Jeff Beck Dead At 78

Above, the Yardbirds on the Milton Berle Show in 1966 featuring Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page with "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago".

I hate waking up to sad news.

The latest is guitar legend Jeff Beck, came upon the scene as Eric Clapton's replacement guitarist with the Yardbirds.

According to ABC News:

Musician Jeff Beck has died after contracting bacterial meningitis, according to his family.

He was 78 years old.

"On behalf of his family, it is with deep and profound sadness that we share the news of Jeff Beck's passing," his representatives said in a statement. "After suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, he peacefully passed away yesterday. His family asks for privacy while they process this tremendous loss."

Beck, one of rock's legendary guitarists, first burst onto the scene as a member of the British band the Yardbirds. He joined the band as a replacement for fellow guitar legend Eric Clapton in 1965.

To read more, go here. 

Cult Movies No. 7 Unearthed

Above, my copy of Cult Movies no. 7. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

When having a pipe break (in two places on the hotwater line) that caused water damage to my humble residence, sometimes there are good things to come out of it.

One of which is finding an old magazine that was put away (and subsequently forgotten where) during the packing and unpacking of storage boxes during the course of getting my apartment back into shape. This was the case in finding one of the first issues of Cult Movies magazine to extensively feature Godzilla.

While going through boxes of stuff yesterday, I located a copy of Cult Movies number 7 from 1993, which contained a striking Godzilla cover and several articles on the Big G. I knew I had this issue, but hadn't seen it in years and didn't recall where I may have put it.

The articles include:

• Special Section: Godzilla vs. Mothra Report by David Milner, Nawan O. Bailey and Koji Ichinomiya
• Preview of Godzilla vs, Mothra
• Godzilla vs. Mothra Synopsys
• Toho's Monsters Speak Out by Jay Majer
• Other Godzilla-related features

Plus, the issue also contained two articles by Chuck Harter:

• "Bela Meets Berle" (a rare television appearance by Bela Lugosi all decked out in his Dracula costume)
• "When The Man of Steel Came To Town" (on the personal appearances of George Reeves)

It is funny to think that it seems like only yesterday I bought this issue, but in actuality, it has been 21 years since it was published and I bought it at a Hollywood newsstand.

I found other old issues of Cult Movies. One of them had an article on Godzilla by Richard A. Pusateri.