Senior Guitarist, 80, Rocks Nashville with Epic Performance
Watching older musicians gradually lose their ability to perform is incredibly saddening. However, Bob Wood, an 80-year-old guitarist from Tennessee, remained exceptionally skilled, so much so that a video of him shredding in a music shop went viral on YouTube, garnering over 10.3 million views to date!
The father of nine went to the British Audio Service music store in Nashville, TN, to collect some amplifiers he was having fixed. As he stated, “When they told me they were ready, I took the guitar to check ‘em out.”
The outcome was incredible. Dressed in his pink and blue checkered shirt and playing a classic sunburst Epiphone Riviera, Bob showcased extraordinary agility for his age; his fingers moved lightning-fast across the frets as he delivered a crisp, Latin-infused riff with fingerpicking! His sound is impressive, drawing inspiration from the subtle blend of blues and tango melodies, remarkably original and mesmerizing.
Store employee Shane Radtke cleverly captured the moment, propelling Bob to viral fame. Shane told Nashville News Channel 5, “I was in the back at my bench and I heard somebody playing something pretty original. And I was like, Wow, that’s really cool. So I said, ‘Guys, let’s shoot a video of this.’”
Bob’s performance was “Bésame Mucho,” a song nearly as old as he is, composed in 1932 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez and considered the most covered Spanish song ever. Bob’s seamless guitar rendition in the shop stands among the finest versions we’ve ever heard here at The Music Man!
Bob’s incredible dexterity showcases a lifetime of consistent practice. He began playing the guitar at six and performed his first gig at twelve on a live radio show. Although he never reached major stardom, Wood’s music career was filled with legendary tales and collaborations with top artists. One friend from that time, James Brown, would call Bob up, as Bob explained: “I couldn’t understand a word he said. He’d start rattling off so fast and, man, he’d lose me.”
He even performed a few sets with electric guitar pioneer Les Paul, who passed away in 2009, humorously recalling, “For me to follow Les Paul was like following a bulldozer with a spoon.”
Between 1981 and 1986, Bob ran his own music store for a brief period, releasing three studio albums during that time. He worked as a session musician and a musical equipment salesman, all while performing at festivals on the side. Bob Wood passed away peacefully at the age of 88, just a few days before Halloween 2022, surrounded by family and survived by his nine children.
