BETWEEN THE STRINGS | DON MCLEAN
Young McLean with 1st D-28
They come , they go , they change . When one is lost , it ’ s replaced with no more thought than the changing of a flat tire . They ’ ve become commodities , where any number makers has stepped in to satisfy the demands of a fickle and capricious market . “ Tools ,” they call them .
When I began to play the acoustic guitar , things were quite different — and simpler . At that time , there were essentially two kinds of players in the world : Gibson players and Martin players . And those two camps were thoroughly entrenched , with little understanding between the two , really . Their styles were clearly delineated , and there was never any mistaking one for the other . The shape of the Gibson and its appointments , and the shape of the Martin and its appointments were very specific to those particular brands . And that was it .
And regardless of which instrument one chose , the unmistakable identification a musician had with his instrument produced an indelible image . Who can forget the Everly Brothers playing their Gibson guitars ? And Gibson guitars are precisely what they should have had . Can you imagine the Everly Brothers playing Martins ? No way ! It would have been wrong ! But if you saw Josh White or Lester Flatt or Elvis Presley or Ricky Nelson , it was always a Martin guitar strapped around their necks . The guitar formed a part of who they were .
In the electric world , it was the Fender guitars that knocked you out . Can you envision The Ventures or Buddy Holly separate from their Teles ? It was all so natural . It was all so exciting . And it also stimulated the imagination .
In those days , there were no instructional videos or collections of guitar tablature . Oh , you could pick up a Mel Bay book and learn to play Paddlin ’ Madeline Home , but that had nothing to do with playing If I Had a Hammer or Walk Don ’ t Run . If you wanted to learn those songs , you had to learn them from other people . You had to learn them
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| FALL 2023