1 00:00:04,500 --> 00:00:06,860 I can turn that down a little if you want. 2 00:00:09,620 --> 00:00:13,820 Over the last 50 years, one black box has, probably more than anything 3 00:00:13,820 --> 00:00:17,380 else, come to define the sound of rock - the Marshall amplifier. 4 00:00:19,500 --> 00:00:24,140 It's been behind some of the biggest names in rock history, literally. 5 00:00:24,140 --> 00:00:27,180 From the most humble beginnings, it caused nothing less than 6 00:00:27,180 --> 00:00:30,780 a musical revolution - giving the guitar a new voice. 7 00:00:39,060 --> 00:00:43,580 And behind it all lay a man the rock world is lining up to celebrate. 8 00:00:43,580 --> 00:00:46,460 Known in the music business as the Father of Loud, 9 00:00:46,460 --> 00:00:48,460 his name was Jim Marshall. 10 00:00:49,740 --> 00:00:53,140 The brand he created is now virtually synonymous with 11 00:00:53,140 --> 00:00:56,980 the sound of rock, and one of the most successful in musical history. 12 00:00:58,540 --> 00:01:00,260 But Jim's long 13 00:01:00,260 --> 00:01:03,580 and colourful life started a long way from stadium stages. 14 00:01:03,580 --> 00:01:07,380 50 years ago, in a shop in West London, Jim spotted a new 15 00:01:07,380 --> 00:01:11,020 trend in music that would, in time, take over the world. 16 00:01:12,420 --> 00:01:15,060 And he capitalised on it, spectacularly. 17 00:01:16,740 --> 00:01:19,980 In doing so, he helped create a sound that revolutionised 18 00:01:19,980 --> 00:01:21,860 the electric guitar. 19 00:01:21,860 --> 00:01:25,460 And a volume that meant guitarists could step out of the shadows 20 00:01:25,460 --> 00:01:28,820 and take their place centre stage in the biggest venues. 21 00:01:31,020 --> 00:01:34,340 It became the standard of rock'n'roll. 22 00:01:34,340 --> 00:01:36,860 There is no amplifier that can touch it. 23 00:01:36,860 --> 00:01:41,700 It was a fabulous sound and suddenly guitars were no longer polite. 24 00:01:41,700 --> 00:01:43,140 When this thing came out, 25 00:01:43,140 --> 00:01:46,860 there wasn't any limit to the volume you could get out of it. 26 00:01:46,860 --> 00:01:51,580 It was like, if you didn't have a Marshall, you weren't cool. 27 00:01:51,580 --> 00:01:55,060 Listen, I've always liked Marshall amps, so I used them, 28 00:01:55,060 --> 00:01:56,620 and I've used them ever since. 29 00:01:56,620 --> 00:01:57,980 # I can't explain... # 30 00:01:57,980 --> 00:02:01,420 The wanted loud, they wanted distorted. 31 00:02:01,420 --> 00:02:05,660 Marshall is a symbol of the rise of British rock. 32 00:02:05,660 --> 00:02:08,340 That was what it was all about. Marshall stacks. 33 00:02:21,980 --> 00:02:24,140 Though now a global enterprise, 34 00:02:24,140 --> 00:02:27,420 the Marshall business started off as a cottage industry. 35 00:02:27,420 --> 00:02:30,220 And the beginnings of the amp's history are still clearly 36 00:02:30,220 --> 00:02:32,260 remembered in the modern business. 37 00:02:34,300 --> 00:02:37,500 Phil Wells is head of Marshall's Heritage and Archive 38 00:02:37,500 --> 00:02:41,020 and has worked here for over 35 years. 39 00:02:41,020 --> 00:02:44,780 When I started all those years ago, Jim used to spend the morning 40 00:02:44,780 --> 00:02:48,620 covering in the covering department and then the afternoon 41 00:02:48,620 --> 00:02:51,180 he would do his normal business side of the company. 42 00:02:51,180 --> 00:02:54,100 And he did that for probably for 18 months to two years 43 00:02:54,100 --> 00:02:55,580 when I first started here. 44 00:02:57,020 --> 00:03:02,180 The reason why our units are now signed was because of Jim, 45 00:03:02,180 --> 00:03:04,460 mainly because when he was covering - 46 00:03:04,460 --> 00:03:08,500 if one was badly covered, everybody else would blame Jim. 47 00:03:08,500 --> 00:03:11,860 So he said, "From now on, everybody signs their unit 48 00:03:11,860 --> 00:03:14,780 "then whoever has badly covered it, I won't get the blame." 49 00:03:16,460 --> 00:03:18,420 There's always been something fundamental 50 00:03:18,420 --> 00:03:19,860 about the Marshall sound. 51 00:03:19,860 --> 00:03:22,780 And whatever amp there is, whether it's one of the small 52 00:03:22,780 --> 00:03:25,940 practice amps, right through to the big valve stuff and the stacks, 53 00:03:25,940 --> 00:03:29,260 you know, they all have something within them and that kind of stems 54 00:03:29,260 --> 00:03:31,820 from the beginning where, back in the '60s, 55 00:03:31,820 --> 00:03:33,300 when Jim started the company. 56 00:03:35,940 --> 00:03:38,980 Jim...Jim is a great character. 57 00:03:38,980 --> 00:03:40,260 He could roll up his sleeves, 58 00:03:40,260 --> 00:03:43,380 he could go on to the bench and he could show the people what to do. 59 00:03:43,380 --> 00:03:46,260 And he understood the works, the mechanics of the company. 60 00:03:46,260 --> 00:03:49,140 To the point that he used to open the post. 61 00:03:49,140 --> 00:03:51,380 It's a strange thing for the owner of a company to do, 62 00:03:51,380 --> 00:03:54,540 to open the post, but by opening the post, you understand the ethos 63 00:03:54,540 --> 00:03:57,380 and what's going on in the company just from that one small task. 64 00:03:57,380 --> 00:03:59,460 And that was Jim, he did everything. 65 00:04:07,340 --> 00:04:10,700 Jim, though, also enjoyed life at the top. 66 00:04:10,700 --> 00:04:15,460 His success not only brought him fame, but also fortune. 67 00:04:15,460 --> 00:04:19,380 Not to mention a deep respect from the industry that he loved. 68 00:04:21,500 --> 00:04:24,340 His was an empire built on sheer hard work and grit. 69 00:04:26,140 --> 00:04:30,500 Jim's single mindedness probably had its roots in his childhood. 70 00:04:33,140 --> 00:04:38,180 As a young boy, he endured years in hospital, cocooned in plaster, 71 00:04:38,180 --> 00:04:43,300 suffering from a terrible condition called tubercular bones. 72 00:04:43,300 --> 00:04:46,380 Finally, aged 13, he was set free. 73 00:04:48,340 --> 00:04:52,180 His father suggested that tap dancing might help build his bones. 74 00:04:53,260 --> 00:04:57,180 It was a suggestion that would change his life. He found rhythm. 75 00:05:00,260 --> 00:05:03,020 This was the era of the big band. 76 00:05:03,020 --> 00:05:06,620 The glamour and energy of the sound drew him to the drums, 77 00:05:06,620 --> 00:05:07,940 he was a natural. 78 00:05:09,580 --> 00:05:12,660 Jim was a really good musician and he was a fine drummer 79 00:05:12,660 --> 00:05:15,980 and he could also sing and do both at the same time. 80 00:05:15,980 --> 00:05:20,060 And he was so good that a lot of students would ask him 81 00:05:20,060 --> 00:05:22,460 if he could teach them to play the drums 82 00:05:22,460 --> 00:05:25,460 because he was doing such a good job in the dance bands of the era. 83 00:05:27,380 --> 00:05:33,020 In the late '40s, early '50s, I had a following of youngsters 84 00:05:33,020 --> 00:05:37,540 everywhere I appeared and eventually I was being chased to teach. 85 00:05:41,220 --> 00:05:44,140 Firstly, I thought I would not like teaching 86 00:05:44,140 --> 00:05:48,180 and I kept saying, "No, I'm not interested in being a teacher." 87 00:05:48,180 --> 00:05:52,020 But then I gave in to two pupils 88 00:05:52,020 --> 00:05:56,100 and found that I liked teaching. 89 00:05:58,700 --> 00:06:01,900 Young hopefuls would make their way to Jim's unimposing 90 00:06:01,900 --> 00:06:05,380 semi in deepest West London. 91 00:06:05,380 --> 00:06:09,700 I saw an advert for Jim Marshall drum tuition and he sat me 92 00:06:09,700 --> 00:06:13,260 behind a drum kit and then said, "Right, go on, have a go." 93 00:06:17,180 --> 00:06:21,660 My connection with Jim started, and John Entwistle's started, 94 00:06:21,660 --> 00:06:24,780 very, very early. We were 12, 95 00:06:24,780 --> 00:06:26,500 and we were in a jazz band. 96 00:06:26,500 --> 00:06:28,940 We used to be called The Confederates. 97 00:06:28,940 --> 00:06:31,780 And our drummer was Chris Sherwin. 98 00:06:31,780 --> 00:06:34,100 Jim's teaching was phenomenal. 99 00:06:34,100 --> 00:06:36,980 I thought he was wonderful as a teacher. 100 00:06:36,980 --> 00:06:41,220 Every rehearsal, at the end, Chris would close by showing us 101 00:06:41,220 --> 00:06:43,140 his latest drum lesson. 102 00:06:45,500 --> 00:06:47,900 Chris used to go completely mad. 103 00:06:47,900 --> 00:06:50,300 HE MIMICS DRUMMING 104 00:06:50,300 --> 00:06:54,020 Now I didn't see that again until Keith Moon walked on the stage 105 00:06:54,020 --> 00:06:57,020 but Chris was doing this, you know, when we were 12. 106 00:06:57,020 --> 00:07:01,220 MUSIC: Take The A Train by Duke Ellington 107 00:07:01,220 --> 00:07:05,700 Taking us to see bands, particularly the American bands, 108 00:07:05,700 --> 00:07:07,620 was just phenomenal. 109 00:07:07,620 --> 00:07:10,180 Buddy Rich, Count Basie, Duke Ellington. 110 00:07:11,500 --> 00:07:13,420 I had massive respect for Jim 111 00:07:13,420 --> 00:07:17,340 because he knew what was what at that time and I didn't. 112 00:07:18,500 --> 00:07:21,100 At the most, I had 64 pupils in a week, 113 00:07:21,100 --> 00:07:23,700 which meant that was 64 hours teaching a week. 114 00:07:25,380 --> 00:07:27,620 With a considerable teaching income, 115 00:07:27,620 --> 00:07:30,500 Jim was able to quit life on the road. 116 00:07:30,500 --> 00:07:33,660 # The warden threw a party in the county jail... # 117 00:07:33,660 --> 00:07:36,980 Jim's younger students began to talk about an exciting, 118 00:07:36,980 --> 00:07:38,900 new, American music. 119 00:07:38,900 --> 00:07:41,580 # You should've heard those knocked out jailbirds sing 120 00:07:41,580 --> 00:07:43,100 # Let's rock 121 00:07:43,100 --> 00:07:44,460 # Everybody, let's rock... # 122 00:07:44,460 --> 00:07:47,340 The glimpses of rock'n'roll that we were getting at that moment 123 00:07:47,340 --> 00:07:52,420 were so occasional that it needed a sort of home-grown movement. 