Howard Roberts - Tips & Tricks

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Elantric

If you've heard the eerie guitar theme from "The Twilight Zone," then you've heard Howard Roberts



Howard Roberts  - Tips & Tricks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Roberts
Biography[edit]
Roberts was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and began playing guitar at the age of 8. By the time he was 15 he was playing professionally locally.[2][2]

In 1950, he moved to Los Angeles, California.[2] With the assistance of Jack Marshall, he began working with musicians, arrangers and songwriters including Neal Hefti, Henry Mancini, Bobby Troup, Chico Hamilton, George Van Eps, and Barney Kessel. Around 1956, Bobby Troup signed him to Verve Records as a solo artist. At that time he decided to concentrate on recording, both as a solo artist and 'Wrecking Crew' session musician, a direction he would continue until the early 1970s.

Roberts played rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass, and mandolin. He was known for his heavy use of the Gibson L-5 guitar in the studio and for television and movie projects, including lead guitar on the theme from The Twilight Zone as well as acoustic and electric guitar on The Munsters, Bonanza, The Brady Bunch, Green Acres, Get Smart, Batman, Beverly Hillbillies, Andy Griffith, Peter Gunn, Johnny Quest, Gidget, Mannix, Lost in Space, Dragnet, Wild Wild West, Mission Impossible, The Odd Couple, Dick Van Dyke, I Dream of Jeannie, and the theme for the film classic Bullitt.

Artists Roberts backed include Georgie Auld, Peggy Lee (on "Fever"), Eddie Cochran ("Sittin' in the Balcony"), Bobby Day ("Rockin Robin"), Jody Reynolds ("Endless Sleep"), Shelley Fabares ("Johnny Angel"), Dean Martin ("Houston"), the Monkees, Roy Clark, Chet Atkins, and the Electric Prunes.

In 1961, Roberts designed a signature guitar which was originally produced by Epiphone. The guitar was a modified Gibson ES-175 (Epiphone is owned by Gibson and during this period Epiphone guitars were manufactured in the same factory as Gibson guitars in Kalamazoo, Michigan), with a round sound hole and a single pickup. A redesigned version was later produced by Gibson.[3] The Howard Roberts signature was borne by two other models made by Gibson: the Howard Roberts Custom and the Howard Roberts Fusion III.[4]

In 1963, Roberts recorded Color Him Funky and H.R. Is A Dirty Guitar Player, his first two albums after signing with Capitol. Produced by Jack Marshall, they both feature the same quartet with Roberts (guitar), Chuck Berghofer (bass), Earl Palmer (drums) and Paul Bryant alternating with Burkley Kendrix on organ. Both albums were released on a single CD under the title Dirty & Funky on Randy Bachman's label Guitarchives in 1997.[5] In all, he recorded ten albums with Capitol before signing with ABC Records/Impulse! Records.

As a member of the 'Wrecking Crew', Roberts was a part of Phil Spector's 'Wall of Sound', playing guitar on some of the most famous songs in Pop Music history.

From the late 1960s, Roberts began to focus on teaching rather than recording. He traveled around the country giving guitar seminars, and wrote several instructional books. For some years he also wrote an acclaimed column called "Jazz Improvisation" for Guitar Player magazine. Roberts developed accelerated learning concepts and techniques, which led to the founding of Playback Music Publishing and the Guitar Institute of Technology. As a co-founder of GIT, now known as the Musicians Institute, Roberts' philosophy remains an integral part of the curriculum.

Roberts died of prostate cancer in Seattle, Washington, on June 28, 1992. His wife Patty, also active in musical education, continued in this field after his death.[6]

Howard inspired the opening of Roberts Music Institute in Seattle, Washington, which is currently owned by his son, Jay Roberts.














http://utstat.utoronto.ca/mikevans/hroberts/references/articles.html



http://www.utstat.utoronto.ca/mikevans/hroberts.html


http://utstat.utoronto.ca/mikevans/hroberts/anecdotes.html
http://utstat.utoronto.ca/mikevans/hroberts/interviews/interviews.html
http://utstat.utoronto.ca/mikevans/hroberts/interviews/paula.html





Howard Roberts, June 1991
P.D. Drake
P.O. Box 5226
Lake Montezuma
AZ 86342
1 928 567-4478
pdrake@q.com
HOWARD ROBERTS' LAST INTERVIEW

"I've come up with the theory that the music is within. We don't bring it in; it's already there. We have to figure out how to get it out."
When interviewing Howard Roberts in June of '91 I did not know he had cancer. To fulfill a writing course assignment on interviewing, no one but Howard would do. I was willing to fly from Arizona to Seattle for the privilege. I had been a student of Howards back in the , 50's, in North Hollywood, California.

His influence on my musical life and the lives of others is unmeasurable. Although he physically stopped in June 1992, his impact will never stop.

There are many good guitar players, but great ones are rare. Howard will always be an icon of jazz. How fortunate is this writer/student to have spent two hours soaking in wisdom from him. Here is Howard's last interview, and counsel.

The scents and sounds of a Seattle waterfront restaurant provided our background. The morning also proved a thrill for two young men in a booth across the aisle. They had been catching some of our conversation. Finally one leaned over and interrupted us. "I play guitar too. Next month I am going to, The Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood. Have you ever heard of G.I.T. ?"

"I founded it," replied Roberts. I had the pleasure of introducing the boy to Howard. The look on the young man's face was priceless. A special start for that young man's training.

As the two boys listened to the interview they learned as I did what Roberts was up to those days.

The studio jazz great had his fingers on more than frets. Recording an album, working a studio job, designing a guitar and amp, or co-founding the Guitar Institute of Technology would be enough for most, but Roberts didn't stop there. He had completed the Guitar Compendium, a three volume resource for guitarists, and a children's method, Chroma. "Chroma is as new and different as the compendium," said Howard. For fifteen years serious jazz guitarists gleaned Roberts techniques from his GPI (Guitar Player Magazine) workshop column. Now they can research any subject from the Compendium.



