“D-18 Song (Thank You, Mr. Martin)” was written by Jerry Faires. Norman Blake and Tony Rice recorded it for their duo album Blake & Rice 2, released by Rounder in 1990 (Rounder 0266; the CD edition is titled Norman Blake & Tony Rice 2). Blake and Rice produced the album, and Bill Wolf engineered it. Both men sing on the track: Blake plays guitar and mandolin and Rice plays guitar. Nancy Blake, Doc Watson and Mark Schatz also play on the album.
The D-18 of the title is a guitar model made by Martin: a dreadnought-size flat-top with a solid spruce top and solid mahogany back and sides.
The song is a guitar owner’s story, told in the first person. In the fall of 1964 the narrator reaches a pawnshop in Odessa just as the owner is locking up. He asks through the screen door whether there are any good guitars, and he pays a hundred dollars for a D-18 that was built in 1943. He cleans it up, strings it, and is struck by its tone. In the chorus he thanks Mr. Martin for a guitar that has once again got him through the night. In the later verses he picks it up with paper and pen when he feels worthless and broke. He says he has written every one of his songs on it, about lovers, family, his old home place and the road. After running through a list of rival makers, he still prefers his battered old Martin.
