38. 1962, Oklahoma

A teenager in Oklahoma City who is destined to become one of the most respected guitarists in the world but also fated to die at 43 from a heroin overdose in a Los Angeles laundromat covets more than anything else in the world a 1954 Fender Telecaster sitting in the window of a local music store. Year after year the unsold guitar remains temptingly on display and each time he drives past the store he is compelled to go in and play it for a few minutes. Finally, at the age of 18, he is able to afford the $209-plus-tax price tag. By now, the guitar has been sitting in the store window for eight years, but it is still essentially brand new when he takes possession of it.

(Jesse Ed Davis)