collins,
ex-Megadeth’s Chris Poland, Marty
Friedman, Deep Purple’s Ian Paice,
ex-Hawkwind’s Alan Davey, Nik Turner,
Paul Rudolph, Steve Hillage, LA Guns’
Adam Hamilton, ex-Rainbow’s Joe Lynn
Turner, ex-PiL’s Jah Wobble, ex-Weather
Report’s Chester Thompson, Dream
Theater’s James LaBrie, Vanilla Fudge’s
Carmine Appice, Jürgen Engler (Die
Krupps), Todd Rundgren, Arthur Brown,
Cleopatra, 19 April. ■ ELP’s Carl Palmer
Fanfare For The Common Man 3CD/BD/
book, with 36-track 3CD, BD with The
Rhythm Of Life documentary, live/behind-
the-scenes footage, BMG, 5 April. ■
Gentle Giant The Missing Piece Steven ➤
Record Collector 13