Kathy Marshall Queen of The Surf Guitar

facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

 

Over the past 55-years or however long it’s been that I’ve been listening, playing or in some other way connecting with Surf Music as well as other genres of music, I somehow missed this.

“She was rightly recognized for her talent, but it was the fact that she was a girl and could show up the boys that earned her the big buzz.” -reverbcentral.com

“During the heyday of surf instrumental music in the sixties, there was a now-legendary Queen of the Surf Guitar. She was a 13 year old girl named Kathy Marshall. She didn’t have her own band, but she did sit in with several of the top bands of the day. Kathy was a frequent “member” of surf legends Eddie and the Showmen, the Blazers, and the Crossfires (who later became the Turtles). There were no releases with her guitar on them (only two unheard acetates exist that I know of), but her double picking talent made quite a stir in those days.“ From BOYS WILL BE BOYS (And Girls Won’t), at reverbcentral.com. Read more

Kathy Marshall Queen of The Surf Guitar Kathy Marshall Queen of The Surf Guitar

Like finding a precious gem on a back-shelf of the curio cabinet, this is exciting! Where has she been all my life? Actually, since I’ve only sporadically lived in California over the years – and I was playing Surf Music in Colorado at the time – it makes sense that I missed her, especially since she seems to have been esoterically on-the-fringe.

It’s so cool to find yet another guitar-chick who will be included in the history of rock & roll, along with Carol Kaye of The Wrecking Crew, Mary Ford, Peggy Jones (aka Lady Bo – Bo Diddley’s guitarist,) Norma-Jean Wofford (Bo Diddley’s second female guitarist,) Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Joni Mitchell, Chrissie Hynde, Bonnie Raitt – just to name a few of the well-established string-queens and a couple younger players like Orianthi Panagaris and Kaki King. The list goes on and on…

LasVegasBuffetClub.Com

Kathy Marshall Queen of The Surf Guitar

Article by William Carbone c.2015-William Carbone

Leave a Reply