"He said he was with someone who needed a Les Paul, recalls the man who runs what is probably the world's most famous guitar shop. But he wouldn't tell me who it was. I went over to meet them and it was just my friend there. I said: You made me ride all the way down here? You made it sound so important.' And then in walked George Harrison with Mal Evans. Evans was the Beatles' former road manager. They had been next door getting pizza."
"It is located on a strip mall in the Tarzana neighbourhood of Los Angeles, alongside a McDonald's and a nail bar. It would be easy to blink and miss Norman's Rare Guitars, unaware of a clientele that includes Slash, Billy Corgan, Dave Grohl, Kiefer Sutherland, Melissa Etheridge and Beck dropping by to check out the high-end stock, alongside parents buying instruments for their kids where else would Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow go when their son Moses wanted a guitar for his 16th birthday?"
Norman Harris built Norman's Rare Guitars from a secondhand instrument into an internationally famous shop. A 1973 encounter with George Harrison boosted Harris's profile. The business, founded in 1975, sits in a Tarzana strip mall and has grown exponentially, aided by a YouTube following. The store attracts celebrities and top musicians such as Slash, Billy Corgan, Dave Grohl, Kiefer Sutherland, Melissa Etheridge, Beck, Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow. Joe Bonamassa is a major customer who acquired prized Fender and Gibson instruments from Harris’s collection. Harris's personality and curation of high-end stock draw global collectors and casual buyers alike. A documentary chronicles the store and Harris's career.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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