Styx’s Tommy Shaw on What Irks Him About the Guitar Industry | The Big 5
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- Опубликовано: 19 ноя 2021
- Plus, how he cried the day Wes Montgomery died, and the surprise family connection with his prized ’54 Tele.
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Tommy Shaw is a national treasure. Still sings, plays and writes like the old days. He hasn't lost a thing. The Mission and Crash of the Crown are OUTSTANDING albums. Among the best they've ever done.
He's lost his real hair.
Really a national treasure! I don't think so! Tommy Shaw has a dirty little secret!
Tommy Shaw slandered his first wife Cuppy Smith by slandering and writing a song about her called "The Queen of Spades" off the Pieces of Eight album because she found out about his affair with Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie the three snorted coke from each others butts and Cuppy divorced Tommy. He got mad and told Dennis DeYoung and James Young who are accessories to this slander and are just as guilty who knew what happened and decided to slander Cuppy in that song.
She later married Mike Corby who got fired from his band The Babys and they have been married ever since. Ricky Phillips joined The Babys after Mike Corby got fired and was behind it and also Jonathan Cain who joined the Babys after Corby got fired and Cain who later joined Journey was also behind it.
The lineup of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, The Eagles, and Fleetwood Mac in 1978 were also behind it or were involved with it. The song "World In A Bottle" by The Babys tells the whole story about this incident.
@@nomo9344 Really a national treasure! I don't think so! Tommy Shaw has a dirty little secret!
Tommy Shaw slandered his first wife Cuppy Smith by slandering and writing a song about her called "The Queen of Spades" off the Pieces of Eight album because she found out about his affair with Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie the three snorted coke from each others butts and Cuppy divorced Tommy. He got mad and told Dennis DeYoung and James Young who are accessories to this slander and are just as guilty who knew what happened and decided to slander Cuppy in that song.
She later married Mike Corby who got fired from his band The Babys and they have been married ever since. Ricky Phillips joined The Babys after Mike Corby got fired and was behind it and also Jonathan Cain who joined the Babys after Corby got fired and Cain who later joined Journey was also behind it.
The lineup of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, The Eagles, and Fleetwood Mac in 1978 were also behind it or were involved with it. The song "World In A Bottle" by The Babys tells the whole story about this incident.
@@nomo9344 Not a national treasure! Tommy Shaw has a dirty little secret!
Look up Cuppy Smith and Mike Corby! Tommy slandered Cuppy Smith in the Styx song "The Queen of Spades" off the Pieces of Eight album! She later married Mike Corby who got fired from The Babys! And Ricky Phillips and Jonathan Cain who joined The Babys after Corby's firing were behind and involved in having Corby fired from his band The Babys.
@@nomo9344 Well, Tommy's mother needs to know the dirty little secret about her son in slandering his first wife Cuppy Smith.
Tommy Shaw may well be the single most underrated guitarist in the history of rock music.
This guys been around forever and I swear he never ages. He sure seems like a normal guy after decades of being a rock star.
Hot damn Tommy Shaw..Saw him more times than I can count..love him so so much!
Tommy is a real human being. Very humble and very talented.
Tommy Shaw, one of the nicest guys in the rock business and one of my favorite guitarist. He will give any one a bit of time is he can.
Thank you for this video. When I met Tommy in 2011 at SFO airport, he told me about his uncle and that very guitar. What a treasure! It sounds so sweet. Thank you for playing it, Tommy!💕🙏💕
Pieces of Eight.....what an album.
My fav !
Guitar companies too often want to be bigger companies instead of working to be better companies.
One of the most talented musician, singer, and songwriters of our time, and he is from my home state of Alabama! ROLL TIDE!!!
What cool Person...
Listened for years, know his name..
This might be the first time hearing him talk..
Could be one of my friends the way he presents himself.
Nothing sounds like a Telecaster. It's a magical instrument. It was excellent to hear his take on things.
I've been a fan of Tommy Shaw since I was a kid, since before I even started playing guitar myself. He's a HUGE influence on my songwriting, singing, and playing. It's so wonderful to hear him talking about what's amazing and magical about guitars. Right on, Tommy. I doubt I'll ever get to meet you face to face, though I've seen you live several times. But if you ever check the comments on this video, here's a lifelong THANK YOU for everything!
EDIT: Just got to the end of the vid ~ my main amp is a Bogner Shiva, too! Love it!
I played in a band in Montgomery Al when he was playing there before Styx!! He was a regular at a bowling alley bar The Cove! Nice guy!
