Don Everly Passes Away August 21st, 2021

 

Don Everly

Isaac Donald Everly known to all as Don Everly passed away on August 21, 2021. Along with his brother Phil Everly, this iconic duo were the most iconic rock vocal duo in recent history. Their familial vocal blend of close harmony singing influenced many vocal groups. 

Don and Phil Everly

The duo began writing and recording their own music in 1956, and their first hit song came in 1957, with "Bye Bye Love", written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. The song hit No. 1 in the spring of 1957. 

Additional hits would follow through 1958, many of them written by the Bryants, including "Wake Up Little Susie", "All I Have to Do Is Dream", and "Problems". 

Cathy's Clown

In 1960, they signed with the major label Warner Bros. Records and recorded "Cathy's Clown", written by the brothers themselves, which was their biggest selling single. The brothers enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve in 1961, and their output dropped off, though additional hit singles continued through 1962, with "That's Old Fashioned (That's the Way Love Should Be)" being their last top-10 hit. 

The Everlys

Don and his younger brother Phil grew up in a musical family. Their father, Ike Everly, was a respected guitarist. Along with their mother, Margaret Everly, the began performing on the radio in the early 1940’s as The Everlys, and billed their sons as "Little Donnie and Baby Boy Phil".  They got their talent honestly. 

The Everlys with Chet Atkins

When the brothers were still in high school, they gained the attention of prominent Nashville musicians like Chet Atkins, who began to groom them for national attention. The family moved several times before settling in Knoxville, Tennessee. 

While the family was living in Knoxville, the brothers caught the attention of family friend Chet Atkins, manager of the RCA Victor studios in Nashville. 

The Everlys with Wesley Rose
 and Boudleaux Bryant 

The brothers became a duo and moved to Nashville. Despite affiliation with RCA Victor, Atkins somehow arranged for the Everly Brothers to record for Columbia Records in early 1956. Their "Keep a-Lovin' Me", which Don wrote and composed, flopped, and they were dropped from the Columbia label. Atkins introduced the Everly Brothers to Wesley Rose, of Acuff-Rose music publishers. 

Rose told them he would secure them a recording deal if they signed to Acuff-Rose as songwriters. They signed in late 1956, and in 1957 Rose introduced them to Archie Bleyer, who was looking for artists for his Cadence Records. The Everlys signed and made a recording in February 1957. "Bye Bye Love" had been rejected by 30 other acts. Their record reached No. 2 on the pop charts, behind Elvis Presley's "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear", and No. 1 on the country and No. 5 on the R&B charts.The song, by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, became the Everly Brothers' first million-seller. 

Phil and Don Everly

Working with the Bryants, they had hits in the United States and the United Kingdom, the biggest being "Wake Up Little Susie", "All I Have to Do Is Dream", "Bird Dog", and "Problems". 

The Everlys, though they were largely interpretive artists, also succeeded as songwriters, especially with Don's "(Till) I Kissed You", which hit No. 4 on the US pop charts. 

The Everlys with Buddy Holly 

The brothers toured with Buddy Holly in 1957 and 1958. According to Holly's biographer Philip Norman, they were responsible for persuading Holly and the Crickets to change their outfits from Levi's and T-shirts to the Everlys' Ivy League suits. Don said Holly wrote and composed "Wishing" for them.

Long-simmering disputes with Wesley Rose, the CEO of Acuff-Rose Music, which managed the group, and the brothers growing drug usage in the 1960s, as well as changing tastes in popular music, led to the group's decline in popularity in its native U.S., though the brothers continued to release hit singles in the U.K. and Canada, and had many highly successful tours throughout the 1960s. 

Phil and Don Everly 1964

Though their US stardom had begun to wane two years before the British Invasion in 1964, their appeal was still strong in Canada, the UK and Australia. The Everly's remained successful in the UK and Canada for most of the 1960s, reaching the top 40 in the United Kingdom through 1968 and the top 10 in Canada as late as 1967.  

The 1966 album Two Yanks in England was recorded in England with The Hollies, who also wrote many of the album's songs. The Everly's final US top 40 hit, "Bowling Green", was released in 1967.

The Everlys' Final Performance 

In the early 1970s, the brothers began releasing solo recordings, and in 1973  the brothers officially broke up and made the announcement at their final on July 14, 1973, at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California.  During the show tensions between the two.