124 00:07:55,060 --> 00:07:57,660 # Mama don't allow no skiffle... # 125 00:07:57,660 --> 00:07:59,900 Skiffle was incredibly important. 126 00:07:59,900 --> 00:08:03,740 In one sense, it was almost the punk rock of its time. 127 00:08:03,740 --> 00:08:06,260 It was basically - find a cheap guitar, 128 00:08:06,260 --> 00:08:07,740 three chords and you were off. 129 00:08:07,740 --> 00:08:09,580 # Mama don't allow no skiffle... # 130 00:08:09,580 --> 00:08:13,380 You know the old tea chests with a stick, a broomstick on it 131 00:08:13,380 --> 00:08:16,540 and a bit of string and that was our bass 132 00:08:16,540 --> 00:08:21,900 and we bought a couple of acoustic guitars, no amps, and we were off. 133 00:08:23,380 --> 00:08:28,100 Despite the austerity, you begin to sense, you know, 134 00:08:28,100 --> 00:08:30,100 this new generation coming through. 135 00:08:32,180 --> 00:08:34,860 Kids raced to form rock'n'roll bands 136 00:08:34,860 --> 00:08:37,780 and their influences were all American. 137 00:08:37,780 --> 00:08:41,460 After Lonnie Donegan and the skiffle craze, people that picked up 138 00:08:41,460 --> 00:08:43,380 a guitar and stayed with it 139 00:08:43,380 --> 00:08:45,700 obviously ventured into rock'n'roll. 140 00:08:45,700 --> 00:08:48,940 And the good thing about it was there were lots of places to play. 141 00:08:50,300 --> 00:08:54,940 We used play down the 2i's, that's where Marty Wilde saw me. 142 00:08:54,940 --> 00:09:00,380 And Marty said, "You've got to have your hair dyed blonde." 143 00:09:00,380 --> 00:09:04,700 So I thought about that for all of a second and a half. 144 00:09:06,140 --> 00:09:09,300 But only the most well-heeled of Britain's rock'n'rollers 145 00:09:09,300 --> 00:09:13,900 could afford the shiny guitars and amps of their American heroes. 146 00:09:13,900 --> 00:09:19,100 Buddy Holly was playing a Fender Stratocaster in 1950. 147 00:09:19,100 --> 00:09:21,420 About '57. 148 00:09:21,420 --> 00:09:26,300 So we were all looking at that and, of course, wanted one. 149 00:09:26,300 --> 00:09:30,260 We just wanted to be rock'n'roll stars, you know. 150 00:09:31,740 --> 00:09:33,420 # It didn't take a lifetime... # 151 00:09:33,420 --> 00:09:36,060 What we were really doing with our things was playing catch-up 152 00:09:36,060 --> 00:09:39,180 with the Americans. And that included our instruments as well 153 00:09:39,180 --> 00:09:43,380 because you couldn't get Gibson guitars or Fender guitars. 154 00:09:43,380 --> 00:09:46,500 But amp-wise, it was a nightmare, really. 155 00:09:46,500 --> 00:09:50,220 There were some people that made them, like Charlie Watkins 156 00:09:50,220 --> 00:09:54,500 made amps, and some of the amps he made were really good. 157 00:09:54,500 --> 00:09:56,540 GUITAR PLAYS 158 00:09:58,380 --> 00:10:03,300 We wanted to hear the sound that was beginning to come from guitars. 159 00:10:03,300 --> 00:10:04,900 They could hold a note on. 160 00:10:07,060 --> 00:10:10,940 The Watkins Westminster was one of Britain's first guitar amps, 161 00:10:10,940 --> 00:10:13,940 and Charlie had discovered a secret. 162 00:10:13,940 --> 00:10:16,500 I thought, that's it, get rid of that bloody hi-fi. 163 00:10:16,500 --> 00:10:18,900 We don't want hi-fi, we want distortion. 164 00:10:18,900 --> 00:10:21,700 # What have I done to make you blue? I'll be... # 165 00:10:21,700 --> 00:10:24,380 As British rock'n'roll gathered momentum, 166 00:10:24,380 --> 00:10:27,660 their amplification was lagging far behind. 167 00:10:27,660 --> 00:10:30,260 There was nothing above sort of ten watts 168 00:10:30,260 --> 00:10:32,460 because they were all little, tiny... 169 00:10:32,460 --> 00:10:34,780 they were make-do amplifiers. 170 00:10:34,780 --> 00:10:36,740 They weren't proper guitar amps. 171 00:10:38,220 --> 00:10:40,780 I actually did a gig at a wedding where I plugged 172 00:10:40,780 --> 00:10:45,060 into a Dansette record player, undid the wires from the pick-up. 173 00:10:45,060 --> 00:10:46,980 That was the sort of things we were up to. 174 00:10:49,380 --> 00:10:51,820 Yeah, I mean this, you can get a sound out of it fine, 175 00:10:51,820 --> 00:10:55,020 but take it to a hall and see what it sounds like, you know. 176 00:10:55,020 --> 00:10:59,940 What can you do with a soppy little ten-inch speaker, I ask you? 177 00:10:59,940 --> 00:11:01,580 You can't do anything with it. 178 00:11:01,580 --> 00:11:04,260 We did the best with what we had at hand. 179 00:11:05,580 --> 00:11:11,340 The kind of amplifiers that we were using, that everybody started using, 180 00:11:11,340 --> 00:11:13,820 everybody, including the Beatles, 181 00:11:13,820 --> 00:11:17,180 were the amplifiers used by the Shadows. 182 00:11:18,980 --> 00:11:23,340 By the late '50s, the famous Vox amplifier had arrived. 183 00:11:23,340 --> 00:11:27,100 In those days, the Vox amp really was the king amp. 184 00:11:27,100 --> 00:11:30,020 That was the amp. That's the only one you could hear 185 00:11:30,020 --> 00:11:33,660 because all these other little ones, you just couldn't hear 'em. 186 00:11:34,820 --> 00:11:39,180 Well, Vox were the first of the great British amplifier 187 00:11:39,180 --> 00:11:42,980 manufacturers and their pride and joy was the, 188 00:11:42,980 --> 00:11:45,980 still legendary to this day, Vox AC30. 189 00:11:45,980 --> 00:11:52,740 I managed to acquire myself a Vox AC15 then, which was amazing. 190 00:11:52,740 --> 00:11:57,380 And they all had AC30s so I really did feel like the new boy, you know. 191 00:11:59,220 --> 00:12:02,820 You know, that was the sound from the '50s, the twang of guitars, 192 00:12:02,820 --> 00:12:05,580 The Shadows, the first records I bought. 193 00:12:05,580 --> 00:12:08,500 Wonderful though they were, 194 00:12:08,500 --> 00:12:12,420 I always had a feeling that there 195 00:12:12,420 --> 00:12:16,540 was a beast that was waiting to be unleashed. 196 00:12:16,540 --> 00:12:19,180 MUSIC: Boom Boom by John Lee Hooker 197 00:12:21,300 --> 00:12:26,300 The guy that blew me away when I first heard him was John Lee Hooker. 198 00:12:26,300 --> 00:12:29,140 # Gonna shoot you right down... # 199 00:12:29,140 --> 00:12:31,140 And I got one of his very early albums 200 00:12:31,140 --> 00:12:34,500 and there was a track on there called The Devil's Jump. 201 00:12:34,500 --> 00:12:38,220 We've got The Devil's Jump, man. 202 00:12:38,220 --> 00:12:42,580 He had this idea to put the microphone inside the guitar, 203 00:12:42,580 --> 00:12:45,300 restring the guitar, then do the song that way, 204 00:12:45,300 --> 00:12:47,340 singing into the guitar. 205 00:12:47,340 --> 00:12:48,780 # The Devil's Jump 206 00:12:48,780 --> 00:12:50,180 # I Got the... # 207 00:12:50,180 --> 00:12:53,460 And it was this incredible distorted noise. 208 00:12:55,260 --> 00:12:57,900 This is like 1949, 209 00:12:57,900 --> 00:12:59,780 so, you know, 210 00:12:59,780 --> 00:13:02,580 we can't claim to have invented distortion. 211 00:13:03,900 --> 00:13:07,740 The thing the guitarist wants is something else. 212 00:13:07,740 --> 00:13:12,060 You know, he really doesn't want the cleanest guitar sound 213 00:13:12,060 --> 00:13:15,980 in the world or we'd all would sound like the soundtrack to Bonanza. 214 00:13:17,660 --> 00:13:20,940 Edgier guitar tones began to interest the eccentric 215 00:13:20,940 --> 00:13:23,700 British music producer, Joe Meek. 216 00:13:23,700 --> 00:13:29,980 I think Joe Meek was the first to explore that distorted, 217 00:13:29,980 --> 00:13:32,420 heavier, trebly guitar sound. 218 00:13:34,100 --> 00:13:37,660 Drummer Mick Underwood was summoned to Meek's strange little 219 00:13:37,660 --> 00:13:39,660 studio in the Holloway Road. 220 00:13:39,660 --> 00:13:42,020 It's a bit over the top. It went a bit weird. 221 00:13:42,020 --> 00:13:44,020 Joe, Joe Meek says, "Come up and see us." 222 00:13:44,020 --> 00:13:46,500 He said, "The Outlaws need a drummer." 223 00:13:46,500 --> 00:13:49,140 So I went there and had a jam with them 224 00:13:49,140 --> 00:13:52,700 and they said, "The thing is, we do need a guitarist." 225 00:13:52,700 --> 00:13:54,900 And I said, "I think I know the man." 226 00:13:57,940 --> 00:14:01,300 17-year-old Ritchie Blackmore joined the Outlaws 227 00:14:01,300 --> 00:14:03,500 and the Meek sound turned wild. 228 00:14:06,340 --> 00:14:10,100 John Peel later called Shake With Me the first heavy metal record. 229 00:14:11,860 --> 00:14:14,740 Rhythm and blues became the sound of the moment 230 00:14:14,740 --> 00:14:17,220 and there was only one way music was heading. 231 00:14:19,540 --> 00:14:21,780 An arms race began to develop. 232 00:14:21,780 --> 00:14:25,780 Could the guitar player be able to make more noise than 233 00:14:25,780 --> 00:14:28,620 A - the drummer, and B - the audience. 234 00:14:29,940 --> 00:14:33,660 Everybody wanted to be loud and louder, everybody. 235 00:14:33,660 --> 00:14:35,820 What did we want to be as loud as? 236 00:14:35,820 --> 00:14:37,820 We wanted to be as loud as the drums. 237 00:14:46,860 --> 00:14:50,180 Back at the drum studio, Jim's pupils were constantly pressing him 238 00:14:50,180 --> 00:14:52,620 for help in buying their first drum kit. 239 00:14:52,620 --> 00:14:54,980 I used to take all of the pupils to a shop called 240 00:14:54,980 --> 00:14:58,020 Lou Davis in Charing Cross Road, London. 241 00:14:58,020 --> 00:14:59,780 One day the manager said to me, 242 00:14:59,780 --> 00:15:04,060 "Well you're a damn fool, why don't you open your own drum store?" 243 00:15:04,060 --> 00:15:09,340 Jim's first shop opened in Hanwell, West London, in July 1960. 244 00:15:09,340 --> 00:15:13,180 And his teenage son, Terry, made it a family business. 