How I got started playing music

It was in the fifth grade. I liked Duane Eddy and other instrumentalists. The stuff they played right before the news break. I used to get frustrated because the big-mouth DJs would talk over the song. Plus, they would cut it off at the end for the news. Often the best parts were right at the end of the song during the fade out. I guess I liked Duane Eddy cause he had a big masculine sound. What I was not. For Christmas that year I asked for either a guitar or a sax. I liked the sax player in Duane Eddy's band (Jim Horn). He was also BAD!
So, I got a guitar. A $10 Kay arch top that my dad said he had owned before. I don't know where he got it. Maybe from the guy he sold it to. He never said. It was a terrible guitar but I didn't know any better. Hard action and the neck was way too narrow for me. The first song I learned to play was the lead part for "The Lonely One" by Duane Eddy. It was a cha-cha. The only dances you did in those days was the jitterbug, waltz and the cha-cha. Or dumbed down versions of them for the 50's teenage crowd. I learned leads before chords cause I thought chords were HARD. My Dad showed me some chords. He had played some guitar. He showed me tricks like bending the neck (probably not too good for the guitar) that I use occasionally to this day (primarily to impress people at parties). He also played the accordian. I never could understand the appeal although I do appreciate people like Clifton Chenier and Flaco Jiminez. I liked the stuff Doug Sahm did with him.