6. Guitars...an essential element for any would-be rock n' roll star

                                                   Gallotone acoustic guitar

As lighties (youngsters) Lea and I shared a bedroom and were always up with the larks on Christmas mornings – that’s if larks are dumb enough to wake at 5:00 a.m. – and Christmas 1959 was no exception. At 5:00 a.m. our eyes snapped open and honed-in on two presents at the bottom of our beds. No matter how much wrapping paper the folks had used there could be no disguising those lip-smacking, mouth-wateringly, curvaceous shapes. In a whirlwind of frenzied activity, lasting nanoseconds, every last scrap of Christmas paper was removed and we found ourselves staring in open mouth awe at two shiny spanking new sunburst Gallotone acoustic guitars. 

By 1959 elements of Salisbury’s youth, and I include brother Lea and myself in its number, were turning our backs on the ‘short back and sides’ haircuts of our father’s generation preferring instead the quiff as worn by Elvis Presley. With the help of handfuls of Brylcream we had managed to cultivate presentable quiffs. Now we had guitars Rock ‘n Roll stardom awaited.

Unfortunately musical instruments, with the possible exception of the Pianola, don’t play themselves. It came as something of a shock that we couldn’t just strum away on our spanking new guitars and create music. Rock ‘n Roll stardom was not going to be that easy. We would have to learn to play them first, which meant taking lessons...but where and from whom? 

Thankfully we had a friend called Mac. Mac had dad named Mister Mac who actually played the guitar and after much cajoling from his son Mac, Mr. Mac offered to teach us. So, every Monday and Wednesday evening we’d troop through the bush clutching our shiny new sunburst Gallotone acoustic guitars to Mac’s house, 8 Prue Close, which was about  a quarter of a mile from where we lived...and it was there our musical education began.

First off Mr. Mac taught us, “Little Brown Jug”. Okay it may not have the kudos of such rock classics as  “Rave On” or “Don’t Be Cruel” but – and this is a big BUT–  “Little Brown Jug” only had three chords G, C and D.

And three chords always followed the same sequence. G. C. D. and back to G.

G

 HA-HA-HA-

C

 HE-HE-HE- 

                                                                        D

 LITTLE BROWN JUG HOW I LOVE 

                                                                             G

THEE. 

Anyone who has ever learnt to play the guitar will tell you changing chords is not easy when you’re starting out. Fingers develop minds of their own and go in every direction except where you want them to. So a song with three chords which always followed the same sequence was a great starting point for a beginner.

While I’m on the subject of learning to play the guitar there's something I'd like to get off my chest. 

Over the years I have read innumerable ‘teach yourself to play guitar’ manuals but none mentioned anything about the pain you will suffer. I’m not talking about the frustration of not being able to get something right, I’m talking about the actual physical pain. The phrase “No pain no again” could have been written for those learning to play the guitar. It stands to reason. Taut, thin, metal strings being forced down onto fret boards by soft tender finger tips. You don’t have to be Einstein to realize it has got to hurt...and it does. 

Anyway after about four months, and with hard callus fingertips to prove our dedication, we had not only mastered the ability to change chords, but we could change chords without having to stop and look at our fingers. What we needed now was a challenge, something that would put our new found skills to the test... and as fate would have it, something came along that did just that.   

The Association of Salisbury Youth Clubs came up with the idea of holding a Teen Talent Contest open to all of Salisbury's youth club members. Lea, Mac and I went to the local Greendale youth club run by our science master Mr. Cousins, so we were allegeable and decided to enter, not as individuals but as a band. Thus "The Chequers" were formed... only we called ourselves "The Beatnix" we wouldn't arrive at the name "Chequers" for another year or so. 

It was decided we'd perform, "Beat Girl".The film of the same name had recently been released and the theme song sung by Adam Faith was in the Rhodesian Lion's Maid Top Ten.

Early in rehearsal our musical limitations became glaringly apparent so it was decided this fundamental weakness could possibly be offset by spectacular presentation. So we set about producing a blinder that would bewitch the judges. It should be mentioned, however, that our musical limitations were only exceeded by our choreographic skills. Consequently the blinder of a presentation turned out to be something less than blinding. In fact the total sum of our blinder presentation was that whenever the lyrics came to, “Beat Girl” we swung our guitars round to face the audience.This was do-able for both Lea and I as we had a strap on our guitars...well we tied dressing gown cords to the base and neck of our guitars, which enabled us to move about with a modicum of freedom. Unfortunately there wasn't a little wooden peg in the base of Mac's dad’s guitar to attach a strap or dressing gown cord and Mr. Mac point blankly refused to let Mac drill a hole in the base of his guitar to accommodate a little wooden plug. Which left Mac ‘strapless’. He would have to trooped on stage with a chair, placed his foot on the seat and rest his dad's guitar on his knee. Not very rock ‘n roll...and at the appropriate moment, kinda lurch cum hop to face the audience and yell out in unison with the rest of us, “Beat Girl!” 

I seem to remember we enlisted another friend, Nicky Goniface, into the "Beatnixs". Nicky had a lot going for him. Not only was he a drummer in the Boy’s Brigade marching band but he had in his possession an actual marching band snare drum. 

I can’t remember if Nicky volunteered his services off his own bat or we asked him, but a guy with a snare drum was definitely going to add something extra to the mix and had to be welcomed into the fold.