This is a long-standing friendship. Even before I met Joan. In two weeks, it will be 60 years.
For those who don't know, that is my Gibson ES-335 TDC. Received on my 13th birthday. My brother-in-law John negotiated the price down from $500 to $350. Including the case.
There is more to the story. Before the 335, I had a Teisco Recco. Teisco was a Japanese company. Recco was a Japanese word meaning: piece of crap. It literally made my fingers bleed. I didn't care - I just wanted to play guitar and be in a band.
We did our first paid gig when I was 12. We made $3 each. I couldn't believe it: getting paid to play a guitar. And making way more per hour than I made bagging groceries in the neighborhood grocery store. Pretty sure there were no child labor laws back then. ;-)
That band became The Spirit of '76. Because we bought the jackets second hand...
That's me with the tall boots. And, the 335. Back to the story of the 335: there was a music store in Sioux City that wasn't the cool place - they mostly sold pianos and school band instruments. But, they had a few guitars... and one of them was this very 335, in the cherry finish. I was determined to get that guitar. I saved what I made from playing weekly gigs with the band and working in the grocery store. My sister believed in me - she said, "I know you've saved some money - for your birthday, John and I will chip in to get you that guitar you want."
That is my sister Joan and me, playing that gawd-awful Recco.
The 335 changed things for me. Big time. I discovered I could actually play the guitar - it was so much easier to play compared to the Recco. The band sounded better. We got better jobs. As a 14 year old, we were playing almost every weekend.
I was 16 and Joan was 15 when we started dating. I would like to say it was my good looks and charm that turned her head... pretty sure it was the guitar playing.
Other bands. I quit college first time around to go on the road with the Flippers...
Yep, even in that blurry snapshot above, you can see the 335 (and my Marshall stack to the left); the 335 and the Fender Bandmaster below...
Later, with Stinger...
The 335 with my Fender Twin Reverb (above); I had that Twin from 1974 to 2006; the 335 stayed.
After 2006, I spent more time playing acoustic guitar - easy to do a solo thing with an acoustic. A lot of other guitars have come and gone over the years. When we moved to Phoenix a bit over 2 1/2 years ago, Joan helped me hang guitars in my music room... she said, "The 335 needs its own special place on the wall..."
The 335 has hung on that wall since. Until today. I got it down and tuned it up. It felt... like home. It needs a fresh set of strings, but I tuned it up and gave it some playing time. Plugged in.
The 335 has been with me for a lot of years. It helped feed our young family. Hell, it is part of the family. I thought it had worked hard and deserved time to kick back and let some of the other guitars have their time to shine. Now, I'm thinking the 335 and I should have more time together. Maybe it needs a different amp to show it off?
2 comments:
That is quite a life story, and glad you still keep and honor that 335. I never had ambitions to be in a band. I only wanted to play for me and maybe some friends around the campfire. I learned music by family living room jams and later some playing in church. Some band experience and performing came much later.
I still have my Sears *Silvertone* folk model acoustic (000 size) that was under the Christmas tree in 1968. I have done a lot of work to it, so it is far better than factory original. It hangs on my office wall and gets played a few times each year. With a solid birch top and ladder bracing, it has a funky bluesy tone. Sometimes I grab it when working out a new tune near my computer.
Hey Earl - as always, nice to hear from you. From the time I got that first guitar (yes, before that Recco) - a Sears acoustic, but not nice enough to be a Silvertone - I wanted to be in a band. It wasn't until a lot of years (and a bunch of bands) later that playing solo was a consideration for me. It is less work and rigamarole to play out solo. But, I still enjoy playing with others, especially if we have similar attitudes about what we expect to do with the playing.
I do have an emotional attachment to that 335. Growing up "financially disadvantaged" (sounds less harsh than "poor"), I never thought I'd have anything as nice as that 335. And then using that to make money playing was like a dream come true. Pretty heady stuff for a teenager.
Over the years, there have been people who wanted to buy that 335. Or trade for a more trendy Les Paul plus cash. I couldn't do it. All these years later, I'm glad I didn't. I don't think of it so much as honoring the guitar, but more honoring my sister, who believed in me. This was at a time that my Mother thought playing the guitar would lead me down the road to misery.
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