"Another year has passed me by..." and credit Tommy Shaw for his amazing songwriting, vocal, and guitar playing talents. wow, great riffs on the tele, too. And hail to the Gibson Custom Shops LP's! Thanks, Tommy!
Cool to hear Tommy’s stories. As a guitar player and singer I think One thing he’s very underrated for, that’s being a great singer. He has a great voice, always has. You don’t hear his name mentioned with other well known singers, but listen to his material. It’s awesome!
Shaw can go toe to toe with anyone
lol....tommies voice is,was and never will be underrated
You don't have to hear his name among others when he is in a class by himself...
Tommy's a great musician, I've always like his playing.
I came to this video as a fan of Premier Guitar. I am leaving this video as a fan of Premier Guitar and Tommy Shaw.
First concert for me was Styx 1978
My wife's first concert Styx 1978 same venue.
We met 20 yrs later, still together, took our mom's to see Styx at the luxor in 2006, just live Tommy shaw...
Tommy is one of my favorite rockers from the 70's and 80's... the end of STYX was such a drag... but he kept rockin'... and I've seen him several times in recent years! Dude is one of the coolest... ever! 😎🎸🤘
Saw Tommy with the original line-up on the Grand Illusions tour. One of the best concerts I've ever seen, natch.
Likewise...
Tommy Inspired me to learn Guitar. He is great.,
Gibson what? You won't build Tommy Shaw a custom Firebird? WTF one of my favorite things about Leo fender was that he used to get so excited about giving his guitars to famous people.
Well, he spent a long time fixing fancy watches, which sure fine, but doesn’t sell guitars.
He doesn’t have much of a silocial media profile which is where the smart marketing money goes these days.
@@MrScrofulous I think that was his point. You're smart marketing is the reason Gibson doesn't have the reputation that it used to among musicians. I hear quite a bit of Gibson bashing.
@@MrScrofulous by-the-way name me a rock star who is 68 years old who looks better, sings better, or plays the guitar better than Tommy Shaw. And my realm of the music world he is one of our heroes.
@@thealeons3179 I've got no problem with Tommy Shaw or his talent. His achievements in the Swiss watch world alone are apparently unrivalled, but social media is where it is at when it comes to marketing these days, and he is not really a presence there. His achievements with Styx are decades past, and that does not sell guitars today. Like it or not, Rhett Schull has a Custom Shop Firebird on indefinite loan from Gibson because he puts it in front of enough eyeballs on a regular basis to make a good ROI for them.
Being a hot 68 clearly isn't one of their criteria.
@@thealeons3179 Yes, people have been bashing the design of the LP since it's inception, which is why they tried to fix it, but then, everyone hated that they changed it, sooooooooooo, no luck there. Gibson has exactly the reputation it's always had. People love to hate them, but they still carry the greatest untouchable cache in the guitar world and everyone wants one. Even when some people move onto other brands, they still use Gibson as the gold standard that everything else gets compared to.
Love you Tommy, what a wonderful backstory about your uncle's guitar 🎸
His solos were the one I initially learned & emulated..it is so musical & lots of build up & dynamics
His solos are hard to learm
Great episode - loved hearing the maestro's thoughts on guitars, music, and influences. Kinda Blue is on my desert island list as well. Love Wes Montgomery too.
MY God always bless you Tommy. My first Styx album I had was the yellow vinyl one.
I believe that was the Grand Illusion special edition
Nice TeleTommy. I have a butterscotch Tele that I had made the way I wanted by the Custom Shop back in 98’, man I love that thing. It is my favorite treasure and I hope in its journey down the line after I’m gone that it becomes other people’s treasure adding to its story as the years go by.
Thanks for all that you have contributed to rock n roll, cheers.
Amen to that Tommy, know exactly what your talking about friend! Got a couple of guitars I received as a teen and they sound better today than they did back then.
Great Video and very interesting. Always love Tommy Shaw and it´s awesome to get some Insights of him!
This is awesome!!! I love Tommy so much! Such an amazing guitar player / singer/ performer!
A consummate musician and all around nice guy. I’ve seen Styx twice and though I went to hear great music, I went because I’m a fan of Tommy Shaw.
Tommy is just a down to earth guy who isn't trying to impress with glitter and gold.
One of the finest musician out there! And also has a great voice for singing iconic of all time……
Wisdom from a national treasure.
Dude ...I’m a fan since the 70s but still haven’t seen you live ...Hopefully me n my babe will see you live one day...Peace to the greatest singer guitarist song writer of our time....all time fav is a man in the wilderness...thanks and yes I still rock and youtube Return to Paradise ...with the old band ...Merry Christmas
How true. The lost years of Gibson with those robot tuners is a perfect example of marketing department madness.
