Modern Gibson's reaction to a vintage Gibson story

[jt1]

So, here it is, entitled "Three Years Later, the Mysteries Behind 'Kalamazoo Gals' Keep Getting Stranger" and courtesy of Michigan NPR: the Gibson "twilight zone" response to my book and its inexplicable abandonment of the project it initiated to replicate my collection.

"Three Years Later, the Mysteries Behind 'Kalamazoo Gals' Keep Getting Stranger"

[riverrummed]

Sadly, my first instinct when corporate guys go silent or start covering up, is to smell a rat. But hey John, if they keep pumping life into your book they're going to increase attention and sales.

[oliverkollar]

This is about the weirdest story I've heard in a long time.

IMO....Gibson is just such a strange company. Their resistance to this project has to be coming from someone high up in the company, if they're threatening people with termination for just talking to you.?!

I, for one among many many people, appreciate what you've done with this book, John. I think it tells a great story about American guitar history during a very turbulent time in our country.
Good stuff!

[fishstick_kitty]

Great story for sure!! It sounds like Gibson basically lied about that time so admitting it now might lead to something bad for them maybe?

[BrunoBlack]

Bizarre, very bizarre indeed....

[SalFromChatham]

I adore my Gibson guitars, which has nothing to do with this story. JT I love your book. Why? What motive? I dont get it.

[Mr. Paul]

I think fishstick_kitty's suggestion makes some sense.

An aside ... are you familiar with Greg Brown's "Eugene" ... he refers to the Kalamazoo gals:

I think I'll drive out to Eugene, get a slide-in camper for
My truck, pack a bamboo rod, hip boots, a book of flies from
A Missoula pawn shop, rub mink oil into the cracked leather,
Wonder about the old guy who tied these trout chew flies.
They work good. Take along my Gibson J45 made by women
During World War II, coffee stained stack of maps, a little
Propane stove, a pile of old quilts, a can opener, kipper
Snacks, smoked oysters, gun powder tea, a copper teapot, and
A good sharp knife.


Sometimes you have to go - look for your life.


I'll park by some rivers, cook up some rice and beans, read
Ferlinghetti out loud, talk to the moon tell, her all my
Life tales, she's heard them many times. I'll make up some
New juicier parts, drink cold whiskey from a tin cup, sit in
A lawn chair and fiddle with my memories, close my eyes and
See. Sometimes you gotta go not look for nothin'.


The Northwest is good, once you get off I-5 and wander up
And down the Willamette dammit, on the back back roads. I
Know a few people who'd let me park in their drive, plug in
For a night or two, stay up late, and talk about these crazy
Times - the blandification of our whole situation. And then
Back to the woods. A dog is bound to find me sooner or
Later. Sometimes you gotta not look too hard - just let the
Dog find you.


Then head south and east, maybe through Nevada, the
Moonscape of Utah. Stay in some weird campground where
Rodney and Marge keep an eye on things. Everybody's got a
Story, everybody's got a family, and a lot of them have
RV's. I'm on my way to the Ozarks, to the White River and
The Kern. Those small mouth are great on a fly rod. And
They're not all finicky like trout. Trout are English and
Bass are Polish. And if I wasn't born in Central Europe I
Should have been. Maybe it's not too late. Sometimes you
Have to dream deep to find your real life at all.


I might go on over through Memphis. I played a wedding at
The Peabody Hotel once twenty odd years ago, and everybody
Danced. Usually they just set there and stare. A few at
Least sway. The roads are stupid crowded everywhere. Kids
Coming along are used to it - all wired up and ready, or
Wireless I guess, and even readier. World peace is surely on
The horizon, once us old ****ers die. I'll do my part, but
First I wanna to go across Tennessee into North Carolina.
Fish some of those little mountain streams, catch some brook
Trout which are God's reminder that creation is a good idea.
The world we've made scares the hell out of me. There's
Still a little bit of heaven in there and I wanna show it
Due respect. This looks like a good spot up here. You can
Try me on the cell, but most places I wanna be it doesn't
Work. Sometimes you got to listen hard to the sounds old
Mother Earth still makes - all on her own.

[Side Man]

As my Dad used to say, "Truth is stranger than Fiction."

Or, as Hunter S. Thompson used to say, "When the going gets weird, the Weird turn Pro."

