Made on Earth for Rising Stars: The Electro-Harmonix Story by Joshua Scott and Daniel Danger
Many sounds associated with guitar-based rock are produced by electric guitarists playing through pedals and boxes—devices that distort or sustain the current. Many of those devices have been produced by Electro-Harmonix, a company founded in 1968 by unlikely partners.
Made on Earth for Rising Stars tells the story of how Mike Matthews, a Jewish music fan from Greenwich Village, teamed up with Bob Myer, a Mormon ex-Bell Labs engineer from rural New Jersey. Matthews palled around with Jimi Hendrix (when he was still Jimmy James) and was eyewitness to the emerging possibilities for the electric guitar. To tell the story simply: Matthews wanted to enable guitarists to more easily emulate Hendrix. Myer never heard of Hendrix but rose to the technical challenge. So began an empire built from spare parts, a product line birthed on a work bench in Myer’s garage.
Made on Earth is a coffee table book, profusely illustrated with Electro-Harmonix gear and a dense but readable text that describes the company’s products, their uses and their famous users—everyone from Bill Frisell to Vernon Reid, Adrien Belew to the Ramones and Nirvana.
Get Made on Earth for Rising Stars on Amazon here.
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