It is believed that these two guitars were Matsumoku products and wholesaled by a distributer out of Chicago. As with many of these Japanese guitars it is difficult to nail down their birthplace and birthdate. Its like a sibling photo where the big brother towers over the little. Scale length differential is very apparent. Shouldn't be hard to look at this photo and tell which is the baritone. Humble Alabamans(or Alabamians depending on who you ask) who deserve continued listening. Search around and spend a little time with Dan as well as his friend Spooner. I think this iteration of the pickup has a p-13 type of sound to it. I am sure a competant luthier could remedy that situation and for my money it would be worth it. This may have caused a little sinkage around the soundhole. I have heard that the pickup placement disallowed for proper bracing to be fitted across that section of the guitar. As with many of these Harmony's the tops were spruce and the back and sides were mahogony, all solid woods. I believe each of those poles can be adjusted and you were provided with a volume and tone knob. This guitar is much like the Harmony h-1203 except it has the added addition of a built in pickup placed in the last fret just before the soundhole. Can you imagine having to teach Aretha Franklin how to sing one of your songs down in Muscle Shoals. Seems like the best of both worlds to me. Dan was able to create hits and stay in the background without being inundated with attention. Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham - I'm Your Puppet (HQ) - Bing videoĭan and Spooner just kill it on this version.

Here is a video of him performing 'I'm Your Puppet' with the great Spooner Oldham who co-wrote the song with Dan. He also produced The Box Tops biggest hit, 'The Letter'. His connection with this blog continues to grow). 'I'm Your Puppet'(which he wrote on a 12 string Stella acoustic.

He co-wrote many classics, including the soul standard 'Dark End Of The Street', 'Do Right Woman, Do Right Man', 'Cry Like Baby' for the Box Tops and my favorite. To think that at this time he probably had no idea he would be part of one of the greatest era's and one of the greatest studios in music history is a trip.ĭan Penn is songwriting royalty(at least to me). He looks like a fresh faced 20 year old and his future and significance in the world of music was all to come. You do a little math and it lands the photo in this era. Dan is 80 years old now and these guitars were made between 19. I would put this photo in the late '50's/early '60's. Dan Penn is seen here holding a Harmony Sovereign H-55 acoustic/electric guitar. Here is one of my favorite pictures of one of my favorite people.

Airline guitar neck