“On my 18th birthday, my brother bought me my first Stratocaster. I thought it was a copy, as I didn’t see the Fender logo. One day, I took the neck off and saw ‘9-58’ inside…” Blackbyrd McKnight on his mysterious Strat and the ’70s jazz-fun

In 1970, DeWayne “Blackbyrd” McKnight was a 16-year-old guitar wunderkind with stars in his eyes. He had the chops; all he needed was someone to notice him, which didn’t take long, as jazz legend Charles Lloyd had taken a shine to McKnight by the time he’d turned 18.

At the time, McKnight was a Strat-loving teen whose smoky tone and nose for what pedals to combine with what amps quickly made him a hot commodity on the early ’70s jazz-fusion scene. But none of it would have happened had Lloyd not given him his start.

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Andrew Daly is an iced-coffee-addicted, oddball Telecaster-playing, alfredo pasta-loving journalist from Long Island, NY, who, in addition to being a contributing writer for Guitar World, scribes for Rock Candy, Bass Player, Total Guitar, and Classic Rock History. Andrew has interviewed favorites like Ace Frehley, Johnny Marr, Vito Bratta, Bruce Kulick, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Rich Robinson, and Paul Stanley, while his all-time favorite (rhythm player), Keith Richards, continues to elude him.