The First Bouzouki

I was a fan of classical Indian music from my dad’s record collection. He had Yehudi Menuhin records. He bought Ravi Shankar’s first album on World Pacific, Ragas & Talas. My dad was very hip about all kinds of stuff. He would listen to stuff that was really pretty serious. He was a corporation lawyer for 20th Century Fox. He played piano and loved different kinds of music from all over the world.

The first bouzouki playing I ever heard was a soundtrack to some film. He loved the film because of the traditional Greek music, Rembetika. I had never heard anything like that. I asked him, “What is that instrument?” He said, “It’s kind of like a mandolin with a long neck.” There was a picture of it, and I noted, “Oh, one of those.”

The wheels started turning, and there were some great players in those days, too. Because of that, I went into playing different kinds of folk music. Playing bluegrass, I had been listening to Earl Scruggs and Don Reno. I had also been listening to Sabicas, the Flamenco guitarist.