Article author:
Associated Press
Mari Yamaguchi
TOKYO (AP) — Canadian rock legend Randy Bachman's long quest ends on Friday, 45 years later with his precious guitar and Tokyo. I met again. Stolen from a hotel in Toronto.
"My girlfriend is right there," said Guess Who's former member Buckman, 78, of Gretsch, who wrote "American Woman" and other hits. A Japanese musician who bought a guitar at a store in Tokyo in 2014 without knowing its history.
He said all the guitars were special, but the orange 1957 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins he bought as a teenager was extraordinary. He said he engaged in multiple jobs to save money on buying a $ 400 guitar, which was the first time he bought an expensive instrument.
"It made my life. It was my hammer, a tool for writing songs, making music, and making money," said Tokyo. Before being handed over at the Canadian Embassy, Buckman told The Associated Press.
When stolen from a hotel in Toronto in 1977, he said, "I cried for three days. It was part of me." "It was very, very upset," he said, with the failure of an attempt to replace it to buy about 300 guitars.
Bachmann frequently talked about the missing guitar in interviews and radio shows, and more recently in a YouTube program he played with his son Tal.
In 2020, a Canadian fan who heard about the guitar started searching the internet and succeeded in searching in Tokyo within two weeks.
Fan William Long used the small wood-grained spots on the guitar in old images as "digital fingerprints" to track the instrument to a vintage guitar shop site in Tokyo. A further search found a YouTube video showing the instrument being played by Japanese musician TAKESHI in December 2019.
After receiving the news from Long, Buckman immediately contacted TAKESHI. I recognized the guitar in the video chat they had.
"I was crying," Buckman said. "The guitar almost talked to me in the video, like,'Hey, I'm going home.'
TAKESHI agreed to give it to Buckman in exchange for something very similar. There, Buckman searched for and found the "sisters" of the guitar. Manufactured the same week, it has a close serial number and has not been changed or repaired.
"Finding my guitar again was a miracle, and finding its twin sisters was another miracle," Buckman said.
As a guitar player, TAKESHI said he decided to return the guitar because he could imagine how much Buckman missed the guitar.
"I own it and have only played it for 8 years and now it's very sad to return it. But he's sad for 46 years and someone else It's time to mourn, "said TAKESHI. "I'm sorry for this legend."
He said he felt good after returning the guitar to a legitimate owner, but he gave it a new Gretsch. It may take some time to love as much.
"It's a guitar and it has a soul, so it's unclear if you can love a replacement in the same way, even if it's the same shape." "I'm sure Randy thought about me and searched hard (for a replacement), so I'll gradually deepen my affection, but it may take some time."
Buckman said he and TAKESHI are like brothers who own a guitar that is a "twin sister." They participate in a documentary about the guitar that they plan to play the song "Lostand Found" together.
They also played several songs, including "American Woman", at the time of delivery on Friday.
Buckman said he would lock his guitar in his home so he wouldn't lose it again. "I will never take it out of my house," he said.
