Bryan Adams is a legend best known for his glittering vocals and guitar track on “Summer Of ‘69”. And in a recent podcast interview, he finally revealed the true story behind the lyrics of the iconic pop-rock song.
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Adams dished on a few details behind the song in an interview with Squeeze frontman Chris Difford on the I Never Thought It Would Happen podcast last week.
According to Bryan Adams, “Summer Of ‘69” is a semi-autobiographical tune. You might remember the line “I got got my first real six string / Bought it at the five and dime.” There’s some truth to this lyric. However, the truth is slightly different from what the lyrics read.
Adams admitted that he actually bought his first guitar at a shop in the United Kingdom when he was just 12 years old, and he purchased it in 1970, rather than 1969. Allegedly, the axe in question was an imitation Stratocaster that he would be reunited with years later.
The Real Story Behind the Infamous Guitar Mentioned in “Summer Of ‘69”
The Canadian rocker said that his family moved a lot due to his father’s job. After leaving Reading, UK, they moved to Israel. He left the guitar with his neighbor there. Over a decade later, Bryan Adams received an email from someone claiming to have his childhood guitar. He replied, but then never heard back.
Then, while in a club in Germany, a person approached him and said, “I’ve got your first guitar.” Apparently, the individual was a friend of the emailer in question. That person tragically died in a plane accident, and the guitar was given to the stranger who approached Adams. He was made known of his old friend’s desire to reunite the guitar with Adams, and managed to track him down in an unlikely place. Adams and the guitar were reunited shortly after.
It’s a bittersweet story, but I can’t help but imagine Bryan Adams was pretty happy to be reunited with the guitar that he penned a lyric about in “Summer Of ‘69”. I can also imagine that Adams has gotten a lot of use out of that old fake Stratocaster, considering what he said of old guitars in an interview with Guitar.com back in 2022.
“It’s true, l love the oldies,” said Adams. “I’m not sure why I started buying old guitars, perhaps it’s the wood of an old instrument? The sound of all guitars vary so much on each instrument, old and new. I suppose I’ve had good luck with old guitars, so I stick to them.”
Photo by Myrna M. Suarez/Getty Images
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