Yesterday I watched the Rick Beato video you mentioned. I am familiar with his channel and have watched some of his videos. Every time I see his name I read it as Beat-o.
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
Interesting mention of Croce in regards to 12 string guitar. It's not something I generally associate with him. Anyway, the video gave me a greater appreciation for this song and I learned some new things.
My first memory of America is
Horse With No Name playing on the radio in my dad's Rambler. I can hear it and
Doctor My Eyes bouncing around my memories. Googled them and sure enough they were released within months of each other in late 71/early 72. I didn't get away from top 40 mode until maybe '76 or '77 when I bought my first albums. I was in high school at the time. So, maybe a bit late on that. Didn't start playing guitar until a few years later. Throughout high school, my closest friends were in a band. I would go watch them practice every weekend. It wasn't until the guitar player died in a car crash that I decided to learn guitar. I remember my first guitar. Like Rick, I commandeered it from my brother. My parents bought it for him, but he never really tried to learn it.
I lucked out. It was a real cheapo my parents bought at Lowes (IIRC). Seems an odd place to buy a guitar (or to sell guitars). It was an Ensenada. I'm not even sure it was made of wood. The lucky part is it had low action, sounded great, and played like a dream. I'm really struggling to remember my first song. It could well have been
Horse With No Name. Mostly, I remember using chord books (as opposed to song books) to learn the chords.
I'd be interested in others first guitar and first song(s) stories. Chris, thanks for introducing me to this song, Rick's video, and giving me my own trip down memory lane.