Latest news with #KimMitchell
Hamilton Spectator
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
The search for Kim Mitchell's beloved guitar, stolen after a gig in Hamilton 50 years ago
Call it the cold case of the missing guitar. More than 50 years ago, on Jan. 11, 1975, the rock band Max Webster wrapped up a weeklong gig at Duffy's Rockpile Tavern on King Street East in Hamilton. They packed their gear into a van and stopped at a nearby restaurant for a bite before heading out of town. But they made a classic error in judgment: they left the van unattended. Kim Mitchell, in a circa 1968 photo, plays the orange Gretsch guitar that was stolen seven years later. When they returned, two electric guitars, a bass and other belongings — including clothes and Christmas presents — were gone. Insurance helped cover the loss. But one guitar — an orange 1963 Gretsch Nashville 6120 — had deep sentimental value and could never be replaced. It belonged to singer and guitarist Kim Mitchell, a cherished gift from his father. '(My dad's) house was 11 grand at the time. The guitar was 700 (dollars). Do the math today and know that he really spent huge bucks for me,' Mitchell, now 73, is quoted as saying in the coffee-table book 'Max Webster: High Class,' by Bob Wegner. The cover of Bob Wegner's coffee-table book 'Max Webster High Class.' Wegner — currently updating the book for a second printing — is hoping to solve the mystery of the missing guitar. Inspired by recent high-profile recoveries of long-lost instruments, he has launched a web-based campaign called 'Kim's Lost Guitar Project' to try to track it down. The effort is especially reminiscent of Randy Bachman's lost and recovered instrument — an orange Gretsch 6120 from 1957, six years older than Mitchell's. It was stolen from a Toronto hotel room in 1976, a year after Mitchell's instrument disappeared. Like Mitchell, Bachman received his Gretsch as a teenager, and it became part of his early sound and identity. Kim Mitchell as a teenager playing his beloved Gretsch 6120 guitar that was stolen in 1975 after a show at Duffy's Tavern in Hamilton. Vintage Gretsch 6120 guitars are highly prized by collectors, fetching from $5,000 to more than $20,000 depending on year and condition. The Gretsch 6120 is one of the most iconic hollow-body electric guitars in history, closely associated with legendary guitarist Chet Atkins, who helped design the model in the mid-1950s. Atkins played one himself, as did rockabilly pioneers Eddie Cochran and Duane Eddy. Decades later, it became the signature guitar of Brian Setzer, frontman of the Stray Cats. George Harrison, during early Beatles years, played a Gretsch Country Gentleman — a cousin of the 6120 also part of the Chet Atkins line. Bachman, famous for playing in The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, got his guitar back in July 2022 — thanks to a fan named William Long from British Columbia who recognized it online. Incredibly, Long used facial recognition technology on photos and videos to locate Bachman's guitar. In the same way a face is recognized by subtle features, he focused on nuances of wood grain and blemishes to make a positive ID. The guitar had made its way to Japan, where it was played by a musician named Takeshi. Once verified by serial number as Bachman's guitar, a trade was arranged. He gave Takeshi an almost identical vintage Gretsch in exchange. Canadian rock legend Randy Bachman, right, receives his stolen Gretsch guitar in 2022 at Canadian Embassy in Tokyo. More recently, Paul McCartney's original violin-shaped Höfner bass was found after being missing for more than 50 years. An international search campaign called 'The Lost Bass Project' led to its return in 2024. Jimmy Page and Peter Frampton have also been reunited with stolen instruments in recent years. Another guitar at the centre of a global search is the cherry-red Gibson ES-345 played by Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) in 'Back to the Future.' It vanished after filming in 1985, but this year, Gibson launched a 'Lost to the Future' campaign to locate it. No luck so far, but a documentary film is underway about the search. One challenge in finding Mitchell's guitar is the serial number is not known. 