G.E all the way. The guy is singularly THE best person to be entertained and informed by with regard all things guitar. He has given his life to the instrument and is just a joy to watch and listen to. A class act.
Thanks for describing the love of the instrument. I don't get the negative comments here. These people just don't appreciate guitars as the art form that they are. The woods, the craftsmanship, the different sounds, personalities heritage, history. Thanks for the great video.
Just went up to check, unbelievable anyone would rag this, gees, my only complaint is, Not Enough,! Plus I have 1 regret now in my last days, I swapped out my refurbished perfect cond Gib F cut ED265 that broke my heart week later but deal is deal & I needed bit cash & $800 Mikes new hihats stool upgrade but a month later could not think about it, over next decades I've only seen it 3-4 times, 1 Elvis clip, but I see couple beautiful, God, they're All gorgeous guitars, Great chat, the luddites who rag the clip just belong on couch with big Mac coke n fries 🙄✌️🇦🇺🖐️
I didn't care much or even have an opinion about Richard Gere, im not much for most actors actresses or so called stars,,,BUT THIS INTERVIEW CHANGED MY NO MADE UP MY MIND ABOUT RG THE PERSON AND MUSICIAN WHOM I BELIEVE I QUITE LIKE,,THANKS FOR SHOWING THE JAY LENO OF GUITAR COLLECTIONS...nothin but the blues!
First time hearing Richard Gere talk guitars and love his passion and philosophy. I’m a hack and still I’m fascinated by every guitar I pick up and I always take note of how different they all are. Their “voices”. And GE is like a living guitar. Wow.
I really really enjoyed this. Thank you kindly all three for inviting me in for a visit. Guitars are what canvases and colors and brushes are for the painter… DIFFERENT GUITARS, MATERIALS, SIZES AND SUCH PAINT DIFFERENT SOUNDS. Like the surfer searching the perfect wave… the guitar lover searches the perfect vibe 😊
Back in the early 2000s I saw him walking in SoHo, dressed in sharp-looking shoes, and a short sleeve button collar shirt you see in high-end men's shops. The dude not only played well on SNL, but wore awesome pinstripe suits. He was puffing on a cigar and I waved and said, "Hey G.E.!" He smiled and said, "Hi" back. Just from the "Hi" he sounded like a friendly person, but I didn't want to interrupt his day.
@@georgearagon2546 Thanks! It was a fortunate experience and I regret, being shy, not telling him how much I enjoyed all of the music I have heard him play from Hall and Oates and so many artists, and SNL He is not the first celebrity encounter I have had in my life, but being shy costs many missing opportunities in encounters with people, that I have learned to break through from in my life. Now I'm the assertive confident man I wanted to become from my shyness.
Absolutely love GE...the quote about we need to play with our fingers...it sounds better and if we want to use a pick to play faster and we listen to ourselves we find out we're fast enough and are playing too much anyway.
I got to play a really old Martin that a friend had once. That thing sound so ethereal, like a dainty, delicate song on a breeze escaping from you like a smokey incense dissipating as the notes faded. It was just beautiful.
These cats are having the same chat most of us guitar needs have, but....they have the REAL DEAL to pick from right in front of them. GE is such a soulful cat. Richard knows what it's about, you can tell a lifer within 5 minutes. He's got the disease, just like the rest of us. Glad to to meet a kindred spirit Mr Gere.
A very interesting video. I never knew Richard Geere was a guitar player and a collector. I have known of G.E.for many years and have admired him all those years. Loved the video!!!
One of my friends brought me to that room the day before the auction and I played any guitar I wanted to try. It was one of the most memorable musical experiences of my life. I couldnt afford to buy any if them but at least I got to play them. I think my favorite to play was the flying v. There was a 1928 Martin and a few 1954 strats that were really good too. It still seems like it was a dream but I brought the auction catalog home so I would remember it was real.
I never much liked G.E.Smith, but now realize I was wrong. He's a great player and historian of modern music. And Richard - wow! - kudos to you for loving guitars so much, and getting this incredible collection together, and for telling us about it.
who knew Richard Gere played guitar? What I really enjoyed about this, other than the obvious treasure trove of incredible guitars, is that all 3 of these fellas seem intelligent & sincere
G.E. Is the real deal. Just full of soul coming out of his fingers. The epitome of cool. You can feel the cool coming out of every note. It’s just a part of the man. It’s natural for some of us. Very genuine person.
... such a pleasent surprise !!! Never thought that Richard G. such a passionate collector ! B r a v o !!! I'm absolutely crazy with guitars too ...and have overe 20 on my own . Of course they not so rare like this wonderful collection , but for me most of them unic and I love them all !!!
Wow, look at you Richard Gere. I have enjoyed your work for I don't even know for how long now. Something I didn't know about you is you playing guitar, at all but, at this level of your appreciation. In this little episode, listening to you talk about your guitars. Clearly not scripted and speaking with a life time of learning with each acquisition on you way of day to day living. As you go out and do your job then between movies, between takes. This thing, music you found as a young boy, then guitar you found as a teen, the way most of us did of our generation. How could we not? The girls were beautiful. I have a new respect for you. I'm still not a big fan of the movie Chicago. But, that's me and my personal taste. Still I loved Pretty Woman and I know if I watch it again which I can't tell how many times I've seen it already. I know it will make me smile. But this too also made me smile. Warmed my heart, knowing there is another real guitarist one that truly appreciates the guitar for true reasons and not because someone told you to. Thanks for this
That is an impressive collection. I had no idea he was a player and a collector. I am not sure why so much hate for the man. He just added a bunch of cool points in the Richard Gere chapter of my cool book.
The hate comes from the fact he is a typical leftist Hollywood elite who hates the US. Check out what he said at the concert for New York after Sept 11
@@tompaul2591 BS. And you're a typical reactionary right wing nut. All he said was War and Violence are wrong. Because someone is a pacifist doesn't mean they hate America.
