Around about this time my sister in law - Irene - and I decided we wanted to learn to play the acoustic guitar. My first guitar had been bought many years before with Green Shield Stamps. For those of you who are too young to remember, these were the equivalent of today's Tesco Reward card and the like. In the olden days you were given stamps which you stuck in a book. Along with this you had a catalogue, out of which you chose gifts, which were bought with the stamps. I can't imagine how many books my mum and dad had to fill to buy a guitar but it must have been at least a sack full. I don't know how old I was but my hand was too small to reach around the neck and the guitar soon ended up in the garage damp, warped and unplayable. Not quite Bruce's guitar story but then he has a lot more determination than I will ever have.
Anyway I had my second guitar by the time my brother - Ian - rather rashly agreed to teach us. He and Irene lived just down the road from my mum so my guitar travelled back and forth with me each weekend.
In a previous blog I mentioned how Ian had taught himself to play and told you how proud we all were of him. I would watch his fingers form the chords and pluck the strings and itched to be able to do it myself. You will often find me at gigs concentrating on the guitarist's hands - yes ladies even at a Springsteen gig but then I watch his hands a lot because I love the way he does that kind of pointy thing and the way he conducts the band. I digress but it gives me an excuse to include this
Ian is a teacher - not a guitar teacher but teaching is teaching I suppose - unless your wife and sister are the (rather unruly) pupils. We each had an exercise book in which we wrote the words and the chord changes for the songs we learnt. 'Sloop John B' was the first. I also remember 'Singing The Blues' 'The Streets of Toledo' and a song which I am ashamed to say I didn't know at the time but which has since become a favourite - Roy Orbison's 'In Dreams'.
Now I can't sing! I mean I really can't sing!! I trill along to the radio and CDs all the time. Mike remarks with much surprise if I am in tune but mostly he just asks me, not always jokingly, to be quiet. My best mate Jacquie, who is a great singer, admitted in a truthful moment that my singing is really out of tune but at least I will never turn up on X Factor with false hope.
I sound OK to me but even I have to confess that my 'Born To Run' is awful. My 'In Dreams' was bad too and therein lies the rub. When you are strumming chords nobody knows what you are playing unless you sing the melody. In my case nobody knows what I'm playing even when I do sing along!
Irene really wanted to play Bob Dylan: specifically a song called 'Visions Of Johanna'. I had to buy Blonde on Blonde to learn it but because of this I gained an appreciation of Dylan which had escaped me before. I assume Ian simplified the arrangement for us and removed the difficult chords and we could do a passable version in the end.
I am ashamed to say our lessons were short lived. Frustration set in and that guitar went the same way as the first.
The grounding was there, though, and many years later when I decided to try again I could still play those first few chords. Must be like riding a bike - you never forget. I decided to make a concerted effort about ten years ago. I bought a new guitar and new how to play book, worked up some nice hard skin on my finger ends and, although I say so myself, I progressed a little.
Mike bought his own guitar and together we could manage a few tunes. 'Blowing in the Wind' was our party piece and I could do a passable strum along of 'The River'.
I didn't crack it then and haven't played for ages although we still have the guitars hanging on the wall.
The dream hasn't died though so one day when we are all at some get together I hope to be able to whip out my guitar and lead a sing-a-long!
Now other snippets:-
Firstly - Tim Rice has been presenting a Radio 2 show in which he looks at the music of each of the American States. This week: New Jersey. All the usual suspects were mentioned - Franki Valli, Frank Sinatra, Bon Jovi. Had to wait until about three quarters through to get Bruce. They played 'Tougher Than The Rest' - a good choice I thought. Didn't get the impression Tim is a fan but he couldn't do a piece about musicians from NJ without mentioning him.
I was surprised to hear a song from Mary Chapin Carpenter. I mention this especially for Elaine who isn't a fan of the country music genre. Mary is one of my faves and I didn't know she was from NJ. She has covered 'Dancing In The Dark' but luckily for you I couldn't find a YouTube clip. There's this audio clip though. I have to say not sure myself - a bit dreary maybe.
Secondly - I browse around the internet all the time hunting out stuff for this blog. News is hard to find some weeks so clutching at straws comes to mind with this house for sale here? I don't know why Springsteen Avenue is odd. We name streets and even airports after people all the time. We live near Asquith Avenue named after the Prime Minister but I don't think of him when I see the street. Perhaps it's because Springsteen brings such a strong, immediate image to mind that it's hard to picture it as a bit of tarmac and some houses.
And finally kind of back to where we started with gifts What a fab Christmas Present. Thing is, as many of you know, I love my handy crafts - hmmmmm - do I feel a quilt coming on?
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