Ask any guitar player about their favorite instrument and they will talk about it’s attributes like it was the most precious thing in the world to them. They detail it’s beauty using terms such as sexy and enchanting, how it’s soul is the real instigator of the songs the musician ends up creating with it, that just touching it wells up infatuation and idolatry. The guitar is their muse, their sex symbol, their fulfiller of dreams. I’ve had many conversations with musicians over the years and when you hear them describe their guitars, the tone of their voices change and the words they use become more romanticized. And what photographer Lisa Johnson has captured in her new book, Immortal Axes: Guitars That Rock, is that love, that awe, that these players have for what simply boils down to wood and strings.
In her previous book, 108 Rock Star Guitars, her quest of photographing iconic guitars culminated in an almost 400-page love letter to the instruments that defined music. Guitars owned by Slash, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and many more were given the superstar status they deserved in portraiture. Her follow-up will make you just as starry-eyed as you flip through the pages of this oversized book. Over 150 artists’ instruments are represented, from Page’s 1968 Double Neck Gibson to Kirk Hammett’s 1979 Flying V, Jackson Browne’s well-worn 1930’s Gibson acoustics, Michael Anthony’s Jack Daniels bass and Peter Frampton’s once lost 1954 Les Paul “Phenix.”
Frampton sums up the lust for guitars in his introduction: “I wanted a red Stratocaster like [Hank Marvin’s] so bad I could taste it.” That’s how it usually starts. You hear one, you see one, you want one. It oftentimes turns into obsession. From there, it can lead to bands, albums, tours and, for a few lucky souls, heraldry into iconic status. Both sides of Keith Richards’ “Tele Squire” were photographed to show the wear and tear it experienced throughout it’s time in the Rolling Stone’s hands. Jeff Beck’s 1954 Fender Esquire is given the macro lens treatment to show it’s beat-up beauty in minute detail; while Duane Allman’s 1957 “Layla” Goldtop is pictured laid out like a goddess on it’s former owner’s bed at the Big House Museum in Macon, Georgia. Paul Gilbert’s 1982 “Mr Guitar” Flying V is given the spread-eagle view, Brian Ray’s “Goldie” lounges on a shag rug and John 5’s custom Telecaster plays second fiddle to his hairless cat Wednesday.
Some of the more unique instruments included in Immortal Axes are John Mayall’s handmade guitars embossed with turquoise and silver, Jerry Garcia’s “Pretzel,” Chris Squire’s green bass, Glen Campbell’s 1939 Sears catalog acoustic, Bo Diddley’s “Bad Dude” and Mike Enzinger’s lute. Personalization via the artwork comes to life on Robert Trujillo’s Aztec bass, Aldo Nova’s “Canadian Dollar,” Eric Bloom’s “Reaper” and of course Buddy Guy’s polka dots. Signatures adorn Susan Tedeschi’s 1993 Telecaster, Albert Lee’s 1953 Telecaster and Jennifer Batten’s Washburn. An added bonus is seeing some of the guitar straps – flowers and hearts on Doyle Bramhall II’s 1964 Fender Strat, beadwork on Lucinda Williams’ “Roses” Steelcaster and snakeskin on Frank Hannon’s SG.
Immortal Axes will give you hours of optical pleasure and you can easily hone in on microscopic details as the crispness of the photographs are stellar.
