Below,
I’ve translated roughly from Japanese Wikipedia about Terauchi Takeshi. Also see English Wikipedia.
He was born on January 17, 1939 in Tuchiura, Ibaragi
prefecture. His father was a politician
and also a successful businessman who managed movie theaters and electronic
shops. His mother was a descendant of one of the original traditional schools of
kouta singing and one of the shamisen schools, too.
He practiced playing guitar since he was five years old. He
tried to make a guitar as strong as the sound of his mother's shamisen and used
a telephone to make an electric guitar. For speaker, he used air-bombardment
alarm device. WWII ended in 1945. When neighbors heard the sound, they hid away
into their fox holes. He claims he made the first electric guitar. For a young
boy, it was true because he hadn't seen any electric guitar in his life. A year
before he was born, Rickenbacker had introduced the first electric guitar.
Because
of the sounds he produced and the neighbors' negative reactions to it, his
father was arrested by the military police.
He was said to be disowned 10 times starting at age nine. (In my
opinion, this is not technically disowned according to the dictionary.) Anyhow, he improved his own creation of
electric guitars and speakers further. In
1949, he was using his own PA systems on stage.
His motto: if you don't play, guitar will make no sound.
Isn’t that a truth? He said that he
hasn't yet reached the level of his mother’s shamisen expertise.
He
continued to play guitar and focused on making his guitars better. His school work suffered. His grades were low. A rumor has it that his father made a school for
him so that he could be admitted.
In his high school, father begged him to be number one just
once in one
subject, and if he did, he could play guitar all he wanted. In response to this request, he studied
frantically for six months and became number one in one subject only. I don't know what subject was. Then father
said, "You are able boy if you try." Father wanted him to study more.
Takeshi replied, "Now we know I'm an able person if I try hard, so I
quit." Teachers used to think he was no good, but now he proved himself, so
his teachers started to say he was in fact a good boy. So this attitude of his
made adults (father and others) angry.
In high school, he set up a mandolin club and won the NHK
award for three consecutive years. He
entered Meiji University in response to Koga Masao’s recommendation. Koga Masao was a famous composer, and he had
earlier created a mandolin club at the university. But Takeshi had to leave the school after
only a week because of his father’s guidance. Because of father’s wish, he then entered
Kanto Gakuin University and majored in electronic engineering.
He was also the inventor of Yamaha Electrone, electric
piano, as well as his electric guitars. Although he had made his father go
through nightmare, I'm sure he listened
to his advice also.
He was invited to Ed Sullivan show, but his schedule was
too tight. Has any unknown artists refused an invitation to Ed Sullivan show?
But he didn't refuse. He simply couldn't
accept it because he couldn’t turn down his promise. Also he was chosen as one of
three best guitarists by a music magazine called “Music Breaker.” Other two
were Chet Atkins and Les Paul. Because I've translated all this info.
from Japanese Wikipedia, I do not know how to spell some of English names. So,
some could be in error.
Jongara Bushi (Tsugaru Folk music)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2B0om2TQ1s Start at 1:20
Yokohama Concert in 1975: Flying Guitar
