Gallotone Champion Guitar (Hello Litttle Girl)

This recording was made for the "Made to be Played" exhibition at Torquay Museum (UK) in 2022-3. One of the instruments on display was the Gallotone Champion guitar that is played here. It was manufactured in South Africa. Instruments like this were imported to the UK in large numbers to satisfy demand from the skiffle craze in the late 1950s. This is the same model as John Lennon's first guitar (and one was also played by the great Congolese guitarist Jean Bosco Mwenda). The song "Hello Little Girl" is one of Lennon's earliest compositions, from around 1957. The photo (by Geoff Rhind) at the end of the video shows the Quarrymen skiffle group in July 1957, with a 16-year-old John Lennon playing his Gallotone Champion guitar. Sheet music is at stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstrumen...