Guitars

There is a certain amount of guitar playing in the pages of ‘One Summer in the Sun.’ Only one of my three main protagonists is a player, and she only fools about with an inexpensive instrument from Sears until she becomes involved with Alan. Her father plays too, being a folk music enthusiast, and keeps his prized Martin classical guitar tucked away under the bed. Yes, like Willie Nelson plays, but in those days the ‘name’ players were guys like Burl Ives and Marty Robbins.

Alan owns a Gibson Hummingbird and has bluegrass tendencies. The precision of that style of playing appeals to him. Of course, he flat-picks the instrument and is pretty proficient at it, though not inclined to show off. When chided about his taste in guitars by James ‘Jam’ Summerlin, he responds that Keith Richards claims it is the perfect acoustic for rock and roll.

Jam’s twin sister, Angelica aka ‘Jelly,’ is a musical prodigy, a player of the classical guitar. I did not specify a particular maker, only that it was a high end Spanish instrument. Her parents can afford it. And they could certainly afford to buy Jam a good guitar too, though he is less serious (although talented) about playing. I gave him a Gibson F-25, their ‘Folksinger’ model from the Sixties. He hadn’t pulled it out of the closet and played in a couple years, but being among players during summer vacation led him to renew his acquaintance with the guitar.

 

a Gibson F-25

By the way, the one in the included picture is set up for metal strings (slanted bridge) but it’s essentially the same instrument as the nylon stringed guitar Jam plays.

So why did I make some of my characters guitar players? It was certainly a way of letting them bond; they are rather different people otherwise. Then too, I know a little about guitars and music. Mostly, the guitars just seemed a fitting symbol of that time, the summer of 1968, and my slightly naive, innocent bunch of kids