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| Young Woman With Guitar - Henri Lebasque |
The Old Guitar
James Whitcomb Riley
Neglected now is the old guitar
And moldering into decay;
Fretted with many a rift and scar
That the dull dust hides away,
While the spider spins a silver star
In its silent lips to-day.
The keys hold only nerveless strings--
The sinews of brave old airs
Are pulseless now; and the scarf that clings
So closely here declares
A sad regret in its ravelings
And the faded hue it wears.
But the old guitar, with a lenient grace,
Has cherished a smile for me;
And its features hint of a fairer face
That comes with a memory
Of a flower-and-perfume-haunted place
And a moonlit balcony.
Music sweeter than words confess,
Or the minstrel's powers invent,
Thrilled here once at the light caress
Of the fairy hands that lent
This excuse for the kiss I press
On the dear old instrument.
The rose of pearl with the jeweled stem
Still blooms; and the tiny sets
In the circle all are here; the gem
In the keys, and the silver frets;
But the dainty fingers that danced o'er them--
Alas for the heart's regrets!--
Alas for the loosened strings to-day,
And the wounds of rift and scar
On a worn old heart, with its roundelay
Enthralled with a stronger bar
That Fate weaves on, through a dull decay
Like that of the old guitar!
James Whitcomb Riley
Neglected now is the old guitar
And moldering into decay;
Fretted with many a rift and scar
That the dull dust hides away,
While the spider spins a silver star
In its silent lips to-day.
The keys hold only nerveless strings--
The sinews of brave old airs
Are pulseless now; and the scarf that clings
So closely here declares
A sad regret in its ravelings
And the faded hue it wears.
But the old guitar, with a lenient grace,
Has cherished a smile for me;
And its features hint of a fairer face
That comes with a memory
Of a flower-and-perfume-haunted place
And a moonlit balcony.
Music sweeter than words confess,
Or the minstrel's powers invent,
Thrilled here once at the light caress
Of the fairy hands that lent
This excuse for the kiss I press
On the dear old instrument.
The rose of pearl with the jeweled stem
Still blooms; and the tiny sets
In the circle all are here; the gem
In the keys, and the silver frets;
But the dainty fingers that danced o'er them--
Alas for the heart's regrets!--
Alas for the loosened strings to-day,
And the wounds of rift and scar
On a worn old heart, with its roundelay
Enthralled with a stronger bar
That Fate weaves on, through a dull decay
Like that of the old guitar!
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| Woman Playing Guitar - Gerrit Van Honthorst |
The Next Twenty
Top 100 Instrumentals of the Fifties
21. Raunchy - Bill Justis (2) 1957
22. Dragnet - Ray Anthonty (2) 1953
23. Topsey II - Cozy Cole (3) 1958
24. Oh! - Pee Wee Hunt (3) 1953
25. Skokiaan - Ralph Materie (3) 1954
26. Bewitched - Bill Snyder (3) 1950
27. Teen Beat - Sandy Nelson (4) 1959
28. Moonglow & Theme from Picnic - George Cates (4) 1956
29. Raunchy - Ernie Freeman (4) 1957)
30. In The Mood - Ernie Fields (4) 1959
31. The High & The Mighty - Les Baxter (4) 1954
32. Down Younder - Del Wood (4) 1951
33. Sail Along Silvery Moon - Billy Vaughn (5) 1958
34. Guitar Boogie Shuffle - Virtues (5) 1959
35. Red River Rock - Johnnay & The Hurricanes (5) 1959
36. Petite Fleur - Chris Barber Jazz Band (5) 1959
37. Limelight - Frank Chacksfield (5) 1953
38. Harbor Lights - Ralph Flanagan (5) 1950
39. Meet Mister Callaghan - Les Paul (5) 1952
40. The Happy Whistler - Don Robertson (6) 1956
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| Girl With Guitar - Richard Edward Miller |
ROSSETTI
©2012 Dave Tutin
There it was
in the window
of the local music store
It was red
and black
And drew my attention
for reasons
I did not know
and do not
understand
It was a Rossetti
arch-top
acoustic guitar
I didn’t know in those days
that arch-tops
were for jazz players
I couldn’t play jazz back then
Still can’t
But it was red
and black
And spoke to me
I kept it for years
even after I stopped playing it
One cold winter night
I was reading
(some poet or other)
when I heard a deep
creaking sound
as the tension of the strings
folded the Rossetti
in half
Too cheap to merit a repair
too un-played to demand one
it was thrown out
But thinking back
I’m pretty sure
I wrote my first song
on that guitar
It was red
and black
And spoke to me
in the window
of the local music store
It was red
and black
And drew my attention
for reasons
I did not know
and do not
understand
It was a Rossetti
arch-top
acoustic guitar
I didn’t know in those days
that arch-tops
were for jazz players
I couldn’t play jazz back then
Still can’t
But it was red
and black
And spoke to me
I kept it for years
even after I stopped playing it
One cold winter night
I was reading
(some poet or other)
when I heard a deep
creaking sound
as the tension of the strings
folded the Rossetti
in half
Too cheap to merit a repair
too un-played to demand one
it was thrown out
But thinking back
I’m pretty sure
I wrote my first song
on that guitar
It was red
and black
And spoke to me
Raunchy - #21
Charted in the U.S. at #2 Pop and #1 R&B.
