Jim Marshall, inventor of one of rock & roll’s most important innovations – the Marshall amplifier – has died at age 88.
Marshall was a drummer and drum teacher who opened his own music shop
in London in 1960. When local musicians, including the Who’s Pete Townshend,
made him aware there was no British alternative to expensive
American-made amplifiers, he designed his own. At Townshend’s
suggestion, Marshall created an amp with a cabinet – the “Marshall
stack.” Half a century later, the Marshall stack is a defining feature
of rock concerts everywhere.