The questions began:

Q. Why the compendium?

A. When students would ask me what materials they could use to prepare for G.I. T. all I could find were books on how to play like this guy or like that guy, or whoever's hot. Having had to struggle so hard for a modem music education myself, especially in guitar, I knew their problems. What I had needed early on was non-existent for guitar. I had to dig for things like, diatonic harmony and voice leading from orchestrators, musicologists, and composers, and I ended up with an enormous body of work. So with Garry Hagberg, a guitar teacher and philosopher, from Oregon University, and over 12 grueling years, we compiled the Compendium. Now a guitarist can use it like a menu, plugging in wherever he needs help.

Q. Why are you writing for beginners?

A. Chroma is the only work I've done for beginners. It came to my attention that about 85% of them drop out in about the first month. I concluded that a lot of the cause was they were unable to play complete music, first, playing some chords. Playing a few hard chords with nothing going on is hardly rewarding. So we came up with a program that enables beginners to play complete music right from the beginning. We've tested it in public schools extensively, turning the drop-out rate from 85% to less than 8% in over a year .

Q. How did you get started on guitar?

A. It was almost a mystical experience. I woke up out of a dead sleep one hot afternoon in Phoenix when I was seven and said, "I want to play guitar," and that was it. I could never figure out why. I was all of a sudden consumed. I made my first guitar out of boards and bailing wire; it didn't work. Finally my folks got me an $18 Kalamazoo. Getting married at sixteen and becoming a father slowed me down. I worked as a truck driver, and did manual labor, playing weekends. Divorced by 18, 1 started my first full time job in a Phoenix night club, The Green Gables, making twice as much money, and wearing clean clothes. I thought that was something.

Q. How would you describe your style ?

A. Driven by improvisation -- not knowing what will come moment by moment. The other thing is, I like to play like a singer. I hate mindless tinkling guitar.

Q. How did you break into studio work?

A. Thanks to the rain. L. A. had been soaked under a two week deluge keeping Bob Bain, a busy studio man, from getting to the job. I lived on the other side of the flood problem, so he called me to take his place. I was the only guy who could get there. I've been there ever since.

Q. What's the hardest part of studio work?

A. The hardest music to play is Tom & Jerry -- cartoons. The music makes absolutely no sense, as music. You can't get into hearing it. There's nothing to hear--'bleep!, blop! scratch!' and it comes fast; everything's first take. That'll change the way you look at life.

Q. What do you think the future holds for guitarists in the studio field?

A. Studio work is an entirely different ball game now. Previously, recording was done with a live band or orchestra, perfect takes, nobody would make mistakes. Now, with all the multi-track and digital capabilities for recording I hardly ever see a band. I am there all by myself. If I make a mistake nobody cares. They say, 'Don't worry about that,' because they can take that note from another place and drop it in digitally.

The future is mystifying. I was talking to a great guitar player the other day who is working on an album. He had his piano player phone in a part by modem into his computer in the middle of the night while he was sleeping -- one computer talking to another.

From the standpoint of the industry I don't have any idea where it's going, but from the standpoint of music I don't think that's going to ever change in our lifetime.

I asked the students at G.I.T. a couple of weeks ago, 'Look if there was never any more studio work, or any place to play live, ever again (people don't go out to clubs any more) would you still want to be musicians?' A firm, "Yes."

Q. If you could start over would you do things differently?

A. I'd do it the same way. PRAXIS: to learn by doing-- take action. Go sit down with a band and play. You hear a song--play it. There are two classic theories of learning: 1. Study the theory, and then get the music out of it. 2. In Praxis it's the other way around. You go to the music first, start doing it, then extrapolate the theory after you are doing it.

Q. How would you compare guitarists of today to those of 20 years ago?

A. I don't think there's any difference. It's been said, 'Fashions come and go but style endures.' A guy can play today's fashions with style, and another can play today's fashion but without style.

Q. Most know you designed the Howard Robert's guitar put out by Gibson, but what type amp are you using ?

A. One that's no longer made-- a Benson. I founded the company, and Ronnie Benson and I developed those amps. We got so discouraged with the business end of it though, we said, 'What the heck.' But they're great amps!

Q. How did you get into studying Bach while in the jazz life?

A. I had a case of terminal ignorance. It bugged me, so I started studying music history at U.S.C. and composition privately. Whenever you study composition you inevitably encounter Bach right off the bat. You can't get across the room without running into him and the other greats. Analyzing Bach absolutely influenced my jazz playing.

Q. Have you had any drastic style changes along the way?

A. I've made some pretty radical departures. I am fascinated with experimental or avant-garde ( I don't know if those terms are really right). There are so many new ways to go about fashioning music. I messed with a 12 tone concerto, and I made some albums that were pretty radical, Antelope Freeway was one. They were not jazz albums they were -- something else.

Q. What was your first album ?

A. "Mr. Roberts Plays Guitar, " it was originally recorded on Verve and has been released on a number of labels since then. It's presently being released in Japan and sold here. That album was made in about 1955 and has never been out of print, but I've never seen a royalty statement -- on it or any of my albums. That's the music business. I've put out about 25 albums.

Q. Were there periods in your studio career that seemed dormant or dull?

A. When the rock and roll hit about 1955 boy guitar playing turned real dumb, overnight dumb. I'd go to work at 8:00 in the morning and some days I'd sit there and strum on a "G" chord -- all-day-long! Who likes that? Everything turned into IV-V-I, open "E" chords. I'd go on a studio call, and I'd sit there until here came the big "E" chord again.