[Toby Walker]

Doesn't seem much of a mystery to me. Let's look at the facts:

1. There were women employed at the Kalamazoo plant during WWII.
2. John interviewed dozens of them that said they built guitars during that period.
3. John had access to the ledgers proving that.
4. Although Gibson 'denied' that they built any guitars during that period because of the on going war effort, (many plants like that were ordered to cease manufacturing items like those) they did post advertisements to the contrary... saying that they were leaving 'a light on' in the factory.
5. Gibson SOLD guitars to the dealers during that period, with the Banner clearly stuck on to the headstocks.

So now Gibson keeps on denying that they made guitars during that period. They'd rather do that than (they assume) lose face because Rosie the Riveter was in fact putting strings on guitars instead of building tanks.

This IS the age of lie and deny gang. Why should this surprise anyone?

[HDRider]

My first thought is that there has to be some sort of record of correspondence in all of this; phone records, e-mails, etc. If Gibson is saying they've never heard of you,a ll you would have to do is produce e-mails from them to confirm that they have.

As to why they've threatened to sue? I would imagine that a company can elect to keep shipping records confidential. There may be no logical reason for that, but they certainly can. Also, if you took photos of each page of the shipping records, you may have well crossed a line as far as they're concerned. That could easily be the catalyst behind them pulling support for the project.

How would I approach it from here? I would simply fill in the blanks, left blank my Gibson's non-involvement, as logically as possible based on the information that you already have and which is readily available. I would just be sure to note that, though.

It is what it is. Henry gets to call the shots here.

[merlin666]

Quite a twisted tale, and I wonder if Gibson denies these activities as during wartime they may have been restricted in their activities and their production of guitars violated some national security rules which may bite them even 70 years later.

It should be fairly easy for JT to find out if this guitar production was actually illicit and violated some war time laws.

[SalFromChatham]

Originally Posted by Toby Walker

Doesn't seem much of a mystery to me. Let's look at the facts:

1. There were women employed at the Kalamazoo plant during WWII.
2. John interviewed dozens of them that said they built guitars during that period.
3. John had access to the ledgers proving that.
4. Although Gibson 'denied' that they built any guitars during that period because of the on going war effort, (many plants like that were ordered to cease manufacturing items like those) they did post advertisements to the contrary... saying that they were leaving 'a light on' in the factory.
5. Gibson SOLD guitars to the dealers during that period, with the Banner clearly stuck on to the headstocks.

So now Gibson keeps on denying that they made guitars during that period. They'd rather do that than (they assume) lose face because Rosie the Riveter was in fact putting strings on guitars instead of building tanks.

This IS the age of lie and deny gang. Why should this surprise anyone?

You miss my point. Of course I trust John's accounting. My questions is what could possibly be any motive for denying history, especially such an interesting and rich one. I would think a company would be proud of this heritage... and even profit from good marketing. I just don't get it. That's what I mean.

[Ed-in-Ohio]

Why on earth would Gibson deny the wonderful guitars from this era, and not deny the Norlin era guitars? [sorry, couldn't resist! ]

(disclaimer: I own two Norlin era guitars, and would still love them regardless. )

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by themissal

You miss my point. Of course I trust John's accounting. My questions is what could possibly be any motive for denying history, especially such an interesting and rich one. I would think a company would be proud of this heritage... and even profit from good marketing. I just don't get it. That's what I mean.

Ah, but the point here is that Henry didn't get to do the marketing from start to finish, and take all the credit.

The fact that he's trying to make John Thomas' existence disappear is laughable, but I've personally laughed in Henry's face back around 1997 when I worked retail in NYC.

He makes those moments frequently available.

He's screwing with the wrong person.

Onward, Jt.

HE

[Toby Walker]

Originally Posted by themissal

You miss my point. Of course I trust John's accounting. My questions is what could possibly be any motive for denying history, especially such an interesting and rich one. I would think a company would be proud of this heritage... and even profit from good marketing. I just don't get it. That's what I mean.

Actually I didn't miss your point at all and I wasn't implying that you didn't trust John's accounting. What I am saying is that it may be obvious that Gibson simply wants to keep up with it's denial quite possibly because, as I said, they may feel that they might lose face.

I do agree that they should be proud of their heritage and for goodness sake, they DID after all start putting that Banner on new guitars. But somebody over there still feels the need to deny and given the wartime effort and patriotism, MAYBE that's the reason for their actions.