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Obituaries
Bert Weedon 1920-2012
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 23 April 2012
Guitarist Bert Weedon died at his home in Beaconsfield last Friday (20 Apr), aged 91. He had been ill for some time.
Born in East London in 1920, Weedon began playing classical guitar aged twelve and formed his first band, Butch Townsend And The Cold Shoulders, two years later. His big break came when he was chosen to replace Django Reinhardt in Stephane Grapelli’s band, which led on to further work with many big bands and orchestras, including the BBC Show Band, with whom he performed on over 5000 radio broadcasts.
He also worked prolifically as a session musician both on recordings and for live performances, meaning he appeared on many early British rock n roll records and performed with many touring American artists. Not only that, but he also released many solo singles in the late 50s and early 60s, as well as several albums in later years.
This prolific performance work means that many, if not most, people will have at some point heard Weedon playing, perhaps without realising it. Yet it is not as a performer that he is best remembered.
In 1957, Weedon published he first guitar tutorial book, ‘Play In A Day’. Offering a simple way to get to grips with guitar, it quickly sold over a million copies to teenagers keen to learn to play rock n roll. Amongst the musicians who first learned to play with the book were Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Brian May, Mark Knopfler, Mike Oldfield, Sting, Robert Smith and David Arnold.
Amongst the many artists paying tribute to Weedon last week, Brian May told the BBC: “He will be so sadly missed by all his friends because he is one of the most generous and giving people I have ever met in my life. He was always teaching people, privately and publicly. You know, he didn’t have any secrets from anyone and he was so supportive to us all. There’s not a guitarist in Britain from my generation who doesn’t owe him a great debt of gratitude”.
Weedon is survived by two sons from his first marriage and his second wife, Maggie.