'Kim doesn't remember it,' says Wegner, a musician and writer who grew up in Hamilton but now lives in Montreal. 'But there's a scratch on the back of the body and a cigarette burn on the headstock near the low E tuning key that would make the instrument stand out.' Rocker Kim Mitchell, left, who was the guitarist and singer for the band Max Webster, poses with author Bob Wegner. The Mitchell Gretsch is also identifiable by double cutaways on the body — rather than the usual single cutaway on the 6120 — red felt around the mute switch, painted F-holes, and a horseshoe inlay on the headstock. Wegner has photos from the 1970s that could help confirm a match. Maybe facial recognition-style software — like what was used in identifying Bachman's guitar — could verify a found instrument's identity. Software online can do this for free or at low cost. Wegner says he's exploring the possibilities. Mitchell could not be reached for comment, but Wegner says he supports the lost guitar campaign. Larry Feudo, president of the Hamilton Musicians' Guild Local 293 A F of M, says gear theft is a major problem for musicians. So much so, instruments with sentimental or high monetary value are often not taken on the road out of fear of losing them. 'Thefts happen all the time,' Feudo says. 'Guitars are regularly stolen out of vans. Thieves scope it out. Never leave your gear unattended.' The Max Webster theft was written about at the time by Windsor Star rock writer John Laycock, who followed the band closely. 'Some of the stuff was covered by insurance, but that's not the point,' he wrote. 'A musician develops a special relationship with a guitar that's something like sex and something like family and something like best friends — and still a little different than all three. That's why a man's 'axe' is irreplaceable; each has its own personality which can't be duplicated.' Max Webster circa 1978 featuring, from left, Dave Myles, Terry Watkinson, Pye Dubois, Kim Mitchell, Nick Krewen, Gary McCracken, in a dressing room at Uncle Sam's in Niagara Falls. Max Webster, which broke up in 1981 with the launch of Mitchell's solo career, was known for their energetic performances of hard rock and whimsical lyrics. They played during an era that was notable for bands being booked for an entire week at a club, rather than a single night as is typical today. That was the way it worked at Duffy's, a storied, dingy basement bar at 59 King St. E. that featured Max Webster and even Rush in their early days. Duffy's went out of business in 1979, and the space reopened under new owners, first as a country music bar before returning to rock when it was known as Oliver's. That club lasted until 1997. Duffy's Tavern on King Street East in Hamilton was a popular nightspot to hear live music in the 1970s. Feudo says members of the famed Hamilton band Crowbar frequented the nightspot, including harmonica legend Richard Newell, who performed as 'King Biscuit Boy.' Newell, who died in 2003, wrote or cowrote a song inspired by the venue called 'Blues for Duffy's Tavern,' found on his album 'Badly Bent: The Best of King Biscuit Boy.' Maybe someday, someone will write a new song — about the return of a big orange guitar that used to ring out in a long-lost barroom on King Street.
