Mineko Nishikawa -- Guitar Nagashite Konbanwa（ギター流して今晩わ）

 

Well, how about that? Kayo Grace Kyoku has decided to be a nagashi（流し）and stroll through the bar-filled streets to play old-style ballads on her guitar (might be more profitable than manning the cash register at a konbini). I just hope that she's legally of age to do that although frankly her age can vary from her late teens to her early twenties on "Kayo Kyoku Plus". 

Anyways, allow me to introduce "Guitar Nagashite Konbanwa" (A Good Evening To You As I Stroll With My Guitar), enka singer Mineko Nishikawa's（西川峰子）February 1977 11th single. It would seem as if I always hear of a new song from the Fukuoka Prefecture native via old copies of the Fuji-TV music program "Yoru no Hit Studio"（夜のヒットスタジオ）, and this isn't any different. I was watching a March 1977 episode last night and sure enough, Nishikawa appeared to sing her latest at that time.

"Guitar Nagashite Konbanwa" is some bouncy enka; it's bouncy enough that I had first assumed that it was one of the singer's examples of madros kayo（マドロス歌謡）, one of the small kayo genres that I had described in my last article on Nishikawa, "Mineko no Madros-san"（峰子のマドロスさん）, her 9th single, before all of those little genres finally got merged into the big traditional one known as enka in the 1970s. But actually, Hiroshi Yamada's（山田宏）lyrics merely describe that aforementioned nagashi balladeer doing his job visiting various bars to see if any customer would like to hear a tune. My usual impression of a kayo kyoku regarding a nagashi is of a sad Latin-tinged ballad in the style of songwriter Masao Koga（古賀政男）. "Guitar Nagashite Konbanwa" is absolutely brimming with perky cheer thanks to Kosho Inomata's（猪俣公章）melody.

I actually saw a clip of that "Yoru no Hit Studio" episode with Nishikawa singing "Guitar Nagashite Konbanwa" on YouTube last night, but it appears that it has gotten that strike by the powers-that-be.