I love the mix of people on the video. They all know their stuff, and it's great. They talk real and they also can be seen to answer the facts about the guitars that most don't know
Yes GE is the star in the room and Gere talks and talks and sucks all the air out of the room. Dude, GE knows way more about your vanity horde than you Let GE talk.
@artwise1415 just doing his job. Then again, now in 2024, Smith is an archive of knowledge that must be preserved for future generations of guitar players and for the historical archives of Americana guitar culture. 🎸
Dear Americans, if you don't understand apostrophes, in general, just ignore them. It's not Dee Angelico, or Dee Addario but Dangelico and Daddario. That's how language works. Very enviable collection Mr Gere.
Nice! I've had them all at one time or another. Including a beautyful virgin 1959 Sunburts ES 335 I bought in a pawn shop in East St Louis . It had a neck that needed adjustment and a cleaning. It was obvious it had sat in someones closet since it was new. Pawn Shops in East St Louis were the best. Lets See I bought it for $140 and took it to Scotty's music and took the bow out in half a twist of the truss rod. I had a brand new 335 from the golden age. I was going to take it to the Cream concert in St Louis and see If Eric would trade for his Red ES-335, He might have if he played it, the PAF's were double white and a friend had a Kroina V and this guitar blew it out the water. I think he played a 59 on his Cradle to the Grave Album. I knew if I had the Red one I probably wouldn't come with any providence that it was "the" Cross Roads 335. So much for that. I saw Big Albert in the late 60's in a tiny club under an old supermarket "The Castaways Club". Gus Thorton on bass and Albert King with the Kronia V tuned down to C with pretty big strings. No body understood how he was playing it upside down and backwards ha ha. He had huge fingers and an even bigger diamond ring!. I couldn't see what the hell he was playing . He could bend a note almost off the fret board. "The Albert KIng" my friends. It was the time Clapton was playing Cross Roads with Cream and he was trying out an Albert Tune but just couldln't get it sounding right.. It was perplexing for Eric I think Albert was using so many tricks to get that sound. I was there for the 60's all the way through from the Beatles on. I grew up in Lancaster Calif home of Frank Zappa and Captian Beefheart. Imagine seeing Captian Beefheart at the Antelope Valley Rodeo.. That vacated the cowboy mind at the time... so damn funny. I lived on the Coast later and the Best Band in Calif was The Beach Boys! All in all they were very good considering the vocals and the playing and Brian's writing. Then came The English Blues and The Stones and The Animals and THE YARDBIRDS... Between The Stones and the Yardbirds the American Blues came back to America through their performances. It was through The Great American Blues shows in England. I knew nothing of the original blues till Mick and Eric played with Sonny Boy Rice Miller (Arkansas) . That was it I started playing Harmonica trying to imitate Sonny Boy.. A difficult feat to say the least. Hasn't Kieth come a long way, man that guy can play finger style blues with the best of them. Best guitarist all around in all of Rock and Roll!!! I was mentored by Virgil Elliott when I was a teenage wild child, HE is the MAN ask George Winston and Any of the Canned Heat, who ever is left I think now only Fedo? I guess. We Smoked Afgan Hash with them at their hotel till I was was gone. Went to the show and the first couple of songs sounded like Far Out Jazz haha The "Sunflower" was in full form wailing a solo like Cornet Coleman! He did look like a Sunflower he was beaming!!
@@phihelix8777 Old Times but life goes on and now I'm learning "Last Tango In Paris" Gato Barbieri this is a real challenge he composed the whole soundtrack in one month. See Santana giv the nod to Gato with a smile on his face. Man Gato was the best he covers it all!
In the History of the Moody Blues video (2hrs plus), they reveal they toured with Sonny Boy Williamson or played as his backup band. i love those first five moody records. concept albums. psychedelic. Seeing the Beach Boys in the early days when they could barely play their instruments (it was Glen Campbell and the Wrecking Crew that played their early records) on tv was ironic to say the least. great great records though they were. mike love led an offshoot group in the 70's with jazz sax man Charles Lloyd! the group was called Celebration.
That was a great story. Thanks for sharing. I was lucky enough to see Albert King & SRV in Boston in the 80's. I think it was in the Orphium Theater. SRV had such a big grin while on stage with A. King.
Amazing collection. Nice to see just how much he appreciates them too. I do just wish they had put some decent strings on those acoustics though. They sound like they've been on there for decades.
Excellent collection!!! And I see some negative comments asking why Mr. Gere didn't play any in the video or perhaps doesn't play.... you don't have to play guitar to appreciate the craftsmanship and history of them.... Thanks for sharing your collection!
I had no idea that Richard Gere was a guitar player and collector. That's one of the finest private collections I've ever seen. Wish we could have heard the stories on the other instruments. I always enjoyed watching GE's rotation of fine vintage guitars on SNL. You could always count on the band to deliver even if skits weren't very good that week. Very cool to see them together discussing vintage guitars.
Yeh, right, my only regret & 1 thing I can't think about was swapping my Gib Fcut ED265 that I haven't seen again bar 4 clips, over 40 Yr now & I'm sure he had 1 or close to it, just perfection, I was crazy 😜🤔 yep I wish it was more complete such a beautiful collection & I was drummer just drool for this, 🖖🇦🇺😉
I’ve been to many guitar stores and played many guitars, many I could never afford, but I’ve not played anything near what they used to make in the 40s 50s and 60s it would be interesting to learn why those sounds aren’t made anymore? Anyway this was a really enjoyable video, nice really nice. Thanks.
