My First Guitar: Tales of True Love and Lost Chords from 70 Legendary Musicians

This entertaining collection of interviews addresses "how guitarists came into owning their first guitar." A broad range of famous, international artists representing almost every area of guitar music%E2%80%94Les Paul and George Benson in jazz; Lee Ranaldo and Peter Frampton in rock; David Russell in classical; Juan Martin in flamenco; and more%E2%80%94describe what Sonny Landreth calls "the magic I first felt with this instrument." The guitars themselves range from cheap Sears and Kay acoustics (Steve Lukather) and Teisco Del Ray electrics (Steve Vai) to classic models such as the Les Paul Standard (Pat Martino) and the Fender Stratocaster (Jonny Lang). But regardless of model, and the many variations on how and where musicians first got their guitars, Crowe captures what all of her interview subjects share: a love, sublime or offbeat, of the instruments that inspired them to make music. "[T]hey're somewhat human," opines classical guitarist and composer Benjamin Verdery, "and memories of a particular time in your life come flooding right back." (Oct.)