CBC
24-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
50 years ago, rocker Kim Mitchell's guitar was stolen in Hamilton. Now his biographer wants to get it back
If you've got an orange 1963 Gretsch guitar kicking around, Bob Wegner would like to know. It may just be the cherished instrument stolen from Canadian rock icon Kim Mitchell during a trip to Hamilton in 1975. Wegner, a professional musician and music historian, learned about the stolen guitar while writing a book on Mitchell's 1970s hard rock band, Max Webster. "No guitar will ever replace the guitar you cut your teeth on," he said. "Just a part of you goes missing." Inspired by successful efforts to return lost or stolen guitars to the likes of Paul McCartney, Randy Bachman and Jimmy Page, Wegner said he wanted to do the same for Mitchell. In the spring, Wegner launched Kim's Lost Guitar Project, a website with photos of and information about Mitchell's guitar, and an email for people to contact if they think they've found it. Wegner, who's based in Montreal and was born in Hamilton, said only about 30 Gretsch Nashville 6120 guitars were ever made. The instrument has double cutaways, red felt around the mute switch, painted F-holes and a horseshoe on the headstock. Mitchell's had a scratch on the back of the body and a cigarette burn on the headstock by the low E tuning peg. Mitchell's dad bought the guitar for him at a time when money was tight, Wegner said. "'His house was $11,000 at the time. The guitar $700. Do the math today and know that he really spent huge bucks for me,'" Wegner quotes Mitchell as saying on his website. Did the bright orange guitar clash with Mitchell's outfits? Maybe, Wegner said. "But it doesn't matter. He could rock anything and just he looked great with it." Wegner said Mitchell also told him that playing the guitar out of a Marshall amp was the best guitar sound he'd ever heard. "To have him plug that into a Marshall again would be so completely worth it." CBC Hamilton reached out to Mitchell for comment but did not receive a response before publication time. Wegner said he hasn't yet received any tips about the guitar, so he's trying to raise awareness about his efforts. Guitar stolen from van after Duffy's Tavern gig Max Webster was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2023, noting that with Mitchell as its frontman, the band released seven albums from 1976 to 1981 — six of which received gold status certification and one platinum certification in Canada. Born in Sarnia, Ont., Mitchell went on to have a successful solo career, with tunes including Go For Soda and Patio Lanterns. He's now 73 and still performing. Wegner wasn't yet born when Max Webster broke up, but he said he grew up listening to the band and loved it. As he got interested in music history, he realized nobody had done a book on the band, so he decided to write one. The result was Max Webster: High Class, for which he interviewed band members, including Mitchell. Through that process, Wegner learned about the stolen guitar. He said Mitchell's bandmates recalled how devastated Mitchell was when it was taken from the band's van before they left town after a string of shows at Duffy's Tavern. Earl Johnson, the Hamilton-born guitarist of hard rock band Moxy, came up playing in the same area as Mitchell and Max Webster, though he said he didn't get to know Mitchell until decades later. Johnson told CBC Hamilton that Duffy's was "a great rock club" and the place to see new music in the city. It was a basement club near King and John streets and open six nights a week, Johnson recalled. At the time, he said, musicians would often play six nights a week, living out of hotels and travelling between cities and towns. It's "hard to fathom" how many clubs there were in Ontario, he said, adding there were so many venues, you could have probably toured for a month on Yonge Street in Toronto alone. Now, Johnson said, live music is far less profitable and young musicians he knows say they risk losing money playing live. As for Mitchell's stolen guitar, Johnson said he's heard of that sort of thing happening to musicians before. He said he once had a guitar fall off his vehicle, but luckily he noticed and was able to find it. Wegner said guitar likely has gone through many hands since it was stolen. The person who stole it probably "sold to someone [who] sold to somebody else, and gave it to their friend's dog, and their dog gives it to the squirrel down the street, and the squirrel dies and some guy inherits it, and now it's just sitting in this basement and he has no idea whose guitar this is. That's how these things go." Wegner hopes anyone who thinks they know where the guitar is will "do the right thing" and get in touch via his website. He said he's not looking to get anyone in trouble and police aren't involved. "We do not care about who stole it. There's no retribution. There's no anger, no anything. It's just getting the guitar back into the right hands."
CTV News
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Leamington's Hogs for Hospice concert series lineup released
Lineup announced for Hogs for Hospice concert series in Leamington. The three-day motorcycle rally supporting hospice care in the region has released its lineup for this year's concert series. The event takes place from Aug. 1 to Aug. 3, featuring great acts like Theory of a Deadman, Kim Mitchell, Mitchell Tenpenny, and Carley Pearce. Theory of a Deadman will headline Friday night's show with Mitchell as a special guest. Tenpenny and Pearce will co-headline Saturday's show. If you're interested in attending, it will take place at the Seacliff Park Amphitheatre. Tickets can be bought here. In the first five years, more than $2.5 million has been raised for the Leamington Hospice Campus.
