[bomp] this is so unnecessary

[Rick McCullough <rsmccull@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

bompworthy only because country joe gets a mention.  note the
misspelling of woody guthrie's name:

 A ragtag crowd of guitarists - amateur and professional - picked its
way toward a world record Tuesday night.

Organizers of "Concordstock" drew 2,052 guitarists to Todos Santos Plaza
in Concord to attempt to break the Guinness World Record of 1,802
guitarists performing a song in one place set last June in Germany.

"We got 2,052 and it's all documented," said Jim Ocean, producer of
Concord's "Music in the Park" program. "We have it all ready to go to
send to London to get the accreditation."

Country Joe McDonald, a Bay Area 60's iconic musician, led the crowd in
"This Land is Your Land" by Woodie Guthrie. An enthusiastic crowd filled
with professional musicians and novices alike sang and loudly strummed
along.

Melinda Meehan said she brought her guitar and sang "Just for kicks. And
if I look in the Guinness Book of World Records and see we set the
record, I can look at it and say, 'Hey, I was part of that.'"

Not everyone liked the choice of songs for the competition. "Smoke on
the Water" was the song that broke the record in two different cities in
2007.

"I'd prefer a much better song, actually something like 'Hey Ya' from
Outkast would be cool," said Eric Carlson.

Catherine Erbaugh disagreed. "Right now we're going through a war," she
said. "It's patriotic and it's everybody coming together and also
because it's easy to learn when you're new."

Regardless of song choice, many believed it was a memorable experience
beyond the record-breaking.

"It was fabulous," said Janet Campbell through the biggest smile in the
crowd. "Just being part of something so big, it just really felt like
we're doing something special."

Alex Wexthoff, 9, got performance anxiety.

"I started to get nervous," he said. "I was likeI hope we don't have to
get up on stage, and then my mom told me and I'm like, 'Yooof'!"

The organizers were nervous, too. They had just over 1,000 registrants
the day before the event.

The Eyewitness Blues Band - made up of CBS 5 reporters Mike Sugerman and
Joe Vazquez, photographers Patrick Sedillo and Zack Heene as well as
KCBS radio's Stan Bunger and Doug Sovern also performed.

Concord City leaders say it will take several weeks to verify the
record. As for why they chose the Woody Guthrie song, organizers say the
song is patriotic and because it's so close to July 4th.

Editor's Note: CBS 5 TV was one of the sponsors of the event.

http://cbs5.com/local/guitar.world.record.2.761829.html

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