Guitar Giants to Share Bill at Video Collector’s Show

San Diego rock ‘n’ roll video archivist David Peck is presenting another of his periodic, thematic shows this weekend at San Diego State University’s Backdoor.

“Legends of the Guitar,” a 105-minute compilation of 21 vintage video clips of such celebrated rock guitar greats as Chuck Berry, the late Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Carlos Santana, will be screened Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 and again at 9:30. Tickets are $5.

Here are some highlights:

* Les Paul applying his trademark “talking” guitar style to “Song In Blue,” from a 1950 television short--song, commercial, song--filmed in his home. A seminal figure in rock ‘n’ roll, Paul was the creator of the solid-body electric guitar and a pioneer in various modern recording techniques. When this clip aired, TV was still live; it was taped purely by accident.

* Chuck Berry and John Lennon swapping guitar licks on “Johnny B. Goode,” from a 1972 episode of the “Mike Douglas Show.” Lennon and Yoko Ono were guest hosts for the week; one night, Berry joined them, and this is the second of two songs they did together. The first was “Memphis,” and Peck said Berry reportedly was so annoyed by Ono’s wailings that, during the subsequent break, he secretly turned off her microphone. Ono’s muted shrieks on “Johnny”--she’s still clutching the mike--make this clip as hilarious as it is historical.

* Jimi Hendrix’s mesmerizing performance of “Fire” at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in early 1970. This rare clip is from the second of only four concert appearances by Hendrix and the Band of Gypsies. The concert was shot by an independent filmmaker.

* Duane Allman making mincemeat of his guitar strings on “Whipping Post,” from a March, 1971, concert with the Allman Brothers Band at New York’s Fillmore East. A rare video glimpse of the pioneering “Southern rock” group before its inventive guitar-slinging leader’s untimely death, a few months later, in a motorcycle accident.

* John Lennon, Eric Clapton and Keith Richards (on bass) teaming up for a ferocious version of “Yer Blues,” from the 1968 Rolling Stones movie, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus.” The ambitious musical, essentially a series of all-star jams, was never released, reportedly because Mick Jagger hated his own performance.

* Eric Clapton’s manic guitar-doodlings on “It’s Too Late” and “Matchbox,” from super-group Derek and the Dominoes’ 1971 appearance on TV’s “Johnny Cash Show.” On “Matchbox,” Ol’ Slowhand and crew were joined by Cash and Carl Perkins, whose late-’50s rockabilly version of the blues standard was a minor pop hit.

* Jimmy Page’s sizzling lead work on “Communication Breakdown” and “How Many More Times,” from a 1969 appearance on Danish TV by Led Zeppelin. Early heavy metal at its finest. Over the last seven years Peck, 24, has collected more than 1,000 hours of rock ‘n’ roll videos, ranging from television appearances and movie outtakes to promotional films and concert footage. He gets the stuff by trading with, and occasionally buying from, collectors all over the world.

From time to time, Peck shares his video treasures with the public. He puts together shows--focusing on a particular era, genre or artist--in San Diego and other cities around the country.

Peck supplied vintage video clips of Simon and Garfunkel, the Four Seasons, the Kinks, and the Platters to last January’s annual Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York City.

He was also archives director for the James Brown documentary, “The Man, the Music, the Message,” which recently premiered at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.

Peck acknowledges that he doesn’t own the copyright to any of the clips he’s presenting, but he isn’t too concerned about it. “I just do it because I want people to see the stuff,” he said.

Paul Simon has been booked for Jan. 20 at the San Diego Sports Arena. Simon was last here in 1983, when he appeared at Jack Murphy Stadium as part of his “reunion” tour with ex-partner Art Garfunkel.

The 48-year-old singer-songwriter is hitting the road in support of his new solo album, “The Rhythm of the Saints,” his first since 1986’s Grammy Award-winning “Graceland.” The album was recorded mostly in Brazil, with Brazilian percussionists. Among the cuts is “Spirit Voices,’ a duet with famed Brazilian singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento.

LINER NOTES: After four years of plying the local nightclub circuit, North County reggae band the Cardiff Reefers have finally gotten around to recording an album. “Alternate Roots,” featuring nine originals and released on the group’s own Grow Records label, is available on CD and cassette at record stores throughout San Diego. The guys are throwing a record release party Saturday night at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach. . . .

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. for Bad Company’s Dec. 14 concert, with Damn Yankees, at Golden Hall downtown. . . .

Peggy Lee’s Saturday night concert at the Spreckels Theater downtown has been canceled. . . .

Best concert bets for the coming week: Soul Asylum with the Gear Daddies, tonight at UC San Diego’s Triton Pub; the Crazy 8’s, tonight at the Belly Up Tavern; the Untouchables with Loose Barbaric Love Fish, Thursday at the Belly Up Tavern; Gene Loves Jezebel with Special Beat, Friday at the Starlight Bowl in Balboa Park; Laurie Lewis and Grant Street, Friday at the Del Mar Shores auditorium; the Paladins with Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Trio and the Black Cactus Stampede, Friday at the Belly Up Tavern; Soup Dragons with the Flaming Lips, Sunday at the Backdoor; Mary’s Danish with Dada and the Rails, Sunday at the Belly Up Tavern; and Bob Mould with Anton Fier and Tony Maimone, Tuesday at SDSU’s Montezuma Hall.