Toyota released a commercial last year that featured a young woman buying a storage unit, where she discovers on of B.B. King's iconic Gibson "Lucille" model guitars, which she promptly returns to the blues legend (in her Camry), and he rewards her with an autographed axe of her own. Sounds like a far-fetched story, but a similar incident occurred recently when a man found an acoustic guitar belonging to country icon Bill Anderson at a pawn shop, and opted to return it.
Mike Grauer, owner of the Phoenix pawn shop, bought the guitar from a seller during April and, after some inspection, found the name "Bill Anderson" written inside the body. A fan of country music, the owner got in touch with the original owner and offered to return the instrument.
Turns out it was more than just a regular ol' acoustic guitar. The Billy Grammer guitar was one of the first owned by Anderson, and one he used in his rise to fame during the '60s. He described the instrument as one of his "prize possessions," although he noted that he kind of forgotten about it. He believes the instrument was on loan to a music museum that went out of business (much like art museums, many of the items at music museums are also on loan from the actual owners). The musician didn't get in touch with the institution after it went under and ultimately forgot about the issue.
"I sort of forgot about it," he said. "I really did. Out of sight, out of mind. I don't remember what I did with it when I stopped playing it."
Anderson, a South Carolina native now residing in nashville and performing regularly with the Grand Ole Opry, flew the paw shop owner and his wife East, and brought them onstage to thank them for returning his baby. Sounds like a good exchange.
This story isn't without precedent however. That B.B. King narrative featured on the Toyota commercial? Turns out the concept might have been stolen from a book written by Eric Dahl, relating how he found a "Lucille" at a pawn shop and returned it to the King.
