Bert Weedon

During the 1950s, rock & roll struggled to take hold in England due to broader cultural divides from America and the absence of any established jazz or blues lineage that might have produced local guitar stars. Bert Weedon stood apart as the lone exception, an electric guitar instrumentalist whose technically masterful performances offered the sole version of the instrument that many adults found respectable. Although his polished pop-instrumental recordings lacked the edge to draw teenagers drawn instead to Lonnie Donegan, the classically trained player's technical mastery, combined with a namesake guitar instruction program, provided an entry point for younger players unwilling to copy Scotty Moore, Buddy Holly, Les Paul, Charlie Christian, or Django Reinhardt. In musical terms he occupied the same territory as Roger Williams or Ferrante & Teicher. By the close of the decade, homegrown rock & roll figures such as the Shadows' Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, along with assorted lead guitarists and session player Big Jim Sullivan, had filled that role. Weedon nevertheless endured as a fondly remembered and consistently popular presence across England, continuing into the 1990s to release guitar-led instrumental renditions of Broadway and Hollywood standards. He passed away at his Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire residence in April 2012 at the age of 91.