Robert "Throb" Young's 1989 Gibson Les Paul Standard

Sometimes it's hard enough to piece together what's happened in your own life, let alone anyone else's.  All those details, those "When?"'s, those "Where?"'s, those ""Who with?"'s, those "Did I really do that?"'s, those "What happened next?"'s.  Unless you're one of the world's most diligent diarists or self-obsessed bloggers, personal provenance for the majority of us is a mix of the clear, the half-remembered, the lost and the later refabricated highlights.  You'd be missing out on living, if all you did was documenting (note to self).

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Transpose that experience to the history behind a single guitar that has gone through the hands of many fabulous guitarists, and suddenly you've got a family tree to deal with.  Transpose that again to a guitarist and band that were the first to put Creation Records on the map in the 90s, and, on that platform, legendary for their tirelessly enthusiastic embrace and exploration of all avenues of the rock and roll lifestyle at just the right time, when rock & roll came together with acid house and rave . . . and you can pretty much shelve your nomination for this year's local historical society research prize.

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And so it is with this beautiful 1989 Les Paul Standard.  Just enough "What We Knows" to catch Robert "Throb" Young red-handed.  Just enough "We Suspects" to mean the deerstalker and meerschaum pipe won't be going into storage in the near future, plus a real "Cliffhanger" at the end of the story so far.  And you'll have to read to the bottom to get to that!  So, to put it all in one place, this is how the story goes, with huge thanks to Henry Olsen, multi-musician and bass guitarist with Primal Scream in the Screamadelica/Give Out But Don't Give Up years, and to Andrew Innes, fellow-guitarist in Primal Scream, and adding a little bit of research of my own, as part-time detective and starstruck lover of the guitar, the guitarist, and the band.

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Robert was rarely ever seen without a Les Paul.  Everyone has their own memories.  Mine is seeing him with that glitter blue Les Paul locked over his shoulders, performing Rocks with Primal Scream on Channel 4's The Word back in 1994.  A shot of electricity to the head and the heart.  And, as Henry tells it, it was during the 1993 recording of the album that Rocks burst out of - Give Out But Don't Give Up - that he used the 1989 Les Paul Standard we see here.  Those were heady days for the band.  Riding high on the global success of ground-breaking Screamadelica, it's a story that's beautifully and lovingly revisited in the BBC's Primal Scream - The Lost Memphis Tapes.  No clear images of Robert with the Les Paul, although in the final few minutes, a perfect example of him sitting with what could be the very guitar.  In Henry's memory, Robert played it on most of the tracks on the album, and wrote Jailbird and Rocks using it.  We may never know, but Henry managed to retain more lucidity than his fellow bandmates during those wild and hazy days.  It's a part of the jigsaw.

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As Les Paul Standards go, it's a classic Cherry Sunburst.  It may have been one of the best-sounding Les Pauls of its generation, but it didn't necessarily have all the glam and glitz for a guitarist at the top of his game and fame.  So, much against Henry's advice, Robert traded it in at (now closed) Taylor's Guitar Store in Memphis for the glitter blue Les Paul that many of us remember today - the one that made the TV and live appearances as the album was promoted.  That would have been back in late 1993/early 1994, just before the album was released in March 1994.

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The story after its time with Robert is actually a lot easier to put together.  The guitar was bought by Gwin Spencer, guitarist with local Memphis band, Mother Station.  Successful locally, Mother Station never quite hit the big time, and Gwin traded the guitar to Jeff Powell of Ardent Studios, in part payment for work he had done with them.  Jeff is famous for his work as engineer and producer at the legendary Ardent Studios on Madison Avenue, Memphis - the same studios that Primal Scream recorded Give Out But Don't Give Up (and the earlier Dixie Narco) - and a friend of Henry Olsen to this day.  From the time Jeff bought it all the way through to 2015. the guitar became a treasured 'house' guitar at Ardent Studios, used on many sessions by artists as diverse as Gin Blossoms, Sister Hazel, Three Doors Down, and Afghan Whigs.  Check out the discography at Ardent Studios, and who knows how many more of the world's great songwriters and guitarists will have played this guitar.  

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In September 2015, Jeff told Henry that he was thinking of selling the guitar, and Henry bought it straight away - not only because it's one of the best guitars he's ever played, but also in honour of the passing of his dear friend Robert Young late in 2014.  Henry continues to compose and play, and used the Les Paul on the final section of his latest recording, as a homage to Robert.  And of course he's free to use the guitar again at any point into the future!

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Which brings us to the cliffhanger for this as yet unfinished story.  Shortly after buying the guitar, I asked a good friend of mine to ask Andrew Innes, a childhood friend, whether he remembered it from all those years ago.  Andrew's response was enviably true to the spirit of the time: "To be completely honest I have no recollection of Robert having that guitar in Memphis.  That doesn’t mean to say he didn’t have it , it’s just my memory isn’t very good with regards to that time!!"  The classic red herring moment - time to dust down the raincoat, put collar up to wind and rain, and begin the search for other clues.  But then, late in 2018, Andrew found a grainy shot among some Super 8 footage of those Memphis recording sessions - with him playing what he thinks is Robert's guitar: