When I Was A Young Smarty-Pants
 

The recent "Young and Handsome" vid reminded me that I'm lucky to have old videos like this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDwGrOwRlA4

I miss the crazy falsetto skills almost as much as the lean bod and the full head of hair.

Gary

Dude, that was fun! Thanks for posting!:)

Gary-

Great stuff. How's the journey been since 1985?

Kevdog

Wow!! A professional recording from the 80's Gary? That was very cool! Funny too :lol:. Had some celebrity status going on there from the looks of it :D. Do you have a lot of these old performance songs on video? Priceless stuff! :guitar: That guitar sounded great on stage......



Side note: Would love to know what it's like to get that kind of round of applause after a song. :cry::cool:

That was great and the audience sure liked it! Thanks for sharing that :)

Hey, I thought that was pretty cool!

Is that the same dreadnought you're using in the youtube vids now? Looks like it got pretty sweaty...

craziness! lol

I've come to the conclusion that "Guitaniac" translates to "Guitar Maniac" :D.

Wacky good!

Thanks to everyone for all the kind comments.

As I mentioned in my opening post, I'm very fortunate to have these old videos. With respect to this particular concert, they held open auditions (in Manchester, Concord and Portsmouth) for the NH Folk Festival back then. I happened to fill a niche (for a change-of-pace act) that the judging panel was looking for, as I was an excellent yodeler back then. As it turned out, the crowd was quite ready for a change of pace by the time I took the stage. The concert was televised live, so it worked out pretty well in terms of capturing a well-received performance on video.

Of the forty-four videos which I currently have on my YouTube channel, six are from this festival and five are from a Boston area cable TV show which I did in December of '85. I plan to upload another performance from the Folk Festival (Jim Post's poignant song of enduring love, "Three Soft Touches") around Valentines Day. My YouTube channel is at
www.youtube.com/user/guitaniac

Regarding the guitar, that's the same Martin (1968 D28) which has appeared (in more beat up condition) in a couple of my most recent videos. It will also appear in the "BFD" video which I'll be uploading onto YouTube later tonight. ("BFD" is a hilarious, yet heartwarming song from Nashville writers Don Henry and Craig Carruthers.) I bought the guitar used, in a San Francisco pawn shop in '71. Even back then it had some finish checking on the top, but its been a dependable friend thru a great deal of knock-around use. I had to have the entire fretboard replaced in the early '90s.

Regarding kevdog's question about the "journey since", a family emergency returned me to Ohio in '88. Leaving New England reduced my gigging options quite a bit (far fewer concerts and no more Boston area street singing or subway busking), so I gave up the full-time folkie thing. I've done a lot of music-related "administrative" stuff in the years since (hosting open mics, running sound, booking bands), and still manage some solo gigging. I'm excited to be opening a Cleveland area show for Bill Staines in March. That's quite an honor for me, as Bill Staines is the New England folkie who inspired me to take up yodeling, way back when.

Gary

So reserved and lovely and peaceful.

Kumbayah, dude.

;) ;) ;)

Gary, you are THE Guitaniac!

I would love to see you play live. I think I'd sweat just as much watching you as you do playing. I'd be worn out by the end of the show.

BTW: I thought I recognized that Martin too.

:D:D:D I enjoyed it!!

Hi Rob and Bob,

Thanks for the kind comments.

About the "guitaniac" thing, Rob, I fear that I was more of a wild & crazy singer back then, when the falsetto and the high notes came much more effortlessly. (I was only thirty-seven in the '85 vid.) My live show is a little more "sedate" these days. This Bill Staines yodeling song is about as energetic as I get these days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nt6YqSlBrQ

Gary