Q. Any advice for the new crop of guitarist?

A. Again PRAXIS -- get out there and play. Another thought. Guitar players tend to live in this sea of how to play like this guy and like that guy I and they never get to address the subject of the music that's within them. Music is internal. We need to learn how to get it out. It turns out that just about everybody on the planet walks around with music running through their heads all day long. I've come up with the theory that the music is within. We don't bring it in; it's already there. We have to figure out how to get it out.

Q. Where do you go from here ?

A. I put everything on hold while I've been working on the Compendium and Chroma, but now I am just about through. Next I'm going back to my former self -- whoever that was. I'm talking to a few labels now.

Musicians know what his former self was and always will be, an icon of Jazz. Howard's probably jammin' out in some heavenly gig now. Howard, we haven't forgotten you!

Elantric

#1
great reading

http://www.vintageguitar.com/9525/howard-roberts-2/
In his prime, Howard Roberts played more than 900 studio dates annually and recorded the hippest guitar records of the era. His legion of fans still revere his incalculable influence and musical legacy.

Vesta Roberts, who grew up in a family of lumberjacks, gave birth to Howard just three weeks before the Wall Street Crash in October of 1929. Howard's dad, a cowboy, wasn't happy about the boy's affinity for music.

But his mother prayed for her baby to be a musician. And Howard Roberts often told the story about, "When I was about eight years old, I fell asleep in the back seat of my parents' car one very hot summer afternoon. When I woke up I just blurted out, 'I have to play the guitar!'" So when his dad saw the youngster's attempt to build one from a board and bailing wire, he acquiesced. For Christmas, he bought young Howard an $18 Kalamazoo student-model acoustic manufactured by Gibson.

By age 15, Roberts' guitar teacher, Horace Hatchett, told the boy's dad, "Howard has his own style of playing and there's nothing else I can show him. He plays better than I do." Howard was already playing club dates in their hometown Phoenix area – usually blues and jazz gigs on which he would gain playing experience and develop his improvising skills. He was receiving an extensive education in the blues from a number of black musicians, one of whom was the brilliant trumpeter Art Farmer. Journalist Steve Voce, in his 1992 article in The Independent Newsletter, quoted Roberts on those nightclub gigs, "I came out of the blues. I started in that scene when I was 15 and it was the most valuable experience in the world for me."

Roberts had created an heroic practice regimen with his roommate, guitarist Howard Heitmeyer. The two would practice three or four hours in the morning, catch an afternoon movie, then return to practice until it was time to hit the clubs, gig or not. Heitmeyer would remain Roberts' lifelong friend, and someone with a comprehensive talent Roberts found staggering.

At age 17, Roberts was drawn to a class created by composer/theorist Joseph Schillinger, whose students included George Gershwin, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Oscar Levant. Noted musician Fabian Andre was commissioned to teach

Schillinger's system of applying mathematical principles to art piqued Roberts' curiosity, so he arranged a deal with Andre; he'd sweep the floors after class to defray his tuition. That attitude was indicative of the teenager's precocious intellect and passion for music and science.

By the late '40s, many of the better players in Phoenix had split for the more rewarding jazz scenes in Chicago and New York. Roberts was gigging with his boyhood friend, Pete Jolly, who's now a name jazz pianist. In fact, Roberts' birth of fire on the road as a pro musician was with Jolly. The two toured Washington and Idaho in early 1950.

In late 1950 – 20 and driven by ambition – Roberts headed for Los Angeles. He arrived with no place to live and carried only his guitar and amp. He was attired in a shiny blue suit that he would wear daily for the next year. Sometimes he'd have to staple its split seams.

For a year or so, he paid his blues dues and lived a spartan existence by choice. He didn't want possessions, save his guitar and amp. He said he didn't want a car or even a wristwatch. He'd sleep on friends' sofas or in their cars and would avail himself of whatever largesse was offered. And he nurtured himself with music, haunting the after-hours scene and jamming with jazz luminaries like Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt, and Buddy DeFranco. That focus and dedication was a harbinger of the attitude and aura he exuded, especially after he became well-known.

Roberts met jazz great Barney Kessel after hearing him play one night. That meeting developed into an important and lasting friendship; Kessel introduced Roberts to guitarist Jack Marshall, who was becoming a heavy hitter in the Hollywood music scene. Marshall became a close friend, employer, and mentor to the young guitarist, and would eventually sign him to Capitol Records. But Roberts' first L.A. gig was working on "The Al Pierce Show," a radio broadcast that a prescient 10-year-old Howard had told his mom he'd be on someday. It was the first folding money he was to make in L.A.; he was paid $550 per week. He also landed a gig teaching guitar at the vocational Westlake College.

In '52, Roberts scored his first record date, the obscure "Jam Session No. 10" with reed man Gerry Mulligan and pianist Jimmy Rowles. Later that year, he recorded Live at the Haig with the Wardell Grey Quintet, then a Bobby Troup album for Capitol in '53.

By '55, he was working with drummer Chico Hamilton and bassist George Duvivier. They recorded an album for the Pacific Jazz label entitled The Chico Hamilton Trio, a recording that netted Roberts the Downbeat New Star Award.

In '56, Bobby Troup signed Roberts to Verve, a label where Kessel had an artist-and-repertoire position. Kessel produced Mr. Roberts Plays Guitar featuring arrangements by three of Hollywood's best – Jack Marshall, Marty Paich, and Bill Holman. Another album for Verve, Good Pickin's, followed in '59. Roberts was becoming a success.

One of his session dates became a legendary Hollywood studio story. In May of '58, he was hired for a Peggy Lee record date. When it was time to lay down the track for what would become Lee's huge hit, "Fever," producer Jack Marshall decided to lose the guitar part. Consequently, that's Howard snapping his fingers along with Max Bennett's bass line and Lee's vocals. Some still wonder if he got paid what session players call a "double"; he made the date with his guitar, but ended up appearing with another "instrument" – snapping his fingers.

