Guitar Hero

In this day and age, video games are the number one toy that keeps kids occupied. One game that I have been hearing about over and over is called Guitar Hero. My son thinks he is going to “just die” if he doesn’t get one for Christmas this year. He has played his cousin’s game and quickly became addicted.

When I was growing up in the 70’s, I had a guitar hero. Nope, it wasn’t a video game. It was my dad.

Dad had an old 1953 Epiphone acoustic/electric guitar, and he played that thing every day and night. He would sit on the couch and pluck out a wide variety of music, including old Chuck Wagon Gang songs, Carter Family, Hank Snow, Ernest Tubb, Michael Parks, and even Bob Dylan songs. The whole family would sit around the living room and listen and sing, as dad would play. My dad has one of the best tenor voices that you will never hear. He refuses to sing in a public place, however, at home, he sings to his heart’s content.

Dad taught me to play the guitar, and even handed-down the Epiphone to me. His old guitar mostly just sits on the stand and collects dust. Its tuners are pretty worn so it doesn’t hold a tune very well. When dad comes over to my house, he always picks up his old guitar and starts playing away. I’ve looked into getting it restored but the Gibson factory demands a hefty fee to restore it. If I had a little more time, I would attempt to do it myself, but I would hate to cause any damage to it.

Nowadays I have 2 other guitars that I frequently play. Both have a slightly different sound and feel, but both have the ability to transport me back in time to when I was just a little feller, sitting around the living room listening to my dad play. Gosh, I miss those days.