245 00:15:13,180 --> 00:15:16,860 So we opened it as a music shop but it had a concentration of drums 246 00:15:16,860 --> 00:15:19,140 and the guitar side was very minimal. 247 00:15:20,940 --> 00:15:23,260 Well, having taught so many of the top drummers, 248 00:15:23,260 --> 00:15:26,780 they brought their groups in with them. I'd known Pete Townshend 249 00:15:26,780 --> 00:15:29,220 for many years, because I used to play with Pete's father. 250 00:15:29,220 --> 00:15:32,700 And all of the drummers would come by and say, 251 00:15:32,700 --> 00:15:34,660 "Why you don't stock guitars? 252 00:15:34,660 --> 00:15:37,660 "Because every drummer needs a guitar player and other musicians 253 00:15:37,660 --> 00:15:40,820 "to go along with." And so he started to stock guitars. 254 00:15:40,820 --> 00:15:47,100 There'd be a few bashed up drum kits in there and a few mediocre guitars. 255 00:15:47,100 --> 00:15:51,980 But if you wanted to hear what was going on in the business, 256 00:15:51,980 --> 00:15:54,020 you went to Marshall's. 257 00:15:54,020 --> 00:15:58,740 Oh, Jim was a lovely person. He was a very happy-go-lucky sort of guy 258 00:15:58,740 --> 00:16:01,740 and he let us guys go in to his shop 259 00:16:01,740 --> 00:16:04,340 and sit around and play anything on the wall. 260 00:16:04,340 --> 00:16:06,580 He didn't worry that you weren't buying anything. 261 00:16:06,580 --> 00:16:09,180 We just used to hang out there and it was like 262 00:16:09,180 --> 00:16:14,900 a Labour Exchange for up-and-coming rock musicians, you know. 263 00:16:14,900 --> 00:16:18,340 For me, when I think about Jim's shop, it was a meeting place, 264 00:16:18,340 --> 00:16:22,860 a place to go with ideas, where you know you would get listened to. 265 00:16:22,860 --> 00:16:26,820 And some of my ideas, the guys in my band wouldn't listen to them. 266 00:16:28,940 --> 00:16:33,540 There were sorts of musicians went to Jim's shop, from every aspect, 267 00:16:33,540 --> 00:16:35,620 rock'n'roll, jazz, you name it, 268 00:16:35,620 --> 00:16:38,780 and it was a great learning curve for everybody. 269 00:16:38,780 --> 00:16:40,260 Good for everyone, that. 270 00:16:44,860 --> 00:16:47,940 Then you had Ted's cafe a couple of doors away. 271 00:16:47,940 --> 00:16:49,980 # 40 cups of coffee... # 272 00:16:49,980 --> 00:16:52,860 Or if you wanted something a bit more refined, you'd cross 273 00:16:52,860 --> 00:16:58,260 the road to the Rendezvous. And it was just a whole social scene. 274 00:16:59,660 --> 00:17:01,540 We were unique really 275 00:17:01,540 --> 00:17:07,660 because he had such a vision about customer service. 276 00:17:07,660 --> 00:17:10,500 The shop just exploded 277 00:17:10,500 --> 00:17:12,820 and we were in the right place at the right time. 278 00:17:12,820 --> 00:17:14,900 And while we were in there we used to say, 279 00:17:14,900 --> 00:17:17,700 "Do you know, we couldn't half do with amplifiers. 280 00:17:17,700 --> 00:17:20,100 "You don't do amplifiers, do you?" 281 00:17:21,620 --> 00:17:24,620 One of Jim's regular customers was band manager 282 00:17:24,620 --> 00:17:27,780 and electronic experimenter Ken Bran. 283 00:17:27,780 --> 00:17:30,060 # And go like this... # 284 00:17:30,060 --> 00:17:35,140 He knew that I was interested in building amplifiers, 285 00:17:35,140 --> 00:17:37,060 the sound of amplifiers. 286 00:17:37,060 --> 00:17:39,260 Ken began working for Jim. 287 00:17:39,260 --> 00:17:42,620 This was a partnership that would last the next 40 years. 288 00:17:42,620 --> 00:17:46,780 He always had this brown coat on, you know, 289 00:17:46,780 --> 00:17:50,540 like Ronnie Barker in the shop. 290 00:17:54,540 --> 00:17:57,460 All the kids wanted a lot more power 291 00:17:57,460 --> 00:18:01,580 and the only amp that was really around was the Fender Bassman. 292 00:18:04,060 --> 00:18:07,220 HE PLAYS GUITAR RIFF 293 00:18:07,220 --> 00:18:11,140 The Bassman was designed for bass guitar really, 294 00:18:11,140 --> 00:18:15,820 but the guitarists found that it gave a real crisp live sound. 295 00:18:18,780 --> 00:18:23,220 The Fender amps were fine sounding amplifiers but they tended to, 296 00:18:23,220 --> 00:18:26,300 they didn't... A - they didn't distort, 297 00:18:26,300 --> 00:18:29,340 they had a very clean kind of surf music sound. 298 00:18:29,340 --> 00:18:33,060 One of the guys who worked in the store had one 299 00:18:33,060 --> 00:18:36,540 and he brought it in for Ken to have a look at. 300 00:18:36,540 --> 00:18:40,580 We had a really good look at it to see what made it tick. 301 00:18:41,580 --> 00:18:45,180 Ken discovered the Bassman used a standard circuit design that 302 00:18:45,180 --> 00:18:49,340 was widely used and without any patent restrictions. 303 00:18:49,340 --> 00:18:51,700 Jim seized the opportunity. 304 00:18:51,700 --> 00:18:53,340 He decided there and then 305 00:18:53,340 --> 00:18:55,780 that he was going to build a rock'n'roll amplifier. 306 00:18:55,780 --> 00:19:00,660 I said, "Well, if you're capable, Ken, let's have a go at it." 307 00:19:02,900 --> 00:19:06,540 With no access to American components, Ken was forced to 308 00:19:06,540 --> 00:19:09,420 trawl London's army surplus shops for parts. 309 00:19:10,580 --> 00:19:14,300 A crucial element of the Marshall sound came about 310 00:19:14,300 --> 00:19:18,660 because they couldn't get the same valves that Fender had been using, 311 00:19:18,660 --> 00:19:22,220 so they found another one that did sort of the same job. 312 00:19:22,220 --> 00:19:25,420 The sound that it produced wasn't like a Fender amp, 313 00:19:25,420 --> 00:19:28,300 but on its own terms, it worked brilliantly. 314 00:19:29,620 --> 00:19:34,340 The first amplifier was taking shape. But Ken needed help. 315 00:19:34,340 --> 00:19:38,260 I was a repairman, but we needed a designer, 316 00:19:38,260 --> 00:19:42,340 and Jim got hold of this young whiz kid called Dudley Craven. 317 00:19:43,500 --> 00:19:47,500 The 19-year-old Dudley Craven was lured from an apprenticeship 318 00:19:47,500 --> 00:19:50,100 at EMI on the promise of big money. 319 00:19:51,700 --> 00:19:54,940 We then took it out the basic chassis, brought 320 00:19:54,940 --> 00:20:00,140 in Pete Townshend and a couple of other guys and said, "Crank it up." 321 00:20:03,460 --> 00:20:07,300 When I first heard Jim's amplifier, 322 00:20:07,300 --> 00:20:09,980 I felt it was almost loud enough 323 00:20:09,980 --> 00:20:12,500 but it didn't have the zing of a Fender amp 324 00:20:12,500 --> 00:20:14,420 so I kind of chucked it back at him. 325 00:20:15,660 --> 00:20:19,340 We put it in the shop and let the guitarists play with it 326 00:20:19,340 --> 00:20:22,740 and we would know whether we were getting near the sound or not. 327 00:20:25,780 --> 00:20:28,060 And Pete would say, "I need more growl in this." 328 00:20:30,460 --> 00:20:33,340 I wanted distortion that was happening in the amplifier, 329 00:20:33,340 --> 00:20:35,540 not in the speaker, but in the amplifier. 330 00:20:38,140 --> 00:20:42,060 Eventually, he came up with a sound and I said, "Ah, that's the sort of 331 00:20:42,060 --> 00:20:44,900 "sound the boys have been talking to me about in the shop." 332 00:20:44,900 --> 00:20:48,180 GUITAR PLAYS RIFF 333 00:20:48,180 --> 00:20:50,380 And that's how the Marshall sound was born. 334 00:20:55,260 --> 00:20:57,500 That was it. Pete said, "I want it." 335 00:20:57,500 --> 00:20:59,500 It wasn't just a loud amplifier, 336 00:20:59,500 --> 00:21:02,620 it was an amplifier that would fold in distortion. 337 00:21:02,620 --> 00:21:05,020 BLUES MUSIC PLAYS 338 00:21:05,020 --> 00:21:08,500 Electronic engineers always want to get rid of distortion, 339 00:21:08,500 --> 00:21:11,460 but we knew that that was the sound we wanted. 340 00:21:13,780 --> 00:21:18,260 Ken Bran was willing to make what every other amplifier 341 00:21:18,260 --> 00:21:21,580 maker in the world would have called a bad amplifier. 342 00:21:23,300 --> 00:21:26,700 Well, what it says is that Jim, Ken and Dudley Craven, 343 00:21:26,700 --> 00:21:30,860 when they put the unit together, designed it and built it, 344 00:21:30,860 --> 00:21:32,220 they got it right first time. 345 00:21:33,460 --> 00:21:35,220 Number One has survived 346 00:21:35,220 --> 00:21:38,900 and is now one of the most revered relics of rock. 347 00:21:38,900 --> 00:21:41,060 We've had a couple of blank cheque offers. 348 00:21:41,060 --> 00:21:43,460 We've had a couple of really silly offers for it, 349 00:21:43,460 --> 00:21:45,460 but it's the beginning of Marshall. 350 00:21:48,660 --> 00:21:51,980 Jim and Ken were now ready to unveil their creation. 351 00:21:55,860 --> 00:22:00,660 On the first Saturday, when we put the chassis in the shop, 352 00:22:00,660 --> 00:22:05,020 I think we sold 25 units the first day. 353 00:22:07,620 --> 00:22:11,340 While the inspiration was very clearly from Fender, what 354 00:22:11,340 --> 00:22:15,500 ended up coming out of the shop at that point, one way or another - 355 00:22:15,500 --> 00:22:18,980 by design, by accident, through necessity or what have you - 356 00:22:18,980 --> 00:22:21,060 ended up being quite different. 357 00:22:21,060 --> 00:22:25,060 All of a sudden, there is this monster 50-watt amp 358 00:22:25,060 --> 00:22:27,700 with four speakers. Even eclipsed the Fenders. 359 00:22:29,180 --> 00:22:33,060 Christened the JTM 45 after Jim and Terry Marshall, 360 00:22:33,060 --> 00:22:36,780 it was the loudest guitar amplifier in the world. 361 00:22:36,780 --> 00:22:39,100 Jim was selling these amps like hot cakes 362 00:22:39,100 --> 00:22:41,340 and I was the only one there to build them. 363 00:22:43,100 --> 00:22:47,180 With little room in Ken's workshop, Dudley started a production line 364 00:22:47,180 --> 00:22:49,340 with his old school friend, Ken Flegg. 365 00:22:49,340 --> 00:22:51,100 And a cottage industry began. 