In '59, Marshall was composing hip background scores for a western TV series entitled "The Deputy," which starred Henry Fonda. Marshall wanted to feature jazz guitar on the scores, and hired Howard to improvise over many of the action sequences. Having a jazz guitar line complement a scene with cowboys riding at full gallop was a fresh and distinctive approach.

"Jack Marshall let Howard just blow as much as he wanted to," studio vet Bill Pitman said of the sessions.

Howard Roberts Black Guitar
Photo: Rick Gould.
Howard Roberts' "Black Guitar"
The "Black Guitar" was Howard Roberts' trademark guitar of the 1960s-'70s. "H.R." preferred this highly modified instrument during his most active years, playing it on countless studio dates. It can be heard on many of his recordings, including Color Him Funky, H.R. Is A Dirty Guitar Player, and The Magic Band Live At Donte's.The Black Guitar began life as a Gibson ES-150 "Charlie Christian model."Roberts acquired it from Herb Ellis, who remembers buying it new and keeping it as a spare. Roberts made numerous changes reflecting his tastes and preferences, the most dramatic being the slimmer body, the shape of the cutaway, an extended/repositioned neck, fingerboard replacement, and upgraded electronics.
The original ES-150 was 33/8″ deep with a carved spruce top, maple sides and back, and a non-cutaway shape. H.R. had it thinned to a 23/4″ profile. The ES-150 had a flat back, while the Black Guitar has a laminated-maple arched back and possibly a reworked arched top. Nick Esposito did the labor.

The Black Guitar sports an asymmetric double-cutaway shape, a notch in its upper bass bout, and a deeper Venetian cutaway going to its 17th-fret joint. The modified junction block has a larger maple piece to stabilize the deeper cutaway and joint. The fingerboard was replaced with a longer ebony board with dot inlays and 20 frets. Roberts recontoured the neck in stages, applying autobody filler that could be easily shaped and sanded. Its scale length is 251/4″, its fingerboard is fairly flat with a slight radius. Its width is 111/16″ at the nut and 23/8″ at the 12th fret – slightly wider than normal. The fret wire is .093 (a wider modern style) and the frets were milled down. Fingerboard and fretwork was performed by Jack Willock, an original artisan at Gibson's Kalamazoo factory.

The headstock retains a Gibson silhouette and is fitted with Grover Imperial tuners – five chrome-plated and one nickel-plated. It has a simple truss rod cover and no ornamentation or script. The headstock shows wear at the top edge, owing to H.R.'s habit of leaning his guitar against a wall.

The guitar received a black nitrocellulose-lacquer finish, applied by H.R. himself. Cosmetic appointments include single binding on the headstock, fingerboard, body edges, and f-holes. Replacements include barrel knobs, Brazilian rosewood bridge, and tortoiseshell pickguard. The trapeze tailpiece is likely its only original ES-150 part.

H.R. replaced the bar pickup with a P-90 single-coil unit. He modified its cover, enlarging the polepiece holes so the coil was closer to the fingerboard. Its resistance measures 8.67k ohms, slightly greater than a Gibson P-90 reissue. The output jack was relocated to the side rim.

The guitar has unique tonal qualities – a woody, live acoustic sound that sings and is filled with harmonics. – Wolf Marshall

The Capitol Albums
Jack Marshall again played a pivotal role in Howard's career. As house producer for Capitol Records, Marshall signed the guitarist to a record deal in February of 1963. Capitol wanted to create a stable of instrumentalists to record MOR versions of current pop songs and show tunes. The Capitol execs were simply looking for airplay that would translate into sales. That record contract ultimately led to 11 Roberts releases for the label. The first, in early '63, Color Him Funky, followed by H.R. is a Dirty Guitar Player six months later, created a fan base unequaled by any jazz guitarist of the decade. He was forever after referred to by his initials, H.R., and his subsequent albums for Capitol, released twice a year through '68, were the most eagerly awaited records of any jazz guitarist.

"Howard really blurred the lines among guitar players, and reached so many of them," Ted Greene said in 2003. "Jazz guys, country players, and rockers all loved him because he played with such feeling and authenticity. Those first two Capitol albums were no doubt an introduction to jazz guitar for hundreds – maybe thousands – of young players. He didn't water anything down, but it was all still accessible. And he had a recognizable sound. You immediately knew it was Howard."

Mitch Holder (VG, January '96/April '97), a veteran of thousands of sessions, was Roberts' most notable protege. In fact, he literally wrote the book on Roberts, The Jazz Guitar Stylings of Howard Roberts.

"The record company chose the tunes from the pop charts and Broadway," said Holder. "I know when he got 'Winchester Cathedral.' He was thinking, 'What am I gonna do with this piece of crap?' But he worked it up to have an old-timey banjo sound, and it became a masterpiece." It, and several other meticulous H.R. transcriptions, are included in Holder's book.

Hollywood studio guitar doyen Bob Bain laughed, "Howard would pull all-nighters before those sessions. He'd stay up arranging, then go straight to the studio to record. Jack [Marshall] and Howard would come to my place and stay up writing charts and arrangements for the next day's session. Even if I wasn't there, my wife, Judy, would give them the run of the place. Sometimes, I'd be on the date with them the next day... though I had enough sense to get some sleep!"

The Capitol albums brought Roberts major visibility among guitarists and jazz fans. He was, however, paid only scale for the dates, and never got a dime on the back end.

The Studio Years
Holder recalls Roberts' reaction to much of L.A.'s jazz scene moving to New York in the early '60s. "Many of the L.A. jazz musicians consequently turned to the film and TV studios for their livelihoods," he said. That's when Roberts quickly became a first-call session player who would eventually, and later routinely, log more than 900 sessions per year. That includes playing on nearly 400 film scores. Howard said between 1966 and '76, he played on more than 2,000 record albums.