That ES 335 is almost identical to my natural finish ES 335, I have found that I have an addiction to natural finish guitars. I have always been a huge fan of Les Paul guitars, but somewhat more recently I have been won over by the ES 335. they are so versatile with a simple string gauge change and or changing the tuning they can be used for almost every genre of music. I still have several Les Paul guitars and they are great guitars but now I have to share time playing them with the ES 335. there are quite a few great musicians who are quite fond of the ES 335. like Chuck Berry who played ES 335 guitars exclusively though out his career. and BB King I don't think I have ever seen him without his beloved Lucille. and the greatest singer of all time Roy Orbison, even though he played other guitars he could have been seen most of the time with his black ES 335. even in current times it's a pretty popular guitar, I have been noticing Joe Bonamasa playing a ES 335 more and more lately. I seen a video a while back where The Rolling Stones invited Malcolm and Angus Young on to the stage to jam with them. Malcolm was playing his Gretsch, but then I saw something I thought I would never see ever, Angus was playing an ES 335 a red colored one. and Keith Richards was playing a black one. it wasn't posing any issues for Angus for him it was just another day at the office. it was definitely a slight to see no doubt.
Yeah - I was there when Malcolm & Angus joined the Stones onstage (in Toronto). I guess it was because it was a blues song that Keith and Angus decided to play ES-335s. (I too have a 335 - an '06 Custom Shop 'block inlay' in Iced Tea Burst.)
Nice collection and I’m surprised Richard seems like a cool cat. G.E, is a cool player, I’ve listened to him tell those stories more than once, it’s neat when a famous guy is humble. 👍🏻
Great interview, Richard Gere, came across a bit self conscious, but he is putting his magnificent collection on display, so that is understandable. G. E. was as cool as ever, and the interviewer, whose name I don’t know, was very knowledgeable. Thank you very much for posting.
I spoke to my dad about this video. He was very surprised as he didn’t know Richard was a guitarist. Then he said he thought he saw him in the 80s at Rudy’s I believe in NYC but blew it off as Gere was huge at the time and simply couldn’t of been him. It probably was
Well, you can say "all instruments reflect..." but violins, as awesome as they are, are pretty much all designed with the same shape (except for the new electric solid-body violins). Guitars, on the other hand, run the gamut of anything goes. I am TOTALLY passionate about guitars. I have about 15 or so, but I don't have the cash that Gere has. I totally enjoy his passion for the instrument. Look also into Vince Gill and Bob Seeger talking about their guitars.
i agree with geres insight . who knows if he can play but he for sure knows which way the wind is blowin with old guitars, he loves old guitars and thats awesome, not just a rich dude buying them for a return financially, although he probably made some coin selling them. i wonder what he kept for himself?
My main J-bass is a 2009 Indonesian Squier, and it's the best J-bass I've ever played. I paid $75 for it at a pawn shop. The worst J-bass I ever played was a '72 American-made "real" Fender; my little brother paid $250.00 for it in the early 2000s, and brought it to me thinking I could fix it. Even at the time that was dirt-cheap for a "vintage" J-bass, but he still got ripped off- he sold it to the next poor S.O.B. for the same price after we switched everything that could be switched & adjusted everything that could be adjusted with no improvement. Instruments get their souls like human beings do, i.e. in mysterious ways we don't understand...
Richard understands the principle of Stradivari and fine wines: they both mature with age. Guitars are no different. It is well known among us string players how the violins, violas, and cellos of Stradivari must be played to keep the soundboard limber. Much like a car, you don't want it sitting around.
I guess that most of his guitars are very seldomly played so...most of them would sound like shit without a proper set up, new strings and all kinds od adjustments...That´s the damnation of having too many guitars...the more you have...the worse they sound...and that neverending task of tuning, retuning, changing strings, cleaning...Manteinance vs "Teinance".
@Werner Voss I can understand being intimidated by GE Smith but the instant self-contradiction was pretty amusing. He seems to be pretty knowledgable as a collector, but paying ain’t playing lol
Nice catch, Eric Moya. Too funny. I don't think I could sit there with as much class as GE while smug collector Gear talks about "how" this or that guitar was "meant" to be played. Sheesh. (Good actor though - can't deny him that).
I love to listen to GE and him and Joe Bonamassa does a song together with a couple more people and I've never seen anyone play rythm guitar as good as he played with Joe Bonamassa ! I'll tell you something in my opinion.... without a very very good rythm player laying down the pads .... it's just not a band without one and they're not a whole lot of those players that can lay down the pads like I'm talking about and GE would be a very very good teacher to learn from .
So great to read your comment as I’ve been playing rhythm for years and always envy the solo lead guitarists so it’s nice to hear someone who appreciates the value of rhythm guitarists
Not too be that guy ,but man I’m a blue collar working man who was never able to ,or won’t be able to afford that level of equipment to leave to one of my 6 grandchildren ,and I’m in awe of this collection .I did however obtain a 60’s Gibson B-25 which was heaven until my daughter borrowed it and returned it with a snapped headstock ,someday I’ll get it fixed (if possible) I wonder if Richard allows any less fortunate experience playing any of those beauties
I own a 1954 Fender Telecaster - Butterscotch - White pick guard - Tweed case, Red felt lined - Very, very good condition - Original receipt of purchase AND, I live in Westchester County, NY. I wonder if Mr. Gere would be interested…
Hobby musicians and old rich guy guitar collector's/hoarders say some of the dumbest isht trying to sound profound. Dude said " It takes a guitar many years before it knows it's a guitar". Omg Richard that's so deep and profound. Dude. Are you fkin kidding me? Guarantee this dude couldn't tell apart a new squier and a 59 strat just by sound alone.
ya i agree but at least he shared his collection and knew enough to let GE actually play them theres nothing worse than a rich dude collecting shit and locking them away its actually crimes against humanity in my book.....
