BG: Keith's guitar

[JamesAlanShelton]

Both Keith Whitley's brother Dwight and Ralph told me that Keith bought the guitar from Lester Flatt. The figure I remember is $1,200. Ralph said that Lester kidded Keith when he wrote the check saying "Are you sure there's that much money in the Sandy Hook bank?" I wasn't there, I'm just relaying the facts as they were told to me.   I've also heard Keith say that Flatt gave him the guitar, but he might have just said that for publicity reasons. Believe what you want, but I'd say Flatt didn't give it away since it was a valuable instrument even back then (around 1974).   After Keith died, his mom sold it to someone in Kentucky. Whoever owns it (I don't know the name) brought it out to the Clay City festival a few years ago and both Ralph II and I picked on it. One more thing, that is NOT the Lester Flatt guitar with the big pickguard, Marty Stuart owns that one and I saw it last summer when it was on loan to the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. That one is a 1950 D-28, I believe.   James A. Shelton