366 00:22:52,300 --> 00:22:55,980 Well, in actual fact, I made them in my bedroom, the ones that I did. 367 00:22:55,980 --> 00:22:59,700 He had a very small shed that he used to do his part of the work with. 368 00:22:59,700 --> 00:23:02,340 We had only just started at technical college, so 369 00:23:02,340 --> 00:23:07,220 our knowledge was extremely limited and we used to wing most of it. 370 00:23:07,220 --> 00:23:11,540 As the business exploded, Jim took production to their first factory. 371 00:23:11,540 --> 00:23:15,100 Even with more staff, it was now all hands on deck. 372 00:23:15,100 --> 00:23:16,780 My father used to do covering 373 00:23:16,780 --> 00:23:20,420 and my mum was gluing up for my dad to do covering. 374 00:23:21,860 --> 00:23:23,700 There was a good team spirit 375 00:23:23,700 --> 00:23:26,780 and a willingness to make the product work. 376 00:23:26,780 --> 00:23:30,020 They would make these through the week, sell them on a Friday 377 00:23:30,020 --> 00:23:32,700 and Saturday and then the money they made from that, they'd make 378 00:23:32,700 --> 00:23:35,340 the ones for the next week. So it was hand to mouth, if you like. 379 00:23:35,340 --> 00:23:38,460 We needed cash flow, the retail shop supported quite often 380 00:23:38,460 --> 00:23:39,980 the factory in the early days. 381 00:23:41,380 --> 00:23:43,820 Ken struggled to source parts 382 00:23:43,820 --> 00:23:47,740 and build the amps fast enough as the sales began to clock up. 383 00:23:47,740 --> 00:23:53,100 Well the best way to market any piece of musical equipment is 384 00:23:53,100 --> 00:23:59,220 to have it used by people who sound great and also to have a 385 00:23:59,220 --> 00:24:04,780 bloody huge logo on the front of it, so, you know, even at the back 386 00:24:04,780 --> 00:24:09,220 of the room, people can see what these guys are sounding great with. 387 00:24:09,220 --> 00:24:13,060 Jim said, "We're going to be producing amps from now on. 388 00:24:13,060 --> 00:24:17,420 "Good amplifiers, do you want to have a go?" 389 00:24:18,780 --> 00:24:22,340 The Tremeloes gave up their Fenders and moved to Marshall. 390 00:24:22,340 --> 00:24:24,900 Soon to be followed by the Nashville Teens 391 00:24:24,900 --> 00:24:27,740 and top American star Roy Orbison. 392 00:24:27,740 --> 00:24:30,380 It was the amplifier that sold it. 393 00:24:30,380 --> 00:24:32,140 How it was put together 394 00:24:32,140 --> 00:24:34,660 and what it sounded like that sold the amplifier. 395 00:24:34,660 --> 00:24:38,380 It was only very quickly that Jim's name, Marshall, 396 00:24:38,380 --> 00:24:40,900 became synonymous with that style of music. 397 00:24:40,900 --> 00:24:43,220 GUITAR PLAYS ROCK MUSIC 398 00:24:46,060 --> 00:24:47,660 When this thing came out, 399 00:24:47,660 --> 00:24:50,900 there wasn't any limit to the volume you could get out of them. 400 00:24:50,900 --> 00:24:52,260 # Can't explain 401 00:24:52,260 --> 00:24:54,100 # I think it's love... # 402 00:24:54,100 --> 00:24:57,580 Pete Townshend and John Entwistle were the first to really 403 00:24:57,580 --> 00:24:59,620 explore the new amp's limits. 404 00:25:00,660 --> 00:25:05,420 It made instruments capable of all different kinds of timbres 405 00:25:05,420 --> 00:25:09,780 and harmonics and, you know, it made it possible for me 406 00:25:09,780 --> 00:25:11,100 to make more than music. 407 00:25:13,700 --> 00:25:17,300 West London became the improbable focus of a music scene that 408 00:25:17,300 --> 00:25:19,540 produced dozens of new bands. 409 00:25:19,540 --> 00:25:21,340 # $600... # 410 00:25:21,340 --> 00:25:24,220 All the new guitar talent could be found jamming with 411 00:25:24,220 --> 00:25:26,900 Alexis Korner at the Ealing Blues Club. 412 00:25:26,900 --> 00:25:30,100 They were playing, particularly the Stones, through Alexis, 413 00:25:30,100 --> 00:25:32,980 had this grungy sort of blues sound to them. 414 00:25:36,980 --> 00:25:41,180 The West London scene stretched from Shepherd's Bush Hammersmith 415 00:25:41,180 --> 00:25:43,220 all the way to Uxbridge. 416 00:25:43,220 --> 00:25:46,540 So you could walk from Cyril Davis to Cliff Bennett 417 00:25:46,540 --> 00:25:48,980 and on the way, you'd get lots of action. 418 00:25:50,460 --> 00:25:53,060 # I was alone, I took a ride... # 419 00:25:53,060 --> 00:25:56,500 We all congregated around that West London area. Jim was right there. 420 00:25:58,500 --> 00:26:01,820 Jim Marshall saw all of this, like Alexis did, 421 00:26:01,820 --> 00:26:05,700 and like other people who were just maybe a little bit older than this 422 00:26:05,700 --> 00:26:09,220 generation and therefore could act as father figures to these new kids 423 00:26:09,220 --> 00:26:10,660 who were coming through. 424 00:26:12,940 --> 00:26:15,380 We had all the local musicians who were potentially 425 00:26:15,380 --> 00:26:17,100 the stars of the future. 426 00:26:17,100 --> 00:26:21,740 You know, Pete Townshend, Ritchie Blackmore, Eric Clapton, 427 00:26:21,740 --> 00:26:23,860 they were all our customers. 428 00:26:24,940 --> 00:26:27,380 And it was no surprise that Eric should find 429 00:26:27,380 --> 00:26:29,820 himself at the Hanwell shop. 430 00:26:29,820 --> 00:26:32,060 During his first stint with John Mayall, 431 00:26:32,060 --> 00:26:35,740 he was playing the JTM 45 half-stack with the 4x12 cabinet. 432 00:26:35,740 --> 00:26:38,500 And then during his second stint with John Mayall, 433 00:26:38,500 --> 00:26:41,820 which is notably when the album, the Beano album was recorded, 434 00:26:41,820 --> 00:26:44,140 he was using a 2x12 45-watt combo. 435 00:26:45,460 --> 00:26:47,900 You know, he'd been using that set up at gigs. 436 00:26:47,900 --> 00:26:51,060 He had the amp all the way up, he loved the sound it was making 437 00:26:51,060 --> 00:26:53,420 and when it was time to record, 438 00:26:53,420 --> 00:26:55,780 that was the sound he wanted on the record. 439 00:26:55,780 --> 00:26:59,540 It was unbelievably loud and the engineers were absolutely 440 00:26:59,540 --> 00:27:02,260 freaking out going, "Oh, no, all our needles are all going 441 00:27:02,260 --> 00:27:03,940 "into the red." You know. 442 00:27:03,940 --> 00:27:07,500 "Tell the young beast to turn it down." And he wouldn't. 443 00:27:07,500 --> 00:27:11,340 And the sound was born that people are still aspiring to, 444 00:27:11,340 --> 00:27:13,900 listening to and are trying to recreate today. 445 00:27:17,740 --> 00:27:20,620 But the business was still relying on Jim's shop 446 00:27:20,620 --> 00:27:23,620 and word of mouth for new sales. 447 00:27:23,620 --> 00:27:26,180 The time had come to move up a gear. 448 00:27:27,500 --> 00:27:31,980 In 1964, Jim signed a distribution agreement with Rose Morris. 449 00:27:31,980 --> 00:27:35,500 It was worldwide agreement for them to distribute their products. 450 00:27:35,500 --> 00:27:39,300 What Rose Morris did for Marshall was take it from 451 00:27:39,300 --> 00:27:44,940 relative obscurity to make it a worldwide, well-known brand. 452 00:27:44,940 --> 00:27:48,900 The deal put the amps into music shops across the world 453 00:27:48,900 --> 00:27:51,380 and with that, came an iconic new logo. 454 00:27:52,620 --> 00:27:55,300 As soon as they got the white scrolly lettering, 455 00:27:55,300 --> 00:27:57,300 the amps pretty much sold themselves. 456 00:27:57,300 --> 00:28:00,660 With Rose Morris, whatever we supplied one week, 457 00:28:00,660 --> 00:28:02,300 we were paid the following week. 458 00:28:02,300 --> 00:28:06,500 And they gave us an order book that kept us going every single month. 459 00:28:07,500 --> 00:28:09,020 But as gigs got bigger, 460 00:28:09,020 --> 00:28:13,180 The Who's guitarist discovered that 50 watts was no longer loud enough. 461 00:28:13,180 --> 00:28:16,460 I seem to remember once saying to Jim, like, almost pinning him 462 00:28:16,460 --> 00:28:20,740 up against the wall and saying, "Jim, I need bigger weapons." 463 00:28:20,740 --> 00:28:24,500 The challenge was on and Ken found a way to create the world's 464 00:28:24,500 --> 00:28:26,180 first 100-watt amp. 465 00:28:26,180 --> 00:28:29,060 He went back in and he fiddled about and a couple of days later, 466 00:28:29,060 --> 00:28:32,020 he came back and instead of two power tubes, we had four. 467 00:28:32,020 --> 00:28:33,740 # I can go anywhere... # 468 00:28:33,740 --> 00:28:37,100 I said, "What I've decided to do is use one 4x12 at the bottom and then 469 00:28:37,100 --> 00:28:40,020 "I'm going to put another one on top so it's level with the guitar." 470 00:28:40,020 --> 00:28:42,860 And he said, "Oh, no, Pete, that'll fall down, it'll hurt somebody. 471 00:28:42,860 --> 00:28:45,060 "They are not meant to be stacked." 472 00:28:45,060 --> 00:28:48,260 Anyway, that's exactly what happened. I banged it with my guitar 473 00:28:48,260 --> 00:28:49,820 and down it went. 474 00:28:51,980 --> 00:28:53,820 But it kept going. 475 00:28:53,820 --> 00:28:56,260 The Marshall stack was born. 476 00:28:56,260 --> 00:28:58,980 The Who arrived with chaos. 477 00:28:58,980 --> 00:29:01,100 # People try to put us d-down 478 00:29:01,100 --> 00:29:03,060 # Talkin' 'bout my generation... # 479 00:29:03,060 --> 00:29:06,220 They wanted loud, they wanted distorted. 480 00:29:06,220 --> 00:29:08,500 # Talkin' 'bout my generation... # 481 00:29:08,500 --> 00:29:10,940 And at the first gig I'd just started up with Heatwave 482 00:29:10,940 --> 00:29:12,300 and I was in a state of shock. 483 00:29:12,300 --> 00:29:14,140 # Talkin' 'bout my generation 484 00:29:14,140 --> 00:29:16,100 # I hope I die before I get old... # 485 00:29:16,100 --> 00:29:19,060 I'd never heard anything so exciting, 486 00:29:19,060 --> 00:29:22,700 so loud and energetic ever. 487 00:29:22,700 --> 00:29:26,700 We wanted to blow their minds, go blahh. 