Pete Townshend appears in an interesting documentary celebrating the 50th anniversary of Fylde guitars that was recently released.
The film features a lineup of musicians who each tell their personal story about how they came to play Fylde guitars, and their relationship with Roger Bucknall, the English guitar maker from Birmingham. Roger started building the handcrafted acoustic guitars in 1973 on the Fylde coast of Lancashire, before moving the business to Penrith, Cumbria, in the Lake District in 1996.
The documentary was directed by Sam English, and features: Eric Bibb; Clive Carroll; Troy Donockley; Martin Carthy; Gordon Giltrap; Remi Harris; Richard Hawley; Megan Henwood; David Holmes; Peter Howarth; Seth Lakeman; Jule Malischke; Will McNicol; David Mead; Ken Nicol; Adam Palma; Martin Simpson; John Smith; Pete Townshend; Ben Walker, Chris While, the team at Fylde guitars, and of course Roger Bucknall MBE.
The different models of acoustic guitars that Fylde produces are named after characters in Shakespeare, such as Orsino, Falstaff, Oberon, and Ariel. Pete Townshend plays the Ariel model, which is a small bodied guitar. The character Ariel is a light and airy spirit in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which fits the description of the guitar. The Ariel was commissioned by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull in 1978, who approached Roger Bucknall to make a small “parlour” sized guitar. Pete currently has 5 Ariels in his collection.
In the film, Pete discusses his love and discovery of the Fylde Ariel. Here’s a few excerpts: “I was looking for a small bodied guitar, and I was a huge fan at that time (1976-78) of Gordon Giltrap, and loved the sound, not just his playing – he was a wonderful player and musician – but also the full-bodiedness of the guitars that he used. I contacted [Fylde] and they sent me details of various guitars that they sold, mainly big bodied guitars, big huge 12-strings with loads and loads of body and big heavy necks. I explained that I was looking for something more delicate. At that time they only made this small bodied guitar, the Ariel. It’s very, very light. The neck is almost like a Spanish guitar. It’s wide. The first song I wrote on this was “I Am An Animal”. It’s a really wonderful guitar to write on. I used it on that particular song, which is about one of my favourite songs I’ve ever written, and it was inspired to some extent by the way that [chord] shape fell under my fingers so easily. One of the things I loved about it was the lightness of weight, the smallness of the body, so it felt to me like a guitar that I could travel with. I carry it with me pretty much all the time. This Fylde, the Ariel, I like to have with me in every studio situation that I operate in. I’ve been using them since the late 70’s, pretty much constantly.”
The 50 years of Fylde Guitars documentary is now on youtube. Pete comes on around 54 minutes in. It’s a really great film, so be sure to watch it!
Pete played his Fylde Ariel guitar at a few Attic Jam and Barnes and Noble shows that he did with Rachel Fuller back in 2006. Many thanks to everyone who contributed photos and video of Pete performing on that beautiful instrument!
Screenshot from Fylde documentary
Screenshot from Fylde documentary
Joe's Pub Attic Jam show in New York, 2006. Photo credit: George Ligouri
Martyrs Attic Jam show in Chicago, 2006. Photo credit: John Davisson
Barnes and Noble, Chicago in 2006. Photo credit: Jeff Elbel
Barnes and Noble, Chicago in 2006. Photo credit: Jeff Elbel
Martyrs Attic Jam show in Chicago, 2006.
