Something You May Not Know About Me
In It Together
By David R. Basler
On June 26, 2007, at an event held just south of Stuttgart, Germany, 1,802 Germans entered the Guinness Book of World Records by simultaneously playing Deep Purple’s 1972 hit “Smoke on the Water.”
An impressive record and one to which, as an avid guitar picker myself, puts a smile on my face. So earlier this summer when I learned that a U.S. group was going to attempt to break the record set in 2007 and that it was only a short drive away, I knew I had to sign up.
On the morning of August 23, I—along with my wife, daughter and father-in-law—hopped in the family car at around 6 a.m. to embark on the five-hour drive from our suburban Dallas neighborhood to the “little town” where “everybody’s somebody” in the hill country of central Texas: Luckenbach (pop. 3).
When we arrived, the town general store, nestled in a grove of oak trees, was surrounded by close to 2,000 people all anxiously searching for a spot in the shade. It was hot and dusty and as we overheard while walking through the crowd, there apparently wasn’t enough deodorant in the world to make your nose adjust to the natural aroma of 2,000-plus, most of whom had been baking in the sun for most of the morning. But that didn’t stop everyone from having fun. Groups gathered together in circles on the ground with others they had never met to play songs. Out one ear you could hear Hank Williams and the other Ozzy Osbourne. It was truly an eclectic group.
By 2:30 p.m., the announcement came over the loud speaker: assemble and prepare to break the record. The official count was at 1,859 guitar players, and boy was it a beautiful sound when the first G-chord of “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics)” was played. Six minutes later, we had done it. The record was ours. I was picker No. 652, my wife, Amanda, was No. 653 and my father-in-law, Jim, was No. 654.
Talk about being “in it together.” It was a very memorable event. And it’s just another great example of the positive power of meetings and events. One+
DAVID R. BASLER is editor in chief of One+. He can be reached at dbasler@mpiweb.org. Follow him at www.twitter.com/onepluseditor.