Heil exhibit at Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame

[Brian Cady]

>From Belleville News-Democrat at:
http://tinyurl.com/ov5bj

...The Who had him build a custom quadraphonic mixing
board for the band's 1974 Quadrophenia tour. The
board, called MAVIS for Music and Voice Instrument
System, along with a rear channel speaker from the
tour, are the centerpieces of the Heil exhibit,
according to Kramer.

Also included in the display are: A mixing board used
to produce the sound for the legendary Mississippi
River Festival and a fiberglass Talk Box, serial
number 1, signed by Joe Walsh and Peter Frampton.

The Talk Box, which was invented by Heil, allows a
guitarist to manipulate the sound of his instrument
with his mouth.

"Joe wanted it for his song 'Rocky Mountain Way,' so I
built it for him," Heil said. "He made a sort of
guttural sound with it. But Peter Frampton could
actually talk through it."

A microphone in the display used by The Who singer
Roger Daltry is still wrapped in the 32-year-old red
gaffer's tape that Heil put on it to keep the mic from
getting lost in the crowd.

"He would swing those things by the cord and the
microphones would come loose and go flying," Heil said
of Daltry's trademark stage move. "While everyone else
was thinking 'man, that looks cool' I was thinking
'Hey, that's my microphone!'"

In case anyone questions the authenticity of the
well-worn piece, Heil has hung from the microphone
stand a photo taken during the tour of Daltry belting
lyrics into the red-wrapped mic.

Most of the equipment that is going into the Hall of
Fame was scattered around his garage in boxes, Heil
said. But The Who's mixing board was sold around 1980
when he grew disenchanted with the punk rock scene
that took over rock music and got out of the business
of engineering concert sound. A guy from Florida
called him one day and offered to sell back the
equipment, which was being used to prop up a broken
bed frame...

-Brian in Atlanta
The Who This Month!
http://www.thewhothismonth.com

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com