@@adanacman666 I've done quite a bit of guitar and drum tech work over the years. There isn't enough space on this comment section to tell about all the dumb isht I've heard people say over the years. Musicians are usually cool. But the Surgeon/ actor/lawyer/investment banker or whatever that used to play guitar in high school and now they go to auctions and buy rare guitars. Those guys tenda work my nerves. And of course they know everything about everything accept for they can barely play the damn thing. The tone is in the player. Slash plays a Les Paul and his cheapest guitar is probably 10 g's easy. Guarantee you could put a $500 Epiphone in his hands and it will sound exactly like Slash. These collectors tend to be full of themselves and they think they are in some way attached to the history and accomplishments of some of these great artists and musicians because they now own their guitar or whatever. It's very very silly. If he would have said that in front of me I would have asked him. "Well if it takes a guitar years for it to realize it's a guitar how long do you think it took for it to realize it wasn't a tree anymore? It must have spent a long time being very confused about wtf was going on".
@@noname-jr1vo Exactly right. I've owned 50's Bursts and Gold Tops and Pre CBS Stats. Eventually it came time to sell. But I sound the same with my 2002 Les Paul as I did with my 59.
@@ricopetrilli1084 I have Strats and Teles. I have a 1996 custom shop Strat plus that's worth almost $8k. It sounds beautiful of course. But I have another strat that sounds way better than my custom shop. It's a Squier body that's been routed out for a Floyd Rose. But it's not even a real Floyd its a Gotoh copy. Two Seymour Duncan Invader pickups. And a maple fretboard neck I bought from Fender for $250. And a bunch of misc. aftermarket parts. I have less than $600 in it and it's the best sounding and playing guitar I own and it's not even 4 years old. Hell it's really not even a true blue Fender. It's just a bunch of parts thrown together. New parts I might add. Hence Richard doesn't know wtf he's talking about. Notice he didn't play for us. He left that up to GE.
I looked it up an T-Bone Wolk his bass player passed away in 2010. Maybe that’s what we were thinking? T Bone played in Hall and Oats and On Saturday Night Live with GE Smith.
All those beautiful classic guitars for a million. Yet Eddie Van Halens frankenstrat guitar, made of cheap body and neck, would fetch more than all these guitars combined at auction.
Eddies frankenstrat was valued at $ 100k......thats along way from the $1,000,000 Geres collection raised......its all relative to how much someone is willing to pay
Great stuff..g.e. give me a short out...been with you before Bob dylan..and big of you to not take Bob offer..but wish you did...would have been good for you..Richard ..keep on buying..love them..your a great actor...
G.E all the way.
The guy is singularly THE best person to be entertained and informed by with regard all things guitar.
He has given his life to the instrument and is just a joy to watch and listen to.
A class act.
G.E. Smith is a legend who has such a great touch and tone. I would love to meet him someday and jam a little with him. He is such a nice guy.
You and me both brother.GE is a guitar icon
I just saw G.E. 2 weeks ago here on Long Island (He lives here) , he did a great blues show. Absolute great player and legendary career!
Outstanding. Bringing GE Smith to any guitar collector video is a genius move.
Great Video ,thanks for sharing and knowledge of your great Collection..lio Galveston Chow Amigos
Thanks for describing the love of the instrument. I don't get the negative comments here. These people just don't appreciate guitars as the art form that they are. The woods, the craftsmanship, the different sounds, personalities heritage, history. Thanks for the great video.
Just went up to check, unbelievable anyone would rag this, gees, my only complaint is, Not Enough,! Plus I have 1 regret now in my last days, I swapped out my refurbished perfect cond Gib F cut ED265 that broke my heart week later but deal is deal & I needed bit cash & $800 Mikes new hihats stool upgrade but a month later could not think about it, over next decades I've only seen it 3-4 times, 1 Elvis clip, but I see couple beautiful, God, they're All gorgeous guitars, Great chat, the luddites who rag the clip just belong on couch with big Mac coke n fries 🙄✌️🇦🇺🖐️
It's a jealousy thing I think. Or because dude is an actor ,etc. Etc.
I didn't care much or even have an opinion about Richard Gere, im not much for most actors actresses or so called stars,,,BUT THIS INTERVIEW CHANGED MY NO MADE UP MY MIND ABOUT RG THE PERSON AND MUSICIAN WHOM I BELIEVE I QUITE LIKE,,THANKS FOR SHOWING THE JAY LENO OF GUITAR COLLECTIONS...nothin but the blues!
First time hearing Richard Gere talk guitars and love his passion and philosophy. I’m a hack and still I’m fascinated by every guitar I pick up and I always take note of how different they all are. Their “voices”. And GE is like a living guitar. Wow.
Have you seen the guitar collection at the Richard Gere Museum? its pretty breathtaking
I really really enjoyed this. Thank you kindly all three for inviting me in for a visit. Guitars are what canvases and colors and brushes are for the painter… DIFFERENT GUITARS, MATERIALS, SIZES AND SUCH PAINT DIFFERENT SOUNDS. Like the surfer searching the perfect wave… the guitar lover searches the perfect vibe 😊
Back in the early 2000s I saw him walking in SoHo, dressed in sharp-looking shoes, and a short sleeve button collar shirt you see in high-end men's shops. The dude not only played well on SNL, but wore awesome pinstripe suits. He was puffing on a cigar and I waved and said, "Hey G.E.!" He smiled and said, "Hi" back. Just from the "Hi" he sounded like a friendly person, but I didn't want to interrupt his day.
Wonderful experience. Your fortunate.
@@georgearagon2546 Thanks! It was a fortunate experience and I regret, being shy, not telling him how much I enjoyed all of the music I have heard him play from Hall and Oates and so many artists, and SNL He is not the first celebrity encounter I have had in my life, but being shy costs many missing opportunities in encounters with people, that I have learned to break through from in my life. Now I'm the assertive confident man I wanted to become from my shyness.
G. E. is so talented love that guy... and Richard is so knowledgeable... never even knew he played
Absolutely love GE...the quote about we need to play with our fingers...it sounds better and if we want to use a pick to play faster and we listen to ourselves we find out we're fast enough and are playing too much anyway.
WES ' first intuition . I let the pick for mandolines and banjo .
Looks like Clapton's brother.
