I grew up in Portland, Oregon, in the northwest corner of
the USA. It rains a lot there, and the Pacific coast is about
an hour or two away.
I didn't attempt to "play"
any instrument until my teenage years. I first tried my hands
at the mandolin, particularly an electric mandolin which I thrashed away at
completely devoid of guidance and with little purpose other than making a
whole lot of noise. It was all quite joyous.
I "graduated" to the guitar in my mid-teens. The tiny little mandolin never
quite fit properly in my long-fingered hands. I got myself a basic, cheap
"plank of wood" electric guitar (from the pawnshop, like all REAL guitar players ;-).
I continually modified the instrument. There were always woodworking and electrical tools
around the house. Eventually, I decided to build an instrument for myself.
I elected to build a solid clear plexiglass
electric instrument after seeing Keith Richards looking VERY cool playing
a similar looking model on tv (Ed Sullivan Show,
the Rolling Stones, "Love in Vain").
My design of the instrument did not account for the monolithic weight of the
inch-thick plexiglass material that I chose. In retrospect, Keith's was
quite a bit thinner. Alas, the finished product was so heavy that I could
barely lift it. At that moment I decided to become a "seated" performer.
I proceded to
thrash about relentlessly, sitting in a chair, now both on "heavy"
electric guitar and "heavy" electric mandolin.
My seated phase lasted many years.
I found myself moving more and more toward the acoustic guitar. My first
such was a 12-string model - I think it was made by Takamine.
It felt good in my hands, and the harmonics generated by the paired strings
seemed a good compromise between the similarly paired mandolin strings
and the more conventional 6-string guitar.
Around this point I also began looking for a teacher, and found a
number of quite good ones.
Each lasted through several lessons. While none of them really
understood what I was after, the lessons were quite useful for learning
the basics. Somehow, in all my earlier bashing about, I had completely
overlooked stuff like how to play proper chords.
Gradually, I became aware of the shortcomings of the 12-string. For one thing,
12 strings is just too many to try to keep in tune! I play very aggressively,
and am prone to driving the strings very hard (at times to their breaking point).
An additional problem was ironically in the richness of the tone produced by the
paired strings; more and more, I wanted a very pure sound for each note. I
wanted my guitar to be a "band", comprised of 6 individuals.
I migrated, somewhat begrudgingly, to an acoustic 6-string guitar. Again I found
myself continually modifying its structure. As I began playing more "slide" guitar,
I found myself playing way up the neck, and I sawed a "cutaway" into the body
of my then-current guitar, a big-bodied "Gurian" brand instrument.
With the acoustic 6-string guitar, I also eventually discovered that I could
stand erect while performing, though it was several years before I thought to
attempt that particular fete. Unencumbered by plexiglass mass, it was
quite revelatory to be freed from my former fixed position.
I began to wander about, almost "pacing", while I performed.
I completed the transition and have
not looked back, despite some unexpected
medical complications of my posture.
Somewhere in there I discovered the musics of American Primitive guitarist
John Fahey,
the legendary
Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, and jazz
pianist Cecil Taylor.
Each of the three seemed to be completely out of sync with
their respective popular music worlds. I mention them first because they
affected me deeply and at a very impressionable time of my life.
The first record I
ever bought was "Alvin for President", a single by the Chipmunks.
My first album was "My Son the Nut" by Allen Sherman
(you know, the "hello muddah, hello faddah" guy).
Then the early singles by the Who, like "Anyway Anywhere Anyhow"
and some Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, Kinks, stuff like that - it WAS the
sixties, after all.
...to be continued...