He Was a Guitar Player and Now Plays Machinegun in Vietnam

Annotation

Garage rock track called "He Was a Guitar Player and Now Plays Machine Gun In Vietnam" (Centaur # IFK 302) - the title sums up the story told in the lyrics. The narrator said that a good, friendly boy "liked to enjoy music" and that he "played guitar all over the country". The boy then "joined the army" in order to commit his life to "the flag and to liberty". And thus, the boy, instead of playing guitar, used a machine gun in Vietnam. The artist, Pompeo Stillo originally came from the Italian region Calabria, and immigrated with his parents to the US. He lived in Chicago, where he owned Italian Tapes and Record Store.123Sources1Chicago's Italians: Immigrants, Ethnics, Americans (Dominic Candeloro, 2003)↩2club.it: Indice i↩3A Report on the Chicago Ethnic Arts Project (American Folklife Center, 1978)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — European Songs

The artist, Pompeo Stillo originally came from the Italian region Calabria, and immigrated with his parents to the US. He lived in Chicago, where he owned Italian Tapes and Record Store.123 Garage rock track called "He Was a Guitar Player and Now Plays Machine Gun In Vietnam" (Centaur # IFK 302) - the title sums up the story told in the lyrics. The narrator said that a good, friendly boy "liked to enjoy music" and that he "played guitar all over the country". The boy then "joined the army" in order to commit his life to "the flag and to liberty". And thus, the boy, instead of playing guitar, used a machine gun in Vietnam. Sources1Chicago's Italians: Immigrants, Ethnics, Americans (Dominic Candeloro, 2003)↩2club.it: Indice i↩3A Report on the Chicago Ethnic Arts Project (American Folklife Center, 1978)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: He was a good boy, friendly like me / He liked to enjoy music, it made happy everybody / He sang and played guitar all over the country / In small towns and big cities / And now, and now he doesn't play guitar / But plays machine gun in Vietnam / He joined the army and swore fidelity / To the strips, stars of the flag and to liberty / And now, and now he doesn't play guitar, he plays machine gun in Vietnam... / From the mountains to the valley / Near the lakes, by the rivers / Folk music, with his friends he played, they danced

Notes

Centaur IFK 302, blue labels with silver centaur logo, Saper Music BMI; Side A "A Letter to My Mother from Vietnam" 3:55, Side B "He Was a Guitar Player and Now Plays Machinegun in Vietnam" 2:45, both written by Pompeo Stillo and credited to "Pompeo Stillo (Vocalist) & The Companions". The plain company sleeve is rubber-stamped "Saper Music Publishing — Tony Stillo — 245 West 112th Place, Chicago, Illinois 60628" (the composer's own publishing address) and carries a jukebox title strip reading "He Was a Guitar Player Now Plays Machine Gun in Viet Nam / Pompeo Stillo / A Letter to My Mother from Viet Nam". [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

Calabria, Italy

Themes

Soldier's Perspective

In collections

European Songs · Garage Rock Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]