Don told a reporter he was tired of being an Everly Brother. During the show, Phil smashed his guitar and walked off, leaving Don to finish the show without him, ending their collaboration. The two would not reunite musically for more than ten years. 

1983 Reunion Concert

The Everly Brothers reunited for a reunion concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London on September 23, 1983, which ended their ten-year-long solo careers, was initiated by Phil and Don alongside Terry Slater, with Wingfield as musical director. This concert was recorded for a live LP and video broadcast on cable television in mid-January 1984. 

On The Wings Of A Nightingale 

Afterwards the brothers returned to the studio as a duo for the first time in over a decade, recording the album EB '84, produced by Dave Edmunds. The lead single, "On the Wings of a Nightingale", written and composed by Paul McCartney, was a success and returned them to the US Hot 100 (for their last appearance) and the UK charts. Phil and Don Everly would continue to perform periodically until Phil's death. 

Phil Everly

Phil Everly died at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, on January 3, 2014, 16 days before his 75th birthday, of lung disease. Phil's widow Patti blamed her husband's death on his smoking habit, which caused him to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and recounted Phil's spending his final years having to carry oxygen tanks with him wherever he went. 

Don Everly

Don Everly attended the Annual Music Masters as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame paid homage to the Everly Brothers on October 25, 2014. Don took the State Theater stage and performed the Everly's classic hit "Bye Bye Love". 

On most recordings, Don sang the baritone part and Phil the tenor harmony.  Although Don was mainly low, and Phil was mainly high, their voices overlap in a very intricate and almost subtle fashion. 

Don Everly

Don Everly was born on February 1, 1937 and died at age 84. He was married three times. HIs wife was Adela Garza, who he wed in 1997. Prior to that he had married Venetia Stevenson in 1962. They divorced in 1970. His first wife was Mary Sue Ingraham. That marriage lasted from 1957 to 1961. 

Don Everly leaves behind his wife, Adela, and four daughters;  Erin Everly, Stacy Everly, Edan Everly, Venetia Everly.  No cause of death has been announced.

Gibson J-200's  

Based on their father, Ike Everly's suggestion, Phil and Don originally played matching Gibson J-200 guitars with dual pickguards that Don Everly designed. 

1964 Gibson
Everly Brothers Guitar

In 1962, Gibson collaborated with the Everly Brothers to produce the Everly Brothers Flattop. This flat top guitar was different than the large J-200. It featured a thinner J-185-style body and an adjustable bridge. 

This guitar was also unusual in that it featured star-shaped inlays on the rosewood fretboard, and it had a large double tortoise grain pickguard, which covered most of the top of the body. 

As the pickguard covered most of the top of the guitar, it limited the vibration of the top, thus limiting the sound of the guitar. The standard finish on the guitar was black, though a few models were natural or sunburst finish. 

1987 Gibson J-180

The Everly Brothers Flattop was discontinued in 1972, but was reissued as the Gibson J-180 in the mid-1980s.

1963 Gibson
 Everly Brothers J-180

The Gibson Everly Brothers flattop featured a thin J-185-style body and an adjustable bridge. It also featured five-point star inlays on the rosewood fretboard and a double tortoiseshell pickguard, which covered most of the top of the body. The standard finish on the guitar was black, though a few models were natural or sunburst finish. 

Don Everly devised the double tail-fin pickguards that extended below the bridge, to protect the top from his vigorous strumming. 

1963 Gibson
Everly Brothers J-180 

The bridge on the Everly Brothers was actually designed by father Ike Everly, at the suggestion of Phil, a perpetual string breaker.  Interestingly, it was Ike Everly who reputedly taught Merle Travis the fingerpicking guitar style for which he became famous. Ike, and Travis possibly picked this style up from Kentucky thumb-picker Mose Rager.

The bridge on the J-180 was also an ‘oversized’ rosewood design and pinless - the strings ran through the bridge instead of using bridge pins. 

Phil’s string-snapping habit would ultimately lead to his 1995 formation of the Everly Music Co., a business dedicated to the production of long-lasting strings. 

From 1962 to 1971, only 488 Everly Brothers models were made. Depending on condition, sale value of one of these can reach $15,000. 

