by Brian Wolfe | Oct 1, 2021 | Blog
The New Haven Arena was on Grove Street in New Haven. It was built for indoor ice hockey in 1914, burned down in 1924, and reopened in 1927. I never saw a hockey game there. My first visit was to see the circus as a very young child. I have a vague memory of the...
by Brian Wolfe | Sep 29, 2021 | Blog
What follows is a collection of memories I have carried with me since 1964. I was 11 years old, almost 12, and on February 9th, at 8 PM, my life was forever changed. I hope you enjoy my journey through the past. Please forgive any...
by Brian Wolfe | Sep 16, 2021 | Blog
I spent the greater part of the early Nineties playing guitar in the electric alt-rock band The Name. One night in Middletown, CT, the band’s instruments and amps were stolen from a parked car. After a gig at The Moon in New Haven, we weighed our options and decided...
by Brian Wolfe | Apr 21, 2021 | Blog
(Photo of Jerry Garcia at Woolsey Hall by Joe Sia) Between 1972 and 1975, I worked at the Beinecke Rare Book Library at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. We used to get an hour for lunch, which was pretty nice, but I’ve never been a big lunch eater. Most...
by Brian Wolfe | Apr 7, 2021 | Blog
When my father got his first stereo component system, instead of tossing the console unit to the curb, he and I dragged it into my bedroom, down the end of the hall. It was on this unit late one night on the Yale FM station WYBC I first heard The Cream’s first LP...
by Brian Wolfe | Jul 8, 2020 | Blog
I saw Jimi Hendrix play Woolsey Hall on the Yale campus in New Haven, Connecticut, on November 17th, 1968. It was an early show. I was there with a blonde girl whose name has been lost to time. It was cold and she wore an itchy wool sweater. Our seats were close to...
by Brian Wolfe | Jul 8, 2020 | Blog
It was a long time ago and therefore a bit murky. As best I remember, the first time I became aware of Nick Drake was seeing a copy of his album Bryter Layter in the import section of Rhymes Records in New Haven, Connecticut. I wondered why anyone would choose to pose...
by Brian Wolfe | May 6, 2020 | Blog, Rickenbacker
I remember the compressed guitar sound coming out of our black and white Motorola TV set like it was yesterday. That moment in time has become part of my sonic DNA. It was like nothing I had ever heard before. There on the TV was this skinny guitar player with strange...
by Brian Wolfe | Apr 21, 2020 | Blog
Sometimes a picture will stay with you forever. I had already owned one of the first Les Paul Goldtops to arrive in Connecticut in 1968 and sold it due to its weight — I was a pretty skinny kid and it killed my shoulder. I was not a stranger to Gibson Les Pauls....
by Brian Wolfe | Mar 27, 2020 | Blog
There’s a thing that happens when you hear a band for the first time and you know they have forever changed the way you relate to a type of music. I would liken it to a zen satori, like getting to the essence of something you didn’t know you were missing until...
by Brian Wolfe | May 6, 2017 | Blog
George Harrison, Roger McGuinn and Pete Townshend played a 1965 Rickenbacker 360-12. George Harrison acquired his Rickenbacker 360-12 12 string in 1964 during the Beatles first U.S....
by Brian Wolfe | Apr 29, 2017 | Blog
James Taylor recorded Sweet Baby James with a Gibson J50. The Gibson J50 with its mahogany back & sides, spruce top, Brazilian Rosewood fretboard and adjustable bridge helped produce the album’s iconic sound....
by Brian Wolfe | Apr 11, 2017 | Blog
The myth of Nick Drake and the Guild M20 guitar. In this video, Brian will discuss the Guild M20 and the guitars Nick Drake played....
by Brian Wolfe | Apr 1, 2017 | Blog
Chuck Berry and His Influence on Rock n’ Roll is Timeless Chuck Berry, a man whose contribution to rock n’ roll will endure through generations of guitar players....
