Randy Bachman has played many times on Canada Day, but no other event he has played at this year.
The Guess Who and former members of Bachman-Turner Overdrive flew to Japan to regain the guitar he had been hunting for decades.
"I'm really happy. I'm regaining my lost Gretsch guitar," 78-year-old Rocker told CBC News in a conference room at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo.
The guitar was a 1957 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins, orange, and purchased from a Winnipeg musical instrument store at the age of 19.
Forty-five years after being stolen in Toronto, it's back in his arms, and he can hardly believe it.
"If you never want to forget your anniversary, you'll get married on your birthday. You'll never forget your wedding anniversary. You'll never forget this day," Buckman said. rice field.
Gretsch was his first big purchase as a young adult,Takin'Care of Business,American Woman, these eyes and Andan. But when his band BTO came to Toronto in 1977, it was left in a locked hotel room where he managed to get smashed.
"It was just terrible," Buckman said in a 2021interview."I literally cried all night. I loved this guitar very much."
Bachman started his own search, which lasted for decades and Nothing was found.
According to Japanese media reports, Gretsch was eventually brought across the US border and sold from Japan to guitar traders. According to media reports, Takeshi, a musician writing for a Japanese pop band, bought it from a guitar shop in Tokyo in 2014 without knowing its history.
Online detective
Six years later, Canadian lockers finally broke the case. William Long, a longtime fan of White Rock, British Columbia and an internet detective, listened to Buckman and decided to use facial recognition techniques to find the instrument. He found it in a YouTube video featuring Takeshi playing the guitar.
He contacted Buckman, who had contacted Takeshi. Then a plan to replace it hatched. The Canadian bought almost the same Gretsch to replace his original.
On Canada Day in Tokyo, Saga finally closed in front of a packed audience at the Oscar Peterson Theater at the Embassy.
Bachmann and Takeshi met for the first time on stage, and at a touching moment for them, Japanese musicians handed over part of the history of Canadian rock and exchanged vintage instruments.
'It was worth it'
"I was experiencing a lot of emotions today," Takeshi said through an interpreter sitting next to Buckman on stage.
"But when I saw your smile after seeing the guitar, I just thought it was worth it."
Buckman said he also has different emotions. He said he was crazy about the guitar he was exchanging with Takeshi, but he's happy to be able to go home with his first love.
"It's very emotional to come here to make a trade, and I'm grateful that this prestigious man gave me the opportunity to get my guitar back." Buckman said.
'Like a fairy tale'
Bachmann's long-lost guitar story is largely because it's very unlikely to be discovered so far. , Has become a hot topic all over the world in the past year. ..
Winnipeg-based rock journalist John Einalson has extensively written about The Guess Who and other bands of his time, and the possibility of regaining this stolen Gretsch is "astronomical." It states that it is a thing.
See | Why this guitar made such a mark in the music scene: Music historian John Einalson explains why the 1957 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins model guitar had a huge impact on Canadians in the music scene.
"It's really like a fairy tale, and it was a rock'n'roll coincidence that it was discovered in Tokyo," Einerson said.
"Guitar has a great influence on Winnipeg's music history because it is symbolic to Canadian music, Manitoba music, Winnipeg music, and even Randy."
At the Canadian Day event, the two musicians played a set of Buckman's hits and then broke up.
Buckman said he would watch carefully for his beloved instrument. He will perform once at a concert in Vancouver this year and then rock forever at his home in Victoria to add to the vintage Gretsch guitar collection.
To commemorate the unusual connection with Tokyo, Bachman will release a new song with Japanese lyrics,Lost and Found, which he co-wrote with his son Tal Bachman. is.