Arthur Marx also recalls his father’s obsession with classical guitar giant Andrés Segovia. After one of Segovia’s performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Groucho went backstage to introduce himself and invite him home for dinner. The classical guitar star was reluctant to accept the invitation for fear he’d be asked to perform at the Marx home, but Groucho assured him, “I promise you won’t have to hear me play. Where could you get a better deal than that?” Segovia soon found himself supping at Marx’s home. At least partly true to his word, Marx never asked Segovia to play?just strolled nonchalantly into the living room with a Gibson under each arm. Segovia simply acted as if the instruments weren’t there for most of the evening, before a frustrated Groucho thrust one at him and implored, “Would you mind holding this for me for a while? I’m exhausted from holding both of them.” Groucho then launched into?what else??the “Rachmaninoff Prelude,” with Segovia strumming along grudgingly until finally demurring, complaining that the instrument’s steel strings were cutting his unaccustomed fingers (Segovia played exclusively on gut strings). Groucho’s playing eventually inspired daughter Miriam to the guitar. In 1946 (and after his divorce from her mother), Miriam wrote to ask if she could have one of his two instruments. An uncharacteristically sentimental Groucho happily complied, sending along a trove of sheet music with it as well. Groucho Marx likely took his deep-seated insecurity over his guitar abilities to his grave in 1977. Though his passing was almost completely overshadowed by the sudden death of another cultural icon barely 72 hours earlier, Elvis Presley, Groucho’s brief, now 75-year-old turn on the instrument in Horse Feathers continues to delight film fans and musicians alike, a warm reminder that memorable performances most often come from the heart, not the fingers.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 05:59:20 +0000
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