Hisao Shinagawa - "Japanese Bob Dylan"

[Mulboyne]

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Daily Breeze: Guitarman loses his instrument
Hisao Shinagawa says he has written 1,700 songs - "more songs than Bob Dylan." Some, in fact, have dubbed him as the Japanese Bob Dylan, writing and singing about social injustice with an antique guitar given to him 28 years ago by the late country folk singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. "Someone came up to me and said, `Do you know the difference between you and Bob Dylan?' I said, `Yeah, he made money,"' Shinagawa said Tuesday...Shinagawa makes money, but only a quarter or dollar at a time. He sings regularly at farmers markets in Long Beach and Hollywood. But the last few weeks have been difficult for the 62-year-old street musician. As Shinagawa was setting up at the Hollywood Farmers' Market three weeks ago, a vendor accidentally drove over his prized 1954 Martin 00-18 acoustic guitar. "All of a sudden I heard `krunk,' " Shinagawa said. "That is my guitar's last gig." Even without a connection to Van Zandt, a similar guitar could sell for $5,000, according to prices on the Internet. Shinagawa said it will cost about $2,000 to fix it...Shinagawa hopes the vendor will make good and pay for it, but so far that hasn't happened...

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...Looking to become a professional musician, Shinagawa left his home in Misumi-cho in 1974 and traveled to the United States. "I go to America and roam about the United States while playing the guitar for six years," he wrote on his MySpace.com page. After hitchhiking to Nashville, Shinagawa befriended musicians such as Johnny Cash and Van Zandt...Van Zandt gave Shinagawa one of his guitars in 1980, and Shinagawa had played it ever since...One of Shinagawa's fans is "Jackass" stunt-actor Johnny Knoxville, who describes Shinagawa as "true artist in every sense of the word" on his Web site. Last month, Knoxville posted a three-part interview with Shinagawa on his blog. Knoxville wrote that he saw Shinagawa perform 10 years ago in a dingy bar on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles..."I was taken by the sight of him: a Japanese Woody Guthrie, harmonica around (his) neck and bashing an old beat-up acoustic guitar so hard I didn't think he would have any strings left when the performance was through," Knoxville wrote. "Hisao is small in stature, but huge in spirit, talent, and emotion, and I think I nearly ripped his arm off his shoulder when I shook his hand"...more...

[AssKissinger]

I got some of his stuff in my music collection. He gets my vote for king of the world (as long as I can leave America first)