488 00:29:26,700 --> 00:29:29,620 Turn up the amplifiers so that they couldn't hear themselves think. 489 00:29:29,620 --> 00:29:32,460 # ..dig what we all s-say Talkin' 'bout my generation... # 490 00:29:32,460 --> 00:29:35,060 You know I was just a punk kid, art student, you know. 491 00:29:35,060 --> 00:29:37,340 I didn't give a shit for anybody, you know. 492 00:29:37,340 --> 00:29:41,300 I'd just had my thesis which was, you know, to make this band 493 00:29:41,300 --> 00:29:43,260 and blow it up in a cloud of smoke. 494 00:29:43,260 --> 00:29:46,060 LOUD FEEDBACK 495 00:29:47,300 --> 00:29:50,460 In those days, you can't imagine the fact those guys were 496 00:29:50,460 --> 00:29:56,060 buying in excess of a £1,000 worth of equipment a month. 497 00:29:56,060 --> 00:29:59,340 Everything was hire purchase in those days. 498 00:29:59,340 --> 00:30:01,980 Which is one of the reasons I was able to smash a few 499 00:30:01,980 --> 00:30:05,100 guitars in close succession cos he allowed me to buy them on tick. 500 00:30:05,100 --> 00:30:09,780 I can remember once not having a guitar for a gig and I ran into 501 00:30:09,780 --> 00:30:14,060 the store and grabbed this guitar and went, "OK, if I pay you later?" 502 00:30:14,060 --> 00:30:17,860 Just with my fingers crossed. And he went, "Yeah, go on, go on." 503 00:30:19,620 --> 00:30:24,740 So between Jim Marshall and The Who, they were building a foundation 504 00:30:24,740 --> 00:30:28,380 for what rock would look and sound like for the years to come. 505 00:30:33,020 --> 00:30:35,740 That sound just - that started it all off. 506 00:30:37,260 --> 00:30:39,460 I remember going to see the Small Faces 507 00:30:39,460 --> 00:30:42,180 and when they came on and played, they blew the place apart. 508 00:30:42,180 --> 00:30:45,020 I mean, it just changed everything. 509 00:30:46,620 --> 00:30:49,340 When I saw Peter Green and then Eric Clapton playing 510 00:30:49,340 --> 00:30:51,660 with them it was like, "Oh, hang on, this is big league, 511 00:30:51,660 --> 00:30:54,260 "this is everything, and everybody's going for these now." 512 00:30:55,380 --> 00:30:58,020 It was a statement about power. 513 00:30:58,020 --> 00:31:02,580 Remember also, we're entering the psychedelic era now 514 00:31:02,580 --> 00:31:09,100 and people wanted to be literally blown away with volume. 515 00:31:13,580 --> 00:31:17,740 Cream, Britain's first super group, used a wall of stacks. 516 00:31:17,740 --> 00:31:21,500 What seemed to matter now, was power and image. 517 00:31:21,500 --> 00:31:23,580 That was how it was in those days, you know. 518 00:31:23,580 --> 00:31:25,020 If you wanted to be louder, 519 00:31:25,020 --> 00:31:28,820 it wasn't the PA that did it, it was the amount of physical hardware. 520 00:31:30,460 --> 00:31:35,500 There's no doubt there is an iconic look to seeing 521 00:31:35,500 --> 00:31:37,580 a stack of Marshall speakers. 522 00:31:37,580 --> 00:31:39,340 It's almost the look of rock'n'roll. 523 00:31:39,340 --> 00:31:41,260 It's incredible actually. 524 00:31:46,500 --> 00:31:48,940 No sooner had Cream reached their peak, 525 00:31:48,940 --> 00:31:51,780 than a musical earthquake hit Britain. 526 00:31:51,780 --> 00:31:56,500 You know, there was a sort of hierarchy of London guitar players. 527 00:31:56,500 --> 00:32:00,580 When Hendrix arrived, it was like, "OK, everybody budge up one." 528 00:32:00,580 --> 00:32:02,900 MUSIC: Voodoo Chile by Jimi Hendrix 529 00:32:02,900 --> 00:32:05,100 I think Jimi came along at the right time, 530 00:32:05,100 --> 00:32:08,660 as far as the Marshall amplifier was concerned. 531 00:32:08,660 --> 00:32:11,740 Jimi not only appreciated the fact that 532 00:32:11,740 --> 00:32:16,220 I made the amplifier with the sound that he wanted, but also his 533 00:32:16,220 --> 00:32:20,380 name was James Marshall Hendrix and he got a kick out of that as well. 534 00:32:21,900 --> 00:32:25,220 It was a fabulous screaming sound 535 00:32:25,220 --> 00:32:29,740 and you got the sense of the guy playing through feedback. 536 00:32:29,740 --> 00:32:32,700 # I'm a voodoo chile... # 537 00:32:32,700 --> 00:32:34,820 And again, Marshall was at the centre. 538 00:32:34,820 --> 00:32:37,180 # I'm a voodoo chile, babe... # 539 00:32:37,180 --> 00:32:40,940 Immediately, he started playing guitar in Britain, all these 540 00:32:40,940 --> 00:32:44,540 great guitarists, the Eric Claptons, and Peter Greens, 541 00:32:44,540 --> 00:32:49,580 and Pete Townshends and Keith Richards and all just went, "Wow!" 542 00:32:52,500 --> 00:32:56,380 You know, Clapton was God, but Jimi killed God, man. 543 00:32:57,820 --> 00:33:02,300 The Marshall name was like Jimi Hendrix, 544 00:33:02,300 --> 00:33:06,300 Clapton in Cream, The Who, Marshall. 545 00:33:06,300 --> 00:33:09,100 And we all had stacks. 546 00:33:09,100 --> 00:33:11,020 HE LAUGHS 547 00:33:24,100 --> 00:33:27,260 Britain was in the grips of a deep counter culture. 548 00:33:27,260 --> 00:33:30,500 The message was turn on, tune in and drop out. 549 00:33:30,500 --> 00:33:33,660 MUSIC: Valley Of Neptune by Jimi Hendrix 550 00:33:33,660 --> 00:33:37,420 It was also a time of change for the sleepy hamlet of Milton Keynes, 551 00:33:37,420 --> 00:33:40,060 near Bletchley, 50 miles north of London. 552 00:33:41,660 --> 00:33:44,420 With growing international sales, the company had 553 00:33:44,420 --> 00:33:47,380 outgrown their tiny West London factory. 554 00:33:47,380 --> 00:33:51,020 The new town was offering generous relocation grants 555 00:33:51,020 --> 00:33:53,540 and Jim put the idea to the workforce. 556 00:33:53,540 --> 00:33:56,820 We went to lots of discussions on different places and things 557 00:33:56,820 --> 00:34:01,340 we were going to do, but it opened up that Bletchley was offering 558 00:34:01,340 --> 00:34:06,260 factories, accommodation for workers, and it looked quite promising. 559 00:34:07,660 --> 00:34:09,500 Jim led the way north. 560 00:34:09,500 --> 00:34:12,540 The first few weeks, I know they were all sleeping in the factory. 561 00:34:12,540 --> 00:34:15,020 Virtually all of his staff then followed. 562 00:34:20,020 --> 00:34:22,980 As rock developed, the super group began harnessing 563 00:34:22,980 --> 00:34:25,140 the power of the pounding guitar riff. 564 00:34:26,860 --> 00:34:30,100 Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin was the absolute master. 565 00:34:36,980 --> 00:34:40,380 Again, it's impossible to overstate how big Led Zeppelin were. 566 00:34:40,380 --> 00:34:43,100 They were absolutely massive. 567 00:34:43,100 --> 00:34:46,660 They were the Beatles of the '70s in terms of popularity levels. 568 00:34:46,660 --> 00:34:50,340 And, you know, I travelled with Robert quite a lot during that time. 569 00:34:50,340 --> 00:34:55,780 And one of the challenges was to figure out how to fill 570 00:34:55,780 --> 00:34:58,060 an entire stadium with that sound. 571 00:34:59,300 --> 00:35:03,540 I think that the change came in that later part of the '60s 572 00:35:03,540 --> 00:35:07,820 when somebody developed proper public address systems that 573 00:35:07,820 --> 00:35:12,580 were designed for music, not saying, "Would the owner of vehicle..." 574 00:35:13,740 --> 00:35:17,260 Because you could now have amps that were as loud as hell. 575 00:35:17,260 --> 00:35:21,980 The Marshall amp as a back-line, well, there's nothing better. 576 00:35:21,980 --> 00:35:26,740 It was like opening the doors and there we are, we are away now. 577 00:35:28,500 --> 00:35:31,780 It was just exactly like it was supposed to sound. 578 00:35:31,780 --> 00:35:34,580 All the other amps, you had to like twiddle, whereas with 579 00:35:34,580 --> 00:35:38,500 a Marshall, you just plug it in and it's like, like it's supposed to be. 580 00:35:39,780 --> 00:35:43,820 The spectacle of Paul Kossoff with his legs apart, with his head back, 581 00:35:43,820 --> 00:35:47,380 like a lion, roaring, wailing on his Les Paul, 582 00:35:47,380 --> 00:35:52,820 it was like a spectacle of biblical proportions to someone at 583 00:35:52,820 --> 00:35:54,380 15, 16 years old. 584 00:35:56,140 --> 00:35:57,940 Everything was ten for Paul, 585 00:35:57,940 --> 00:36:01,820 if 11 had been available by then, he would have done it been there. 586 00:36:01,820 --> 00:36:03,420 No, all the knobs went to the right 587 00:36:03,420 --> 00:36:06,900 and he would stand as close or as far away as he wanted to 588 00:36:06,900 --> 00:36:08,900 for the feedback and just play. 589 00:36:11,140 --> 00:36:13,660 It's kind of nice because I was there at the start of it all 590 00:36:13,660 --> 00:36:17,500 with Purple and, you know, it was the Marshall and 591 00:36:17,500 --> 00:36:21,060 this bass in particular that was the sound of our first hit, Hush. 592 00:36:21,060 --> 00:36:22,380 It sort of went... 593 00:36:22,380 --> 00:36:26,300 PLAYS OPENING RIFF OF HUSH 594 00:36:29,620 --> 00:36:33,020 MUSIC: Hush by Deep Purple 595 00:36:34,940 --> 00:36:38,980 You know, my 50-watt Marshall and Ritchie Blackmore's 30-watt Vox 596 00:36:38,980 --> 00:36:42,660 wasn't going to be what we needed, so I suggested that we 597 00:36:42,660 --> 00:36:46,820 go and see Jim down at the factory and we bought stacks for ourselves 598 00:36:46,820 --> 00:36:50,540 and started to build our reputation as the loudest band in the world. 599 00:36:51,780 --> 00:36:54,980 Deep Purple stretched the amp's power to the limits. 600 00:36:54,980 --> 00:36:57,980 You look back now and forget how big Deep Purple were. 601 00:36:57,980 --> 00:37:00,620 They were the equivalent of Black Sabbath, and certainly no 602 00:37:00,620 --> 00:37:03,740 question about it, but what Purple had was almost the dual guitar 603 00:37:03,740 --> 00:37:07,140 situation because of the way that Lord and Blackmore interplayed - 604 00:37:07,140 --> 00:37:10,860 they competed at times, but they also complemented at others. 