"Raunchy" was the first rock and roll
instrumental hit, and has been recorded
by many groups. It sold over one million copies,
and was awarded a gold disc.
In 1958 fourteen-year-old George Harrison performed
the song for John Lennon (and Paul McCartney) on
the top deck of a bus. He was so note-perfect
Lennon decided to let him into his band,
The Quarrymen -later known as The Beatles.
Charted in the U.S. at #2 Pop and #1 R&B.
"Raunchy" was the first rock and roll
instrumental hit, and has been recorded
by many groups. It sold over one million copies,
and was awarded a gold disc.
In 1958 fourteen-year-old George Harrison performed
the song for John Lennon (and Paul McCartney) on
the top deck of a bus. He was so note-perfect
Lennon decided to let him into his band,
The Quarrymen -later known as The Beatles.
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| The Guitar Player - Alan Berkman |
western civilization was reached with
the invention of the electric guitar.
Lene Sinclair
Topsy II - #23
#1 Cashbox magazine hit
Peaked at number three on Billboard Hot 100
Number one on the R&B chart
It sold over one million copies,
and was awarded a gold disc.
one of the few drum solo recordings that
ever made the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Cozy Cole - 1958
#1 Cashbox magazine hit
Peaked at number three on Billboard Hot 100
Number one on the R&B chart
It sold over one million copies,
and was awarded a gold disc.
one of the few drum solo recordings that
ever made the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Cozy Cole - 1958
 |
| The Guitar Player - Paul Gauguin |
orchestra in itself.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Teen Beat - #27
Number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart
It sold over one million copies,
It sold over one million copies,
and was awarded a gold record
Made #36 on the Billboard Year-End
Hot 100 singles of 1959
Sandy Nelson, one of the best-known rock
drummers of the early 1960s, had several
solo instrumental Top 40 hits and was a session
drummer on many other well-known hits, and
released over 30 albums.
Sandy Nelson - 1959
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| Guitarman - Bohoy |
guitar requires bravery bordering on heroism.
Bordering on insanity.
Richard Thompson
Guitar Boogie Shuffle - #34
Recorded by Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith in 1945.
It was one of the first recordings in the style later
dubbed "hillbilly boogie" to reach a widespread
audience and eventually sold nearly three million copies.
"Guitar Boogie" has been recorded by a
variety of musicians and is among the songs
discussed as the first rock and roll record.
"Guitar Boogie" has been recorded by a
variety of musicians and is among the songs
discussed as the first rock and roll record.
Reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100
pop chart and number 27 in the Billboard R&B chart.
It "became one of the most popular and
influential instrumentals of its era".
pop chart and number 27 in the Billboard R&B chart.
It "became one of the most popular and
influential instrumentals of its era".
Virtues - 1959
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| Guitar Player - Tony Song |
and guitar music is on the way out.
Decca Recording Co.
rejecting the Beatles, 1962
Red River Rock - #35
Red River Valley is a folk song and cowboy
music standard.
music standard.
Johnny and the Hurricanes recorded a
rock and roll instrumental version of the song
entitled "Red River Rock" which became a hit in
the U.S., reaching #5.
rock and roll instrumental version of the song
entitled "Red River Rock" which became a hit in
the U.S., reaching #5.
It sold over a million copies.
Johnny and the Hurricanes - 1959
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| Guitar Player - Elizabeth Crabtree |
and the other half playing out of tune.
Anonymous
The Happy Whistler - #40
Hit the US Top 10
It sold over one million copies,
Hit the US Top 10
It sold over one million copies,
and was awarded a gold record.
Don Robertson composed or co-composed,
many hits for other musicians,
including Elvis Presley, who recorded over a
dozen of Robertson's songs, five of which
appeared in Presley's numerous films.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Robertson_%28songwriter%29
Don Robertson - 1956
Don Robertson - 1956
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| Guitar Player - Roy Wallace |
My Father As a Guitar
The cardiologist prescribed
a new medication
and lectured my father
that he had to stop working.
And my father said: I can't.
The landlord won't let me.
The heart pills are dice
in my father's hand,
gambler who needs cash
by the first of the month.
On the night his mother died
in far away Puerto Rico
my father lurched upright in bed,
heart hammering
like the fist of a man at the door
with an eviction notice.
Minutes later,
the telephone sputtered
with news of the dead.
Sometimes I dream
my father is a guitar,
with a whole in his chest
where the music throbs
between my fingers.
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| Classical Guitar - Sera Knight |
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