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Daily Disney

Ernest “Ernie” McLean strokes his six string for guests of New Orleans Square...

New Orleans Square, Disneyland

From ponderosastomp.com:

“When one thinks of the original guitar heroes of rock and roll, Ike Turner, Paul Burlison, Scotty Moore, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley all spring to mind, but you'll rarely hear the name Ernest McLean. "Ernest McLean, who the heck is that?" you might ask. Well, take a listen to those early records by Smiley Lewis, Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew and marvel at the man burning up the frets. That, dear music fanatic, is Ernest McLean.

Capable of playing anything with strings, renowned for his ability on banjo, said to play chords not even known to exist, Ernest was one of the original members of Cosimo Matassa's legendary studio band, the one that played on a startling number of rock 'n' roll's first hits. A long time member of the Dave Bartholomew band, Ernest eventually migrated to L.A. where he took part in the cutting of Dr. John`s Gris Gris album. He played all the mandolin parts on the record and it was the FIRST TIME HE'D EVER PICKED UP THE INSTRUMENT!!

You can still catch Ernest playing regularly at Disneyland, but at the Ponderosa Stomp he'll be falling right back into that Crescent City groove with his old band mates Earl Palmer, Herb Hardesty, Harold Battiste and Chuck Badie.”

Guys, I listened to an interview with Ernest McLean and he said he started playing the guitar when he was 11 years old in 1936. That means he's roughly 85 years old. Who knows how much longer Ernie will be along, so go check him out... I know next time I'm in New Orleans Square and I come across Ernie, he will be sure to get a good 20 minutes of my time. And to think literally 100's of people walk by Ernie everyday without even stopping to enjoy a real musical legend and piece of history...

On a side note, it has been said that Ernie was the last person that Walt Disney himself hired to work at Disneyland, in the 1960's before his passing.

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Taken in: United States / California / Anaheim / Anaheim Resort (show map)

Taken on: August 15, 2009

Tags:

geo:lat=33.811075

geo:lon=-117.921184

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Sets appears in: • New Orleans Square

Groups appears in: • Disney Geeks • Disney Cast Member Photos more » • Disneyland • Diiissssneeeeeeyyy • The Disney Podcast Network • I Love Disneyland « less

Camera: Nikon D300, f/2.8, 1/200 sec, 35mm (=52mm), ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D300
Aperture:	f/2.8
Exposure Time:	0.005 sec (1/200)
Focal Length:	35mm (35mm equivalent: 52mm)
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	-1/3 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	PaintShop Photo Pro 13.00
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