Getting back in the groove
I have decided to make this blog more wide ranging than originally intended. I`ve already started including posts about my MG Midget competition cars. I am about to add a new dimension. … Hands up if you`ve heard of cigar box guitars! … I guess 1920`s and 30`s music relates well to cars from that period.
I have always been interested in blues music. It probably started with the blues bands that became popular in the early 1960`s. The Rolling Stones, John Mayals Bluesbreakers, (with Eric Clapton), Jimmy Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, etc. … Having messed around playing bits of bottleneck, (slide), guitar for a while now, I was thrilled to see Seasick Steve on TV playing bottleneck on 3 string instruments. … Looking into his style I soon became aware of a internet site at www.cigarboxnation.com, (check it out), and began learning more about these fascinating instruments.
Before long I was making these instruments from material found around my garage, (probably explains why the Riley isn`t progressing so well!). … I`ve abandoned the standard 6 string guitar now, and I`m playing 3 and 4 string, home made cbg`s. I get a huge buzz from playing music on an instrument I made myself from mainly reclaimed material!
The concept is to mimic the American negro slaves of the 1920`s and 30`s in making musical instruments from material to be found lying around, using only hand tools, in a back shed type setting. Cigar boxes were a commodity to be found around wealthy households in America, just as oil cans were to be found in Africa. (See the pic of my oil can guitar). … Playing these instruments by sliding the neck of a wine bottle on the strings produces a “dirty” blues sound reminicent of Delta or mississippi blues. Put it through a crude amp and you`ve got a Chicago sound. .. Whats not to like!!
A cbg with just one string is a diddly bow. Thats where Boe Diddly got his name. … My playing is pretty crude and the songs I can play tend to be simple and repetitive. (I think it was Woody Guthrie that said, “anyone using more than 3 chords is showing off”). Well, I have little natural talent for playing, and certainly can`t show off! … My current play list is, “Baby Please Don`t Go”, “Sittin on Top of the World”, “You`ve Got to Move”, “Nobodys Fault but Mine”. I`m working on “Rollin n Tumblin blues”, and “Smokestack Lightnin” . … All of these are taught on Keni Lee Burgess tuition CD`s. Look him up, he`s brilliant.
I`ve had great difficulty convincing my freinds cbg`s are cool. However, I found a picture of Johnny Depp carrying a cbg through an airport somewhere, and they`ve finally stopped laughing! (See my pics).
My collection of cbg`s
One of my favourites
Look who it is! (The only thing I have in common with JP is a cbg).
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About the Author
Phil Smith is a vintage car enthusiast with many years experience of owning, restoring and using vintage, PVT and classic cars. A longstanding member of The Vintage Sports Car Club (VSCC), The Riley register and The MG Car Club. Makes he has owned include Alvis, Bentley, Lagonda, MG, Talbot and Riley, of course. Now retired, Phil satisfies his 'old motor urges' by competing in the MGCC Luffield Speed series in MG Midgets from the 60's and 70's. This blog will chart his return to vintage/PVT cars.
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E-mail: philsmith432[at]hotmail[dot]com