I got to play a really old Martin that a friend had once. That thing sound so ethereal, like a dainty, delicate song on a breeze escaping from you like a smokey incense dissipating as the notes faded. It was just beautiful.
you get it. when people say vintage guitars arent worth it they have never played an old martin like the one you played.
Richard Gere knows his stuff. He’s one of us.
These cats are having the same chat most of us guitar needs have, but....they have the REAL DEAL to pick from right in front of them. GE is such a soulful cat. Richard knows what it's about, you can tell a lifer within 5 minutes. He's got the disease, just like the rest of us. Glad to to meet a kindred spirit Mr Gere.
A very interesting video. I never knew Richard Geere was a guitar player and a collector.
I have known of G.E.for many years and have admired him all those years.
Loved the video!!!
One of my friends brought me to that room the day before the auction and I played any guitar I wanted to try. It was one of the most memorable musical experiences of my life. I couldnt afford to buy any if them but at least I got to play them. I think my favorite to play was the flying v. There was a 1928 Martin and a few 1954 strats that were really good too. It still seems like it was a dream but I brought the auction catalog home so I would remember it was real.
Must have been a great time! Too cool!
Very kool!
I never much liked G.E.Smith, but now realize I was wrong. He's a great player and historian of modern music.
And Richard - wow! - kudos to you for loving guitars so much, and getting this incredible collection together, and for telling us about it.
I saw Him in Roger Waters Wall tour and he was in Dylans band
GE is so humble and grateful, a wonderful man.
who knew Richard Gere played guitar? What I really enjoyed about this, other than the obvious treasure trove of incredible guitars, is that all 3 of these fellas seem intelligent & sincere
G.E. Is the real deal. Just full of soul coming out of his fingers. The epitome of cool. You can feel the cool coming out of every note. It’s just a part of the man. It’s natural for some of us. Very genuine person.
This made me SMILE. I l understand completely the obsession!
Great inyerview
It's called G A S . Guitar Acquisition Syndrome
Pleasant surprise to find RG with such an interest in guitars and an amazing collection. Insightful interview…
G.E Smith is 1 of the most underrated guitar players of all time. When he was playing on SNL in it's hay day he was phenomenal to me.
Agreed. GE was great with Hall & Oates too.
@@63Baggies H&O is where I first saw him. I was mesmerized.
He's great but SNL's heyday was 1975-79.
"Underrated" the most overused word in you tube music videos comments. Underrated for what and by whom? We don't know.
G.E. Smith had some very distinctive guitars on SNL. Finally got to hear his voice.
I would tune in just to see what guitar he was gonna play and hear his licks just before commercial breaks.
... such a pleasent surprise !!! Never thought that Richard G. such a passionate collector ! B r a v o !!! I'm absolutely crazy with guitars too ...and have overe 20 on my own . Of course they not so rare like this wonderful collection , but for me most of them unic and I love them all !!!
Thanks for that interview, that was great.
Wow, look at you Richard Gere. I have enjoyed your work for I don't even know for how long now. Something I didn't know about you is you playing guitar, at all but, at this level of your appreciation. In this little episode, listening to you talk about your guitars. Clearly not scripted and speaking with a life time of learning with each acquisition on you way of day to day living. As you go out and do your job then between movies, between takes. This thing, music you found as a young boy, then guitar you found as a teen, the way most of us did of our generation. How could we not? The girls were beautiful. I have a new respect for you. I'm still not a big fan of the movie Chicago. But, that's me and my personal taste. Still I loved Pretty Woman and I know if I watch it again which I can't tell how many times I've seen it already. I know it will make me smile. But this too also made me smile. Warmed my heart, knowing there is another real guitarist one that truly appreciates the guitar for true reasons and not because someone told you to. Thanks for this
All I wanted was to hear GE play, finally got it at about the 17.16 mark. .
Or 6:50 …whichever comes first…
That is an impressive collection. I had no idea he was a player and a collector. I am not sure why so much hate for the man. He just added a bunch of cool points in the Richard Gere chapter of my cool book.
The hate comes from the fact he is a typical leftist Hollywood elite who hates the US. Check out what he said at the concert for New York after Sept 11
@@tompaul2591 BS. And you're a typical reactionary right wing nut. All he said was War and Violence are wrong. Because someone is a pacifist doesn't mean they hate America.
Man oh Man, that Gibson Firebird reminds me so much of Johnny Winter. So Cool
# Save the Gerbils
Where is PETA when you need them
I love the mix of people on the video. They all know their stuff, and it's great. They talk real and they also can be seen to answer the facts about the guitars that most don't know
Nostalgia is an damn expensive expression of lost youth.
Very sweet, exploring the character and soul of old instruments that were made before music got all prefabricated....
G.E. is amazing! Cool collection.
Yes GE is the star in the room and Gere talks and talks and sucks all the air out of the room. Dude, GE knows way more about your vanity horde than you Let GE talk.
@artwise1415 just doing his job. Then again, now in 2024, Smith is an archive of knowledge that must be preserved for future generations of guitar players and for the historical archives of Americana guitar culture. 🎸
Dear Americans, if you don't understand apostrophes, in general, just ignore them. It's not Dee Angelico, or Dee Addario but Dangelico and Daddario. That's how language works.
Very enviable collection Mr Gere.
The probable cause of the misspellings is phone dictation. In other words Siri doesn’t know how to spell. I doubt this is unique to the United States.
@@JeffreyIsbell Not mispellings but American mispronunciation.
I loved the sound of the Martin 00-21. It was great to hear G.E. play.
They should've made Richard play his guitars. I bet he knows some sweet blues lawyer riffs!
Gere is a wanna be good guitar player!
@@phillipholt6005 Where did you hear him play?
I actually bet he doesn't
Richard is not a guitar but he plays one on TV.....ACTING!!
Now that's a tasty and balanced collection. Nice gear, Gere.