In addition to "The Deputy," Roberts' TV work included playing the eerie theme for "The Twilight Zone," working on the scores for "The Munsters," "The Flintstones," "The Addams Family," "Gilligan's Island" and hundreds more. He even played scene-transition cues on the plectrum banjo for "The Beverly Hillbillies." On his record dates, he lent his talent to such artists as Peggy Lee, Dean Martin, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Bobby Darin, Duane Eddy, The Monkees, Jimmy Smith, The Beach Boys, Rick Nelson, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, The Electric Prunes, and even Chet Atkins.

One story commonly passed along illuminates Roberts' iconoclastic and colorful nature. Chronicled in Don Menn's 1979 interview with Roberts for Guitar Player, it recounts H.R. emerging heroic from an embarrassing predicament on a recording date for the '65 film The Sandpiper.

The session was at MGM, where studio parking was unavailable to musicians. Roberts was 30 minutes late and had to park three blocks away, then run through a downpour. The part called for his nylon-string guitar, for which he had no case. So he carried it in a paper bag, and when he arrived, the impatient conductor, Robert Armbruster, glowered at Roberts, who was emptying water from his guitar on to the studio floor. Once the little Martin was wiped off, Armbruster told him, "Well, you have to play this solo and I have to get the timing right."

"It had to be on the money, something like 51.2 seconds long,"Roberts recalled. "And I was shocked when I saw the music. I'd never played those chords in my life. But by golly, I got it right the very first time. And the conductor got it right. It was so amazing that everyone applauded."

The famous song from that film, "The Shadow of Your Smile" was a catalyst in connecting a teenaged Holder to Roberts. Holder was studying the tune with his teacher when he heard Roberts' recording of "Shadow" on his Capitol album, Whatever's Fair.

"The treatment was so different that it blew me away," Holder recalls. "Everybody played it as a slow ballad, but here's Howard playing it as a medium-tempo swing, and just making it cook! Well my dad, who was a doctor, had a patient who knew Howard, and arranged for me to take lessons from him. So, H.R. started taking me to sessions right away.

"The first time I met him, he wanted me to wait right outside of Universal. This was in 1966. I didn't know what to expect, but here comes this red Porsche. The door flies open, and Howard says, 'Hop in.' I thought, 'This guy is way cool. Here's a jazz guitar player, driving a red Porsche and taking me to Universal, where he's doing a session with my other hero, Barney Kessel.' I was mesmerized."

Speaking of Kessel, Roberts once asked the jazz great for a guitar lesson. Kessel responded, "The only thing I can teach you is that there's nothing I can teach you."

Howard Roberts Epi
Photo: Tim May.
Howard Roberts' '37 Epiphone Broadway
This is a1937 Epiphone Broadway, but it has a Deluxe-style neck and fingerboard. I bought it about five years ago from a guitar player named John Hannam, who lives in Oregon and hung out with Howard when he lived there. John acquired the guitar from Howard's widow, Patty, and my understanding is that Howard got the guitar from George Van Eps. I recently showed the guitar to Bob Bain, who played a lot with George Van Eps, and Bob instantly remembered George playing this guitar before George went to the seven-string.As far as I know, the guitar was built by Epiphone with this neck, and blond finish. John had it refinished by a luthier named Saul Koll, who did a beautiful job. John Carruthers built and installed the floating pickup for me. The guitar sounds incredible, and plays great!
There's an old Epiphone ad that shows Howard Roberts playing what looks like this guitar. – Tim May

Spector and H.R. – Oil and Water
Holder also recalls how Roberts told him about one day becoming so aggravated after a studio date that he smashed his Martin nylon-string in the fireplace. "It was because of a Phil Spector session," Holder said.

H.R.'s relationship with the producer was indeed strained. Often, Spector's sessions called for Roberts to play a barre chord on a 12-string for hours at a time. It was typical of Spector to slavishly rehearse his musicians for hours. Consequently, Howard developed hand problems. "I had to get a specialist from Canada to come down and straighten me out," he said.

Holder related another dissonant episode between Roberts and Spector, when the producer had a penchant for packing heat at his sessions. Roberts, an avid outdoorsman with a fervent respect for firearms, recoiled on a date when Spector's pistol fired into the ceiling. H.R. left the session, telling Spector, "I just can't do this. I can't stay here. Don't call me again." In Denny Tedesco's documentary, The Wrecking Crew, noted session drummer Hal Blaine said, "Howard Roberts was the only person I've ever seen walk out on a date." Holder added, "It wasn't really like Howard to get mad, but he had such respect for firearms."

Benson Amps




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Elantric

Benson Amps
In 1968, Roberts was working virtually non-stop in the studios and gigging at night with such jazz greats as Buddy DeFranco and Jack Sheldon. Because he was playing both jazz and rock dates, he needed an amplifier that would produce a variety of sounds. At the time, no commercial amp offered tremolo, reverb and the various sonics he needed on a daily basis. Ron Benson, Roberts' former student, wanted to build something that replicated the jazz sound of their favorite amp, Gibson's GA-50.

"The GA-50 had a gorgeous jazz sound, but wasn't suitable for the studio," Benson said. "And it wasn't very powerful. So if Howard played a club with even a trio, it would get buried. Also, he'd been using a very low-power Gibson Falcon in the studios. It was small with a 12″ speaker and a tiny magnet, but it got the rock sound he needed. So I told Howard I was going to build an amp that sounded like the GA-50 but with more power. He told me he'd give me the funds to build one for each of us. I took a year, but after he'd played it on several dates other players became interested. So we'd build amps in my garage. Then, one night, Howard went outside and dropped all the beer bottles in a metal trash can and woke the neighbors up. They figured out we had a business going and the city made us move." After a few years and a couple of unfortunate investor snafus, the Benson company eventually folded, but still produced about 2,000 amps.

