Re: Sacred objects (Was: Colouring In (was: Full set of 1st editions??))


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Posted by Peter Ceresole on October 11, 2004 at 19:06:39 from 80.177.22.49 user PeterC.

In Reply to: Re: Sacred objects (Was: Colouring In (was: Full set of 1st editions??)) posted by Peter H on October 11, 2004 at 15:16:02:

I used to have a similar reaction when Rock Bands like the Who used to smash guitars on stage. I felt really upset - each guitar had been made by meticulous craftsmen at Fender or wherever (........) Then it was just smashed.

Hmmm. I'm not sure that they trashed very nice guitars. Here's Pete Townshend's take on it (after all he invented the smashing form with the Who):

"I was banging my guitar around making noises and I banged it on this ceiling in this club and the neck broke off, because Rickenbackers are made out of cardboard (.......) and I had no other recourse but to make it look like I had meant to do it (.......) And the next day the place was packed."

His concluding thought in that interview is rather relevant in this discussion. "I've never had any respect really for the guitar. I've respected guitar players of course and I understand their need for a good instrument but for years and years I didn't care what the guitar was like."

It's the functional approach. The guitar for him was a tool for the job. In fact they were reasonably canny about it- the chap who wrote the book that came from (a superb rock and roll guitarist himself) told me the Who would smash rubbish instruments that, as he put it, were on the verge of coming apart even when new. I don't think they broke too many Stratocasters- he still has his after 35 years...

But in the same way that the guitar is a machine from making music, a book is a machine for giving enjoyment, and being read isn't the only way it does its job, even if it's the principal one. My coloured-in Ransomes long ago lost their dust covers and I never missed those; some of the pages inside are now held in by glue but they're all there and the books still work the way they were meant to; I still love reading them. In my scheme of things that's what really counts.



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