Uncommon Sound - The Left Handed Guitar Players That Changed Music Volume 1 & 2

What is it about left-handed guitar players? Is there some magic connection between Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Danny Gatton and Dick Dale? In Uncommon Sound John Engel takes a breathtaking in-depth look at some of the most remarkable musicians to have shaped popular music over the past 50 years or so.

What do they have in common? Stylistically, practically nothing. But already by holding their guitar the "wrong" way, they epitomize the unbridled, non-conformist spirit of popular music. Engel has tapped into probably the broadest range of musicians to ever find themselves in the same book; and their uncommon sound is a tribute to all music makers. They range from incomparable rock guitarist Mark Knopfler to Argentine folk hero Atahualpa Yupanqui, and from Hawaiian slack-key master James Pahinui to new-jazz virtuoso Joseph Carter III. Many are already guitar icons. Others are "musicians’ musicians," the unsung heroes that shaped whole genres.

This hefty tome dispels many of the myths that have grown up around these guitarists through interviews done specifically for the book. Along the way, many surprising facts are thrown up – such as the numbers of left-handed guitarists playing right-handed instruments and even the right-handed players that learned to play left-handed.

But one thing many share is the ability to take an unusual gift and turn it into some of the most exciting and challenging music of our age. Engel’s detailed accounts bring us on a series of personal journeys to the very heart of the music that shaped a century.