In American music there are an endless number of interesting facts and behind the scenes stories that explain those facts. Whether it’s a popular song a songwriter regretted writing, a peculiar experience that led to a creative breakthrough for an artist, or an unusual interpersonal interaction that explains what a relationship was like, in this series we bring you interesting facts about the artists you love, and take you behind the scenes to explain all the backstory you’ve never heard before.
UNSPECIFIED – CIRCA 1970: Photo of John Prine Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Photo of Robert JOHNSON and Robert JOHNSON (GRAVE); Robert Johnson grave in Greenwood, Mississippi. He died on 16 August 1938 at the age of 27 (Photo by Robert Knight Archive/Redferns)
UNITED KINGDOM – MAY 01: CAMDEN Photo of Eddie VAN HALEN and Michael ANTHONY and Alex VAN HALEN and VAN HALEN and David LEE ROTH, L-R: Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony, David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen – posed, studio group shot (Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns)
Singer and songwriterJohn Lennon (1940 – 1980) with his wife Yoko Ono, signing copies of her conceptual art book 'Grapefruit' at Selfridges, London, 15th July 1971. (Photo by Jack Kay/Daily Express/Getty Images)
Despite its fantastical origin story of surviving a shrapnel attack in the Vietnamese jungle, the D-28 met its demise on a flight to Hawaii. Not only did the turbulent flight damage the instrument in storage; someone later stole the guitar from the luggage carousel. Mitchell was never able to find her long-lost instrument, something she’s lamented for years.
Aside from the sentimental connection guitarists typically have to their first ax, Mitchell was particularly fond of her Martin for functional reasons. After a bout of childhood polio affected Mitchell’s ability to form chord shapes in standard tuning, the singer-songwriter had to adapt with eccentric tunings that allowed her to create rich harmonic structure with limited mobility.
Whether open, an octave below, or otherwise, Mitchell’s unique tunings placed stress on the guitar neck that it wasn’t originally made to endure. Moreover, to ensure the dissonance within her tunings was purposeful and not merely off-pitch, Mitchell needed a guitar with pristine intonation—something she frequently lauded the D-28 for having.
“I need really good intonation,” she explained to Acoustic Guitar. “One of the signs of really good intonation is how flashy the harmonics are with a light touch. You should be able to get them to bloom like jewels.” While Mitchell has found other guitars that come close in that department, as she put it in her 1996 magazine interview, “I’ve never found an acoustic that could compare with it.”
Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Drummer Ringo Starr of English rock band the Beatles during a reception at the London home of the group's manager Brian Epstein, 20th May 1967. The Beatles' song 'A Day In The Life' had recently been banned by the BBC for its references to drug-taking. (Photo by John Pratt/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
English rock band the Beatles at the BBC television studios in London before leaving for a concert tour of Germany, and afterwards Japan, 16th June 1966. From left to right, they are Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
