Del Casher, the guitarist and music pioneer most well known for working with Elvis and who invented the widely used wah-wah pedal, has died. As reported by TMZ, he was 88 years old.
His passing was confirmed by a close friend who started a GoFundMe fundraiser for his wife, Eiko. "Over the last year," AL Burg wrote, "Del battled cancer and passed away on October 1st." He asked for donations to help his wife.
"Your donations will help Eiko pay down huge credit card debt and move into assisted living, where she can have safe housing and the increasing care she needs. Please share your blessings and kindness for Eiko," he wrote.
The inventor was most well known for being a session musician for Elvis as well as other iconic musicians. He played guitar alongside the King of Rock and Roll in "Roustabout" and also with Jerry Lewis on "The Patsy".
Casher was also well known for being an inventor in the music scene - with the wah-wah pedal being his most iconic invention. It's named after a human saying "wah-wah", with the pedal "altering the timbre... [by] sweeping a band-pass filter up and down", per Wikipedia.
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The Iconic Musician Recalled His Time Playing for Legends Like Elvis
In an interview with ClassicBands.com, Casher recalled his time playing for legendary artists like Elvis.
He recalled that he had been a longtime fan of Elvis ever since he became a big artist. But, as he recalled, "When I heard Elvis playing, I knew he was a fake guitar player... Of course, I came to find out he totally admits that."
He also recalled the first time he talked to Elvis. "I'm playing my guitar and I'm going through some of my guitar solos I worked on... I was doing one of these solos I had been working on, on 'The Lawrence Welk Show'."
"I was playing it and I noticed Elvis had not left and he was staring at me." Quite the crazy thing to have happen, and Casher thought he didn't like his music!
But he did like it. "He came slowly up to me and said very politely. 'Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt you, but may I say something?... Well, I've been listening to you play guitar and I just want you to know that I'd give everything if I could play guitar like you.'" Humbling stuff!
May he rest in peace. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who knew him.
