There was a serious effort by the LOUIE FEST to break the world record for the largest number of guitar players doing one song. We tried, but we just couldn’t do it.
Someone else recently broke the world record for guitar players, and it happens to be with another song close to my heart.
On July 1, 2008, 2,052 guitar players got together in Concord, California to perform Woody Guthrie‘s “This Land Is Your Land,” led by Country Joe McDonald.
This was in my turf, and I didn’t even know about it until about it until it was over. Less than 60 miles from my home, and I completely missed it. I don’t spend a lot of time in Concord, but I have a few memories there. I actually twisted my ankle at a Ringo Starr concert in Concord, running down a hill when I heard “It Don’t Come Easy,” mere days before I was scheduled to fly to Seattle to participate in a film festival, showing off a little film of mine that had absolutely nothing to do with LOUIE.
Yup, Concord to me, represents a twisted ankle and a few video jobs. Now, it’s got the stigma of being the location for the new world’s record for guitar players.
I’ve always liked the song “This Land is Your Land” and Woody Guthrie. There’s actually some controversial lyrics in the original composition, where Woody discusses the problems of the “haves and have-nots.” I’ve read that Woody wrote this song as his response to another American anthem “God Bless America.”
About four years ago, “This Land” was used as part of a funny animated political video called “Jib Jab.” Jib Jab became a successful web company as a result of that particular video, and they recently created a new animated political spoof for the 2008 election, using a Bob Dylan song. At the Jib Jab blog, you can read about the elaborate process it took to create this recent production.
You can read the news article about this world record-breaking event by clicking here.
For what it’s worth, I’ve actually got a LOUIE LOUIE story from Country Joe McDonald, but we’ll save that for another time.