that I ’ d like to apply for a job . She kind of laughed and said , “ I don ’ t think we have anything for you !” Reluctantly , she brought human resources up and they interviewed me and said , “ Can you start tomorrow ?” I said , “ No actually , I have to go to the Bob Dylan concert . I can start on Wednesday .” I was really lucky , because getting a job at Martin is all about being at the right place at the right time with the right set of skills . I got my foot in the door into a position that was just perfect for me , and I ’ ve been here ever since October of 1976 ! I just completed my 40 th year !
[ CG ] How did the Martin Artists Relation Department develop ?
[ Dick ] During my tenure as Advertising Manager , Gene Autry had the Autry Museum of Western Heritage . Chris Martin saw Autry ’ s D-45 , which was the very first D-45 ever made , with Gene ’ s name in it . He said , “ Well that ’ s really cool ,” and he asked Gene if he could replicate it as a limited edition . Gene said , “ Yes , you can , as long as you pay a royalty in support of the museum , which is a non-profit .” Chris really liked that idea , because this whole thing of endorsements of paying people a million dollars to wear your sneakers doesn ’ t ring very true to us . It started with Gene Autry and as “ artist in residence ,” I was given the task of doing the artwork for the inlays and overseeing the project . During this time , I kept receiving phone calls from people wanting to buy a guitar similar to what Eric Clapton played for his MTV Unplugged performance . I went to Chris Martin and I said , “ People are interested in Eric ’ s guitar . May I contact his management and propose a project ?” He said , “ Only if there ’ s a charitable royalty involved .” I contacted Clapton and we started work on the first Eric Clapton signature model , which was the 000-42EC , a limited edition of 461 . I chose that number because “ 461 Ocean Boulevard ” ( one of Clapton ’ s most popular albums ) seemed like a good hook for the story . It was so popular that the entire edition sold out at the NAMM Show to our
Chris Martin & Dick ( c . 1980 )
dealers in about an hour , so I left the Advertising Department and was asked to start the Artist Relations Department . Early on , I got a call from Marty Stuart who wanted to do a Hank Williams guitar . Working with Hank Williams ’ estate was complicated , so I suggested we do the Marty Stuart signature model instead . Our friendship resulted and one day Marty called up and said , “ Dick , I want you to write down a phone number and I ’ m not telling you who it is . I called the number and heard ( mimics very low voice ), “ Hello this is John ,” and I said , “ John who ?” and he said , “ John Cash .” I said , “ This is Dick Boak from Martin guitars ,” and he said , “ I ’ ve been waitin ’ my whole life for this phone call .” I said , “ Mr . Cash – I ’ ve been waiting my whole life to make it !” Early in Johnny ’ s career he needed a black guitar to coincide with his man in black image . He placed an order with a local Nashville dealer and the order came
in . One of the sales people came in to Mr . Martin ’ s office and said , “ We have an order for a black guitar .” Mr . Martin said , “ We don ’ t make black guitars . We spend all of our time picking out beautiful , flawless woods , and we ’ re not painting them black !” So dejectedly , he left his office went back into production and had the guitar built secretly . Eventually it was delivered to Johnny , and within in a year he appeared on the Columbo television show . The black guitar played a key role in the murder mystery . Mr . Martin happened to be watching the show that night . We think that he appreciated the publicity that we got out of it , and we make black guitars now !
Marty Stuart gave me another phone number to call , and on the other end of the line , “ Hello this is Willie ,” and it was Willie Nelson . Willie ’ s guitar , Trigger , is arguably one of the most famous guitars , up there with Lucille . Willie and I replicated what his guitar would have been at the beginning of its career back in 1969 when he first got his Martin N-20 .
[ CG ] How many guitars do you own , and what is your favorite ?
[ Dick ] Employees at Martin are allowed to buy a Martin guitar every year , so I got to the
Johnny Cash
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