Nice! I've had them all at one time or another. Including a beautyful virgin 1959 Sunburts ES 335 I bought in a pawn shop in East St Louis . It had a neck that needed adjustment and a cleaning. It was obvious it had sat in someones closet since it was new. Pawn Shops in East St Louis were the best. Lets See I bought it for $140 and took it to Scotty's music and took the bow out in half a twist of the truss rod. I had a brand new 335 from the golden age. I was going to take it to the Cream concert in St Louis and see If Eric would trade for his Red ES-335, He might have if he played it, the PAF's were double white and a friend had a Kroina V and this guitar blew it out the water. I think he played a 59 on his Cradle to the Grave Album. I knew if I had the Red one I probably wouldn't come with any providence that it was "the" Cross Roads 335. So much for that. I saw Big Albert in the late 60's in a tiny club under an old supermarket "The Castaways Club". Gus Thorton on bass and Albert King with the Kronia V tuned down to C with pretty big strings. No body understood how he was playing it upside down and backwards ha ha. He had huge fingers and an even bigger diamond ring!. I couldn't see what the hell he was playing . He could bend a note almost off the fret board. "The Albert KIng" my friends. It was the time Clapton was playing Cross Roads with Cream and he was trying out an Albert Tune but just couldln't get it sounding right.. It was perplexing for Eric I think Albert was using so many tricks to get that sound. I was there for the 60's all the way through from the Beatles on. I grew up in Lancaster Calif home of Frank Zappa and Captian Beefheart. Imagine seeing Captian Beefheart at the Antelope Valley Rodeo.. That vacated the cowboy mind at the time... so damn funny. I lived on the Coast later and the Best Band in Calif was The Beach Boys! All in all they were very good considering the vocals and the playing and Brian's writing. Then came The English Blues and The Stones and The Animals and THE YARDBIRDS... Between The Stones and the Yardbirds the American Blues came back to America through their performances. It was through The Great American Blues shows in England. I knew nothing of the original blues till Mick and Eric played with Sonny Boy Rice Miller (Arkansas) . That was it I started playing Harmonica trying to imitate Sonny Boy.. A difficult feat to say the least. Hasn't Kieth come a long way, man that guy can play finger style blues with the best of them. Best guitarist all around in all of Rock and Roll!!! I was mentored by Virgil Elliott when I was a teenage wild child, HE is the MAN ask George Winston and Any of the Canned Heat, who ever is left I think now only Fedo? I guess. We Smoked Afgan Hash with them at their hotel till I was was gone. Went to the show and the first couple of songs sounded like Far Out Jazz haha The "Sunflower" was in full form wailing a solo like Cornet Coleman! He did look like a Sunflower he was beaming!!
Good Times it sounds like.
@@phihelix8777 Old Times but life goes on and now I'm learning "Last Tango In Paris"
Gato Barbieri this is a real challenge he composed the whole soundtrack in one month. See Santana giv the nod to Gato with a smile on his face. Man Gato was the best he covers it all!
In the History of the Moody Blues video (2hrs plus), they reveal they toured with Sonny Boy Williamson or played as his backup band. i love those first five moody records. concept albums. psychedelic.
Seeing the Beach Boys in the early days when they could barely play their instruments (it was Glen Campbell and the Wrecking Crew that played their early records) on tv was ironic to say the least. great great records though they were. mike love led an offshoot group in the 70's with jazz sax man Charles Lloyd! the group was called Celebration.
That was a great story. Thanks for sharing. I was lucky enough to see Albert King & SRV in Boston in the 80's. I think it was in the Orphium Theater. SRV had such a big grin while on stage with A. King.
Very cool interview and journey through guitar collection. Thank you for bringing it to us.
Amazing collection. Nice to see just how much he appreciates them too.
I do just wish they had put some decent strings on those acoustics though. They sound like they've been on there for decades.
GE is a purist and a National Musical Treasure
Excellent collection!!! And I see some negative comments asking why Mr. Gere didn't play any in the video or perhaps doesn't play.... you don't have to play guitar to appreciate the craftsmanship and history of them.... Thanks for sharing your collection!
But he does play....
@@garyjohnson4988 i know.... I didn't say that he did not play.... the point I was making was, you don't have to play to appreciate an iconic guitar.
"It plays great". GE would know!
Sometimes there ain't nothing like an old Martin, and those were beauties. Thanks.
Great stuff, Love G. E. Smith!!!
I had no idea that Richard Gere was a guitar player and collector. That's one of the finest private collections I've ever seen. Wish we could have heard the stories on the other instruments. I always enjoyed watching GE's rotation of fine vintage guitars on SNL. You could always count on the band to deliver even if skits weren't very good that week. Very cool to see them together discussing vintage guitars.
Yeh, right, my only regret & 1 thing I can't think about was swapping my Gib Fcut ED265 that I haven't seen again bar 4 clips, over 40 Yr now & I'm sure he had 1 or close to it, just perfection, I was crazy 😜🤔 yep I wish it was more complete such a beautiful collection & I was drummer just drool for this, 🖖🇦🇺😉
the guitar at 17:56 sounds absolutely incredible !!!!!
I would WAY rather listen to GE Smith talk than Richard Gere. One of the coolest humans ever.
That is really cool that’s quite a collection beautiful collection that is super super cool
😎😎😎🎸🎸🎸👍🏼
Whoa! I knew Gere was a guitar enthusiast, but I didn't know he was such a big collector. Very cool stuff. Great vid! 👍
I didn't know Richard Gere even played guitar, let alone had a collection like this.
I’ve been to many guitar stores and played many guitars, many I could never afford, but I’ve not played anything near what they used to make in the 40s 50s and 60s it would be interesting to learn why those sounds aren’t made anymore? Anyway this was a really enjoyable video, nice really nice. Thanks.
At 8:21 they showed the Gibson L-4 but they didn't show the headstock logo. The logo would show "The Gibson".
