Barney Kessel was an American jazz guitarist born in Oklahoma on October 17, 1923, who brought a strong work ethic and stylistic flexibility to his craft.  Kessel was in the top 10 of the DownBeat Readers' Poll Guitar category every year from 1944 to 1964 - and for five consecutive years he was #1, taking the crown from Johnny Smith in 1956 and handing it off to Wes Montgomery in 1961. Responding to his enduring popularity, Gibson made two signature Barney Kessel models, the Standard and Custom between 1961 and 1974. 

Self-taught but for three months of lessons at age 12, he was working in local bands (The Oklahoma A&M Band, Hal Price & the Varsitones) by age 16.  In the early 1940s he moved to Los Angeles, joining Chico Marx' Band.  After stints with Charlie Barnet and Artie Shaw, he was ready for studio work (which he did in daylight hours while moonlighting in jazz clubs).  His trajectory continued upwards - Jazz At The Philharmonic, followed by a year with the Oscar Peterson Trio.  Then a series of successful albums with The Poll Winners (Kessel, Ray Brown and Shelley Manne) brought him to national prominence.  By the 1960s he was sometime member of the Wrecking Crew of L.A. elite studio players who could cross from pop to jazz to rock and soul with ease (and without regrets).  He did sessions with the Beach Boys and the Monkees as well as Sonny Rollins and Art Tatum.   [Toward the end of a seemingly endless session to record Cher's The Beat Goes On (a one-chord song with a full cast of top players), Kessel rose and famously announced, "Never have so many played so little for so much!"]