Albert Lee with Everly's J-200

Albert Lee is now the owner of Don Everly's original Everly Brothers model. The English session guitarist was Musical Director on the duo’s 1983 reunion concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall, and Lee was presented with the guitar by Don Everly himself.  Though some sources say the guitar Lee was given was actually Don's first Gibson J-200.

Elvis' Everly Brothers Guitar 

Elvis Presley was the owner of a late ‘60s Everly Brothers guitar, but one with a natural finish and with only one pickguard. Auctioned by George Gruhn guitars for $25,000 in the 1990s, it was previously in the possession of Elvis expert Jim Curtin, who was given the instrument by Vernon Presley, Elvis's father, in 1975 in appreciation for another guitar Curtin had made for Elvis. 

Curtin said that he was at a jam session at Graceland in 1968 unbelievably, Elvis didn't have a guitar. So, Elvis sent an aide out to buy a new Gibson Everly Brothers. Elvis used it at Graceland through 1969. 

Jimmy Page owns an early black 1962 Gibson Everly Brothers, but he says he has never played it on a recording or live - it is just for home use. 

The Everly Brothers model was reissued by Gibson in 1986 under the name J-180. 

1993 Everly Guitar

In 1992 it was again designated The Everly Brothers guitar until 1994 when the name went back to the J-180.  The bridge was changed to have pins locking the strings.

Serial numbers will give you an exact year of manufacture, of course, but as a rough guide, 1960s Everly Brothers signatures with tortoiseshell pickguards are pre-’68. Black pickguard models are from ’68 onwards. 

Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Cat Stevens, Roger Daltrey and even Madonna have played an Everly Brothers J-180 live in concert.

Click on the links under the pictures for sources. Click on the links in the text for further information.

©UniqueGuitar Publications 2021 (text only)

Singer-Songwriter Nanci Griffith Passes Away on August, 13th 2021

Nanci Griffith

Nanci Caroline Griffith unexpectedly passed away on August 13th of this year. She was a beloved American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Griffith was born in Seguin, Texas and raised in Austin. She lived in Nashville Tennessee. 

Her career spanned a variety of musical genres, predominantly country, folk, and what she termed "folkabilly." Griffith won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1994 for her recording, ”Other Voices, Other Rooms”. This album features Griffith covering the songs of artists who were her major influences. 

A much younger photo

One of Griffith's better-known songs is "From a Distance" which was written and composed by Julie Gold. Though Bette Midler's version achieved greater commercial success, Nanci’s version was wonderful and reached a different audience. 

Another of Griffith’s best loved songs is "Love at the Five and Dime", which she recorded, however Kathy Mattea had a top country music hit with this song. 

Another song that she wrote that became a hit for Suzy Bogguss was “Outbound Plane”.  Nanci Griffith wrote this song with Tom Russell. 

Nanci Griffith - Austin City Limits 1985

Nanci Griffith appeared many times on the PBS music program Austin City Limits starting in 1985.

Nanci Griffith with John Prine 

In 1990, Griffith appeared on the Channel 4 programme Town & Country with John Prine, where she performed at The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, along with Buddy Mondlock, Robert Earl Keen, and Barry "Byrd" Burton. 

Nanci Griffith with Jimmy Webb

In 1994, Griffith teamed up with Jimmy Webb to contribute the song "If These Old Walls Could Speak" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization. 

Griffith was a survivor of breast cancer which was diagnosed in 1996, and thyroid cancer in 1998. 

Nanci Griffith and The Crickets 

She kept her career fresh by touring with various other artists, including members of Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets; John Prine; Iris DeMent; Suzy Bogguss; and Judy Collins. 

Nanci Griffith with
Emmylou Harris

Griffith recorded duets with many artists, among them Emmylou Harris, Mary Black, John Prine, Don McLean, Jimmy Buffett, Dolores Keane, Willie Nelson, Adam Duritz (singer of Counting Crows), The Chieftains, John Stewart; and Darius Rucker (lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish). 

She also contributed background vocals on many other recordings. 

Griffith suffered from severe writer's block almost five years starting in 2004, lasting until the 2009 with the release of her "The Loving Kind" album, which contained nine selections that she had written and composed either entirely by herself or as collaborations. 

