It’s probably acutely obvious to anybody who has read B&V, I kinda dig music. But despite this deep-seated, visceral love of rock n roll, I never picked up an instrument. I used to joke that I couldn’t play the radio. I know people who can play or wanted to try and play. My brother played acoustic guitar and based on our yin and yang thing I guess that means I was doomed to have zero musical talent. The Rock Chick played the flute in high school but insists it’s not a suitable instrument for rock n roll (yes, she hates Jethro Tull). My friend Brewster bought a guitar when we were in high school but this guy I’ll call Darren (name changed to protect the guilty) sat on the thing and broke it at the base of the neck which ended Brewster’s budding career as a rock star. He still took Darren with him to see Springsteen on The River tour, much to my chagrin. My buddy Drew owned a beautiful bass guitar in college and now has a room full of guitars. We recently sat around in his basement while he jammed, which was very cool. My friend Stormin’ used to have a room full of guitars and played and sang in various bands but I’m not sure he still has his gear anymore. I say all this to tell you, I just watched the great documentary on Netflix entitled Norman’s Rare Guitars Documentary and damn, I really wish I was a guitar player just to go buy a guitar from this shop. Like pot smokers, guitar players are all about the gear. The same way a pot smoker will show off his new bong, pipe, vape or gummies, the guitarist is always eager to pour over their axe, amps or pick ups or strings. It’s part of the addiction I suppose…searching for a certain tone or sound.

This documentary about this wonderful guitar shop and the man behind it all, Norman Harris, has Kiefer Sutherland as the Executive Producer and oh yeah, he is a customer of the store…he admits to at one time owning over 100 guitars. Everybody who is anybody in the world of guitars is in this documentary or is at least mentioned. I think Norman’s had each of the Traveling Wilbury’s buy guitars there. Joe Bonamassa is a close friend of Norman as was the late Tom Petty. Both feature quite a bit in the doc. At one point they flash through a series of photos of everybody from Paul Stanley to Eddie Van Halen to George Harrison buying guitars in the store and they go so fast it’s hard to catch all of the photos and names. A veritable who’s who of rock n roll have hung out at this place. It’s like the coolest record store you’ve ever been in except instead of records it’s full of guitars and the clientele are all musicians. It’s guitar player Nirvana. Speaking of which, Cobain shopped there… And I haven’t even mentioned the comedians and actors who have also shopped there. And believe me, it looks like a fantastic place to hang. And who doesn’t love the guitar? That long, languid neck, the beautiful curves of the body, oh my… the strings leading up the neck to that wonderful head with keys sticking out. Oh yes, Horatio, play that guitar.

Norman Harris was born in Philly, raised in Miami and began life as a musician in a band. After high school he got married and headed to, where else, California. He went through various bands before he started buying old instruments being sold in the classified page of the newspaper. He’d then turn those around and sell them. The guy literally might have invented the vintage guitar market. He’d buy guitars for $75 back in the day and are now selling for 10’s of thousands of dollars. The highest price guitar I saw was in the doc was listed at $145,000. That’s more than most of the houses my parents owned. He sold the guitars out of his apartment until someone dropped the dime on him and the authorities showed up. He opened a small store and eventually moved and then moved again. There are hundreds of guitars in the show room, but if you’re really special you get to go “in the back of the store” where there are even more rare guitars. And just to take this thing over the top Norman has a warehouse full of guitars and someone describes it as being like the warehouse at the end of Raiders Of The Lost Ark, which is no exaggeration.

The heart and soul of this great shop is, obviously, Norman Harris. He’s a gregarious, nice guy. He treats everybody the same – from poor kids he’s supporting through his charity work to the biggest rock stars on the planet. Norman has had some health issues of late and you have to worry that after he’s gone, this oasis may disappear. His personality, drive and ability to find vintage guitars is so unique it’s irreplaceable. When they get into some of the charity stuff he’s done, there’s a story that involves Richie Sambora that made me actually tear up. This was such a great tribute to Norman, it made me laugh, it made me cry, I was moved. This man is so unique and has created such a unique environment and it’s all just so fascinating. He’s launched his own YouTube station and he’s had some fabulous young talent come through the store and play on the social media – including Post Malone. The late Taylor Hawkins, Slash and Robbie Robertson all feature in this thing. Norm has furnished instruments for many a movie, including The Last Waltz. It’s very cool.

For those of you who love music and love the guitar as an instrument this is a must see documentary. I wouldn’t have known about it were it not for friend of the blog, who I’ve taken to calling David the Deadhead. After watching this, I immediately texted Drew and Stormin’, the foremost musicians in my dwindling list of friends and said, turn this on asap. When we think about all the corporate rapaciousness and impersonal way they treat customers, seeing this family own and run shop warms the heart. I absolutely loved this thing and I think all fans of rock n roll will!

Cheers!