Jas, don't know if you read these or not, but as I sit in my office here at home, I'm three feet away from a bookcase with over 40 years worth of Guitar Player magazines. I started reading Guitar Player my senior year in high school, when I started studying with a really great teacher. I've been a subscriber ever since. My brother still kids me about calling home from work in high school and early college to ask him to check the mail to see if my new issue of GP had arrived yet. I've read and re-read many of your interviews. Thanks for sharing these recordings and memories. It's great fun for all of us guitar geeks!
"Stefan Grossman, & John Renbourn". I have that in hard copy. Also the rockabilly series, the wonderful 1 on 1 with Chuck Berry, Mike Bloomfield, the Duane Allman retrospective and more. GP could stretch out back in the da No way a magazine these days would put out great blocks of print like that. Hats off for doing it right.
During the pre-internet era, magazines were our only window to professional music. Guitar Player and guitarist (uk) were total gems for me in late 80s.. looking for old issues, searching for special cover artists in secondhand racks in Denmark street is still so vivid.
Thank you for sharing that Jas! My teenage self from 1980-84 boarding school days rejoiced at the flashback!  my academics went down the tube the moment the new issue of guitar player arrived in the mailbox in those days! The classic Guitar Player Magazine era!
What an epic blast from the past, Jas! And, that’s exactly how I recall that Golden Era many years later. I remember as a teenager stopping by the Saratoga office (above the morgue) and met Don Menn where he promptly put me on the GP comp list? I got the magazine every month for 35 years! GP was a treasure with a crack crew of wonderful people. Glad to hear you had editorial freedom. When I wrote for Vintage Guitar and later Premier Guitar, they let me dictate how my columns ended up. I found out later that I was an exception to that editing rule……You have to have a clear vision and a mission to influence the world!
Yes, I truly appreciated Guitar Player magazine back in the day, but what I really can’t get over is stumbling across another devotee of All About Archaeology. As soon as I finished the article I ran (all excited) to the bookshelf and here it is. Christmas 1964. Etruscans, Minoans, Greeks! I loved it then and I love it now.
Amazing how reading this brought old memories back to the front of my mind! I still have a lot of the old GP magazines (including the Eric Johnson cover issue - which I was perusing once again last week 😁).
Thanks for sharing this - I definitely appreciate it!!!
What an amazingly beautiful piece, Jas. I lived all of those stories of yours as a subscriber, and they made a huge impact on me. You and I never worked together, because I was one of those lucky writers that was given a voice because you left. I’m super grateful for that and for all of your great work. Thanks!
What a fun and enriching career you had. I was 18 in 1978, and just off to college in Madison, WI. I already was a guitar player and was lucky to have some music-oriented roommates during those years. Saw a lot of great artists during my time there when I was not studying - accounting. While my professional career was quite a bit more exciting than one might expect, guitar and music in general continue to enrich my life. Thanks for sharing this great story.
Jas, don't know if you read these or not, but as I sit in my office here at home, I'm three feet away from a bookcase with over 40 years worth of Guitar Player magazines. I started reading Guitar Player my senior year in high school, when I started studying with a really great teacher. I've been a subscriber ever since. My brother still kids me about calling home from work in high school and early college to ask him to check the mail to see if my new issue of GP had arrived yet. I've read and re-read many of your interviews. Thanks for sharing these recordings and memories. It's great fun for all of us guitar geeks!
Wonderful article. Thanks for this, Jas.
"Stefan Grossman, & John Renbourn". I have that in hard copy. Also the rockabilly series, the wonderful 1 on 1 with Chuck Berry, Mike Bloomfield, the Duane Allman retrospective and more. GP could stretch out back in the da No way a magazine these days would put out great blocks of print like that. Hats off for doing it right.
During the pre-internet era, magazines were our only window to professional music. Guitar Player and guitarist (uk) were total gems for me in late 80s.. looking for old issues, searching for special cover artists in secondhand racks in Denmark street is still so vivid.
I started reading GP in April of 1983, and loved the mag and your column Jas. Your Meat Puppets article in the July 1987 mag turned me on to the band
Thank you.
Thank you for sharing that Jas! My teenage self from 1980-84 boarding school days rejoiced at the flashback!  my academics went down the tube the moment the new issue of guitar player arrived in the mailbox in those days! The classic Guitar Player Magazine era!
This is the best article on any subject that I read in the latest three-five years.
Thank you so much!
What an epic blast from the past, Jas! And, that’s exactly how I recall that Golden Era many years later. I remember as a teenager stopping by the Saratoga office (above the morgue) and met Don Menn where he promptly put me on the GP comp list? I got the magazine every month for 35 years! GP was a treasure with a crack crew of wonderful people. Glad to hear you had editorial freedom. When I wrote for Vintage Guitar and later Premier Guitar, they let me dictate how my columns ended up. I found out later that I was an exception to that editing rule……You have to have a clear vision and a mission to influence the world!
Yes, I truly appreciated Guitar Player magazine back in the day, but what I really can’t get over is stumbling across another devotee of All About Archaeology. As soon as I finished the article I ran (all excited) to the bookshelf and here it is. Christmas 1964. Etruscans, Minoans, Greeks! I loved it then and I love it now.
Amazing how reading this brought old memories back to the front of my mind! I still have a lot of the old GP magazines (including the Eric Johnson cover issue - which I was perusing once again last week 😁).
Thanks for sharing this - I definitely appreciate it!!!
Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.
My wife (who doesn't play guitar) had Tom Wheeler as a journalism teacher at Univ Of Oregon in the early 90's.
She said he was one of the best professors she ever had.
What an amazingly beautiful piece, Jas. I lived all of those stories of yours as a subscriber, and they made a huge impact on me. You and I never worked together, because I was one of those lucky writers that was given a voice because you left. I’m super grateful for that and for all of your great work. Thanks!
What a fun and enriching career you had. I was 18 in 1978, and just off to college in Madison, WI. I already was a guitar player and was lucky to have some music-oriented roommates during those years. Saw a lot of great artists during my time there when I was not studying - accounting. While my professional career was quite a bit more exciting than one might expect, guitar and music in general continue to enrich my life. Thanks for sharing this great story.
Thanks for sharing, Jas! I always admired your work.