I was perusing my collection of guitar books and realised that while some of you might have a similar collection there are certainly those among you who will be interested in hearing some of the anecdotes found in those books. I’m starting with a book by Julia Crowe which I loved. It is full of stories from guitarists from all “walks” of music. The title is “My First Guitar” and is based on interviews with a plethora of guitarists, guitar-makers and technicians. The book makes for a great read even if your heros are not guitar heros; mine are. Here is something from Juan Martin’s story on page 107:
When I was seventeen, I went to Madrid and mixed up with the great players in the capital. I used to listen to a record of the great flamenco guitarist Niño Ricardo, and would do this by slowing down the old 33 rpm LP to the speed of 16, making the music one octave lower. This way, I could more or less work out what I was hearing. So when I traveled to Madrid, I went to the Conde Hermanos shop with the hope of finding a better guitar than the Conde I had or at least to see if they could make it better for me. I played this Ricardo material and there was this old man in the shop, listening. He said to to me, gruffly, “¿Tu quien eres?” (“Who are you?”). I said “Juan Martin.” “¿De donde ha aprendido esto?” (“Where did you learn this?”). I told him I learned it from Niño Ricardo. “Yo soy el Ricardo!” he growled.
Of course he goes on to tell how he learned from and drank wine with Niño Ricardo and went on to meet other guitar greats. The book is inspiring and funny and well worth tracking down. The ebook version is readily available and you can contact Julia for a copy on her blog at this link.
