'Impossible Guitar' (2000 Digital Remaster) by Phil Manzanera

First released in 1982, "Primitive Guitars" truly is a solo album. Released at the same time as Roxy Music's 'Avalon', this experimental album received rave reviews. Now digitally remastered, it includes the two bonus tracks, 'Criollo' (french remix) and 'Frontera' (instrumental version). Marking Manzanera's tenth year of as a professional musician, Primitive Guitars means to be a looking back at his stylistic growth through a series of solo pieces that take in the various stages of his life: childhood in South America, adolescence in London, stints in Roxy Music, 801, and other projects. These are hinted at in the titles ("Caracas," "Bogota," "Ritmo de Los Angeles") and often in the Latin influences of the melodies and playing styles. On all these pulsing, groove-centered instrumental tracks, Manzanera is backed only by a drum machine and, on one tune, John Wetton on bass. Otherwise all the diverse sounds, noises, melodies, and rhythms have been created on guitar, linking Manzanera to another progressive virtuoso, Adrian Belew. In between tracks, Manzanera inserts snatches of dialogue recorded at various rehearsals, making this a successful, very personal album.

The cover is an artistic rendering of Manzaneras' Gibson Firebird VII guitar - Yebo. Firebird VII - Three pickups, Tune-o-matic bridge and Maestro "Lyre" Vibrola tailpiece. Gold hardware. Block inlays and neck binding.

Phil Manzanera (born Philip Geoffrey Targett-Adams, 31 January 1951) is a British musician and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music.
In 2006 Manzanera co-produced David Gilmour's album 'On An Island' and played in Gilmour's band for tours in Europe and North America. He wrote and presented a series of 14 one-hour radio programmes for station Planet Rock entitled The A-Z of Great Guitarists and his instrumental album, Firebird V11, was released in 2008.
His third solo album Primitive Guitars (1982) marked his tenth anniversary as a professional musician. It was intended as a retrospective of his musical influences and stylistic growth, interpreted through a series of solo pieces that represent various stages in his life - childhood in South America, adolescence in London, his work in Roxy Music and 801, and other projects. Manzanera plays all the instruments, backed only by a drum machine, except for one track that features John Wetton on bass. In between tracks, Manzanera inserted snatches of dialogue recorded at various rehearsals.

Gibson Firebird VII

Manzanera has played a variety of instruments throughout his career, but he is best known for his "signature" guitar, a 1964 'Cardinal Red' Gibson Firebird VII, with gold-plated pickups and tuners. This guitar became widely known to fans after Manzanera posed with it during the photo session that produced the inner gatefold photo for Roxy Music's second album For Your Pleasure in 1972, and he has used it regularly throughout his career. Manzanera also frequently uses two custom-made Gibson Les Paul guitars, one of which features a mother of pearl inlay in the shape of an iguana.

[litlgrey]

I used to have the 12" of this, and when it had just come out, it wasn't clear whether to play it at 33 rpm or 45 rpm. You know what? It sounds really good at 45 rpm!
To get an idea, play this clip at 1.25x speed.

[niclawson]

Have loved this since it was released.

[weboyebo]

Very cool, made the impossible... possible.

[weboyebo]

The video attempts to mimic those "impossible" guitar 🎸 riffs and infectious beat.

[biriyaniferrari]

Radio 1 used to play this at 45rpm as background between tracks....hope Phil got the royalties!

[gurgisjones]

Such a fun song. Would love to see some groovy chicks dancing to this.

[weboyebo]

Check out "Big Dome" on my channel. ☮️ Yebo