Jim Marshall, founder of Marshall Amplification, died this morning at the age of eighty-eight.
Marshall, often called the “The Father of Loud,” was born in West London in 1923. As a small child he was diagnosed with tuberculosis of the bones and spent a large portion of his childhood in and out of London’s hospitals, his body encapsulated in plaster casts. Exempted from military service due to his sickly adolescence, Marshall became a civilian musician after developing a keen interest in drumming. Around this time, Marshall began applying his knowledge of engineering (then his day job) to developing his own personal voice amplifiers, so that his soft, crooning voice could be heard over his thunderous drumming.
In 1949, Marshall began giving private drum lessons to a number of British musicians–many of whom would go on to become luminaries in their own right, including Mitch Mitchell (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) and Mickey Waller (of Little Richard’s band). Using the money he had saved from playing gigs around London and drum instruction, Marshall opened a small drum and guitar store in West London in 1960.
Marshall Amplification was founded in 1962 after a number of Marshall’s guitar clients complained that the then-cutting edge Fender amplifiers were unsatisfactory. The now-classic Marshall JTM 45 guitar amp quickly became the amplifier of choice for Pete Townsend (and probably the reason for his tinnitus), Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, Eric Clapton, Kurt Cobain and countless others.
In addition to being a pioneer in his field, Marshall was a noted philanthropist who quietly donated millions of dollars to various charities over the years.
Hopefully, Pete Townsend will smash his Rickenbacker into a Marshall stack tonight in Jim’s honor.
