In the Andy Griffith episode The Guitar Player who is the real guitarist playing the Jim Lindsey guitar part?

Answer 1

I wrote to James Best and he told me he faked the guitar playing, and did not reveal who the musician was.Listen to the last, long riff at the end of the first guitar segment of episode #31, Jim at Sheriff's office with Andy & Barney,(available on YouTube): Fast, jazzy & technically superior. Someone's hands are shown close-up, playing the riff, but not the face. The shot is edited in & out, not panned to & away from, ie: not James . Episode #3: The actor's hands are avoided by the camera. Being a major CBS show , this was probably the network staff session player, (they don't have those anymore), who was probably a well known jazz man, too. Still a mystery, though.

If my memory serves me, the guitarist is Herb Ellis. His name appears in the credits after the show. To those unfamiliar with the name he is a world class jazz guitarist and as with many of them, played on many rock n' roll era recordings. UPDATE: It turns out there is also an -actor-,(not the guitarist), named Herb Ellis, and Mr. Ellis plays a character in that episode. When I discovered this, I continued my search for the soundtrack's actual guitarist. After checking the credits of various player, it turns out that Howard Roberts is the only one who lists the Andy Griffith Show. This also makes sense musically, as Roberts was one of the few who played jazz and rock 'n roll with equal authenticity. Howard Roberts, absolutely.

Answer 2

Jim Lindsey did not have a car in 'The Guitar Player' episode which aired on 10/17/60, However in the later episode in the same season 'The Guitar Player Returns' which was first seen on 5/16/61, which was also Elinor Donohue's last appearance, he drove a Mercedes 109s convertible.

Answer 3

Andy Griffith drove a wide variety of vehicles during the show's tenure ~ Look to the related link below to see which vehicles were driven during the show .

Answer 4

Ringo