Tacky Raccoons

Chet Atkins & Les Paul Limehouse Blues 1978. Wait for the end – Atkins shows that he was playing a fold-up guitar.

Using instruments crafted from tin, 2×4’s and salvaged parts, RT has stated that RT N’ THE 44s was born out of “an attempt to make listenable music from junk.” [Wiki]

[h/t to Anachronistic Decay.]

Here’s a related video from La armonía del vertedero – Orquesta de Instrumentos Reciclados de Cateura de Paraguay:

My late Uncle Bunk had what he called a “BoomBass” that consisted of a cookie tin nailed to a 2×3 with a single wire on a bridge that ran up to a fretboard, with tambourine thingys on the top and a spring peg on the bottom. You played it by banging it on the floor and hitting the wire with a notched dowel.  It was also painted very nicely, and someone I know still has it.

Besides the diddley bow, my favorite instrument that began as junk salvage:  the steel pan drum.

Bob Lyons plays Jason Mraz’s reggae-ish hit on steel drums in Wellington, Florida December 2009

Have a great weekend, folks, and remember, no man can eat 50 eggs, Easter or not.