Lara's Theme From Doctor Zhivago - Music

Vinnie Bell Vincent Gambella Brooklyn NY USA 28 July 1935 - 3 October 2019 Was An American Session Guitarist And Pioneer Of Electronic Effects In Pop Music. He Played In Nightclubs In New York City In The Late 1950s. His First Hit Was In 1962 As A Member Of The Band The Ramrods Whose Version Of Ghost Riders In The Sky Made The UK Top 10 And US Top 40 In 1961. By 1962 Bell Decided To Devote His Energies To Working As A Studio Musician In New York And Los Angeles Developing A "watery" Guitar Sound Popular In Instrumental Recordings In The 1960s. He Also Invented A Number Of Electric Guitar Models Including The First Electric 12-String Guitar And The Electric Sitar Which Was Used Not Necessarily By Bell On Such Hits As "Cry Like A Baby" By The Box Tops "Green Tambourine" By The Lemon Pipers And A Cover Of The Love Theme From The 1970 Film Airport. The Last Of These Sold Over One Million Copies And Was Awarded A Gold Disc. It Also Won A Grammy Award For Best Instrumental Composition In 1971 While Bell Was Nominated For Best Instrumental Performance. As Well As Being Notable For His Technical Innovations Bell Worked Extensively As A Session Player Playing On Tracks Such As "The Sounds Of Silence" By Simon & Garfunkel And For Artists Such As The Four Seasons And Bob Dylan. On June 25 2019 The New York Times Magazine Listed Vinnie Bell Among Hundreds Of Artists Whose Material Was Reportedly Destroyed In The 2008 Universal Fire. Discography Albums
The Soundtronic Guitar Of Vincent Bell 1959 Whistle Stop Verve 1964 Big Sixteen Guitar Favorites Musicor 1965 Pop Goes The Electric Sitar Decca 1967 Good Morning Starshine Decca 1969 Airport Love Theme Decca 1970 Singles
"Airport Love Theme" US # 31 1970 AC # 2 1970 "Nikki" 1970 Did Not Chart As Sideman
With Quincy Jones Quincy Jones Explores The Music Of Henry Mancini Mercury 1964 With Les McCann Les McCann Plays The Hits Limelight 1966 With Clark Terry Mumbles Mainstream 1966 One Of The Two Or Three Greatest Guitar Geeks Of The Space Age Pop Era Vinnie Bell Will Go Down In Musical History As The Inventor Of The "watery" Guitar Sound That Was A Big Fad In Instrumental Recordings Of The Late 1960s. Used Most Prominently On Ferrante And Teicher's 1969 Top Ten Cover Of The Theme To "Midnight Cowboy " The Effect Became Perhaps The Most-Copied Technique Among Guitarists Until The Wah-Wah Pedal Became Standard Equipment In The 1970s. Actually Bell Can Probably Take Credit For The Wah-Wah Pedal Too As There Is Evidence That He Built Them As Far Back As The Early 1950s. Constantly Experimenting With Home-Made Electronic Devices To Modify Or Distort Electric Guitar Effects Bell Played On Somewhere Around A Gazillion Studio Sessions In New York And Los Angeles Throughout The 1960s And 1970s. Bell Picked Up The Guitar At An Early Age And When He Was Still In His Teens Was Studying With Two Of The Best Players On The New York City Scene Carmen Mastren And Tony Mottola. Bell Played In Nightclubs In The New York City Era Into The Early 1960s But By 1962 He Decided To Devote His Energies To Working As A Studio Musician. Well Before That He Was Already Sitting In As A Session Player On Various Recordings Often To Take Advantage Of The Unique Guitar Effects He Was Known For Producing. His Early Wah-Wah Designs Can Be Heard On Such Rare Singles As "Jersey Bounce" By The Spacemen And "Smoke Rings" By The Overtones. A Very Early Example Of His "watery Guitar" Effect Can Be Heard On "Barracuda " A 1959 Single By The Gallahads On Vic Produced By Billy Mure By The Way . Although He Only Recorded Occasionally Under His Own Name Bell Left His Indelible Mark On Many Recordings. He Added The Distinctive "chick" Sound That Comes Of The End Of Each Phrase On Dionne Warwick's "Walk On By" And Also Stands Out On Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You." For One Of Joe Harnell's Albums He Combined A Greek Bouzouki With Electronics To Produce The "bellzouki." Charles Fox Leaned Heavily On Bell For His Score For The Legendary Jane Fonda Space Sex Kitten Saga Barbarella. Even Lester Lanin Succumbed To Bell's Spell Hiring Him And Fox For His Album Narrowing The Generation Gap. Several Decades Later His Pedalboard Tremolo Was Used To Tremendous Effect In The Bass Guitar Part That Leads Off Angelo Badalamenti's Atmospheric Theme To David Lynch's Television Series "Twin Peaks." Bell Invented A Number Of Electric Guitar Models For Danelectro Coral And Other Companies. He Designed Perhaps The First Electric 12-String Guitar And Invented The Electric Sitar In 1967 Using It On Such Hits As "Green Tambourine" By The Lemon Pipers "Band Of Gold" By Freda Payne And "Heartbreaker" By Gene Pitney. His Own Album Pop Goes The Electric Sitar Is A Highly Valued Collectable Going For $50 And More A Copy On EBay. Although Primarily Based In New York Bell Regularly Flew Out For L.A. Sessions Ranging From "I'm A Believer" By The Monkees To Frank Sinatra's Late-Career Set Trilogy. He Also Performed On Hundreds Of Soundtracks From "The Godfather" To "Twin Peaks " And More Recently "Everyone Says I Love You" And "Holy Smoke." And His Work On Television And Radio Commercial Probably Comprises Over A Thousand Ads. He Was Voted Most Valuable Player On Electric Guitar Seven Times By The New York Chapter Of National Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences NARAS And Given Their Emeritus Award In The Late 80's. Bell Was One Of The Few Session Men To Regularly Rate A Mention In An Album's Credits Or Liner Notes At Least When His Special Effects Were A Major Ingredient. On The Other Hand For Every Credit There Were Hundreds Of Sessions Ranging From Herman's Hermits To Perrey And Kingsley's Landmark Now Sounds From Outer Space Album For Which His Name Was Never Mentioned. For Space Age Pop Fans The Sight Of Vinnie Bell's Name On An Album Is Usually A Sure Sign Of Something Well Worth A Listen. For More Information Check Out Vinnie's Own Website Www.Vinniebell.Com. read less