Excellent! Thanks!
That ES 335 is almost identical to my natural finish ES 335, I have found that I have an addiction to natural finish guitars. I have always been a huge fan of Les Paul guitars, but somewhat more recently I have been won over by the ES 335. they are so versatile with a simple string gauge change and or changing the tuning they can be used for almost every genre of music. I still have several Les Paul guitars and they are great guitars but now I have to share time playing them with the ES 335. there are quite a few great musicians who are quite fond of the ES 335. like Chuck Berry who played ES 335 guitars exclusively though out his career. and BB King I don't think I have ever seen him without his beloved Lucille. and the greatest singer of all time Roy Orbison, even though he played other guitars he could have been seen most of the time with his black ES 335. even in current times it's a pretty popular guitar, I have been noticing Joe Bonamasa playing a ES 335 more and more lately. I seen a video a while back where The Rolling Stones invited Malcolm and Angus Young on to the stage to jam with them. Malcolm was playing his Gretsch, but then I saw something I thought I would never see ever, Angus was playing an ES 335 a red colored one. and Keith Richards was playing a black one. it wasn't posing any issues for Angus for him it was just another day at the office. it was definitely a slight to see no doubt.
Yeah - I was there when Malcolm & Angus joined the Stones onstage (in Toronto). I guess it was because it was a blues song that Keith and Angus decided to play ES-335s. (I too have a 335 - an '06 Custom Shop 'block inlay' in Iced Tea Burst.)
Larry Carlton - session man for Steely Dan - used the 335, search him up too...sweet player!
@@waynesorensen7071 I will have to check that out thanks.
Great interview!
Nice collection and I’m surprised Richard seems like a cool cat.
G.E, is a cool player, I’ve listened to him tell those stories more than once, it’s neat when a famous guy is humble. 👍🏻
Tbeautiful. Thank you for this😍😍😍😍😍😍😍👍
My best memory of GE is from the Hall n Oates video Family Man. I believe he played a fake/prop guitar.
Such a great song and video!
It was a danelectro
Lets hear richard gere play
Great interview, Richard Gere, came across a bit self conscious, but he is putting his magnificent collection on display, so that is understandable.
G. E. was as cool as ever, and the interviewer, whose name I don’t know, was very knowledgeable.
Thank you very much for posting.
I spoke to my dad about this video. He was very surprised as he didn’t know Richard was a guitarist. Then he said he thought he saw him in the 80s at Rudy’s I believe in NYC but blew it off as Gere was huge at the time and simply couldn’t of been him. It probably was
If I could choose one of this guitars it would be the Martin 00-21.
I remember Keith Richards saying that this is his favorite acoustic.
Richard Gearhead... Awesome!
@9:16 That looks like the guitar someone brought into The Pawn Stars years ago.
guess I should have bought all those old guitars back when I could afford them.
NO LIE!!!!!
Only on word.. UNBELIEVABLE!!!
I seen ge smith 1st row 1995 in sa tx...Awesome
I could listen to GE all day long. Playing guitar, or talking. Great fella.
Well, you can say "all instruments reflect..." but violins, as awesome as they are, are pretty much all designed with the same shape (except for the new electric solid-body violins). Guitars, on the other hand, run the gamut of anything goes. I am TOTALLY passionate about guitars. I have about 15 or so, but I don't have the cash that Gere has. I totally enjoy his passion for the instrument. Look also into Vince Gill and Bob Seeger talking about their guitars.
i agree with geres insight . who knows if he can play but he for sure knows which way the wind is blowin with old guitars, he loves old guitars and thats awesome, not just a rich dude buying them for a return financially, although he probably made some coin selling them. i wonder what he kept for himself?
yes why sell them all ??
Very cool collection. Why not play a few of them?
I didn’t know who GE Smith was but I recognised him from Roger Waters’ The Wall … outstanding player!
Yes we really do need to play with our fingers. Finding the right guitar to play finger style is not easy.
Speaking of Martin,the Martin Marquis 1100's in my opinion are the best strings ever made.
The flying V guitar reminds me of Leslie West in concert.
I have a Chinese Squire.
great guitar .....in the right hands sounds as good as many of these guitars
ask jack pearson
rock on newport mike
My main J-bass is a 2009 Indonesian Squier, and it's the best J-bass I've ever played. I paid $75 for it at a pawn shop. The worst J-bass I ever played was a '72 American-made "real" Fender; my little brother paid $250.00 for it in the early 2000s, and brought it to me thinking I could fix it. Even at the time that was dirt-cheap for a "vintage" J-bass, but he still got ripped off- he sold it to the next poor S.O.B. for the same price after we switched everything that could be switched & adjusted everything that could be adjusted with no improvement. Instruments get their souls like human beings do, i.e. in mysterious ways we don't understand...
Richard understands the principle of Stradivari and fine wines: they both mature with age. Guitars are no different. It is well known among us string players how the violins, violas, and cellos of Stradivari must be played to keep the soundboard limber. Much like a car, you don't want it sitting around.
I guess that most of his guitars are very seldomly played so...most of them would sound like shit without a proper set up, new strings and all kinds od adjustments...That´s the damnation of having too many guitars...the more you have...the worse they sound...and that neverending task of tuning, retuning, changing strings, cleaning...Manteinance vs "Teinance".
Is that a Gibson Tal Farlow?
Holy shit that was Albert kings flying V. Unbelievable
Are you certain?
EG is the coolest dude ever. is song catalog has got to be in the thousands. in any style.
Man, Willem Dafoe can shred.
G.E. Smith does resemble Willem Dafoe a bit.
🤣🤣 That’s pretty good
Willem Dafoe can only dream...
He’s sitting next to GE Smith and he asks Richard Gere what his perfect guitar would be and who gives a shit.
hahahahah too true
Crickets
Oh wow! Richard Gear ☺️
I loved watching GE Smith on David Letterman. So why isn't Gere doing the playing?
