Guitarist/songwriter Paul Elwood Bio: where do all those crazy songs come from?
One time my wife said “you love that guitar more than you love me” and I replied “that’s not always true“.
Deb and I have been married for 40 years this year, thank you very much.
But my relationship with the guitar is longer than that, so I guess there’s probably some truth to that statement.
When I was about fifteen my dad showed how to play before leaving for TDY (temporary tour of duty) to Korea. That was actually his second trip to Korea; after his first deployment to Gwangju Air Base in South Korea, he was sent to England where he met, fell in love and married my mom. Family history recounts that he saw here serving tea in the base cafeteria and told his buddies “I’m gonna marry that girl” and sure enough, that’s what happened. Family history also recounts the first time he brought her home to his mom’s house in Stigler Oklahoma and my gramma said “well at least you didn’t marry a Jap”, which must have been somewhat unpleasant, to say the least. Welcome to America, Laura Maybelle.
I was born while Dad was deployment to England – at Warrington Air Force Base hospital in Warrington England, a major Strategic Air Command base. I mention this for two reasons. I think my early years gave me a sort of unique perspective on life, or at least, a less-provincial one that a lot o folks and I am grateful for that. But also here I am, the child of an immigrant and by the way, someone who wasn’t born in the USA. And I have to say, for my whole life, those were only facts. Not matters for concern.
But I learned to play guitar from my dad. He played guitar in what is called “Travis” style which is named after country guitarist Merle Travis. BTW if you want to hear some very fine guitar playing, google Merle Travis. You won’t be disappointed. “Travis” style involves playing with the first finger and thumb, using the thumb to alternate bass notes (demonstrate). I learned that from my dad and I’ve been playing that way ever since. Here’s what playing with thumb and first finger sound like if you do it for a few decades:
Ode to Johnnie Merle
The name of that tune is “Ode to Johnnie Merle” and I think if my dad could hear that he’d be pretty chuffed.