The enigmatic “they” always seem to utter phrases of “They don’t make ’em like they used to.” What exactly does that mean? To me it represents that in an effort to increase profit, companies will purposefully reduce the quality of a product in order to increase the odds you’ll need to repair it. Though with the mentality of many an American, it’s more often easier to trash something and replace it. From that it could be an easy extrapolation to say that many companies no longer want customers for life – even if they say they do.
Things do break. For all kinds of reasons. Age, misuse, poor craftsmanship, poor relationship, poor communication, you name it. Often the best product can be forgotten if another is marketed better or has more money involved. It happens constantly. I read a story this morning about a book that apparently reveals who really invented the phone. Surprise surprise, it may very well not have been Alexander Graham Bell. Shady business dealings and crooked government workers may have led to thievery of another inventor named Grey. But even more interesting is that a German inventor may have predated both of them.
Cars are another excellent example. Tons of cars are so complicated now that repairing them has become a nightmare. As they age, they fall apart. However, there may have been a golden era of autos around the 50’s. Cars from that time frame were made like tanks. Solid. If you can find one now, I’m sure it’s substantially easier to maintain in terms of repair (minus the fact parts aren’t in mass supply).
Electronics are likely the most notorious of breakdown offenders. Should I really get into that?
What gets me on that tangent? I like to make use of the things I get. I use them and use them. Additionally I like to take care of them if they provide me good use. But that’s not the real reason I got onto this. No, yesterday I spent time getting some speakers in my car replaced because the previous ones wore out (no, not due to too much volume). My cars get extreme use. I love to drive. My last car traveled over 300,000 miles. My current one is nearing 200,000. That’s a boat load of driving. Can you tell I’m mobile? Now, do you understand why I felt trapped without the car last week?
How did I get to Robert Johnson today? Well, in my downtime waiting for my speaker install. I hung out with my friend Justin Sayne who makes my electric guitars. Joe’s Guitars is the name of his brand. If you check out the website, you’ll see I even have my own model. Anyway, while we were hanging out at his place he was playing me the DVD of Eric Clapton’s renditions of Robert Johnson songs. In case you are versed, Eric Clapton’s hero is Robert Johnson. Don’t know who Robert Johnson is? Well, for one, you’re listening to him right now.
Robert Johnson has a very storied past. However, history’s reality has been broken. We’ll never truly know about Robert Johnson because communication and record keeping wasn’t as intense then as it is now. Additionally, it breaks over the years as stories get told. The most famous story surrounding Robert Johnson? He went down to the crossroads got down on his knees and made a deal with the devil to be the best bluesman ever. Pretty harrowing. Real? We’ll never know. Likely? No.
What he did leave behind was a mystery and a legacy of some very original blues. That is where the appeal comes from. Another thing to consider here is that what you’re hearing is done in one take with one man in front of a microphone. One guitar, one voice. Sometimes it’s eery to know that. Why? Because some of those guitar figures don’t sound possible on one instrument. Unless you can decipher Robert’s tunings and strumming style. Both of which were unorthodox.
Enjoy your weekend. May nothing break on you.
(** Disclaimer: If Robert’s label decides to come back from the grave and break me, I’ll have to break the audio link on the server. The post will remain to show that things can and do break. **)