Tag: guitar

A Bob Dylan guitar fetches $495,000 at auction

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A guitar that played a key role in Bob Dylan’s artistic evolution from folk music to rock fetched a half million at auction on Saturday. The guitar, a 1965 Fender Telecaster that belonged to Robbie Robertson, Dylan’s guitarist, was used by Dylan, Eric Clapton and George Harrison, Julien’s Auctions said Saturday. It had been expected to fetch between $400,000 and $600,000. The guitar marked the singer’s path from folk […]

The guitar maker of Kinshasa: Father of a unique sound

by Marc Jourdier Agence France-Presse KINHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — In 2010, a group of Kinshasa street musicians, several of them left paraplegic by childhood polio, caused a sensation in Europe. Calling themselves Staff Benda Bilili, the penurious band wowed audiences with Congolese rumba, combining pounding rhythms with scintillating melodies and solos. As unique as the group’s tale of their rise from the streets was their gritty guitar sound — all the work of a […]

Rock ‘n’ roll legend Chuck Berry dead at 90

By Shaun Tandon NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Chuck Berry, one of the creators of rock ‘n’ roll who helped shape modern youth culture with his dance-ready rhythms but who struggled to overcome institutional racism, died Saturday. He was 90. Police in the St. Louis area, where Berry was born and lived most of his life, said that first responders found the guitar legend unresponsive when they answered an emergency call at his home. […]