It's an easy guitar to play, although the electrics are seized up, well, that doesn't really matter, as I don't have an amplifier now anyway, but I do like to hear a sort of quiet hum every now and then.
It's tuned to the normal EADGBE, and apart from a few changes years ago, I've tended to stick with it for better or worse!
Anyone who has one of these bits of kit may know, that the first few seconds of any session, from just putting the thing on a knee or winding the strap around the neck, are exquisite. It seems that in a fleeting moment, a whole magical, musical enterprise will bound forth and amaze everyone...
Well, there was only me to hear all that, and the first strings I held down were the B and the top F#, which is a quaint little chord, and requires some fiddly bits with the other fingers. I'd actually forgotten about it...
When Mrs O'Blene and I were first married, we were living in a flat in Hastings, which was enough for the two of us, and of course, there was only entertainment from a Radio Rentals TV, or a record player. There was also a reel-to-reel tape recorder.
As we didn't go out that much, we reserved one evening a week for a few tinctures in a great place (The Two Sawyers) we knew well, having spent a fortune there in the past! If we won a few bob on the fruit machine, (it was a club back then, and you won real money in sixpences), we'd buy a bottle of Onzerust sherry to take home (I don't think you can get it now, but my old boss in Ashford used to swear by it, so that was that), and consume a glass or two while we got supper ready. I'd put on a record.
A few weeks before all this, I'd been in Hastings mooching around in the famous 'Disc Jockey Plus 2' record shop in Queens Road, and seen a superb album, 'The Music People', which was a three disc collection of some really decent rock music. It had cost £1.50p...
One of the tracks was this one...
And guess why I remembered it after all these years...
Many years ago I used to play an electric Yamaha guitar which was mainly white with little bits of red, and it had a steel handle which you pulled up and down to make your strings reverberate as needed for what song you were accompanying.
ReplyDeleteAt this moment in time I'd much prefer to have a go at playing the Northumbrian pipes accompanied by a Bodhran drum so I could recreate a piece of music wot I roted many years ago. In the meantime, I'll put my DVD of "Riverdance" because I took my OH to see it live in Manchester for his birthday present.
We just love Riverdance, Goosey!
ReplyDeleteLucky you - was Michael Flatley banging his heels?
The steel handle which you pulled up and down to make your strings reverberate is called a 'tremelo arm', and we may well have the same sort of kit!
I think you've heard my favourite Northumbrian pipes piece, but I'll look it out after supper...
You captured the feeling perfectly, although in my case you have to add the thrill of hearing/smelling the tubes warm into life in the amp, no solid state stuff here.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't Michael Flatley dancing that night as it was someone with dark hair, but it was just awesome to be there and have that experience that we've never forgotten. Doh! Of course it's a tremelo arm which I didn't use that much at all as I remember.
ReplyDeleteRadio Rentals is a certainly a name from the past. My father-in-law always rented his TV, never believed in owning one.
ReplyDeleteForgot about that gorgeous scent, Thud!
ReplyDeleteAll put right with the next post...
ReplyDelete'Should 'ave gone to Radio Rentals' was the advert back then, Mr H!
ReplyDeleteOur set was pretty good, as we had three channels, plus some radio as well, all black and white of course...
Listening to this again, this clip is playing far too fast...
ReplyDeleteI'll try and find a slower one, as it should be played at around a second a beat, or even a bit less...
Sorry about that..:0(
the first few seconds of any session, from just putting the thing on a knee or winding the strap around the neck, are exquisite.
ReplyDeleteI get that feeling when I take a gun out of its case....