Nanci Griffith with The Kennedys 

After several months of limited touring in 2011, Griffith's bandmates The Kennedys (Pete & Maura Kennedy) packed up their professional Manhattan recording studio and relocated it to Nashville, where they installed it in Griffith's home. 

At this home studio, with her backing group, including Pete & Maura Kennedy and Pat McInerney, she co-produced her album Intersection over the course of the summer. 

The resulting album included several new original songs and was released in April 2012 on Proper Records. 

Nanci Griffith

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Griffith among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire. 

Despite her health issues, her death was listed as natural causes. 

Nanci Griffith with Guid F-40

Through the years Nanci Griffith played a variety of guitars. In her early publicity photos she is posing wth her Guild F-40.

Griffith with Martin D-28

In the 1984 Austin City Limits episode she is seen playing a Martin D-28. 

Griffith with Taylor Guitars

In the mid 1990's Griffith was playing Taylor guitars. 

Nanci Griffith
Taylor 512-NG models

In 1996 she signed a deal with Taylor Guitars to produce her own artist model, which was known as The "Nanci Griffith" Taylor 512-NG. Only 100 units were made over a period of a few years. These all were signed by Griffith. There were six extra guitars built as 512-NG's but did not have her signature. 

Back of the
Taylor 512-NG's 

These guitars came with a solid Engelman Spruce top, and mahogany back and sides. The body had a Florentine cut-away and a faux tortoise shell pick guard. It was bound on the top with white and black binding, and on the back with black binding. The rosette was inlaid with abalone. The neck was inlaid with diamond position markers. The tuners were gold -plated.  These are beautiful deluxe instruments with features not found on most 500 series Taylor instruments. 

Taylor 512-NG signed by Griffith

The photos show two Taylor 512-NG's that were signed on the back by Nanci Griffith after a 2004 performance.

Click on the links under the pictures for sources. Click on links in the text for further reading.

©UniqueGuitar Publications 2021 (text only)

ZZ Top's Bass Player Dusty Hill Passes Away July 27th, 2021

 

Dusty Hill

Joseph Michael Hill, who was know as Dusty Hill since he was a child, passed away on Tuesday, July 27, at his home. The cause of death was undetermined. 

Joseph Michael
"Dusty" Hill 

There are a few things we can surmise. In 2000, Hill was diagnosed with hepatitis C and ZZ Top canceled their European tour. Hill resumed work in 2002. Then in 2014, Hill fell on his tour bus and injured his hip, requiring surgery. Part of that tour was canceled. Most recently on July 23, 2021, Hill left  the groups current tour due to problems with his hip. The band performed without him at the Village Commons in New Lenox, Illinois, with the band's guitar tech, Elwood Francis, filling in on the bass guitar. 

A Very Young Dusty Hill

Dusty Hill was born in Dallas, Texas, on May 19, 1949. He and his older brother, Rocky Hill (also a musician), were raised in the Lakewood neighborhood of East Dallas. The boys attended Woodrow Wilson High School where Dusty learned to play the cello. Hill grew up listening to blues music, which, was uncommon in white families of that era. Dusty recalled shocking the parents of his childhood friends when he brought over records by Muddy Waters or Son House to their houses for his friends to enjoy. 

Dusty At A Very Young Age

Dusty began singing for money with his brother Rocky at the young age of 8. Brother Rocky Hill, played guitar and formed a band with a friend who was a drummer and they recruited young Dusty to  sing with that band.  He eventually learned to play bass guitar at the age of 13. 

Unlike many bass players,  he never learned to play guitar first he took straight away to the bass. When interviewed Hill said, "I kind of learned how to play on stage and whatnot, and embarrassment is a great motivator. If you don't play well, standing up there with lights on it really stands out, so it behooves you to get your shit up pretty quick."  

Dusty did not enjoy school, and states he had poor grades; "Part of the problem was that by the time I was 13 I was already playing in local bars and making money, so school kinda' got in the way of that and I resented it.” 

Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill
and Frank Beard

After leaving school, Hill, his brother Rocky, and future fellow ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard played in some local Dallas bands known as the Warlocks, the Cellar Dwellers, and finally settled on the name  American Blues.  From 1966 to 1968, American Blues played the Dallas-Fort Worth-Houston circuit. 

