Photo: CC 3.0 Chris Muller

Blues Image guitarist/frontman, Iron Butterfly guitarist and late 70 - early 80's Alice Cooper band guitarist Mike Pinera passed away Wednesday (11/20) at the age of 76. Pinera's biggest song/vocal credit was on the 1970 Blues Image hit Ride Captain, Ride.

Photo: Julien's Auctions

A Futurama electric guitar George Harrison bought for 58 pounds when he was a teenager and paid-off in 44 installments sold at a Julien's auction this weekend in Nashville for $1.27 million. The future Beatle lusted for a Fender Stratocaster, but it was way beyond his means, so he settled for the Czech manufactured knock-off. Harrison played the instrument at more than 300 gigs, making it one of the more unique instruments associated with the group to become available.  The final price was more than double what the guitar had been expected to sell for.
 

Alice Brock, proprietor of Alice's Restaurant when an 18 year-old Arlo Guthrie visited Brock and her husband as they were in the process of converting a defunct Massachusetts church into their home in November, 1965, has passed away. Guthrie and a friend offered to help cart garbage and other unneeded items to the dump. Finding it closed due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the two offloaded the trash and debris onto a nearby lot. That led to a run-in with the law the following day and Guthrie getting charged with littering which, in turn, inspired Guthrie to pen the epic 1967 song Alice's Restaurant Massacree. Brock was 83. Many a glass will be raised at Thanksgving tables in her honor next Thursday.

The iconic guitars played by Jeff Beck throughout a career that established him as one of the best guitarists in history will be auctioned in London by Christies in January. The instruments will be on display in LA next month. Beck's wife, Sandra, conveyed these thoughts about her husband, his remarkable career and his passion for playing in the Christies announcement... “I hope you enjoy reading through this release and the future catalogue featuring the tools of my Gorgeous Jeff’s life. These guitars were his great love and after almost two years of his passing it's time to part with them as Jeff wished. After some hard thinking I decided they need to be shared, played and loved again. It is a massive wrench to part with them but I know Jeff wanted for me to share this love. He was a maestro of his trade. He never lusted after commercial success. For him it was just about the music. He constantly reinvented himself with his musical direction and I could not single out one person, one recording or one guitar as his favourite. I hope the future guitarists who acquire these items are able to move closer to the genius who played them. Thank you all for considering a small piece of Jeff that I am now hoping to share with you.”