Don't have to call me Waylon Jennings

by Fred Bob, special to the Swamp

The home video surely will make you seasick.

But once you wade into the thick of the crowd, the magnitude of the purported world record set Sunday in Luckenbach, Texas -- 1,857 guitar-pickers picking in rythm and even in tune -- offers a welcome lullaby on this day of czars, talk-TV wars and soaring deficits.

As our colleauges in Austin write of the Luckenbach record-breaker:

"The Americans it seems have beaten the Germans again. This time, the event was for the Guinness World record of most guitar players playing simultaneously or as it is recorded in the Guinness book, the largest guitar ensemble.

"Until this past Sunday, August 23rd, 1,802 participants in Leinfelden-Echterdingen Germany held the record. The German participants, led by Andreas Vockrodt, played 'Smoke on the Water' simultaneously led by the band 'Party Blues in Bb' on June 26th, 2007. The Germans had taken the title when they broke the record that was previously held by 1,683 guitar players playing "Smoke on the Water" in Kansas City...

So Sunday, "after a quick refresher on how to play the G chord, all 1857 guitar players began playing the Luckenbach Song (Back to the Basics of Love). The song, which was obviously the only one appropriate for the event, was recorded in 1977 by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson and put Luckenbach, Texas on the map for good.''

"Ain't nobody feeling no pain."

Until you watch the Kansas City event: