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| Free Speech Movement UC Berkeley |
In the mid-1960’s Berkeley California was transformed from a relatively peaceful community to a hotbed of political upheaval.
It was in 1968 when Sam Cohen opened a music store-repair shop on Cedar Street in Berkley which he called Subway Guitars. Sam took on the nom de plume of Fat Dog. Those close to him called him Fatty.
Subway Guitars attracted famous players and legendary musicians looking to purchase a unique instrument. Fat Dog also ran Subway Guitars as a technicians' cooperative, hired homeless community members, and organized benefit concerts for civil rights and human rights causes.
Randall Smith, creator of Mesa Boogie amplifiers, had a music store in Berkeley. He knew Fat Dog, or Fatty as he called him. Smith said that one of Fat Dog's friends was Robert Crumb, the creator of Zap Comics. Smith believes that R. Crumb based the character of Mr. Natural on Fat Dog.
Fat Dog aka Sam Cohen passed away on October 30th of this year. He was one unique individual that lived by his philosophy and left a legacy of what has become Vintage Guitars.
The University of California campus became the center for The Free-Speech Movement, Anti-Vietnam War protests, The People’s Park rioting, and the emerging environmental movement.
One of the citizens that lived in Berkeley during this era was a rather eccentric guitar player and collector named Sam Cohen. It can be argued that he was one of the people responsible for the Vintage Guitar market.
In 1964 when I first became interested in guitars, there were two categories; New Guitars and Used Guitars. Somewhere from that time to the present an appreciation developed for used instruments and they became ‘Vintage.’ A whole new market opened up.
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| Subway Guitars |
Fat Dog became a towering figure in the West Coast music scene and was an early pioneer of the vintage and alternative guitar movement.
His shop was cluttered, loosely organized, and it is said that he maintained a stock of over 3000 instruments. I recall reading an article about guitars, and guitar parts that he stored in a barn. You would often find him sitting in a chair playing an old guitar that he had rebuilt in his own style.
Fat Dog became famous for his unique creations, generally pairing Danelectro guitar bodies with differing necks and pickups. Dog’s philosophy was to "reduce, reuse, and recycle" long before it was mainstream. To accomplish this he amassed a massive inventory of thousands of instruments and liquidated parts from defunct American factories like Danelectro, Kay, and Ampeg.
He used these parts to build affordable, Frankenstein-style custom guitars so working-class musicians could afford a quality instrument.
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| Taj Mahal & Keb Mo at Subway |
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| Mr. Natural |
He said some of the people that lived in Dog's home mirrored Crumb's comic book characters, such as Flakey Foont, and Angelfood McSpade.
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| Fat Dog RIP |
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