Directed by Robert Radler, “Turn it Up!” is the story and history of the electric guitar, from the invention in the 1930s to its golden years, right through the phenomenon of the Guitar Hero video-game and the digital guitars of the future. It’s also a series of guitar stories, where everyone from rock stars, to congressmen, CEOs, and teenage virtuosos, try to understand their emotional connection to their guitars.
“I wanted to explain why people go ga-ga over it,” Radler told the Ventura County Star surrounded at home by his own axes. “I wanted to explain the feeling that was sweeping over me as I picked the guitar back up. I now say it’s the story of the electric guitar — and a series of guitar stories.”
A host of players are featured in the film, including Slash, Les Paul, B.B. King, Paul Stanley of Kiss, The Doors’ Robbie Krieger, John 5, Nancy Wilson of Heart, Dickey Betts, Toto’s Steve Lukather and many, many more.
“Turn It Up!” features the history of the electric guitar, including its early origins with the 1932 Rickenbacker “Frying Pan” guitar, the influence of Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson, the battles between guitar makers Gibson and Fender through the years to one-up the other’s latest models, and such seminal moments as Bob Dylan going electric during the Newport Folk Festival in summer 1965 and The Beatles’ appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on Feb. 9, 1964. “The bolt of lightning struck when we all saw them on Ed Sullivan,” says Heart’s Nancy Wilson in the film of that magical night; Kiss’ Paul Stanley refers to the Fab Four as “the Pied Pipers to a generation.”
The release date for “Turn It Up!” is TBA; check out the trailer here.
The Beatles – All My Loving
The Ed Sullivan Show – NYC – February 9, 1964
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