Don't squeeze my OLGA

Many years ago, after listening to Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two on CJCB radio, I decided I’d like to sing and play the guitar. I talked my Dad into forking out 29 dollars for a Simpson-Sears special. It was a lot of money back then; nearly half a weeks pay.

The guitar came with five free song folios from guys like Grady Owens and Hal “Lone” Pine. If you’re not familiar with the names, don’t worry about it, I didn’t know who in-the-hell they were a half century ago. The only name I did recognize was a guy called Gene Autry. I even knew some of the songs in his book from the radio:
“Tweedle’O’twill, puffin’ on corn silk, Tweedle’O’twill, whittlin’ wood, Sittin’ there wishin’, he could go fishin’, over the hill, Tweedle’O’twill.

Don’t laugh. Songs like that made Mr. Autry a lot of money. He even gave up singing and strumming and bought himself a major league baseball team.

Unfortunately, I didn’t read music at that time and the books were pretty much useless to me, except to learn the lyrics. But, as I said, they came free with the guitar; I’d never have bought them.

Back in those day, the usual way to pick up the lyrics and guitar chords to a song was to spend the 25 to 30 cents on a copy of the record (78 RPM), along with a package of “needles” and play the song over and over again, while neatly printing the words and chords in a “scribbler” for future reference.

The easier way to learn a song, of course, was to get together with a bunch of guitar players, usually in someone’s kitchen, and trade songs. You also traded tips and techniques to make your playing just a little bit better. “Listen to the song the next time you hear it on the radio. He’s using a nice little bass run to make that chord change. Try doing this.” Everything was duly noted in your scribbler so that tips could be passed on to the next guy.

Forty years or so later, I was surprised to learn that the same basic strategies for learning guitar were available through the internet. The On Line Guitar Archives (OLGA) provided the same information we used to trade around the kitchen table. And, it was available free of charge, the same way it was back then.

You could post a request for the words or guitar chords to a long forgotten song and someone out there in cyberspace would post the information back for you. Except for the fact you never got a chance to meet the guy (or girl), might never share a laugh, or a bottle of Kik Cola, it was basically the same method of freely exchanging information as we used many years ago. OLGA became a regular stop on my travels through the wide, wonderful world of the web.

Last week, I was looking for the words to an old country song I first heard back in the fifties. I thought I’d try OLGA. But, all that came up was a brief apology for being unavailable and a copy of letters from lawyers for the Music Publishers Association of the United States (MPA), advising OLGA that they were infringing the copyright of some of its members. Close the site, the lawyers advised, or face the legal consequences.

A statement from the MPA reads:
“We are doing this to protect the interests of the creators and publishers of music so that, the profession of songwriting remains viable and that new and exciting music will be continue to be created and enjoyed for generations to come.”

Two points for the MPA (and the public) to consider. One, “new and exciting music” was being produced long before the MPA existed, and it will continue to be produced long after the MPA ceases to exist. Musicians trading songs and/or guitar licks have never interfered with that process. In fact, they’ve enhanced it. And, two, when you get lawyers involved, it’s seldom about principle; it’s about the money.

And, yes I will have more to say on this subject.