And it still sounds good

Darren Wright

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I'm sitting here watching a repeat of the 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival on the Palladia channel. Willy Nelson just did a song and I noticed his guitar (and strap). First of all it looks like the guitar got kicked in and burned, has a big hole right in front of the bridge.
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Second thing I noticed was his guitar strap, I haven't seen one like it before, would think it would be hard on the guitar's soundboard, but I guess being electrified it's probable not as important.
 
I'm sitting here watching a repeat of the 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival on the Palladia channel. Willy Nelson just did a song and I noticed his guitar (and strap). First of all it looks like the guitar got kicked in and burned, has a big hole right in front of the bridge.....Second thing I noticed was his guitar strap, I haven't seen one like it before, would think it would be hard on the guitar's soundboard, but I guess being electrified it's probable not as important.
Willie was just on the Grammys with that same guitar and neck strap. That's his lucky guitar 'Trigger'. Neck strap is a kind of macrame. Wife just offered to make me one....looks kinda cool.
 
Yep, he's had that guitar as long as I can remember seeing him. And the hook style of strap has been around a long time. It used to be the standard style strap for classical, flamenco and mariachi players when I was a kid.
 
When Willie got taken by the accountant and totally innocently failed to pay about 12 million in taxes, the IRS came and took a lot of things just for spite. All the gold records, I can't remember what all but a lot of small things of almost no value too that were ridiculous.

The one thing Willie hid was that old Martin!

Hu
 
Bringing back memories, I still talk to Floyd a dozen times or so a year

An old friend of mine, Floyd Tolston, has been playing the Texas honky-tonks and bars about as long as Willie, maybe longer. A lot of the same friends, the old guard of Texas "outlaw" country. Like a handful of my friends Floyd put family first and a steady income. Never quit playing and writing though and put out a couple of pretty good CD's after he retired. One semi-professionally produced, one by the same producer Leann Rymes used in her early days of fame. One sounds good, the other maybe overproduced to me.

There are a few youtube video's of Floyd, just from a live performance at a bar so the video sound isn't much. This one is long and I think pretty mild. Floyd isn't anything like some of the people singing today but there can be a little language or something not quite PC in some of his songs. Anyway, here is a link to one, Lonestar, if it works. WalMart Lovers is a bit more uptempo, shorter, funny, a tad racy.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...&mid=021C516907399D87E483021C516907399D87E483

Another friend backed up pretty much everyone in country music on the Hayride in the old days when the singers often didn't bring a band with them. Still another friend babysat Hank Jr. more nights than one while Hank performed on the Hayride. His son was much more impressed with whose dirty diapers he changed than CJ was! He had never mentioned it to his son until I did after hearing it from someone else. The old days ain't that long ago. Last time I saw him Blackie still had a snazzy polyester suit with big musical notes sewn all over it in his closet with his guitar. :rofl:

Hu
 
outstanding read!

Nice read{though not short} about Willie & 'Trigger'...


Very interesting. I don't read magazines much and even when I did I figured they were mostly blowing smoke so I didn't give them much weight. This is more in-depth about the guitar, and Willie, than I can ever remember reading. I remember Willie telling a wee bit different story about the guitar and the IRS but that is minor and stories get told so many times that soon the story is what is remembered rather than the actual event. No idea which story is more accurate.

Hu
 
Django

I agree with Hu, that was a good read Ken. :thumb: Also been listening to Django Reinhardt all morning now on spotify, really enjoying it. :wave:

I don't remember the name, the music was very familiar though! As usual I got hung up listening to song after song then had to go read Django's bio. I was wondering about the hand that appeared to be badly damaged too. Very interesting life. Like many very talented people he seemed to sometimes be a half step out of sync with the rest of the world.

Hu
 
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