Bert Weedon OBE (born Herbert Maurice William Weedon on10 May 1920; died 20… Read Full Bio ↴Bert Weedon OBE (born Herbert Maurice William Weedon on10 May 1920; died 20 April 2012) was an English guitarist and composer whose style of guitar playing was popular and influential during the 1950s and 1960s. He was the first British guitarist to have a hit record in the UK Singles Chart, in 1959, and his best-selling tutorial guides, Play in a Day, were a major influence on many leading musicians. He was born in East Ham, Essex, now Greater London.
Weedon began learning the guitar at twelve. The first British guitarist in the UK Singles Chart, with "Guitar Boogie Shuffle" in 1959, he was an influence on many stars, including Eric Clapton, Brian May, Mike Oldfield, The Shadows and The Beatles.
As well as his hits and TV appearances at a crucial time in modern British music history, his best-known contribution to British guitar style is his tutorial guide Play in a Day, which many stars claim was a major influence on their learning and playing.
His playing style focuses on both rhythm and melody, and is itself influenced by the jazz guitarists of the 1950s, notably Les Paul. Weedon placed a lot of emphasis on control of tone, and wanted to make the guitar the star of his music.
The later 1960s generation of underground rock performers satirised him as too mainstream, the Bonzo Dog Band singing the line "We are normal and we dig Bert Weedon" in 1968.
Married to Maggie Weedon, he has two sons, Lionel and Geoffrey, and nine grandchildren.
A Water Rat, he is highly active in charity work and fundraising, especially for children and the disabled, and was elected King Rat in 1992. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2001 for his services to entertainment and charities.
His playing style is best known nowadays through the music of The Shadows, especially Hank Marvin.
Weedon began learning the guitar at twelve. The first British guitarist in the UK Singles Chart, with "Guitar Boogie Shuffle" in 1959, he was an influence on many stars, including Eric Clapton, Brian May, Mike Oldfield, The Shadows and The Beatles.
As well as his hits and TV appearances at a crucial time in modern British music history, his best-known contribution to British guitar style is his tutorial guide Play in a Day, which many stars claim was a major influence on their learning and playing.
His playing style focuses on both rhythm and melody, and is itself influenced by the jazz guitarists of the 1950s, notably Les Paul. Weedon placed a lot of emphasis on control of tone, and wanted to make the guitar the star of his music.
The later 1960s generation of underground rock performers satirised him as too mainstream, the Bonzo Dog Band singing the line "We are normal and we dig Bert Weedon" in 1968.
Married to Maggie Weedon, he has two sons, Lionel and Geoffrey, and nine grandchildren.
A Water Rat, he is highly active in charity work and fundraising, especially for children and the disabled, and was elected King Rat in 1992. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2001 for his services to entertainment and charities.
His playing style is best known nowadays through the music of The Shadows, especially Hank Marvin.
Ghost Train
Bert Weedon Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Ghost Train' by these artists:
Bee Gees Take me to your world of wonder Let me come inside…
Brooker Gary (Brooker / Fisher / Reid) They're putting up the posters The…
Capes and Crowns Ghost train take me away To a land with no…
Carrie Newcomer There's a light in the darkness just barely out of…
Cohn Marc Everybody talks about some fateful day And I guess that this…
Counting Crows I took the cannonball down to the ocean Across the desert…
Dead Sons I don't know where we are going This train seems to…
Elvis Costello Maureen and Stan were looking for a job They got songs…
Feargal Sharkey Take the ghost train away from freedom One minute you're the…
Gary Brooker (Brooker / Fisher / Reid) They're putting up the posters The…
Gorilla Here they come to steal my soul Ghost train Wait…
Justin Sullivan It's a long warm September and we're both still alive And…
Kevin Ayers I'm sitting here picking the holes in my sneakers Watching …
KITCHEN - Counting Crows I took the cannonball down to the ocean Across the desert…
Madness A straw headed woman, and a barrel chested man, A pocket…
Marc Cohn Everybody talks about some fateful day And I guess that this…
Mark Henes It's a quarter past twelve, and I'm sitting here waiting…
Marty & the Munks Way out west an Arizona cowboy tends the herd The dessert…
Mr Bones and The Boneyard Circus feat. Ria Bautista Endure the terror i have for You my dear please don't…
Newcomer Carrie There's a light in the darkness just barely out of…
North Country Gentlemen I had a vision plain and true Saw something that few…
Rhytm Police Live is just a moment in time so do what…
Rickie Lee Jones Well I decided to take the bus It was about 6:05 'Cause…
Summer Camp I... You... Way back in September I boarded the train. Ne…
The Stranglers Taking a ride on the ghost train Looking around at everyone…
Thrushes Let's go out tonight…
Typhoon I heard my name Called out from a passing train Like a…
V.A. I'm riding on a ghost train Woulda drove, but they said…
Witches of Doom TROUBLE IS A LONELY PLACE FAITH AND DEVOTION ON YOUR…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Bert Weedon:
Guitar Boggie Shuffle Aerosmith Box Of Fire Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogi…
Guitar Boogie Aerosmith Box Of Fire Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogi…
Guitar Boogie Shuffle Aerosmith Box Of Fire Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogi…
Rock Shuffle Boogie Aerosmith Box Of Fire Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogi…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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Chrisst
And three years later, all of a sudden lots more people are suddenly checking this out....That'll be the law of Surfrajette.
Will Shank
@Chrisst I am no longer Trivia King, I'm retired. And to be honest I could not remember which song but what I did remember was the lyric, "We are normal and we dig Bert Weedon, Ha Ha!". So I Googled that. At about the 2:29 mark if you're curious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZXI9RJSgok&ab_channel=scrambledheadz
Chrisst
@Will Shank Oh no Will I'm afraid you have us there...and I don't think that all the Googling in the world would help. Trivia King. LOL.
Will Shank
@Chrisst Yes to that but do you know the Bonzo Dog Band song that mentions him? And might you wonder what kind of person dwells on trivia like that? Me!
Chrisst
@Will Shank Amongst guitarists Bert is revered by the greats including Clapton, McCartney, May and so on because of his book 'Play In A Day' published in 1957. Today you can search any aspect of playing guitar so easily.
Then it was mysterious, Music lessons could be had but guitar was frowned upon by adults, something parents wouldn't want their children playing partly because of the Teddy Boy image so you learned piano or woodwind, brass maybe.
The book served not only as a resource but gave creedance to the instrument and those that would be the guitarists in the groups of the 60's learned from it.
Will Shank
Well, sort of. One of the comments in the Suffrajettes video mentions Bert Weedon and that brought me here. He's mentioned in a Bonzo Dog Band song from 50 years ago. Now I know who he was.
MrJinenjo
Great tune. I can listen to dark instros like this every minute of the day. Thanks!
chatham43
...great stuff..youve got an amazing collection,,,,..quite hypnotic watching that vinyl spin.........anyway thanks for all your uploads.....much appreciated......
Sids60sSounds
Thanks matey. Comments like yours make it all worthwhile! :)
Ben Kleschinsky
Wow. This is a good tune.