Today, a few lucky players own one. Studio ace Tim May has one, along with a box full of the sound-processor modules that plug in the amp's rear. "I use an old Benson 300 with a 15″ Altec," May said. "It gets a real presence and a rich sound. It's a great amp and weighs 300 pounds (laughs)! But it's the best jazz amp around. I recorded an album in '99 and did an A/B comparison with several amps, and the Benson was the cleanest and the richest. You could play really thick-voiced chords and hear every note with no intermodulation."

Seminars, Columns, Books, and GIT
After years of the studio grind, Roberts felt the need to fulfill his passion for teaching. He created a guitar curriculum that included much of what he'd learned throughout his career. He covered such subjects as learning techniques, coping with difficult charts, sonic shapes, and even a tongue-in-cheek icebreaker – finding a place to park. He was soon traveling the country, presenting seminars.

"I drove from Seattle to San Francisco in 1972 to a Howard Roberts Seminar at the American Music Hall," recalls Roberts associate Don Mock. Like everybody else, I saw the ad in Guitar Player, paid my $100, and was among about 30 students. When it was time for someone to get up and play a song with Howard, I got volunteered, as I was one of the better players there.

"Later, I mentioned to him that I had a ton of students in Seattle and that he should present a seminar there. He said, 'Okay, I'll come. You put it on.' And he did, and I had about 60 people show up. Then he started coming regularly in '74."

Not long after, having spent years on the road and having moved his family to Oregon, Mock recalls how Roberts struck on an idea.

"One day, probably in 1975, we were eating breakfast and he said, 'What do think about a school for guitar players? I know a guy in L.A., Pat Hicks, who wants to open a vocational school for guitarists.'" said Mock. In subsequent months, Roberts' brainchild, Guitar Institute of Technology (now the Musician's Institute of Technology) was realized.

In addition, Howard formed Playback Publishing with the agenda of upgrading guitar education and controlling the quality of materials. Playback published The Howard Roberts Guitar Book, Howard Roberts Chord Melody, Sightreading by Howard Roberts, Super Chops, and his educational masterpiece, Praxis.

H.R. also began writing a popular monthly column for Guitar Player magazine in which he covered many of the topics from his seminars. The column lasted 15 years.

Holder reiterates Roberts' important teaching caveat: Through thematic development, anything will work over anything. Through voice leading, any chord will go to any chord.

"That sums up the basis for his playing – thematic development was first and foremost, and you can hear that principle on anything he ever recorded," Holder added. "I've got it framed in my home studio as a reminder for when I get out of line. H.R. is watching... and listening!"

Howard Roberts Prototype
Photo: Mitch Holder.
The Gibson Howard Roberts Prototype
Howard Roberts played this first prototype of his signature-model Gibson after he retired his famed "Black Guitar" in 1973 until his passing in 1992. It can be heard on numerous albums, including Sounds, Equinox Express Elevator, and The Real Howard Roberts. It's also pictured in the book American Guitars by Tom Wheeler, and The Jazz Guitar, by Maurice Summerfield. He also used it for his own clinics as well as those he conducted for Gibson, played it on the road, and at G.I.T.Bruce Bolen, who was the head of R&D at Gibson in the '70s and '80s, recalled how Howard wanted a couple of changes over the Epi models, mainly a laminated top rather than spruce, and the addition of two frets, giving it 22. At the time, Gibson was working with Bill Lawrence, who designed a full-sized humbucker for the guitar, using a combination of Alnico and ceramic magnets.
According to Bruce, building this guitar proved a challenge, as shop personnel were reluctant to take it on because it would require a lot of handwork. But it happened, and the guitar was then sent to Howard for final approval.

While playing in Seattle in 2000, I visited Patty, and asked if any of Howard's guitars were still around. She said this one was being cared for by a friend. She had it sent to me, and I was surprised at its condition, as Howard was noted for being hard on instruments. He did make some changes, including removing the outer mid-range control, replacing it with Volume and Tone controls. He also changed the original Epiphone pickguard for a bound Gibson-type typically used on an L-5, Super 4, Byrdland, etc. – Mitch Holder

H.R.'s Guitars
Roberts was frequently pictured with a modified '30s Gibson ES-150 known among aficionados and collectors as a "Charlie Christian model." It was his main jazz axe from the early '60s until 1973. Holder's book documents how it was altered so much it's almost unidentifiable as an ES-150.

Originally belonging to Herb Ellis (it was his first guitar, in fact), Roberts purchased it from him in the '50s. Ellis had a repairman replace the neck to allow access to the upper fretboard, and created a notch/cutaway on the upper bass bout. Roberts had his repairman, Jack Willock, make an ebony fingerboard for it. He also had Willock use Bondo autobody filler to beef up the neck, and changed the original bar pickup to a P-90.

On Mike Evans' website dedicated to Roberts, guitar aficionado Larry Grinnell recounts the story behind the first Epiphone Howard Roberts model. "Chicago Musical Instruments, Gibson's parent company, called on product designer and clinician Andy Nelson to head the Epiphone line. In 1962, Nelson contacted a very receptive Howard about endorsing an Epi. The two traded ideas and sketched a concept Nelson sent to the suits at C.M.I., who in turn passed it along to the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, where Epiphones were being built."

