Practically 50 years in the past, Randy Bachman’s Gretsch guitar – on which he wrote “American Girl” and different hits — was stolen from a lodge in Toronto. Many years later, the instrument has been returned to him by a Japanese musician who had purchased it at a retailer in Tokyo, unaware of its historical past.
Bachman, former guitarist for the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, was understandably distraught when he first observed the guitar had gone lacking in 1977. It was the primary costly instrument he’d ever purchased as a teen, having labored odd jobs to avoid wasting up the $400 for it. “I cried for 3 days – it was a part of me,” he just lately informed the Guardian. “It was very, very upsetting.”
Through the years, Bachman tried to fill the void with different, related guitars, however nothing in comparison with the intense orange 1957 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins. “It made my entire life,” he mentioned. “It was my hammer and a device to write down songs, make music and generate profits.”
In 2020, a Canadian fan named William Lengthy determined to launch an web hunt for the lacking guitar, rigorously learning outdated pictures for distinct markings on it. Inside just a few weeks, he’d tracked the instrument to Japanese rock musician Takeshi. After speaking, Takeshi agreed to return the instrument to Bachman in trade for a “sister” guitar made throughout the identical week and that includes an analogous serial quantity.
“I owned it and performed it for less than eight years and I am extraordinarily unhappy to return it now. However he has been feeling unhappy for 46 years, and it is time for another person to be unhappy,” Takeshi mentioned. “I felt sorry for this legend.”
The 2 musicians met up in Tokyo to trade the devices, the place they carried out collectively at Tokyo’s Canadian embassy, marking Bachman’s first time performing in Japan since 1995, when he appeared with Ringo Starr. Bachman and Takeshi are now planning on showing in a documentary in regards to the long-lost guitar, through which they are going to carry out a brand new tune collectively, penned by Bachman, referred to as “Misplaced and Discovered.”
Talking with Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, Bachman relayed his gratitude for the completely satisfied ending: “This entire journey to Japan and my guitar return is a dream come true.”
Hearken to ‘American Girl’ by the Guess Who
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