Tokyo, July 1 (AFP/APP): They say you never forget your first love, and after pining for his stolen guitar for almost half a century, Canadian rock star Randy Bachman has finally been reunited with the instrument which an eagle-eyed fan tracked down in Japan.
Bachman, who wrote the original “American Woman” with his band The Guess Who, was in Tokyo for the emotional handover on Friday — 46 years after his cherished orange Gretsch was snatched from a Toronto hotel.
“Wow,” a stunned Bachman said, holding the guitar lovingly and tuning it up on stage before playing in a special concert at the Canadian Embassy.
The 78-year-old told AFP he had been “pretty much devastated” by the theft.
“With that guitar, I wrote many million-selling songs… it was like my magical guitar. And then when it’s suddenly gone, the magic is gone.”
The rocker bought the now vintage 6120 Chet Atkins model as a teenager in the early 1960s with $400 painstakingly saved up from mowing lawns, washing cars and babysitting.
He had long admired the instrument, spending hours staring at it in a shop window in Winnipeg with his friend and fellow musician Neil Young.
It meant so much to Bachman that he would chain it to hotel toilets on tour. “Everybody in the band made fun of me, but because I worked so hard to get this guitar, I didn’t want it stolen.”
But in 1976, he entrusted the guitar to a roadie who put it in a room with other luggage while the band was checking out.
Before they knew it, it was gone.
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