"Many months later, I saw a memo from C.M.I., announcing a new Epiphone Howard Roberts model," Nelson added. "It was nothing like our drawings; it was more like a Gibson L-4 (16″ wide, sharp cutaway, carved spruce top) body with an oval soundhole and a Gibson humbucking pickup mounted on the end of the fingerboard. The neck had a notched block inlay on the rosewood fingerboard and Epiphone's 'tree of life' inlay on the peghead. It was a beautiful instrument, no matter who designed it. I later heard through the grapevine that Ted McCarty, Gibson's president, contacted Howard and got him to agree to the changes that became the Epiphone (and later Gibson) Howard Roberts model. The Kalamazoo factory was busy building a variety of models, and a unique new one would have created an additional burden. So they used the slow-selling L-4 as a base. It was easier to modify and they could use existing tooling rather than create a new guitar."

After taking delivery, Roberts called it, "The best guitar I've ever owned." Unfortunately, it and his Benson amp were stolen just three months after it was delivered.

Benson 300 amp
Tim May's Benson 300 amp, designed and built by Ron Benson and Howard Roberts. photo courtesy of Tim May.
In '64, the Howard Roberts Standard was introduced, and shortly after, the Custom. Both had an L-4 body but differed in neck configuration, hardware, and cosmetics. The headstock of the Custom sported Epiphone's traditional vine inlay and an ebony fretboard, while the Standard had an unbound headstock with a different inlay and a rosewood fingerboard. Gibson used its new Johnny Smith floating humbucker attached with a bracket at the end of the neck.

"The first version wound up in the price list in '69 and early '70, as Gibsons," said Holder, who owns a Gibson H.R. prototype. "The main differences are the laminated maple top and rosewood fingerboard."

The H.R. Fusion was another, less-fancy model, with 22 frets and a stop tailpiece. It had little in the way of cosmetics, but Roberts used it while conducting seminars and on a few club dates.

Magnanimous, Mystical, and Anything But "Misty"
Session ace Mike Anthony considered Roberts his avuncular mentor. "The first time I took a lesson from Howard, just being in his presence changed my life and attitude," he said. "He put me on a new path and kicked my ass into a studio career. He told me I was ready. And with confirmation from someone like Howard, it really meant something."

Bassist Chuck Berghofer echoed Anthony's sentiments. Best known for his bass line on the theme for TV's "Barney Miller" and his upright playing on "These Boots Are Made For Walking," Berghofer said, "Howard called me for his Capitol sessions, helping me get a foothold in the studios. And he showed me how to use the power of positive thinking. I'm still playing regular studio dates 40 years later."

Guitarist Howard Alden studied at G.I.T. and remained there as an instructor before splitting for New York and a major jazz career. Among his many other film gigs, that's Alden playing guitar for Sean Penn in Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown.

"Howard encouraged me to hang with good players, because they won't be competitive," Alden said. "And if you have to find a substitute for yourself on a gig, find the best player you can. Your employer will appreciate it. The first two or three afternoons we spent together, he made so many things understandable and clear, and introduced me to his ideas of learning efficiently and intelligently. At that time, he was showing me what eventually became his book, Super Chops."

Roberts son, Jay, whose album, Son of a Dirty Guitar Player, showcases his own monster chops and progressive playing, gave a glimpse of his dad's teaching technique. "When I moved out at age 18, I'd return every night to hang and play. Sometimes, when I'd ask, 'What song?' he would say, 'No song and no key.' And he'd turn off the lights so we'd be in the dark. He'd accompany me with these lush chords and provide a real foundation. And he'd always save me just before I'd crash. Sometimes, he would limit me to one string and tape off the other five. He's say, 'It takes 21 days to "own" something you're learning.' That's how long it takes the brain and your muscle memory to retain what you're working on. He also taught me to put down my guitar after I'd played something correctly so my subsconscious mind could process it. You don't want to clutter things and undermine your progress."

And May, who played the outrageous version of "Johnny B. Goode" for Michael J. Fox's character in Back to the Future, adds, "When Howard was very sick I'd call to ask him how he was doing. He'd say, 'I'm dying, and there's nothing anyone can do about that. But how are you doing? Are you getting to play?'"

Mock, who today works with Jay Roberts at the Roberts Institute of Music, in Seattle, added, "I've never met anybody even remotely similar to Howard. He was so intense and inspiring."

Pitman, who was usually in the rhythm section of H.R.'s Capitol recordings said, "Howard was always learning and striving for new things and wanted everything to sound hipper. He had so much energy and wouldn't settle for his own brilliance. He had to keep moving and finding something new. He was insatiable that way."

Roberts' daughter, Madelyn, relates a story of her dad being called for a San Francisco rock session he didn't want to play. He knew there was capable talent there to cover it, so he priced himself out of the date by asking an ridiculous amount, "Something like three grand," she recalled. "But the producer still wanted him. When he got there, he looked at the chart and saw it was a mess. That's when he knew why he'd been called. The producer knew Dad was a professional and wouldn't embarrass him in front of his artist. So he laid down tracks he thought would enhance the session, like nothing was wrong. He told me, 'I got the call because I was an old pro.'"

H.R.'s Philosophy
In Menn's 1979 feature in GP, Roberts said, "I don't like to play in public, especially when the name of the game is 'Play "Misty" the way we heard you do it 20 years ago.' Every kind of music you're forced to play and can't get out of drives me crazy. Whether it's rock, jazz, or even classical, after its identity is established, it comes clichéd. So the player has to act out the cliché or he's not believable. And jazz doesn't mean a doggone thing. Does anything fall shorter of the mark than to describe a form of music as jazz? You ask people on the street, and one might say Stan Kenton and another might say John Coltrane. But their music is vastly different. So for me, if all things were wonderful, I'd be an explorer, an astronomer looking for a new star. Or a hobbyist putting combinations of pitches and notes together. The guitar to me is like what a typewriter is to a novelist – a tool for expression. And I truly believe that a good musician can do more to change the temperament and attitude of society than 30 of your average city mayors."

