A Boy and His Kent

Learning guitar, a kid of eleven.

Lessons, I could not afford.
Tried to mimic sounds I heard.
I hoped one day to record.

Daddy played Walk Right In,
on his ragged acoustic guitar.
I learned the intro to Wipe Out.
Ventures were my idols, they still are.

Today's kids have it made.
I had to learn on my own.
Youtube, now means no teacher,
It was just me and my records alone.

Halfway up the board, total buzz,
Old acoustic, with a bent neck.
I knew only guitar gods,
could play well beyond those frets.

Daddy came home early,
one day out of the blue,
Had a guitar case in his hand.
Didn't know what he was up to.

Out came the coolest guitar.
I couldn't play the acoustic anymore.
It was called a Kent with three pickups.
I had no idea what they were for.

The amplifier had a glowing tube.
A weird smell when it got hot.
Maybe somethin' was wrong with it.
But it worked, so I guess not.

Pictured me a lead guitar player.
Had problems I didn't comprehend.
I couldn't play with others.
It was like I had a disease or somethin'.

Couldn't keep time at all.
A metronome, I tried to use.
Couldn't figure out how it worked.
Really not much of an excuse.

Had lots of guitar books.
Most of them by Mel Bay.

Hoping to learn guitar notes.

It didn't quite work out that way.

Learned of a guy named Chet Atkins.
Played guitar like no one else could.
I had to learn to play that way.
With the Kent, I hoped to get good.

He sounded like two guitars.
I barely sounded like one.
Found out he used a thumb pick.
It became fifty year picking obsession.

The Kent was my pride and joy.
But it had its share of problems.
Third pickup sometimes worked.
I didn't use that pickup very often.

A local band came to play.
at our senior high school pep rally.
I saw it, but couldn't believe it.
Lead player played a Kent, just like me.

As an oldster, I now have a Gretsch.
No idea what happened to the Kay.
I saw the Gretsch, had to have it.
The same kind Chet Atkins used to play.

To this day, I can't keep time.
Can't read notes or a music score.
With backing tracks on youtube,
it's not a big problem anymore.

I still remember the evenings.
The Kent, I should have kept forever.
Still remember daddy and I playing

the tune, Walk Right In.....together.

R. S. Morris