Alan di Perna
Latest articles by Alan di Perna

Roger McGuinn on jamming with George Harrison, teaching Mike Bloomfield and confusing Bob Dylan
By Elizabeth Swann published
The folk-rock icon said the Beatles were jealous of the Byrds’ clothes. “They asked, ‘How’d you get to wear jeans? We had to wear stupid suits’”

Photographer Richard E. Aaron on how a late-night Lynyrd Skynyrd party and a Jack Daniel’s–chugging chimp made rock history
By Alan di Perna published
The ‘Frampton Comes Alive!’ lensman snapped an iconic image of Skynyrd at the height of their fame and excess — before making a narrow escape from tragedy

Bob Dylan and Jorma Kaukonen on the 1960s guitar icon who led an electric blues revolution and died alone and unknown
By Alan di Perna published
Dylan called Mike Bloomfield “the best guitar player I ever heard.” But his intensity and brilliance obscured a deep-seated discomfort with success

Roger McGuinn and Keith Richards on the country-rock pioneer who laid a path for the ’70s California sound and died at 26
By Alan di Perna published
Despite his tumultuous lifestyle, Gram Parsons delivered transcendent music with the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers and his own Fallen Angels

Vince Gill tells how a tragedy brought him his prized 1959 Gibson Les Paul ’Burst
By Christopher Scapelliti published
In a 2017 interview with Guitar Aficionado, the country-rock six-string ace revealed how a sad and deeply personal twist of events brought a prized '59 Les Paul into his life

Marty Stuart on the legendary Clarence White B-Bender Tele
By Jackson Maxwell published
“It’s an indescribable guitar,” the Nashville titan says of the late Byrds legend's iconic '54 model. “You could put a hundred Telecasters in a row, and when you plug this guitar in it just has a voice all its own”

“I’m Definitely Not a One-Guitar Person”: Carlos Santana Pulls out His Favorite PRS, Gibson and Fender Axes
By Alan di Perna published
“It may look nice, but if it doesn’t have the tone I want, I’m not interested,” says the discerning six-string master

Carlos Santana's Magical 1968 Gibson Les Paul Custom
By Alan di Perna published
This holy grail of Santana guitars defined the supernatural sound on ‘Abraxas’ and beyond.
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