Elusive Butterfly was a song sung by quite a few people other than the original Bob Lind, who reached number 5 with it in 1966 (or so I have learned). Val Doonican, Petula Clark and even Dolly Parton got in on the act. And I tried to as well. I really don't know quite what made me think I might be able to play the guitar, but I decided I would like to. I don't remember if the electric guitar was being used back then, but that wasn't what I wanted. I simply wanted one of those ordinary guitars that singers strummed to provide a musical background to their singing. Mind you, I couldn't sing any better than I could play the guitar! Anyway, the Old Bat bought me a guitar and one of the songs for which I bought the music was Elusive Butterfly.
I didn't bother with lessons, thinking I could teach myself to play the instrument. Of course, I failed - apart from managing to pick out a few simple tunes. I don't remember what happened to that instrument but it must have been thrown out at some time.
Almost twenty years before the aborted attempt to learn the guitar, when I was about 9, my mother signed me up with a piano teacher. I don't know if she had dreams of me becoming a famous pianist - like Semprini. Remember him? Or Liberace? If she did have such dreams, they faded pretty quickly. She must have acquired a piano from somewhere so that I could practise between lessons and I can still remember the smell of the paraffin heater that was lit in the front room to provide (imaginary) warmth for me while I thumped the keys. What a horrible smell that was! Anyway, the lessons stopped when I was sent away to school - and by the time I came home again several months later, the piano had disappeared.
Mind you, I would love to be able to play like this:
Thanks for the Valentina L. video; she's new to me. The woman is an amazing pianist, especially when you consider the quality of the piano she is playing here and the fact she had no sheet music. Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteHer biography at The Wiki is very brief but interesting.