Ongoing History Daily: Another unsung hero of music
Unless you shopped for music gear in New York City back in the day, you probably have never heard of Henry Goldrich. But this guy needs to be credited with having a major impact on music. Henry inherited Manny’s Music, a famous music store on West 48th Street, from his father. Henry made sure that the place was stocked with the greatest gear possible, which is why everyone who was anyone went to Manny’s to buy their instruments.
In the middle 60s, Henry brought in a new guitar gizmo called a wah-wah pedal. He then convinced two of customers, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton to each buy one. They did and the pedal not only changed how these guys played but the whole direction of guitar-based rock’n’roll.
Manny’s closed in 2012 after 74 years and Henry died this year on February 16 at the age of 88.
