Univox
Christmas 1966. I was 11 years old and met Univox.
I realize he’s a thing, an inanimate object but he’s as much a part of me as any friend or family member. He’s been with me for fifty-one years and counting.
This is our story.
My older brother had a guitar. It wasn’t a good one but he had lost interest and I wanted to learn. My best friend Neil was taking lessons and one afternoon he showed me this:
All he said was, “see the dots? That’s where you put your fingers.” That seemed really easy to me. That was the first day of my lifelong guitar career. A career from which cumulatively over 50 years I made approximately $148. I left off the pennies in the interests of not bragging.
It was the sixties and guitar players were really cool.
I wanted to be one of them. I taught myself to play by putting my fingers where the dots are. I listened to the sounds my fingers were making and they sounded awful.
Step two: Learn to tune the guitar.
I did and then it sounded much better. My Dad heard and saw my interest and for Christmas got me Univox.
The 60s
Univox and I were graduating grade school in 1969 and getting ready to head to High School. It was a Catholic education and we were transitioning from Nuns to Priests (steel rulers across knuckles to actual punches to the gut). It was not abuse, just education by intimidation that was also present in many public schools at the time.
It was in the seventh grade when my first full on crush happened. In later years (The Wonder Years) I believed I was portrayed by Kevin Arnold and she was my Winnie Cooper. Univox gave me the confidence to actually speak to her. (I will leave her name as Winnie).
I learned to play and sing “April Come She Will” by Paul Simon and sung by Simon and Garfunkle to impress her. It worked, but was short lived. I kissed her (my first kiss) at an eighth grade graduation party. Thank you Paul Simon
The 70s
We went to High School in the fall of ’69. A challenging time in America. We all knew someone who went to Vietnam and didn’t come back.
We all faced the draft and considered alternatives; Canada eh? The draft was a lottery and my selective service number was 16 (the lower the number the higher probability of getting drafted). My closest buddies in high school numbered 8, 20 and 23.
When the war ended so did the draft and none of us were called. I believe to this day that single event kick started the Yuppie generation. We didn’t have to worry about going to war, so we focused our attention on making money to various degrees of success.
I learned a bunch of new songs while playing each Sunday at Church. It was called the “Folk Mass”. Very cool to some and absolute heresy to others.
And you thought the war was controversial!
Univox and I reached our musical peak in high school. Two quick stories:
I performed in the school talent show as a junior.
I learned and performed “Vincent” by Don McLean (you remember “Starry, starry night..,”) and promptly forgot the words after the Starry intro. After which my nickname became “Starry, starry um”.
As a senior I was invited to play in a band.
Univox is an acoustic guitar, we had a classical guitar player, a cellist, a flautist and a stand up base player. We sang three part harmony and had an absolute blast once a week in Bobby’s (the classical guitarist) basement. We played exactly two gigs for charity and went our separate ways after graduation. We played a lot of the contemporary folk songs of the day, but mostly played what Bobby wrote. He was amazing.
I wrote two songs, not as good as Bobby’s, one of which I debuted at the charity gig for my new girlfriend (not Winnie).
I learned “The Wedding Song” by Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary fame and played a few wedding ceremonies, well on my way to becoming a hundredairre as a performer.
80s to Present
College, work, marriage, graduate school and kids. Univox waited patiently in his case while life got in the way. I didn’t play or write anything specifically for my wife. Maybe if I had we’d still be married? I doubt it, but I only played sporadically. The kids, now 25 and 22 have heard me play on only rare occasions and my talents began to deteriorate.
I missed Univox and he missed me. He aged gracefully but developed a warped neck which made him more difficult to play. It was the first time we were at odds. I took him for repair. The man at the store said he wasn’t worth fixing. Little did he know his value.
Not intrinsic, sentimental.
I turned 50 in 2005 and wanted to begin playing again since the kids didn’t need me as much. Instead of fixing Univox, I bought a Taylor. Yes, I betrayed him but he had gotten more difficult to play.
I almost lost him
Super storm Sandy came and flooded the basement where Univox was stored. I rescued him but couldn’t bear to open his case. The guitar was completely submersed in water for three days. I held little hope for him.
I waited two years.
The case was ruined, but Univox survived.
I cleaned him up and got him new strings. He’s doesn’t sound as good as he used to and his neck is still warped but I pluck the strings every so often and keep him displayed prominently. He always makes me smile.
I like my Taylor, but that’s just a guitar. Univox is my life long friend.
In closing, here are my inspiring artists and my favorite songs from each:
James Taylor: “You Can Close Your Eyes”
Gordon Lightfoot: “The Canadian Railroad Trilogy”
Paul Simon: “Anji”
Cat Stevens: “Father and Son”
Simon & Garfunkle: “Homeward Bound”
Paul Stookey: “The Wedding Song”
John Denver: “Rocky Mountain High”
My absolute favorite of all time?
Mason Williams: “La Chanson de Claudine”; no not “Classical Gas” but a close second.
I hope you liked our story.
