Sunday, April 7, 2013

G - Guitar


The ghost of my father lives in his guitar.

It has to.

When he died in 1979, he left me the Gibson hollow-body electric he bought in the mid 1940s (the one on the right).


I have three other guitars as well, a later model Gibson hollow-body electric from the mid-1950’s (the one on the left), a Martin D-28 from the late-1960’s, and a hand made Gallagher Doc Watson model I bought in 1983 (left and right respectively in the lower photo).


The song I most associate with my father to my knowledge has no official title.  He called it The Band Song.  So do I, now.  I love it for its charm, sweetness, and mystery. 

His mother taught it to him.

He taught it to me.

It’s an old-fashioned instrumental I’ve never heard recorded, and I've searched hard over the decades.  He and I are the only ones I’ve ever heard play it.

I miss his version.  He played it brilliantly, though seldom.

I remember back all those years lying on his bed listening, listening, listening to him not making so much as one mistake and transporting me into the fabric of the notes themselves.  I remember begging him to play it so many times, only to have him take off on something I didn't care for nearly as well.

When I play The Band Song on my three guitars it sounds like yours truly, however good or bad that might be.  But when my fingers pick it on his, he enters the room and takes over.

Is that to be expected?

Doesn't matter.  It is.

I have no one to pass it down to, yet.

Slanting an old philosophical question, if no one ever plays it, does it exist?

And if I'm not able to pass it down, will it then become a ghost?

11 comments:

  1. Before I forget to mention again, let me tell you this - You inspired me to write my first ever ghost post! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! As i loved writing it and people loved reading it. I am not sure if it falls exactly under ghost stories category, but please let me know (Post titled BTW). I guess I will write more of these. Love reading yours!!!

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  2. Lovely memories of your father. I love being surrounded with family pieces because I feel like the people themselves are all around me. I just don't bring anything old from outside the family into the house.

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  3. Excellent interpretation of the Ghost theme.
    Lovely memories too ;)
    thanks for sharing - I'm popping in from AtoZ

    auntyamo
    http://ficticiousamo.wordpress.com/

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  4. Tell you what, Rocky; don't wait till you have someone to pass it on to. *Find* someone. You owe it to the music, eh? :-)
    Some Dark Romantic

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  5. Powerful piece and I like your questions at the end. Love the idea of writing about things that are handed down.

    The very beginning is a great line - perfect! "The ghost of my father lives in his guitar"

    Nice, Rocky!

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  6. I was just going to say what Dot said - a PERFECT first line. Hold on to that one, my friend.
    Another awesome post. You've got the hang of this A to Z thing and THEN some <3

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  7. Wow Rocky. If no one ever plays it, does it exist? Yes. Yes it does. You are an amazing wordsmith.

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  8. Loved this. Great legacy passed on from your father and some very nice guitars.

    Now following your blog. We need to get you a boost in followers!

    Lee
    An A to Z Co-Host
    Tossing It Out

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  9. Thanks everyone! Thank you Arlee!

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