Are you sitting comfortably in my Orange Room? Let me turn down the lights and offer you a refreshment......ready? Let's go back to 1993.
I was working for Prudential Insurance in 1993 and playing most every week with my band, The Flying D'Rito Brothers when I came to a crossroads. My second had acoustic guitar that I had purchased from Mike Isenberg years earlier was literally falling apart. It had taken a bad fall from a guitar stand one night at the Sly Fox in Lacon Il and the headstock had broken away from the neck. The kiss of death for a guitar. Our bass player did his best to repair it with vices and glue and to his credit, it was playable for another few years. However, in the spring of 1993, she had spilt again and I was a musician without an acoustic guitar.
The demise of my second hand Alverez was synonymous with the failing of my first marriage as they were both falling apart in front of my eyes. We had two small children ages one and three and tensions in the household were high. Money was extremely tight as I was the only one working and my jog was straight commission. We really couldn't afford buying a brand new guitar, but I put my foot down and demanded its purchase. I was playing regular gigs and I needed the tools. I may have won the battle but lost the war. My wife was not on board with my decision one bit and it was only going to be a matter of time before she would leave for good.
Time was limited as gigs were coming and as I said earlier, we really didn't have the extra money. I couldn't be picky and didn't have the luxury to shop around. I must have been buying guitar strings at Music Makers on Willow Knolls back then...( it may have still been Elmores music, ) but I inquired about an acoustic guitar and Randy Lemons walked into the back of the store and brought me a tan guitar case that said Gibson on it. I opened the case and gazed upon what was to become my main guitar and would accompany me during many pivotal moments of my life. It was plain dreadnought with a slightly rounded back but it sounded wonderful to me. The price tag......$999.99. At that time of my life, $999.99 may have well been $9,999.99. I can't remember how I swung the money, but I'd guess I probably took money out of what little I had built up in my retirement plan. But, because I couldn't afford it....I cherished that guitar and never took it for granted. I look at young musicians today and wonder how they can afford the TONS OF QUALITY musical gear they have. I could never afford anything until much later in life.
During the thirty years that followed, My Gibson has been my main guitar throughout my career as a flying D'Rito Brother. My children grew up watching me in wonder as I'd change her strings. Our Bass player and close friend Danny Newby passed away the following year and my Gibson played music in his honor at his celebration of life. My Gibson sang songs to comfort me through my eventual divorce after Danny's death and celebrated new love with my second marriage to Sharen in 1995. My beautiful Gibson, helped me write and record many original tunes and sat with me as my oldest, Dara left home to pursue her life. My Gibson played sweet music when we adopted our son Trey in 2005 and cried with me when our son Dylan passed away at only 27 years of age.
Purchased on April 23rd 1993, my treasured Gibson guitar still plays with me every night in Central Illinois and she is soon going to accompany me for our second tour of SW Florida.
Only recently have I cleaned out her tattered old case which was full of birthday cards, set lists and other trinkets of pleasure. I have kept one keepsake inside her case and that is the cloth diaper that belonged to our son Dylan when he was a baby. I still use that to wipe her down. My old friend, my Gibson Gospel has shared all the highs and lows of my sweet short life. She witnessed the death of friends like Danny, my son and Tom Nelson. She gave me joy during my working years and now plays with me during retirement. She will never leave my side and someday, I will give her to my daughter and hope that she never sells her. She's been there from the beginning.
Just another Tale From The Orange Room.
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