When I see you man I can FEEL Jimmy Johnson over my shoulder, he loved working for you. Miss JJ he always made the sunshine just like you made STYX shine :) Thanks for the ear candy Tommy Cool Cool
So, we all want to know how much you paid for that 54 Telecaster
He said " cornerstone "
Doh!
Tommy I have seen you many times live throughout the years,and you are simply one of the greatest ever !!!!!😎😎😎
Your awesome brother keep up the great work!
"I've been trying to get a Firebird from Gibson for years for a couple years and it's like 'Nope, can't help ya'." Hear that, Mark Agnesi??
When Tommy Shaw talks guitars, I listen.
Shaw is a rock legend for sure. Sounds like he's been singing a lot lately, the voice is a little raspy. Don't know how he keeps up at that range.
In 2018 or 2019, he had laryngitis. I think after that is when he started having problems with his voice...
His speaking voice is raspy, but his singing voice, somehow, remains solid. Listen to a live recording of Sound The Alarm.
ruclips.net/video/rwMfcltxwsA/видео.html
Lol. I wouldn't call him a legend, lol
@@mgibby63mg Well some people don't know shit from shinola !!
Shaw is 100% right. Major guitar corporations unfortunately have gone the way of corporate America where they are focused on sales and revenue, not quality of product or customer/employee satisfaction. Gibson is far more guilty of this than Fender, but Fender has certainly made some big mistakes as of late. The guitar market was, is, and always will be limited. Gibson/Fender/Ibanez will never be Microsoft or Chase Bank. These companies can and have been profitable but they keep on making the same mistakes over and over. They make something of quality, corporate interests take over and try to exploit the product and ramp up production, quality suffers, demand goes down, profits go down, they rebuild. They key for any business is to understand WHAT WORKS and WHY and then try to do that business at a high level of CONSISTENT quality that yields customer/employee satisfaction while KNOWING YOUR LIMITATIONS. Key word is consistency. I won't buy a Gibson not just because of the price tag....but because the quality control has been a roller coaster for decades! Gibson has lost a ton of market share to Fender, and gone bankrupt because of this reason. There aren't any new bands who play a Gibson. It's Fender or Ibanez almost exclusively for young working guitarists. Meanwhile greats like Tommy Shaw here are trying to throw them a bone and promote their product and they turn their backs on a life long fan and customer. Again, I'm, not saying other guitar brands are innocent but I agree with Shaw here that I really hoped Gibson was going to turn a corner after the 2018 bankruptcy. But with the "Play authentic" disaster and their death grip on making the same mistakes and promoting the same artists (Slash is pushing 60 Gibson, time to move on) It's hard to see Gibson as anything other than a too proud and blind dying brand.
That is a great Story. Props to you Tommy Shaw!
great format for an interview.
It was Kind of Blue from
Miles Davis. It considered one of his greatest album. To say it wasn’t trendy at the time, leads me to believe TS is just name dropping to be cool…. At that Time MD was on top of the world…..
Well, it's just the best selling jazz album of all time, is all.
I thought he said it's not trendy now maybe then it was
Maybe it has something to do with Tommy being only 6 years old when the album was released and didn't really know anything about trends at that age. Actually Tommy said: "It's not a trendy album (present tense), maybe it was at the time (past tense)."
vibration leaves a "residue." Thats the most woo-woo thing I've ever heard about why a guitar might sound good.
sorry if i sound ignorant, but today i discovered a very interesting man with an amazing connection to music and the guitar. thankyou.
Excellent video PG - well stated on all fronts, Tommy!
Thanks for watching!
Great story. Music is the great tonic for all that ails you. Thanks.
I think that’s probably one the coolest stories I have ever heard
great interview
I sold my old tele to pay for my ex wifes cancer treatment i miss her and the guitar. I paid $200 for it in the seventies when i was a kid and got a quick $1500 for it in 2010.
I would LOVE to have a chat with Tommy Shaw. He seems like a really interesting, really great guy.
Such a killer Telecaster! Isn’t it amazing how little wear it has, after nearly 70 years, yet it has just enough to add to its character. Now compare that to the ridiculous “heavy relic” stuff Fender keeps cranking out and charging $5k for.
I'm just not a fan of the relic stuff. I think it is ridiculous too. I take great pride in the fact that all of my guitars look brand new. These are precision instruments and deserve to be treated as such and not a Hollywood prop.
@@fullclipaudio Me either. At least when it comes to all the heavy relic stuff Fender Custom Shop keeps cranking out. Those hack jobs do not look authentic.