Hill and Beard in
 The Fake Zombies 

In 1969, Hill was hired by a promoter to be a member of a fake version of the British band The Zombies along with Frank Beard. Hill recalled, "Being a musician in Texas had its own set of risks ... and at that time we had long, blue hair – in the 60s in Texas. I got probably less shit about having blue hair than about having long hair, because I believe they thought I was crazy." 

It was around 1968 when American Blues relocated from Dallas to Houston. At this time, Rocky wanted to focus on "straight blues", while Dusty wanted the band to rock more so Rocky left the group.  Dusty and Beard went on to Houston. 

Salt Lick - ZZ Top's first single

It was there that they joined guitarist-vocalist Billy Gibbons of the Houston psychedelic band called  Moving Sidewalks. The group the changed the name to  ZZ Top, just after they released their first single "Salt Lick", in 1969. With Gibbons as the main lyricist and arranger, Dust played bass and keyboards and sang lead on a few songs. In 1971 the band’s manager Bill Ham and engineer Robin Hood Brians helped to create ZZ Top's First Album  in 1971. 

This album exhibited the band's humor, with "barrelhouse" rhythms, distorted guitars, double entendres, and innuendo. The music and songs reflected ZZ Top's blues influences. Following their debut album, the band released Rio Grande Mud in 1972, which produced their first charting single, "Francine". Two years later, in 1973 they released the album, Tres Hombres. 

Early Promo Picture
of ZZ Topp 

By then ZZ Top perfected its heavy blues style and amplified its Texas roots. The boogie rock single "La Grange" brought the band their first hit, with it just missing the Billboard Top 40. 

In 1975 Dusty Hill sang lead vocal on "Tush", the band's first Top 20 hit and one of its most popular songs. Then on the 1976 album Tejas Hill took the vocal lead on "Pan Am Highway Blues", "Avalon Hideaway" and "Ten Dollar Man", and sang as a duet with Billy Gibbons on "It’s Only Love”. 

That same year, after almost seven years of touring and a string of successful albums, ZZ Top went on hiatus for three years while Beard dealt with his addiction problems. 

Dusty Hill 

Remarkably Dusty Hill spent the period working at The Dallas Fort Worth Airport, saying he wanted to "feel normal" and "ground himself" after years spent performing. He was rarely recognized, but if he was recognized by fans who asked him “Are you Dusty Hill?” He responded by saying "No! Do you think I’d be working here?" 

Cheap Sunglasses

Regrouping in 1979, when the group returned with the album Degüello, Gibbons and Hill revealed their new image of matching massive beards and sunglasses. Their hit singles from this period, "Cheap Sunglasses" and "Pearl Necklace", showed a more modern sound. 

ZZ Top in Back To The Future

Dusty Hill made some on-screen appearances include Back to the Future Part III, and Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme. 

Back in December of 1984, Hill accidentally shot himself in the abdomen when his derringer fell from his boot and discharged. 

Hill said, "To this day, I don't know how I could do it. But I didn't really feel anything at the time. All I knew was that I had to get myself to a hospital straight away, so I got in the car and drove there. It was only when I arrived at the hospital that the seriousness of what I'd done hit me, and I went into shock.". He made a full recovery. 

Dusty and Charleen Hill 

Dusty Hill married his longtime girlfriend,  actress Charleen McCrory in 2002. The couple have one daughter. 

In the July 20, 2009 appeared in an episode of WWE Raw and in  Deadwood. 

Dusty in 'King Of The Hill'

Dusty Hill appeared as a cartoon version of himself in the 11th-season episode of King of the Hill called "Hank Gets Dusted". In the episode which Hank Hill is said to be Dusty's cousin. 

Hill also made an appearance on The Drew Carey Show as himself auditioning for a spot in Drew's band, but was rejected because of his attachment to his trademark beard which he referred to as a 'Texas Goatee'. 

2004 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 

Dusty Hill was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of ZZ Top in 2004. 

Then on July 27tth 2021 Dusty Hill’s death was announced. 

As a spokesman for the band Billy Gibbons confirmed that ZZ Top would continue with Francis, per Hill's wishes. According to Gibbons, "Dusty (recently) emphatically grabbed my arm and said, 'Give Elwood the bottom end, and take it to the Top.' He meant it, amigo. He really did." 

