Paul McCartney has written a lot of great music for guitar.
Dave Raynor can display something by the ex-Beatle that was inscribed on a guitar.
It’s McCartney’s autograph, written on the Camas musician’s acoustic six-string Martin guitar.
Raynor was featured recently in The Columbian, following the Sept. 25 death of singing star Andy Williams. Raynor was a member of the group that backed up Williams when he sang for the last time at the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Mo.
Raynor has had a lot of different musical roles since graduating from Camas High in 1971 (where he had the role of Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady”).
In addition to playing guitar, Raynor is a songwriter, penning a Grammy-winning gospel song for Deniece Williams.
Raynor also has worked as a studio engineer, and that’s how he came across Paul McCartney.
From 1986 to 1992, Raynor was an engineer in a Los Angeles studio and worked on the “Rockline” syndicated radio interview show.
With the technology of that era, doing an interview with a rock star meant that the rock star actually had to show up in the studio, Raynor said.
When McCartney arrived for his interview in October, 1990, “I had a guitar, and another engineer grabbed my guitar and then grabbed me,” Raynor said.
The other guy steered Raynor right into the place where the interview was scheduled and asked McCartney if he’d please sign the guitar.
“He said, ‘Sure,'” Raynor recalled. “He was very kind and very cordial.”
And McCartney didn’t have to be so accommodating, Raynor noted.
“He had three bodyguards.”
Off Beat lets members of The Columbian news team step back from our newspaper beats to write the story behind the story, fill in the story or just tell a story.
