Hank on Jools Holland Later

[Alan Prudhoe]

I would still have expected him to check that the information on the website was correct.

[Pinner Fan]

The interviews on the two Later programmes were both different.

Clearly they filmed two different interviews, one short ......... one quite a bit longer.

They may have asked a couple of the same question but they were two different interviews.
.

[hbmartin]

I would still have expected him to check that the information on the website was correct.

Probably busy paying in at the bank . . .

[donna plasky]

Did anyone notice that on one of the breakfast TV shows, Hank (when asked the same old questions about the original Strat), said it was Buddy Holly (aka, seeing Buddy on TV) who inspired them to seek out a Strat. They've always cited James Burton as the reason, and they've joked that James actually played a Tele not a Strat which was a detail they found out after-the-fact. And Hank said that he thought possession of the guitar went from Cliff to Bruce in about 1968, but conventional wisdom has held that it was more like the mid-1970s when Bruce was Cliff's Producer. This promo video, which I've posted before, has a guitar that looks a lot like the Strat in question, but then again so would most Custom Strats with gold hardware. But the timing is right - mid 1970s.



This is really minutia; it doesn't matter. I was just a little surprised. The issue about who owns the guitar and whether was it given or borrowed seems to always have always been up for discussion, perhaps all in fun. The Buddy Holly part is new to me.

Kind regards,
Donna

[Hank2k]

Hi Donna

As far as I know bruce always said cliff gave him the guitar as a thank you for getting him back in to the charts with the "I'm nearly famous" album in 1976 so it would have been around this time. I do believe regardless of the story if cliff really wanted it back he would get it back, I'm sure it is more of a joke now that keeps people interested and to be honest Bruce owning it has meant real fans have been able to see it and hold it etc for that he deserves to own it.

[Established1958]

Hi Donna,
As Steve said Bruce has always told us Cliff gave him the guitar around the time of Nearly Famous though it appears to be the Strat in its "White" period in the Video. Just to further confuse My Kinda Life is from Every Face Tells a Story in 1977 but Bruce was apparently using 34346 when The Shadows appeared on The Cilla Black Show in 1974.
So was the guitar passing back and forth? Was there more than one White Strat? One thing is for certain Bruce has certainly been the longest custodian and I wouldn't question his ownership. Cliff has had plenty of time to ask for it back especially during the 2009 tour.
Now to address your other question. Hank and Bruce saw a Strat on the cover of the "Chirpin' Crickets" LP being held by Buddy and The Crickets ( a pose they would later copy themselves ) and they then assumed James Burton would have the same model as it was the most expensive in the catalog.
I hope that helps your understanding of the comments made by Hank.
Howard

[donna plasky]

Thank you for the information, Howard. I learned a few things that I did not know. I just hope you didn't think I was doubting what Hank said about Buddy Holly. I wasn't...I was just interested because he usually says James Burton and I was curious about why he mentioned Buddy Holly. Thanks for the explanation. It's very interesting and very important.

[ecca]

I can't wait for tonight at the Hankies to see if he pops in to visit us !

[Moderne]

Hank appeared to be playing guitar quite happily alongside Bruce all the way through the '80s while Bruce was strumming 34346, without this story of disputed ownership ever cropping up. Maybe Hank didn't realise how many hundreds of thousands of pounds it would be worth then...

[Andy Stace]

In various interviews since the Cliff / Shads reunion tour, Hank has stated that during that tour Bruce admitted he had borrowed the strat. I seem to remember him also stating that Cliff has left Hank the guitar in his will, so if anything was to happen to Cliff before Hank and Bruce things may get interesting!
It is a bit disappointing that Hank seems to be having a go at Bruce about this while he is plugging the new CD, ironic as clips of the Shadows are being shown to help plug it! Pity he couldn't say that Bruce has done a great job in looking after and maintaining the guitar over the last 40 years or so!