Dusty's Final Show

Gibbons and Beard  memorialized their friend by saying, "We are saddened by the news today that our compadre, Dusty Hill, has passed away in his sleep at home in Houston, Texas. We, along with legions of ZZ Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature, and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the ‘Top.’ We will forever be connected to that ‘Blues Shuffle in C.’ You will be missed greatly, amigo."

Texas Governor Greg Abbott wrote on Twitter: "Today we lost a great friend and a remarkable Texan."  Several rock musicians and contemporaries paid condolences through social media, including Paul Stanley, Ozzy Osbourne, John Fogerty, Flea, Zakk Wylde, Tony Iommi, David Coverdale, Scorpions and the Allman Brothers Band. 

1971 Telecaster 
Bass

Throughout most of his career Dusty Hill preferred to use a Fender Telecaster bass guitar, or a custom made bass in the style of the Telecaster bass.  

The Fender Telecaster bass was introduced by Fender in 1968 and was essentially a rebranding of the original 1951 Fender Precision Bass guitar. This guitar was highly influenced by Fender's Telecaster. It had one single coil open pickup in the center of its body with four pole pieces. This was covered with a chromed metal palm rest. The two piece adjustable bridge was similar to a Telecaster bridge. The strings were routed to the metal grommets on the instruments back.  

The bridge was also covered with a metal palm rest. Unlike the modern Precision Bass this instruments body had no contours. 

1952 Fender
Precision Bass

The neck was originally made of maple, with a 'skunk' stripe and was topped with a headstock that resembled the Telecaster headstock, and it had four paddle style tuning machines.  The instruments control panel was mounted on a chrome metal plate similar to what was found on a Telecaster guitar, but there was only a volume and tone control.  

1968 Fender Telecaster Bass

In 1968 Fender reissued this same instrument as the Telecaster Bass. The headstock had a "Fender Telecaster" decal mounted on it, with an additional smaller decal that said "Bass".  Like the original 1951 P-Bass, this instrument came with a large pickguard that covered both cutaway horns.  

The differences were this reissue had a maple capped neck with no 'skunk' stripe on the back and not all instruments came with the paddle style tuners.  

1974 Fender Telecaster Bass

The Telecaster Bass was discontinued in 1979, only to be reissued under the Squier brand in 2007, which had some updated features.  From pictures it appears that Dusty Hill had played later model Precision Basses early in his career before settling on the Telecaster Bass.  

Both Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill discovered Bolin Guitars and have been using these custom built instruments a good portion of their career.  

Founded in 1978,by John Bolin, Bolin Guitars, LLC has built some of the most innovative guitars in rock and roll history. A list of their satisfied customers include; Billy F. Gibbons, Jimmy Page, Steve Miller, Dusty Hill, Lou Reed, Doc Watson, Albert King, Bo Diddley, Joe Perry, and Keith Richards & Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones.  

Bolin "Peeler"
Bass 

Bolin’s big break came in 1985, when John acted on a friend’s suggestion to build a guitar for Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, who were playing in Boise Idaho. After intense homework and hours in the shop, John managed to build a not only a guitar, but also a matching bass. In two weeks, the shop turned out a hot-rod influenced design covered in a metal-flake candy apple red paint job. 

ZZ Top with Bolin Instruments

In a risky move, the night of show John snuck back stage and introduced himself to Billy, who lowered his sunglasses and said, “Get your best and meet me in the green room in ten.” As Billy played through both the bass a guitar, 2 minutes turned in to 20 and within 24 hours Billy and John had stuck their first deal. 

This is the moment that began the working relationship between Bolin Guitars and ZZ Top and has helped Bolin Guitars create exceptional instruments. 

Dusty With His
Bolin Bass

With input from other craftsmen and the artists who play them, today, they have collaborated on over 200 of the most creative and innovative guitars in rock & roll. Most of the bass guitars that Dusty has played through his career were custom made models built by Bolin guitars. You may note some of these only have a volume control which allows Dustys' bass to have more punch. 

Fender Custom Shop Basses

Fender has also created some custom made bass guitars for Dusty with the reverse headstock and body binding.

Dusty Hill Fender Precision Bass

In 2012 Fender issued the Dusty Hill Signature Precision Bass. It was available to the public in 2013.

Click on the links beneath the pictures for sources. Click on the links in the text for further reading.

©UniqueGuitar Publications (text only)