605 00:37:10,860 --> 00:37:14,140 MUSIC: Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple 606 00:37:19,380 --> 00:37:22,180 There's no doubt that without Marshall, there wouldn't have 607 00:37:22,180 --> 00:37:25,660 been the sound that Lord and Blackmore were able to create. 608 00:37:25,660 --> 00:37:30,940 And it was Blackmore's virtuosity and Lord's classical leanings 609 00:37:30,940 --> 00:37:33,660 towards filling in the gaps that Blackmore didn't 610 00:37:33,660 --> 00:37:36,900 that made Purple sound so magnificent, so epic. 611 00:37:39,100 --> 00:37:42,780 I am still using, right through this period, the direct-injection 612 00:37:42,780 --> 00:37:45,820 Hammond organ, not going through the Leslie speakers but going 613 00:37:45,820 --> 00:37:50,100 direct from the organ amplifier out into a Marshall 200 watt. 614 00:37:50,100 --> 00:37:52,380 I could get that really hard, 615 00:37:52,380 --> 00:37:55,020 raw organ sound to compete with Ritchie. 616 00:37:56,140 --> 00:37:59,420 That's the beauty of what Deep Purple had, there was a warmth 617 00:37:59,420 --> 00:38:03,300 to Richard Blackmore and Jon Lord in the way they competed and 618 00:38:03,300 --> 00:38:06,500 combined and a lot of that was down to the way they used 619 00:38:06,500 --> 00:38:07,620 the Marshall amps. 620 00:38:07,620 --> 00:38:12,620 MUSIC: Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple 621 00:38:19,620 --> 00:38:24,460 What Marshall gave you was that feeling of, you've got four horses 622 00:38:24,460 --> 00:38:28,140 in front of you and you're driving them as hard as you can. 623 00:38:33,300 --> 00:38:35,580 We were very, very stoned. 624 00:38:36,940 --> 00:38:38,540 HE LAUGHS 625 00:38:38,540 --> 00:38:40,140 Yeah, and we were... 626 00:38:40,140 --> 00:38:44,740 We had this 6ft 2in woman with 52 inch tits, 627 00:38:44,740 --> 00:38:48,580 painted blue, and dancing on stage every night. 628 00:38:48,580 --> 00:38:51,300 I suppose you could say it was pretty loose. 629 00:38:51,300 --> 00:38:53,300 She didn't have an amplifier at all. 630 00:38:54,380 --> 00:38:58,540 # I, I just took a ride... # 631 00:38:58,540 --> 00:39:01,820 I'd only been with them four months, I think, and none of the others 632 00:39:01,820 --> 00:39:05,660 could sing it and I could. So I sang it and it went to Number One. 633 00:39:05,660 --> 00:39:07,220 On the front of the NME, 634 00:39:07,220 --> 00:39:10,140 I had a picture of just me and it said, "Hawkwind at Number One." 635 00:39:10,140 --> 00:39:12,220 It was great. 636 00:39:12,220 --> 00:39:13,820 It's a very loud kind of music. 637 00:39:13,820 --> 00:39:16,020 What has it done to your ears for instance? 638 00:39:16,020 --> 00:39:17,100 Eh? 639 00:39:17,100 --> 00:39:20,420 MUSIC: Ballroom Blitz by The Sweet 640 00:39:21,860 --> 00:39:25,460 Guitar sounds, because they were so thick and big, 641 00:39:25,460 --> 00:39:28,380 you didn't need much more on the recording. 642 00:39:28,380 --> 00:39:31,660 You didn't need to now start putting handclaps and tambourines 643 00:39:31,660 --> 00:39:34,660 and things in there because the space wasn't there. 644 00:39:34,660 --> 00:39:37,980 The drum sound was a powerhouse, the guitar was a powerhouse 645 00:39:37,980 --> 00:39:40,220 and the bottom end of the bass. 646 00:39:40,220 --> 00:39:42,700 What else did you need? You didn't need anything else. 647 00:39:42,700 --> 00:39:46,220 # And the girl in the corner said "Boy, I wanna warn you" And it turned into a ballroom blitz 648 00:39:46,220 --> 00:39:47,620 # Ballroom blitz... # 649 00:39:47,620 --> 00:39:52,620 The actual sheer weight of air movement that made your 650 00:39:52,620 --> 00:39:54,980 trousers flap. 651 00:39:54,980 --> 00:39:59,620 You know, of everything happening on stage was just incredible. 652 00:39:59,620 --> 00:40:05,420 The way the Marshall amp sounds gives a unique opportunity to 653 00:40:05,420 --> 00:40:07,900 musicians to play their instruments in the way 654 00:40:07,900 --> 00:40:11,580 they want to, knowing it will actually be projected to everybody. 655 00:40:14,340 --> 00:40:17,340 A pop group in full voice, as it were, can produce just about the 656 00:40:17,340 --> 00:40:19,780 same amount of noise as a 707 657 00:40:19,780 --> 00:40:21,540 thundering a few hundred feet overhead. 658 00:40:23,380 --> 00:40:25,340 And that's what it was all about then. 659 00:40:25,340 --> 00:40:28,380 We're a rock band - it's got to be loud, you know. 660 00:40:28,380 --> 00:40:30,740 And Slade were louder than us. 661 00:40:30,740 --> 00:40:33,340 Oh, really? OK, well, we'll turn it up then. 662 00:40:33,340 --> 00:40:35,620 # Here we are Oh, here we are 663 00:40:35,620 --> 00:40:36,900 # Oh here we go... # 664 00:40:36,900 --> 00:40:39,940 You know, we used to tear audiences' heads off. 665 00:40:39,940 --> 00:40:42,660 We had about 34 cabinets on stage 666 00:40:42,660 --> 00:40:44,900 and we used to call it the Wall of Death. 667 00:40:44,900 --> 00:40:47,220 And at our height, I mean, they were somewhere up there 668 00:40:47,220 --> 00:40:50,460 and you had to sort of reach up to try and adjust your volume. 669 00:40:50,460 --> 00:40:54,620 Not that it needed a lot of adjusting because it was flat out. 670 00:40:54,620 --> 00:40:58,980 MUSIC: Dancing with the Moonlit Knight by Genesis 671 00:41:04,260 --> 00:41:08,300 Les Paul, Marshall stack everything I wanted to do, everything 672 00:41:08,300 --> 00:41:10,980 I wanted to be... 673 00:41:10,980 --> 00:41:12,380 there it was. 674 00:41:16,060 --> 00:41:19,180 These days, we talk about you know searching for the upper harmonic 675 00:41:19,180 --> 00:41:21,140 and all that, but in those days, 676 00:41:21,140 --> 00:41:24,180 we would just go, "My God, it's so alive, it's screaming." 677 00:41:24,180 --> 00:41:27,220 And I think guitarists are always looking for the slightly 678 00:41:27,220 --> 00:41:28,780 out of control thing. 679 00:41:31,140 --> 00:41:33,980 But just as progressive rock had reached its peak, 680 00:41:33,980 --> 00:41:36,980 music received a sudden and dramatic wake up call. 681 00:41:38,220 --> 00:41:42,460 Everything had arrived at the stage where it all needed a huge, 682 00:41:42,460 --> 00:41:46,420 great kick and of course punk arrived kind of in the nick of time. 683 00:41:46,420 --> 00:41:49,780 # I am an antichrist... # 684 00:41:49,780 --> 00:41:54,180 The punk revolution unleashed a torrent of new talent. 685 00:41:54,180 --> 00:41:57,460 # Don't know what I want But I know how to get it... # 686 00:41:57,460 --> 00:42:01,220 Gritty guitars and the three-minute pop song were back with attitude. 687 00:42:01,220 --> 00:42:03,500 # Cos I want to be... # 688 00:42:03,500 --> 00:42:06,780 And it inspired more than just the anarchists. 689 00:42:06,780 --> 00:42:10,660 # ..anarchy... # 690 00:42:10,660 --> 00:42:16,060 I think Never Mind The Bollocks was more of an early heavy metal 691 00:42:16,060 --> 00:42:18,140 album than punk, to be honest. 692 00:42:20,380 --> 00:42:22,780 The minute you saw Steve Jones on the TV, 693 00:42:22,780 --> 00:42:24,740 I thought, "Oh, I see, right." 694 00:42:24,740 --> 00:42:27,460 You don't have to be Ritchie Blackmore then, it is 695 00:42:27,460 --> 00:42:31,980 possible to write three chords and get yourself up on stage. 696 00:42:36,780 --> 00:42:38,580 Diamond Head were one of the first of the 697 00:42:38,580 --> 00:42:40,460 new wave of British heavy metal. 698 00:42:41,540 --> 00:42:44,460 Punk and heavy metal were remarkably connected. 699 00:42:44,460 --> 00:42:49,340 What happened around about 1978 was it all started to coalesce. 700 00:42:49,340 --> 00:42:52,420 The media started to pick up on, hang on, the most exciting young 701 00:42:52,420 --> 00:42:55,340 bands around the country, be they from Sheffield, Newcastle, 702 00:42:55,340 --> 00:42:57,980 London, Manchester, Birmingham or Glasgow, happened to all 703 00:42:57,980 --> 00:43:01,700 fit into this funny little thing called hard or heavy rock, and 704 00:43:01,700 --> 00:43:05,100 the term new wave of British heavy metal, which just trips off 705 00:43:05,100 --> 00:43:09,820 the tongue now, sounds so ridiculous and so very complicated. 706 00:43:09,820 --> 00:43:11,220 But it summed it up because 707 00:43:11,220 --> 00:43:14,820 it was a young feeling in the country for metal. 708 00:43:14,820 --> 00:43:18,980 I think it was just a natural progression where we came out 709 00:43:18,980 --> 00:43:22,180 with all the energy, going at it hammer and tongues, you know 710 00:43:22,180 --> 00:43:24,260 arms flailing, ripping. 711 00:43:24,260 --> 00:43:25,420 # Wheels of steel... # 712 00:43:25,420 --> 00:43:27,620 I can still remember this kid at the front shouting, 713 00:43:27,620 --> 00:43:29,500 "It's great! It's just like punk. I love it" 714 00:43:30,700 --> 00:43:34,420 Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Saxon, just to use as examples, 715 00:43:34,420 --> 00:43:37,980 would look at that. What do I hear them play? Ah, they use Marshalls, 716 00:43:37,980 --> 00:43:41,060 which were identifiable and instantly recognisable 717 00:43:41,060 --> 00:43:43,620 and gave the sound and the warmth they wanted. 718 00:43:43,620 --> 00:43:46,820 They started to use Marshalls because it was the obvious amp 719 00:43:46,820 --> 00:43:48,820 to use, nothing else came close. 720 00:43:52,940 --> 00:43:56,500 Once AC/DC hit on their sound and their rhythm, 721 00:43:56,500 --> 00:43:59,660 there was nothing to add and nothing to take away. 722 00:43:59,660 --> 00:44:01,620 It was just perfect, and it still is. 723 00:44:01,620 --> 00:44:03,860 There's nothing that you need to do to it. 724 00:44:05,660 --> 00:44:09,740 Powering rock perfection may be one thing, but new challenges lay ahead. 