Gibson Guitars shipped its first Flying V guitar on this day in 1958. The radical design of the guitar's body didn't take off with musicians the way a lot of cars sporting sharp fin design elements did with car buyers at the time, but enough players picked-up on it to maintain at least modest production into the following year. Albert King and Lonnie Mack made early models their go-to instruments, but slack sales put an end to the V before the new decade began. Renewed interest when Dave Davies of the Kinks and some others started brandishing them in the mid '60's got Gibson to resume production in 1967.  One of those got snapped-up by Jimi Hendrix.  Gibson also made a custom V for Jimi in 1969.

 

The 1967 "Love Drops" V Jimi painted designs on using polish is the guitar he used on All Along the Watchtower on 1968's Electric Ladyland.  The original Hendrix artwork on the guitar was painted over at one point, but was recreated in the 1990s.  It was included in the Play It Loud exhibit that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and at the Rock Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

 

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on February 21 include...

 

1943 Record label exec David Geffen born.

1949 Jerry Harrison of the Talking Heads born.

1951 Tubes and Grateful Dead keyboard player Vince Welnick born.

?1964 Billy Joel becomes a member of a group named The Echoes.

1967 The Beatles and Pink Floyd are both recording at Abbey Road Studios, Beatles working on Sgt. Pepper song Fixing A Hole, and Floyd starting to record The Piper at the Gates of Dawn album.

1975 John Entwistle opens the first solo tour by a member of the Who.

1976 Bad Company releases Run With The Pack.

1986 Elvis Costello releases King of America.

1992 John Mellencamp makes his acting, producing and writing film debut in Falling From Grace.
1995 Bruce Springsteen reunites with the E Street Band after a 7 year hiatus.

2008 A record collection with 3 million lps, CDs and 45s is sold by an American collector to someone in Ireland.

2014 A film crew member loses her life when train plows into scene where Gregg Allman biopic is being shot near Jessup, Georgia.  Movie is scrapped after lawsuits are filed as a result of the incident.

2014 Statue of Kurt Cobain gets unveiled in his hometown, Aberdeen, Washington.

2019 Monkees bass and keyboard player Peter Tork dies of tongue cancer.

2021 Ozzy Osbourne releases Ordinary Man...