I’ve built and sold some reliced vintage telecaster hardware (Klusson tuners, three saddle Fender ashtray bridges, etc). I’ve also done a few complete necks, ready to bolt on to a finished body. When it comes to the wooden relicng, I attempt to visualize what may have caused each dings or dent and how the back of the neck and fingerboard may have worn thru years of playing. Less is more and again, authenticity is the most important goal.
The Eric Johnson thinline is a good guitar. But for the most part I agree, let a classic be a classic. Tommy Shaw is one of those guys with such a golden voice you forget he's a great guitar player.
I had front row center seats for the first time in my life and it was for a Styx concert, this was WAY back when in Portland Oregon, and days before the show Styx canceled because Tommy got viral laryngitis and they just skipped that show on the tour, I was devastated...
Love TS, Miss Styx.
outstanding content! I’d no idea Tommy Shaw might be into Wes Montgomery and Miles Davis. Thank you.
Yeah! That surprised me too but then it starts to make sense. Every once in a while Tommy throws in a little jazzy lick. I’ve always liked the short little solo he did about two minutes into Castle Walls. It has a very jazzy feel to it and now I get where his influence came from. It totally sounds like Wes Montgomery. So cool to find this out!
Nice story. I saw Styx a long time ago. In Oklahoma City.
I just saw Tommy Shaw with Styx and he was every bit the showman I believed him to be. If you have connections to Tommy, please tell him I think he should do a guitar book like Geddy Lee's "Big Beautiful Book of Bass." His uncle's guitar is indeed a treasure!
My mother took guitar lessons from a man named Emmett Bigger. I never met him. She didn't drive, so I would take her to her lesson and sit in my dad's 57 Chevy wagon while she went up the outdoor stairs and had her lesson. By and by I came home from Purdue one time (home was just across the Illinois line) and there was a whole bunch of stuff on the living room floor. "What's this?" "Emmet died. He didn't want his kids to sell his stuff because it meant nothing to them, so he left it to you because he knew it would mean something to you. I told him all about you. His kids were really pissed and yelled at Faye. She told me she didn't know he had done that but was very glad he did. She said he knew what he was doing." My mother had known her when she was carrying me. (I was born in March of 1951.)
1950 National lap steel (cannonball jack)
1958 National single cutaway solid body resembling a Paul but extremely lightweight, single-coil pickup mounted on a strip of steel attached to the underside of the neck by a single screw, so you could change the angle a bit by pushing it with your hand and align the pole pieces with the bass or treble strings to change the EQ. I later had John Gray (a master luthier in Champagne, Illinois whose clients included REO Speedwagon and Adrian Belew) remount it to the neck off-center so all the strings were directly over the pole pieces and fill in the old hole--where the pan head screw was in plain view--and the countersunk new mount with synthetic mother of pearl. He apologized that he couldn't get a perfect match with the old dots and said that he spent more time trying to do that than with the remount. Typical JG. Probably charged me ten bucks.
1960 white Supro double cutaway, fiberglass, front and back fitted like clamshells into a white rubber bumper, triple humbuckers three inches wide with treble unit mounted obliquely. Hard case, grey tolex, white tolex 3" stripes at both ends.
1960 Supro combo amp, form factor of a Fender Champ, grey and white tolex matching the guitar case with the white stripe around the middle like the rubber on the guitar, tank reverb, 12AX7 output tubes (!), recessed top-mounted controls like my Ampeg VT-40 (my first tube amp, $250 used in San Francisco 1975, "You'll love it! I've been using it for bass in clubs every night for two years but I'm getting an SVT and don't have room for it.)
So yeah, as you said, a residue, like solder, making a connection.
"We've got a thing that's called radar love
We've got a wave in the air
Radar love"
Sooooo cool you got yours Uncle's tele
Gibson needs to get Tommy Shaw custom shop Firebird ASAP!!!! That is BS that hes been asking and they're not hooking him up. I've always seen Tommy supporting a Gibson Les Pauls as far back as early Styx. He even used one when he was on Daryl's House, which was not that long ago. Great episode, check it out if you get a chance. Common Gibson get with the program. Keep rockin' Tommy, you're the man.
Hey Tommy, I'm a big fan and also a friend of Charles brucia, so sad he left this planet, he was my friend
TOMMY SHAW IS THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO TED NUGGET.
Can you elaborate on that?
I could be wrong, but I bet he’d say it was his wife.
Ted Chicken Nugget?
Killer musician, composer and singer. Love his work. Wish the original Styx lineup buried the hatchet and reunited. Not sure if it’s going to happen.
