Alan Dolan Memorial

In the fall of 1971, Alan and I lived a few blocks apart in the McGill Ghetto area in Montreal. He had a ground-floor room on Pine Avenue, and I rented a one-bedroom apartment on the top floor of a three-story walk-up on Lorne Avenue.  

Alan loved to play his Guild F-50 guitar, and I loved to listen to him working his musical magic. He had his heart set on purchasing a new Martin guitar, and when he bought it that October, he offered to sell me his Guild. I snapped it up for $50. Best deal of my life.

The two of us spent hours playing together through the long winter nights in Montreal. Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Bruce Cockburn — Alan transcribed dozens of their songs. He played lead, and I’d hack away at the chords, trying to follow along. We never performed for anyone, but we sang in one voice. We were two single young men feeling the zest and freedom of the 1970s — a magical era that has long since disappeared.

Over the years, Al kept a jealous eye on the old Guild. He often asked me if he could buy it back. When the internet entered our lives, he’d occasionally Google the value of the instrument and offer me the going rate. I always told him, “No way, my friend. That axe is mine.”

That might have seemed selfish at the time. But now, when I glance at the guitar, I think of Alan and reflect on the times we shared together, singing in one voice. He was so generous to pass the Guild on to me, and I’m so glad I kept it for myself. Now I have a little bit of Al with me forever.

Thank you, Alan. You were the best of friends in Montreal, then in Vancouver, and over the past many years here in Victoria. It’s so sweet to have you sitting here at my side.

With love, Don Bailey

PS — A 1971 Guild F-50 was recently sold for a nose over $3,000 by Emerald City Guitars in Seattle.