725 00:44:11,940 --> 00:44:16,260 A seismic shift was beginning in the music younger audiences wanted. 726 00:44:16,260 --> 00:44:20,500 MUSIC: D.I.S.C.O. by Ottowan 727 00:44:22,500 --> 00:44:25,380 Disco was a threat to all live music, 728 00:44:25,380 --> 00:44:28,020 and that included the market for amps. 729 00:44:30,820 --> 00:44:34,420 Even though, in those days, disco records were still being 730 00:44:34,420 --> 00:44:39,620 made in the studios by musicians, it wasn't about the big live 731 00:44:39,620 --> 00:44:44,380 performance and therefore they didn't require the huge amps 732 00:44:44,380 --> 00:44:49,100 that, in the days before PA systems seriously got sorted out, 733 00:44:49,100 --> 00:44:52,220 were necessary to fill the bigger and bigger rooms. 734 00:44:52,220 --> 00:44:56,180 All rock bands recorded albums because they wanted to tour. 735 00:44:56,180 --> 00:44:58,940 They wanted to be seen, and that's where the expression 736 00:44:58,940 --> 00:45:03,620 comes across, and disco undermined it or tried to undermine it 737 00:45:03,620 --> 00:45:09,060 by making records more important but much more transient as well. 738 00:45:09,060 --> 00:45:12,100 And people used to say to me, 739 00:45:12,100 --> 00:45:16,420 "Well, the Marshall is very good once you can afford it." 740 00:45:16,420 --> 00:45:21,300 They were starting to get cheeky little oiks on their home turf 741 00:45:21,300 --> 00:45:25,300 like Orange, Sound City and Hiwatt. 742 00:45:25,300 --> 00:45:30,420 And they were building Marshall-style amplifiers, 743 00:45:30,420 --> 00:45:34,860 some of them were undercutting Marshall in terms of price. 744 00:45:34,860 --> 00:45:39,300 Some of them, like Orange and Hiwatt, had quite distinctive sounds 745 00:45:39,300 --> 00:45:43,140 of their own, so they weren't precisely just copying. 746 00:45:44,980 --> 00:45:48,460 Marshall's dominance was collapsing and sales plummeted. 747 00:45:48,460 --> 00:45:53,260 In 1981, we were down to 17 people on the clock. 748 00:45:54,660 --> 00:45:58,420 To survive, they desperately needed a new flagship amp. 749 00:45:58,420 --> 00:46:01,660 But the dilemma was whether to switch to cheaper transistor 750 00:46:01,660 --> 00:46:04,660 technology or to stick with their valve heritage. 751 00:46:04,660 --> 00:46:07,580 I think there will always be guitarists that will want to 752 00:46:07,580 --> 00:46:10,980 play valve amplifiers, whether it's because they think it sounds 753 00:46:10,980 --> 00:46:13,620 better or because there's a certain nostalgia. 754 00:46:14,940 --> 00:46:18,420 The more you progress as a musician, you're only really after one 755 00:46:18,420 --> 00:46:21,180 particular sound that becomes your own. 756 00:46:21,180 --> 00:46:23,060 And that's the valve-type sound. 757 00:46:23,060 --> 00:46:25,860 They take a signal, they add a bunch of noise, 758 00:46:25,860 --> 00:46:27,660 distort the crap out of it. 759 00:46:27,660 --> 00:46:31,900 What goes in is not what comes out, bigger. It completely mashes it, 760 00:46:31,900 --> 00:46:34,980 but in a glorious musical way that has a third dimension. 761 00:46:36,580 --> 00:46:39,780 It rounds off the edge. It sounds peculiar, but you get a cleaner 762 00:46:39,780 --> 00:46:43,740 distortion, you get less harshness than you would out of a digital amp. 763 00:46:43,740 --> 00:46:46,780 Beethoven, Mozart, the great composers, 764 00:46:46,780 --> 00:46:50,220 use symphonies to get across their thoughts and ideas. 765 00:46:50,220 --> 00:46:53,260 If they had a Marshall amp, you don't think Beethoven would have 766 00:46:53,260 --> 00:46:55,500 been plugging in and blasting away, or Mozart? 767 00:46:55,500 --> 00:46:56,980 Of course they would've done. 768 00:46:59,340 --> 00:47:01,540 The decision was made. 769 00:47:01,540 --> 00:47:04,620 The new JCM800 kept the valve technology 770 00:47:04,620 --> 00:47:07,260 so crucial to the distinctive Marshall sound. 771 00:47:09,740 --> 00:47:13,540 At its launch in 1980, everything rested on its success. 772 00:47:17,420 --> 00:47:18,780 They were lucky. 773 00:47:18,780 --> 00:47:22,340 British heavy metal hit the big time, and Marshall with it. 774 00:47:22,340 --> 00:47:25,860 The stack was back as the ultimate symbol of rock power. 775 00:47:28,060 --> 00:47:30,460 If you went to a show and you saw a wall of Marshalls, 776 00:47:30,460 --> 00:47:33,060 you knew exactly what to expect. 777 00:47:34,460 --> 00:47:36,780 The gamble with valves had paid off. 778 00:47:36,780 --> 00:47:40,380 By the mid '80s, the company was totally resurgent. 779 00:47:40,380 --> 00:47:44,540 MUSIC: Hungry Years by Saxon 780 00:47:44,540 --> 00:47:47,300 Sold out gigs, wall of Marshalls, 781 00:47:47,300 --> 00:47:52,060 wailing guitar, singing crowd, all in uniform - fantastic. 782 00:47:52,060 --> 00:47:53,860 It was the best feeling in the world. 783 00:47:55,980 --> 00:47:59,460 And we did have our own dress code. It went a little bit wrong 784 00:47:59,460 --> 00:48:02,900 later on cos I think America went a little bit Motley Crue. 785 00:48:02,900 --> 00:48:05,540 But it became very popular, so you were kind of tugged 786 00:48:05,540 --> 00:48:09,060 between pretty boys and being nasty like Motorhead, you know. 787 00:48:16,460 --> 00:48:20,180 I remember he sent me some JCM800's and I sent them back to him. 788 00:48:21,260 --> 00:48:23,740 I didn't like them, they were too quiet, you know. 789 00:48:27,020 --> 00:48:28,460 Nah, I just turned it up 790 00:48:28,460 --> 00:48:32,420 and hit the thing very hard, you know, that's...the secret. 791 00:48:41,900 --> 00:48:44,140 Shows got ridiculously big 792 00:48:44,140 --> 00:48:45,620 because the money was there, 793 00:48:45,620 --> 00:48:48,580 and, if you've got a 20,000-capacity arena, 794 00:48:48,580 --> 00:48:51,100 it's a little different to having a 20-capacity park. 795 00:48:51,100 --> 00:48:52,820 You have to project and have something 796 00:48:52,820 --> 00:48:55,500 that people to latch onto, so they did become 797 00:48:55,500 --> 00:48:59,620 so over the top and so ridiculous and also gave the opportunity 798 00:48:59,620 --> 00:49:01,660 to the lampoonists to come along 799 00:49:01,660 --> 00:49:04,140 and say, "Oh, look at that. We have an idea. 800 00:49:04,140 --> 00:49:07,940 "We can actually take the piss out of all those bands 801 00:49:07,940 --> 00:49:09,660 "who do huge stage sets." 802 00:49:09,660 --> 00:49:11,300 This is the loudest... 803 00:49:11,300 --> 00:49:13,820 Rock'n'roll! Rock'n'roll! 804 00:49:13,820 --> 00:49:17,620 ..most explosive band in heavy metal history. 805 00:49:17,620 --> 00:49:20,180 This is Spinal Tap. 806 00:49:20,180 --> 00:49:21,820 I think the film Spinal Tap 807 00:49:21,820 --> 00:49:26,060 probably had a lot to do with a resurgence of the use of Marshall. 808 00:49:26,060 --> 00:49:30,860 If you can see... Yeah. ..the numbers all go to 11. 809 00:49:30,860 --> 00:49:32,980 Look, right across the board. Oh. 810 00:49:32,980 --> 00:49:34,740 11, 11, 11. 811 00:49:34,740 --> 00:49:37,740 And most amps go up to ten? Exactly. 812 00:49:37,740 --> 00:49:40,220 Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder? 813 00:49:40,220 --> 00:49:42,060 Well, it's one louder, isn't it? 814 00:49:42,060 --> 00:49:46,180 Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number 815 00:49:46,180 --> 00:49:47,580 and make that a little louder? 816 00:49:50,940 --> 00:49:51,980 These go to 11. 817 00:49:53,580 --> 00:49:54,900 It goes to 11. 818 00:49:56,660 --> 00:50:01,980 And it made me laugh so much that they actually...they built me one. 819 00:50:01,980 --> 00:50:05,020 I think everyone likes to think it's about them. 820 00:50:05,020 --> 00:50:08,420 Everybody claims that, but Harry Shearer actually came on tour 821 00:50:08,420 --> 00:50:11,340 with us, did the research and put things from us in. 822 00:50:11,340 --> 00:50:14,540 If you talk to people about Spinal Tap and Nigel Tufnel 823 00:50:14,540 --> 00:50:18,580 and "goes to 11", they associate all of that still with Marshall. 824 00:50:18,580 --> 00:50:21,020 It might go up to number 11, 825 00:50:21,020 --> 00:50:25,380 but it also works very well at number 1 or number 2. 826 00:50:25,380 --> 00:50:27,420 You know, I think that's what's important. 827 00:50:27,420 --> 00:50:30,500 I've got a JCM800 828 00:50:30,500 --> 00:50:32,220 and it... 829 00:50:32,220 --> 00:50:35,180 I only ever have it on 2.5. 830 00:50:35,180 --> 00:50:39,340 That's as high as I dare take it because it's such a beast. 831 00:50:40,860 --> 00:50:43,740 Players began to seek their own signature guitar tone. 832 00:50:44,860 --> 00:50:46,620 If this was going to be a performance here, 833 00:50:46,620 --> 00:50:48,940 I might put an X on the spot where it goes into like... 834 00:50:48,940 --> 00:50:50,140 GUITAR SOUNDS Let's see. 835 00:50:50,140 --> 00:50:58,060 HOLDS SOUND ON GUITAR 836 00:50:59,620 --> 00:51:01,460 All right, well, that's going to go forever, 837 00:51:01,460 --> 00:51:03,460 so I'll put an X right there. 838 00:51:03,460 --> 00:51:06,340 I can remember there were more significant things occurred 839 00:51:06,340 --> 00:51:07,660 in the late '70s, early '80s 840 00:51:07,660 --> 00:51:11,220 and I think prior and maybe afterwards as well. 841 00:51:11,220 --> 00:51:14,260 Like you had Van Halen come out who revolutionised it, 842 00:51:14,260 --> 00:51:17,500 then you... When you thought it couldn't get any better than you had 843 00:51:17,500 --> 00:51:19,540 Randy Rhoads come out, for example. 844 00:51:19,540 --> 00:51:22,980 The amp's reputation had spread across the Atlantic. 845 00:51:22,980 --> 00:51:25,260 The American musicians embraced it so much 846 00:51:25,260 --> 00:51:27,780 and they actually took it to another level. 