Sweet sounding axe!!! I agree about the instruments absorbing the vibes of those who played them. Agreed about Miles.
So Excellent ☆.
The Mojo is very real! 💯❤️🎸
I won't buy a Gibson, but if they did a Tommy Shaw Explorer I would certainly be hella tempted.
Would like to know where I can get that big 1 pedal?googled it,couldn’t find it.
That's why I would never sell my rd Ive literally worn off the gold pickup cover and bridge finish. Can't be healthy but I love the idea of my guitar being a part of my physical being. Haha I have a junior that used to have one of those tuners it was promptly removed and tuners replaced with Grovers.
I wanna see a demo of that footpedal.
As I was watching this, the thought came to me...how good would it be for Tommy and Luke to do a project together? Random thought. Two guitar legends.
Almost started crying when he was telling the story about the Tele .
I am so lucky to have met u back in the early seventies when crystal Ball 🔮 was released! I’ll never forget learning “Babe, U are right -on Mr.Shaw! All my guitars have souls! And how do I know that? Bc all my guitars are made of wood! And what is wood? Organic material that only gets better with time! Gr8 example is Steinway Piano, etc!
Shawblades ruled!
I had a chance to meet Tommy during the Kilroy tour, and was supremely disappointed at his attitude. Years later, I had occasion to run into him, again, and he was one of the coolest rock stars I'd ever met. Watching the Styx Brhind the Music explained the switch
I saw them on Kilroy. They hated each other by that point and nobody was having any fun. Not surprised to hear he wasn’t friendly.
So if you were buying a new American Strat (that I'm considering), would you buy the classic pickups or would you succumb to the new noiseless pickups?
That was really cool…
Pick up the phone and call Dennis DeYoung, the fans fans want one final tour.
No we dont. Gowan is 20 times better.
My question for Tommy is, how do you and JY keep Dennis DeYoung out of the band he started?
@@jimelkins8697Its well documented
I hope I’m not wrong and is genuinely as nice a guy as he seems. I believe him to be that
Not just 54.most of the black guards have the solder spot on the ashtray. The 12th fret markers are a giveaway for 53/4 tele
The industry that made him millions
Tommy Shaw I have been around since the early 50s cruising around in my convertibles in the ladder sixties and all through the 70s listening to you guys as music I feel as though it's time for all of used to make amends with Dennis please please please for all of our hearts and souls it's getting later in life it's like Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin when they finally made amends to with each other Dennis DeYoung needs to be with you everyone needs to see you guys hugging on each other and forgiving whatever it is that you guys broke away from I don't still understand it Life's too short to hold grudges you guys are all talented equally I love you all please please please make amends with each other and blast the rock and roll scene all across the country and around the world do it for all the rest of us I don't have much money I'm a retired old man lost my son dead lost my mom and dad all my grandpa's and grandmas and everybody but watching your music fills me with joy every time I see you guys I don't never get to go to concerts I think I've seen two concerts in my life and they were both Cheap Trick when they were at the Rialto Theater in Joliet Illinois I've never got to see you guys live but I have always loved your music I don't like people that cold grudges it's nonsense it's a loss of life when that happens
Every guitar has a story.
Good call on the Bogner amps. As good as it gets
My love Tommy Shaw ❤ Beautiful AZ Kim
Tommy, you can borrow my firebird, I’ll let you take it on the road even, I know you would treat her with respect.
I seen 2 songs of Styx live in 2013
I had to carry a drunk date out
Great opening though…
It blew my mind how short Tommy was
I met Tommy about ten years ago and got my pic with him. I noticed his shoes had a bit of a heel on them, and he was barely my height which is 5'7. My guess is he is 5'5 or 5'6. Whatever he is, he is super cute! :)
*saw
Same thing was said about Lou Gramm. An interviewer covering him on his album LONG HARD LOOK in 1990 said he was shorter than you would imagine.
Tommy, I'd like to see you and Sammy play together.
Yea, I went to Gibson to get 4 screws for the neck. Finally got somebody to talk to me and he explained I can't get
He's right to many bells and whistles they all had it right the first time
I was and still am a Narvel Felts fan. How funny.
Tommy must know where the fountain of youth is located. He looks like he is in his 40's.
Totally! Tommy was a vegetarian for a long time until a few years ago. He tells the story about eating meat again on Live From Daryl’s House in Oct. 2020 here on You Tube.
tommy its funny you say soulfull. i was playing my friend's dad;s tele. he was passed away years before i touched it . it was the best night i ever had on guitar live . i said tm my friend . it was like it was playing its self.