THE death of Joe Moretti in South Africa brought to an end one of the most colourful tales in Scottish rock and pop.

The Glasgow-born musician was one of the great rock guitarists.

Joe, 73, who died of lung cancer, played guitar on such landmark rock hits as Johnny Kidd and the Pirates' Shakin' All Over and Vince Taylor's Brand New Cadillac.

He was a top-rated session guitarist, who also played on fellow Scot Donovan's hit, Mellow Yellow, on Tom Jones' 1965 No.1, It's Not Unusual, and on the Chris Farlowe song, Out of Time, which topped the UK charts the following year.

At Elstree studios, in 1973, he was booked to play acoustic guitar on a Barbra Streisand TV special, and also played guitar on a Shirley MacLaine TV show.

Joe spent many years in Johannesburg. His wife, Pina, was with him when he died.

In Glasgow, Hugh Miller, an old school friend of Joe's, told the Evening Times: "He was a lovely guy. It's such a tragedy that he has gone.

"I remember he played the accordion at first then contracted tuberculosis and was laid up for about a year. That's when he took up the guitar. He didn't even finish school, he went out on the road with a young Alex Harvey and Sydney Devine.

"He was a fantastic guitar player, one of the greats.

"He played with everyone in his time, from Gene Vincent to Andy Williams. He did it all.

"He once shared a flat with fellow session guitarists Jimmy Page and John McLaughlin, and I remember him, sometime around 1974-75, laying the last track on the Evita LP.

"The LP was made before the show, and Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd-Webber had chosen all their favourite musicians to do the LP. The guitarists were Hank Marvin and Joe."

Hugh said: "Joe had been ill for some time but he didn't want anyone to know.

"I didn't get a Christmas card from him last year and he hadn't been emailing me. The I got a phone call from Pina to say he had died."

Speaking from South Africa, Joe's Greek-Cypriot-born widow described how she met Joe in Glasgow in 1958.

"I was a student nurse and met him through one of my patients, who asked me to her house for tea," she said.

"I met Joe there, and three weeks later he asked me to marry him.

"That was 53 years ago. We were together all that time."

She and Joe relocated to London in August 1958 and became part of the emerging rock 'n' roll scene in the capital.

He played on stage at the famed 2i's coffee bar in Soho, went on tour with Colin Hicks, younger brother of Tommy Steele, and even had a stint with singer Vince Eager in a pantomime in Southport.

Pina said: "Then he backed singer Vince Taylor on a single, Brand New Cadillac. It was a smash-hit in juke-boxes all across the UK but was banned by the BBC as it mentioned 'Cadillac'.

"He then did a record, Hall of the Mountain King, with a group called Nero and the Gladiators, but that was banned by the BBC, too.

"I remember in the mid-1960s when Joe was asked to augment Johnny Kidd and the Pirates.

"That's his guitar solo on Shakin' All Over, believe me.

"Quite a few people tried to claim that honour, but it is definitely Joe. I also drove Joe to the Decca Studios in London when he was going to work on the Tom Jones song.

"Another well-known guitarist has claimed he was in the studio that night, but that's not the truth. That hurt Joe."

Pina also said that Joe played guitar on hits for for Shadows members, Jet Harris and Tony Meehan, when they formed their own group.

In his later years Joe continued to play his guitars until a stroke deprived him of the use of his right hand.

Jazz had become his main love, by that time.

Asked if she thought Joe got the recognition he deserved, Pina said: "No.

"People knew how talented he was.

"He did so many records for so many people, but he never got the acknowledgement he deserved.

"But he was a great man, and a lovely husband and father."

Joe's funeral will take place in Johannesburg.

To learn more about Joe visit www.joemoretti.org