Roberts died in June, 1992, after being diagnosed with prostate cancer a year earlier. His wife, Patty, perhaps best reveals his philosophy and attitude. "Howard was very sick, and I had asked him if he was worried about crossing over. He said, 'I'm only worried about one thing. What am I going to say to Bach?'"

Autana

Thanks, great synopsis on Howard Roberts, who has been for me a very special influence, not only as a guitar player, but also as an innovator and an extraordinary musical pedagogue. I still apply to myself and my students his formative recommendations about learning in "Accelerated Learning" included as a special chapter in the book Ten (GIT) - Ten top Guitarists offer their insights to guitar artistry, originally published in 1982 by Musicians Institute Press, which I bought in 1984 in NY and I still have (and care)

Although I own a PRS Bernie Marsden, I don't like signature guitars for myself, but I have to admit that I still dream of the Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion or the Ibanez / Howard Roberts Lawsuit which with the Gibson Pat Martino would be the only high end guitars with a signature in which I could think to have.

https://musiciansfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/photo2-e1337190209928.jpg?w=620
GR-55, GP-10, GI-20, Godin xtSA, GodinNylon MultiAc, Giannini classical, 3 GK-3'd gtrs, Cube 80XL, Primova GKFX-21 (x2)

Fear just pulls you out of being true to music, which is coming from a place of love. Love is the opposite of fear. I stay away from anything fear-related.
- Tal Wilkenfeld -

chrish

#4


Guitar Player magizine had a good article and cover shot of Howard Roberts in  june 1979.

While pictured with a variety of different guitars, his oval sound hole big box jazz guitar stood out.

While shopping in portland oregon in the mid 90's, taking a day off from wind surfing the columbia gorge, i spotted a used Washburn prototype guitar of the same design and purchased it right away.

It made a great guitar for acoustic electric latin influenced jazz and straight up jazz. I reworked the bridge peizo pickup and preamp, and added a gk-2 pickup to a custom made bridge piece that allowed for getting the gk pu close to the strings.

Elantric

#5

(Ben Lacey, Thomas Nordegg, Jay Roberts)

At 2017 Winter NAMM, I was able to catch up with Jay Roberts,  (Howard's son and monster guitar player in his own right )

Jay continues to run the Roberts Music Institute (RMI) Guitar school that Howard Roberts founded in Bellvue, Washington
http://robertsmusicinstitute.com/
http://robertsmusicinstitute.com/category/instructors/
13417 N.E. 20th St Bellevue WA 98005 (425) 614-4764

I had the good opportunity to meet Howard Roberts in 1980 when i worked on his guitars at Valley Arts, and always try to catch Jay's and Ben Lacey's Performances





I took a liking to this model - '92 Howard Roberts Fusion III

Paresh

I haven't read the article yet but I will. He also wrote a column in Guitar Player Magazine for several years, if that wasn't mentioned. I used to study those articles before i went to GIT. I always enjoyed HR's presentations. He was funny & a genius in my opinion.
paresh

mooncaine

Thanks for this; I haven't read it all but I'm working my way down the page. Like Paresh, I knew of the Howard Roberts articles in the GP Mag. I tend to read every page of Guitar Player magazine, even if I don't know the artist or understand the music much. I saw his name here and recognized it from reading GP.

Paresh

HR showed up for a seminar one time at GIT, & he had been up all night. He said excuse me for a minute & laid down on the stage for a 2 minute nap. He got up, said "much better", and gave a great seminar. He was really into body/mind concepts, even though he was a drinker & smoker too.
paresh

Rhcole

Saw HR live at a club in San Diego in the 70's. By good fortune, my table was literally right in front of him. He was blazing away in the middle of a solo that looked like he had 40 fingers on his left hand, and suddenly a clunking tuna of a bad note jumped out. Howard actually stopped for a second and yelled "SH**! I missed it!!", with the result being that his entire band and the audience started laughing. It was great.

admin

#10
Mitch Holder studied with Howard Roberts and youve probably heard him on countless TV shows and Movie  soundtracks


https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/mitch-holder?fbclid=IwAR0ovq6zQCk9HaAn5oYdf6O0CXt2nUEHyGSYn3zVyfAJDeKQFZT4Hq70MEA


admin

#12
LIST of Recordings With Howard Roberts As Sideman, 1950-1959
http://utstat.utoronto.ca/mikevans/hroberts/sounds/side50s.html




admin

#13

HR's '52 Telecaster - the most heard guitar in TV history

This guitar is recognized as the "Most Heard Guitar" in television History.
See if you can Name all of the TV Tunes?
Jack Marshal composed and arranged much of the Commercial work that HR Played on, in addition to several of his Howard Roberts Records. Jack was also his Producer and Best Friend in the LA studio scene. They both had a sense of humor that became the bedrock of their relationship, and some might say a rather "extreme" sense of humor. Here is a great "Tele-Story" depicting some of the craziness that they would get into, as told by Jacks son, Phil Marshal (also a legendary LA Film composer) Enjoy!

The Howard Roberts Project CD and Documentary will be released Jan 22, 2015 at the Namm show, at the

THE HOWARD ROBERTS CELEBRITY GUITAR SUMMIT CONCERT

For more info about Howards' Life and Career as a leading session guitarist and Music educator, please visit;
HowardRobertsProject.com

Be sure to Join the HR Project mailing list to get links to future postings of the documentary
howardrobertsproject.com/contact/

https://vimeo.com/jayroberts

Crazystrings

What a great thread as a tribute to a great musician, Howard Roberts.

I loved his columns in Guitar Player mag. As I became aware of session musicians I came to appreciate his contributions.
Fender American Strat 1992 w/GK3
Godin Nylon Multiac SA
Washburn J6 archtop
Taylor 510 Dreadnaught
Taylor  K24ce
Roland GR55
Boss SY-1
And a whole lot of stuff!