847 00:51:27,780 --> 00:51:30,620 If a young British musician had two or three Marshalls on stage, 848 00:51:30,620 --> 00:51:32,140 they had ten. 849 00:51:32,140 --> 00:51:35,780 It used to be in Los Angeles in the early '80s - 850 00:51:35,780 --> 00:51:40,260 "Wanted guitar player. Must have Marshall, Gibson and a car." 851 00:51:41,500 --> 00:51:46,100 Whether it's a pop song, a disco song, a rock song, 852 00:51:46,100 --> 00:51:49,860 uh, metal song. I mean, whatever genre the music is, 853 00:51:49,860 --> 00:51:53,420 God only knows how many recordings a Marshall has been on. 854 00:51:53,420 --> 00:51:55,420 These are bands that suddenly started to sell 855 00:51:55,420 --> 00:51:59,180 tens of millions of albums with what one could call big-hair rock, 856 00:51:59,180 --> 00:52:03,100 glam rock, call it what you will, great anthemic songs, 857 00:52:03,100 --> 00:52:06,260 great image and a sense of power. 858 00:52:06,260 --> 00:52:08,260 And the Marshall amp was part of it 859 00:52:08,260 --> 00:52:11,140 because they were proud to be photographed and filmed 860 00:52:11,140 --> 00:52:13,740 with Marshalls. They had them on stage everywhere you went. 861 00:52:15,220 --> 00:52:19,460 As rock music evolved in the '80s from rock to hard rock 862 00:52:19,460 --> 00:52:23,380 to heavy rock to heavy metal, so Marshall evolved with it, 863 00:52:23,380 --> 00:52:25,940 meeting the needs of those guitar players, 864 00:52:25,940 --> 00:52:29,340 and they were the amplifier of choice and becoming louder 865 00:52:29,340 --> 00:52:31,740 and being seen on stage to be louder. 866 00:52:33,700 --> 00:52:36,580 For me, it's all about the energy and the confidence 867 00:52:36,580 --> 00:52:39,540 to be able to go up there and just do your thing, right? 868 00:52:39,540 --> 00:52:44,100 So I spend very little time tweaking amps and doing all that shit. 869 00:52:44,100 --> 00:52:46,500 I set it up, it takes me five minutes, you know. 870 00:52:46,500 --> 00:52:48,420 Either it sounds good or it doesn't. 871 00:52:50,580 --> 00:52:53,020 MUSIC: Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N' Roses 872 00:52:53,020 --> 00:52:55,940 I remember being intimidated by it, the first time I ever... 873 00:52:55,940 --> 00:52:58,260 It was somebody else's amp. And you plug it in 874 00:52:58,260 --> 00:53:01,900 and it was above and beyond anything I'd ever used, 875 00:53:01,900 --> 00:53:04,620 so it was a little bit out of my sort of experience. 876 00:53:06,180 --> 00:53:07,540 It's not a cure for anything. 877 00:53:07,540 --> 00:53:09,860 If you suck and you buy a Marshall, you'll still suck, 878 00:53:09,860 --> 00:53:11,300 but you will suck louder 879 00:53:11,300 --> 00:53:14,020 and with better tone than you've ever sucked before in your life. 880 00:53:15,540 --> 00:53:19,380 The respect and adulation for the elder statesmen of rock 881 00:53:19,380 --> 00:53:21,260 has increased many fold. 882 00:53:21,260 --> 00:53:23,420 They are now held up with great esteem 883 00:53:23,420 --> 00:53:26,700 and awe rather than being regarded as boring old farts. 884 00:53:28,980 --> 00:53:31,980 Psychologically, you knew that what was coming out of those speakers 885 00:53:31,980 --> 00:53:33,100 sounded great. 886 00:53:33,100 --> 00:53:34,500 You know, we didn't use pedals. 887 00:53:34,500 --> 00:53:37,860 I might have had a Crybaby or a wah-wah pedal or something. 888 00:53:37,860 --> 00:53:39,980 But you just knew that you had a great guitar sound 889 00:53:39,980 --> 00:53:42,980 because you were trying to emulate your heroes from before. 890 00:53:42,980 --> 00:53:45,300 It gave you that confidence to know that you were now... 891 00:53:45,300 --> 00:53:46,820 As soon as you hit that chord, 892 00:53:46,820 --> 00:53:49,460 you know, the crowd jumped up and - bang, you were there, 893 00:53:49,460 --> 00:53:50,660 you were rock stars. 894 00:53:52,460 --> 00:53:54,540 GUITAR RIFF TO CAROLINE 895 00:53:54,540 --> 00:53:56,980 At least it's tried and tested. 896 00:53:56,980 --> 00:53:58,900 You know what you're going to get with it. 897 00:53:58,900 --> 00:54:01,220 It does what it says on the tin. 898 00:54:01,220 --> 00:54:04,020 It kick... Well, it doesn't actually say, "Kick arse," on there 899 00:54:04,020 --> 00:54:06,500 but that would be quite good to have on there, wouldn't it? 900 00:54:06,500 --> 00:54:08,660 "Marshall Kick Arse." Yeah. 901 00:54:08,660 --> 00:54:11,300 But it does... It does what you want it to do. 902 00:54:13,340 --> 00:54:16,620 Like, my particular thing is always about a hard-driven 903 00:54:16,620 --> 00:54:19,420 but warm, natural kind of a sound, 904 00:54:19,420 --> 00:54:21,540 and that was what brought me to 905 00:54:21,540 --> 00:54:25,460 Marshall in the first place because it had the volume and the gain 906 00:54:25,460 --> 00:54:29,300 and all that to rock as hard as it could possibly... 907 00:54:29,300 --> 00:54:31,140 anybody could ever possibly ever want. 908 00:54:33,020 --> 00:54:34,980 # Watch me burn... # 909 00:54:34,980 --> 00:54:38,860 Still, today there's new bands coming out with new music 910 00:54:38,860 --> 00:54:41,860 using a Marshall and saying, "We do this. 911 00:54:41,860 --> 00:54:44,340 "This is how we do it, and this is how we sound." 912 00:54:46,740 --> 00:54:49,820 You take a 14-year-old just getting into metal 913 00:54:49,820 --> 00:54:53,740 and you show them a picture from 1971-72 of a band on stage 914 00:54:53,740 --> 00:54:54,820 using a Marshall amp, 915 00:54:54,820 --> 00:54:56,140 they'll connect with it. 916 00:54:56,140 --> 00:54:59,340 You take a 14-year-old in 1971-72 917 00:54:59,340 --> 00:55:02,300 and show them what equipment was on stage in the 1930s 918 00:55:02,300 --> 00:55:04,620 they'll just look at it and go, "Alien," 919 00:55:04,620 --> 00:55:07,100 and that's the big difference. Marshall has transcended. 920 00:55:07,100 --> 00:55:08,260 # I am electric 921 00:55:08,260 --> 00:55:09,700 # I am electric 922 00:55:09,700 --> 00:55:11,460 # I am electric! # 923 00:55:11,460 --> 00:55:13,340 CROWD CHEERS AND SCREAMS 924 00:55:17,980 --> 00:55:21,580 Marshall amplification has remained independent and British, 925 00:55:21,580 --> 00:55:23,140 just as Jim intended it to be. 926 00:55:25,980 --> 00:55:29,220 Even into old age, he still led the company, 927 00:55:29,220 --> 00:55:32,220 never letting up on his ambition or control, 928 00:55:32,220 --> 00:55:33,580 but time was catching up. 929 00:55:35,460 --> 00:55:40,140 After a series of strokes, Jim was forced to take a back seat. 930 00:55:40,140 --> 00:55:42,740 We went and had dinner with him a couple of times 931 00:55:42,740 --> 00:55:45,060 and he was kind of getting frailer and frailer, you know. 932 00:55:46,500 --> 00:55:48,940 It's a terrible thing. 933 00:55:48,940 --> 00:55:53,700 In April 2012, Jim Marshall died peacefully. 934 00:55:53,700 --> 00:55:56,660 It was a shock but it was not unexpected. 935 00:55:56,660 --> 00:56:01,100 And it was international news within a few hours of him passing. 936 00:56:04,460 --> 00:56:07,180 Now, he was known as the Father of Loud. 937 00:56:07,180 --> 00:56:10,740 Jim Marshall, the man who helped shape the sound of rock, has died 938 00:56:10,740 --> 00:56:12,260 at the age of 88. 939 00:56:12,260 --> 00:56:16,180 The outpouring was huge because he was a very significant figure. 940 00:56:16,180 --> 00:56:17,980 There will never be another Jim Marshall. 941 00:56:17,980 --> 00:56:20,460 I remember him with such affection. 942 00:56:20,460 --> 00:56:24,860 And such a gentle, sweet, kind man, 943 00:56:24,860 --> 00:56:27,100 and, uh, to me, anyway. 944 00:56:29,220 --> 00:56:33,380 # Your love made it well worth waiting 945 00:56:34,820 --> 00:56:37,220 # For someone 946 00:56:39,060 --> 00:56:43,140 # Like you. # 947 00:56:45,100 --> 00:56:48,180 CHEERING AND APPLAUSE 948 00:56:52,180 --> 00:56:55,180 Jim never lived to see the Marshall 50th concert, 949 00:56:55,180 --> 00:56:58,180 but it became rock's tribute to his life. 950 00:56:58,180 --> 00:57:00,220 So, tonight, it's a mixed emotion. 951 00:57:00,220 --> 00:57:04,460 I was going out with the sole intention of doing this for Jim. 952 00:57:04,460 --> 00:57:05,780 He was supposed to be out there 953 00:57:05,780 --> 00:57:08,620 either sitting on the side of the stage or out of the sound desk. 954 00:57:08,620 --> 00:57:12,580 You know, cos he still loved his rock'n'roll, you know. 955 00:57:12,580 --> 00:57:14,380 And I must admit, it's quite loud out there, 956 00:57:14,380 --> 00:57:16,260 but it's his fault, isn't it? You know. 957 00:57:16,260 --> 00:57:18,700 HE LAUGHS 958 00:57:18,700 --> 00:57:23,460 6,000 fans filled London's Wembley Arena to hear some of the world's 959 00:57:23,460 --> 00:57:28,100 greatest guitarists play their own respects to the Father of Loud. 960 00:57:33,020 --> 00:57:35,540 CHEERING AND APPLAUSE 961 00:57:39,100 --> 00:57:40,940 It's a beautiful old amp. 962 00:57:40,940 --> 00:57:43,100 This is where it all started. 963 00:57:43,100 --> 00:57:47,580 Proud and sentimental. Bringing tears to my eyes. 964 00:57:47,580 --> 00:57:48,660 Jim got it. 965 00:57:48,660 --> 00:57:50,380 Jim was one of the first people. 966 00:57:50,380 --> 00:57:53,100 I have to say, I don't think that many others did. 967 00:57:53,100 --> 00:57:58,420 This is the guy that has left one of the most amazing legacies. 968 00:57:58,420 --> 00:58:01,340 I think, without Jim, this wouldn't have happened. 969 00:58:01,340 --> 00:58:04,580 We wouldn't have been able to do this stuff on stage. 970 00:58:04,580 --> 00:58:06,540 I suppose I've been very lucky, really, 971 00:58:06,540 --> 00:58:08,740 because I've liked everything that I've done in life. 972 00:58:09,940 --> 00:58:14,100 And I suppose the thing that makes it more interesting 973 00:58:14,100 --> 00:58:18,900 is the fact that whatever I've done has been associated with music.