Date: 12-6-00
EXPLORATIONS #1929 - The Guitar
By Paul ThompsonVOICE ONE:
This is Shirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, EXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about a very popular musical instrument. Listen and see if you can guess what it is.
(((MUSIC CUT #1 Simple Guitar Sound)))
VOICE ONE:
If you guessed it was a guitar, you are correct. The Museum of Fine Arts in the eastern city of Boston, Massachusetts, recently began showing a collection of guitars. The exhibit is called, "Dangerous Curves: The Art of the Guitar." It shows how the instrument developed during the past four centuries.
Probably no other musical instrument is a popular around the world as the guitar. Musicians use the guitar for almost every kind of music. Country and western music would not be the same without a guitar. The traditional Spanish folk music called Flamenco could not exist without a guitar. The sound of American blues music would not be the same without the sad cry of the guitar. And rock and roll music would almost be impossible without this instrument.
VOICE TWO:
Music experts do not agree about where the guitar first was played. Most agree it is ancient. Some experts say an instrument very much like a guitar was played in Egypt more than a thousand years ago.
Some other experts say that the ancestor of the modern guitar was brought to Spain from Persia sometime in the Twelfth century. The guitar continued to develop in Spain. In the Seventeen-hundreds it became similar to the instrument we know today.
Many famous musicians played the instrument. The famous Italian violinist Niccolo Paganinni played and wrote music for the guitar in the early Eighteen hundreds. Franz Schubert used the guitar to write some of his famous works.
In modern times Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia helped make the instrument extremely popular.
One kind of music for the guitar developed in the southern area of Spain called Adalusia. It will always be strongly linked with the Spanish guitar. It is called Flamenco. Carlos Montoya was a Spanish Gypsy. Listen for a few moments as he plays a Flamenco song called "Jerez."
(((CUT TWO: JEREZ)))
VOICE ONE:
One guitar in the Boston Fine Arts display was played by Les Paul. It is a very old electric guitar. Mr. Paul began experimenting with ways to make an electric guitar in the Nineteen-thirties. The Gibson Guitar Company began producing its famous Les Paul Guitar in Nineteen-Fifty-Two.
The instrument has the same shape and the same six strings as the traditional guitar, but it sounds very different. Listen to a Les Paul recording. It was the fifth most popular song in the United States in Nineteen-Fifty-Two. It is called "Meet Mr. Callaghan."
(((CUT THREE: MEET MISTER CALLAGHAN. )))
VOICE TWO:
The guitar has always been important to blues music. The electric guitar Mr. Paul helped develop made modern blues music possible. There have been many great blues guitarists. Yet, music experts say all blues guitar players are measured against one man and his famous guitar.
That man is B-B King. Every blues fan knows that years ago B-B King named his guitar Lucille. Here B-B King plays Lucille on his famous recording of "The Thrill Is Gone".
((((CUT FOUR: "THE THRILL IS GONE")))
VOICE ONE:
B-B King's guitar, Lucille, is so important to American music that the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D-C has asked for it. They want to display the large, beautiful black guitar in one of the museums because it is a part of American culture.
Another famous guitar in American music also has a name. It belongs to country music star Willie Nelson. His guitar is as famous in country music as Lucille is in blues music. Its name is Trigger.
Trigger is really a very ugly guitar. It looks like an old, broken instrument someone threw away. Several famous people have written their names on it. A huge hole was torn in the front of it a long time ago. It looks severely damaged. But the huge hole, the names and other marks seem to add to its sound. Listen while Willie Nelson and Trigger play part of, "Angel Flying Too Close To the Ground.
(((CUT FIVE: " ANGEL FLYING TOO CLOSE TO THE GROUND."
VOICE TWO:
Many rock and roll performers are very good with a guitar. One of the best is Chuck Berry. Chuck Berry received an award Sunday for his life's work in music at the Kennedy Center Honors Ceremony in Washington D-C.
Mr. Berry's method of playing the guitar very fast was extremely popular when rock music began. His influence on rock still is felt.
Listen for a few moments as Chuck Berry plays and sings one of his hit songs. He recorded it in December, Nineteen-Fifty-Seven. The song is about a guitar player named, "Johnny B. Goode."
(((CUT SIX. JOHNNY B. GOODE)))
VOICE ONE:
There are almost as many different kinds of guitar music as there are musicians. We can not play them all in one program. So we leave you with one American guitar player who often mixes several kinds of music.
His name is Jose Feliciano. Here he plays a song that is based on traditional Spanish guitar music. He mixes this with a little jazz and a little blues then adds a Latin sound. Listen to "Bombelo."
(((CUT SEVEN: "BOMBELO")))
VOICE TWO:
This Special English program was written and produced by Paul Thompson. Our studio engineer was Greg Burns. This is Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.
Source: www.voa.gov/special/