Thought of the Day - October 21 2021 - A Randy Surprise

Decades after it was stolen, rock star Randy Bachman has finally found the rare guitar he used to compose hits like "American Woman" and "Takin' Care of Business" after it was tracked down in Japan.

Bachman, of The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO), said he was heartbroken when his 1957 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins guitar was stolen from a Toronto hotel in 1976. It was the first expensive guitar he owned and he had to work hard as an 18-year-old to earn the $400 he needed to buy it.

Bachman used to have a 12-foot-long tow chain to lock the guitar to something secure, but one fateful day, the band's road manager wasn't as careful. Randy called the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the RCMP, but they both told him he'd probably never see it again. Bachman has recounted the story many times over the years on his radio show and on the YouTube channel he started during the pandemic with his son, Tal.

A fan, William Long from White Rock BC, decided to do some searching. Long was looking for something different to do last year when he was stuck inside because of the pandemic. He conducted elaborate internet searches to find photos of every orange Gretsch he could find and compared them to a video of Bachman playing the song "Lookin' Out For #1" with BTO. A close-up of Randy Bachman's guitar shows a unique dime-sized ring.

Searching the world, he tracked the guitar to a Tokyo vintage guitar shop, which had sold it to a Japanese musician, Takeshi. Long said Bachman was shocked when he reached out to him. "It's just unbelievable, because I've been searching for this forever and basically gave up on it."

Bachman said his Japanese daughter-in-law, KoKo, was able to arrange a Zoom call with Takeshi, and he was tearful when Takeshi showed him the guitar after all these years. "And he says, 'Well, I didn't steal it,' and I said, 'Of course, you weren't even born when this thing was stolen, but you have it,'" Bachman said. "And then he said, 'I'll give you the guitar, but you must find its sister'".

Bachman had built relationships with guitar dealers around North America during his quest to reclaim the guitar. He had amassed a collection of more than 350 Gretsch guitars, which he sold to the Gretsch family's foundation in 2008 for their museum.

A guitar shop in Ohio had what Bachman needed. Based on the serial numbers, he found a guitar that was probably made in the same week. Now he and Takeshi just need to make the swap. Bachman says he's planning to travel to Japan to meet Takeshi and exchange the guitars once COVID-19 restrictions ease. They are also planning on jamming together. "This guy is my guitar brother," Bachman said. "I can't even talk to him because he's Japanese, he doesn't understand me, but when we play the guitar together on Zoom, there's this connection." "To me, it's the most incredible Cinderella story of all time, except that when midnight comes the guitar won't turn into a pumpkin, and neither will I, and I'll actually have my guitar back at the end of the story," Bachman said.

Amazing what idle time during COVID can uncover.

Cheers

Cliff