In the early 1960s, a handful of brash British kids needed a new sound for a new kind of music. They marched into a music store in their blue-collar town and asked the gentleman behind the desk to build them an amplifier with leg-shaking power and jaw-dropping tone. So he did. This first-ever biography tells the story of Jim Marshall - founder of Marshall Amplification and creator of guitar amplifiers that have defined the sound of rock and are prized by rock guitarists of every age and style - from his childhood when he was diagnosed with a rare bone disease that confined him to a body cast for nine years, to his stage success as a crooner and big-band drummer, through his development of the "Marshall Stack" and ultimate rise to the forefront of the music instrument industry. Forty years after Jim Marshall sold his first JTM45, three generations of guitarists and fans revere the name. Highlights in Marshall history, images of amp anatomy, details about famous players' preferred models, and testimonials from guitar stars round out this engrossing success story. Full-color photos throughout. "What Jim marshall did ... was provide English heavy metal and blues players of the mid '60s and early '70s with these weapons." - Pete Townshend