Cinemaazi remembers Van Shipley on his death anniversary

‘The Man With The Golden Guitar’—this was the title of Van Shipley's first independent record. It was also a fitting description of the talented musician. Born Valentine Van Shipley in Lucknow on 30 August, 1927 into a musically-inclined family, he is credited with being India’s first electric guitarist. Trained in violin, guitar, and tabla, he also learnt Hindustani classical music. His interest inspired him to create a 8-string guitar in the 1940s, allowing him to adapt theinstrument to play Indian classical music. Shipley also designed an electric violin, which he christened his Gypsy Violin, which he used for most of his later records. Joining the film music industry, he assisted music director duo Husnlal-Bhagatram on the film Chand (1944), followed by Nargis (1946), Anmol Ghadi (1946) and Mera Suhag (1947). Performing in a show at St. Xavier’s college on the request of actress Nutan, he impressed filmmaker-actor Raj Kapoor, who offered Shipley the opportunity to play the violin for his film Barsaat (1949). He became an important part of Kapoor’s team of musicians. A prolific musician, Shipley worked in over 1500 films, and also acted in a few. Van Shipley passed away on 8 March, 2008 in Mumbai.