16:35 “You wanna play this with a pick.”
[GE Smith fingerpicks.]
17:35 “That’s what it’s meant to do.”
@Werner Voss I can understand being intimidated by GE Smith but the instant self-contradiction was pretty amusing. He seems to be pretty knowledgable as a collector, but paying ain’t playing lol
Nice catch, Eric Moya. Too funny. I don't think I could sit there with as much class as GE while smug collector Gear talks about "how" this or that guitar was "meant" to be played. Sheesh. (Good actor though - can't deny him that).
Yes, Eric, I caught that myself, after checking out your first observation.
18:01 on... wooah... what a voice...
RG did not play one note! GE is a remarkable musician.
Big Deal , Obviously you were so upset that you had to mention it ..
Who wouldn’t want G.E. demoing their guitar?
I don't even want to watch this vedio I'll go nuts looking at these great instruments.
That Martin classical has steel strings,,,?
Well done. All. Very interesting. ! Rock on !
Mister GE Smith, out of sight babe!
I love to listen to GE and him and Joe Bonamassa does a song together with a couple more people and I've never seen anyone play rythm guitar as good as he played with Joe Bonamassa ! I'll tell you something in my opinion.... without a very very good rythm player laying down the pads .... it's just not a band without one and they're not a whole lot of those players that can lay down the pads like I'm talking about and GE would be a very very good teacher to learn from .
So great to read your comment as I’ve been playing rhythm for years and always envy the solo lead guitarists so it’s nice to hear someone who appreciates the value of rhythm guitarists
Not too be that guy ,but man I’m a blue collar working man who was never able to ,or won’t be able to afford that level of equipment to leave to one of my 6 grandchildren ,and I’m in awe of this collection .I did however obtain a 60’s Gibson B-25 which was heaven until my daughter borrowed it and returned it with a snapped headstock ,someday I’ll get it fixed (if possible) I wonder if Richard allows any less fortunate experience playing any of those beauties
I own a 1954 Fender Telecaster - Butterscotch - White pick guard - Tweed case, Red felt lined - Very, very good condition - Original receipt of purchase AND, I live in Westchester County, NY. I wonder if Mr. Gere would be interested…
I bet Norm will
Hobby musicians and old rich guy guitar collector's/hoarders say some of the dumbest isht trying to sound profound. Dude said " It takes a guitar many years before it knows it's a guitar". Omg Richard that's so deep and profound. Dude. Are you fkin kidding me? Guarantee this dude couldn't tell apart a new squier and a 59 strat just by sound alone.
ya i agree but at least he shared his collection and knew enough to let GE actually play them theres nothing worse than a rich dude collecting shit and locking them away its actually crimes against humanity in my book.....
@@adanacman666 I've done quite a bit of guitar and drum tech work over the years. There isn't enough space on this comment section to tell about all the dumb isht I've heard people say over the years. Musicians are usually cool. But the Surgeon/ actor/lawyer/investment banker or whatever that used to play guitar in high school and now they go to auctions and buy rare guitars. Those guys tenda work my nerves. And of course they know everything about everything accept for they can barely play the damn thing. The tone is in the player. Slash plays a Les Paul and his cheapest guitar is probably 10 g's easy. Guarantee you could put a $500 Epiphone in his hands and it will sound exactly like Slash. These collectors tend to be full of themselves and they think they are in some way attached to the history and accomplishments of some of these great artists and musicians because they now own their guitar or whatever. It's very very silly. If he would have said that in front of me I would have asked him. "Well if it takes a guitar years for it to realize it's a guitar how long do you think it took for it to realize it wasn't a tree anymore? It must have spent a long time being very confused about wtf was going on".
@@noname-jr1vo Exactly right. I've owned 50's Bursts and Gold Tops and Pre CBS Stats. Eventually it came time to sell. But I sound the same with my 2002 Les Paul as I did with my 59.
@@ricopetrilli1084 I have Strats and Teles. I have a 1996 custom shop Strat plus that's worth almost $8k. It sounds beautiful of course. But I have another strat that sounds way better than my custom shop. It's a Squier body that's been routed out for a Floyd Rose. But it's not even a real Floyd its a Gotoh copy. Two Seymour Duncan Invader pickups. And a maple fretboard neck I bought from Fender for $250. And a bunch of misc. aftermarket parts. I have less than $600 in it and it's the best sounding and playing guitar I own and it's not even 4 years old. Hell it's really not even a true blue Fender. It's just a bunch of parts thrown together. New parts I might add. Hence Richard doesn't know wtf he's talking about. Notice he didn't play for us. He left that up to GE.
@@noname-jr1vo I was waiting for RG to break into his version of Kumbaya. It wasn't to be
I'm jealous!...Just 2 or 3 of them guitars and I would be happy! By the way, Mr Gere can you play?!
we are left to wonder ....
Does anybody else swear that you heard that GE Smith died a few years ago? I absolutely have that memory.
Yes....that’s what I was thinking? I swear I remember that.
I looked it up an T-Bone Wolk his bass player passed away in 2010. Maybe that’s what we were thinking? T Bone played in Hall and Oats and On Saturday Night Live with GE Smith.
All those beautiful classic guitars for a million. Yet Eddie Van Halens frankenstrat guitar, made of cheap body and neck, would fetch more than all these guitars combined at auction.
Proof that it's never about the equipment, in any art...the artist can make art from whatever they have at hand.
Eddies frankenstrat was valued at $ 100k......thats along way from the $1,000,000 Geres collection raised......its all relative to how much someone is willing to pay
Yeah And He Played The Shit Out Of It
Great stuff..g.e. give me a short out...been with you before Bob dylan..and big of you to not take Bob offer..but wish you did...would have been good for you..Richard ..keep on buying..love them..your a great actor...
Did you get them from norms
So how much did this collection go for?
$940,000.00 in 2011 dollars 😎