Two Rare Finds...

Too many years ago to count, I happened upon a TV program that caught
my interest long enough to get my finger off the remote.  "My kind of
music" was playing in this rather large room.  A piano was playing
Rhapsody in Blue and the sound was incredible.  As the camera panned
the room there sat a beautiful grand piano with no one sitting on the
bench.  Yet, the keys and hammers were alive with movement.  It was as
if the ghost of George Gershwin was at the keyboard.  I was awestruck
and made up my mind that someday I would have such an instrument.

As a great lover of ragtime and the music of that era, that "someday"
recently become "today".  I spent months in search of the right piano.
I passed on several deals for various reasons: either the piano was not
a quality top name or the price was more than I wanted to fork over.

Then the magical day arrived.  Searching the Internet I found a
Marshall & Wendell upright that had been in the family since it was
purchased new in 1924 as an engagement gift for a man's great great
aunt.  The owner of the piano was a delightful lady who's husband had
recently died.  She had the original papers on the piano and little
interest in keeping the piano.  A perfect situation for a hungry buyer.

The piano had the Ampico player mechanism and the hoses had
petrified, but the piano was mint with perfect ivory, soundboard, and
sounded like a million bucks (still in tune) although it hadn't been
played in decades.  The player part had probably not functioned since
the 1950s.

My wife and I drove to Florida to retrieve this find on February 1,
2003.  As we passed Kennedy Space Center they were lowering the flags
to half mast.  The shuttle had just disintegrated somewhere over Texas.
We stopped and paid our respects.

We then drove to pick up our piano.  It was sitting in the garage on
a dolly ready for the trip home.  I whipped off a quick Maple Leaf Rag
in rough fashion, loaded the piano aboard a U-Haul trailer with the
help of some neighborhood weight lifters and headed home.

Now I needed someone who could bring the piano back to its glory days.
You don't find these people on every street corner.  I called a local
piano store and they told me of a restorer that lived about an hours
drive from home.  I called and the chap was quite friendly and seemed
to be in no hurry to get rid of me as I asked him a batch of dumb
questions.  He invited me up to see and hear a piano he had recently
restored.

I had no idea what I was about to encounter.  You know how you picture
what someone will look like on the phone?  My idea was this guy would be
about 5 foot 7 and weigh 150 pounds.

My wife and I made the one-hour trip to Woodbury, Tennessee.  On the
outskirts of town we pulled up to his shop.  The venetian blinds were
pulled and you couldn't tell what might lie on the other side.  We
knocked on the door.  As it swung open my idea of what the person on
the other end of the phone would look like quickly vanished.

Here stood a 250-pound hulk with 18-plus-inch arms and the look of
someone who could bench press two Steinways.  Additionally, this stout
lad sported an array of tattoos, a full beard, and pony tail.  Maybe
this guy could restore a Harley, but a piano?

He fired up the Steinway he had just restored and it was magnificent.
He then sat at the keyboard and played "Oh, You Beautiful Doll".
Seeing "Hercules" sitting on the bench and pounding out that song was
a treat.  Too bad I forgot my camera.

We struck up a deal for him to restore my piano.  I told him I would
like to come up and hang out and do some of the mundane monkey work.
He agreed.

I have been around restorers before -- they are a "strange breed".
This guy was no exception.  A perfectionist, everything had to be to
his standards, and what standards!  If I even looked at the wrong
screwdriver he would give me a dirty glance.

He used only the finest materials and had a gift of knowing how to
go about the business of bringing back the original splendor of this
fine instrument.  He told me it would take six months to complete the
project.  I told him my birthday was in two months and it would be
great if we could do it in that short time period.

Exactly on my birthday the phone rang and he said, "Listen to this."
Over the phone came "Hallelujah" and it gave me goosebumps.  I got
in my car and modestly exceeded the speed limit.  As I drove up I could
here my piano playing.  I opened the door and couldn't believe the
power of that piano.

My new friend and master restorer is Brian Thornton of Woodbury,
Tennessee, but he prefers to be called "Goat" or "Goat Boy".  I would
highly recommend his skills to anyone seeking that perfectionist who
really cares.  You can find him on the Internet under
http://www.shortmountainmusic.com/  Telephone 1-615-563-5814.  He
doesn't need the work, but I'm glad he found time for my project.

Jim McLellan
Franklin, Tennessee
http://www.mcgolf.com/

 [ I've enjoyed several telephone conversations with Brian and I agree
 [ that he indeed seems a gifted artisan.  Did he tell you he worked
 [ several years in an Amish cabinet shop?  I also imagine him,
 [ seated in a peaceful forest glade, softly playing pan pipes to
 [ entertain passersby!  ;-)  -- Robbie