The hit show ‘Matlock’ starring Andy Griffith as Ben Matlock, a criminal defense attorney, ran from 1986 to 1995. The show often welcomed guest stars to participate in the courtroom drama.
One famous recurring guest star was country star, Randy Travis. Over the years, Randy and Andy became close friends. In this episode, Randy and Matlock walk onto his porch. Matlock asks if Randy has painted before, and Randy tells him he’s painted barns.
Matlock wants him to start painting his house. Randy finds his guitar in a chair and picks it up. He tells Matlock that he bought the guitar from a man at the train station for a dollar.
That’s all the money he had, and the guitar was beaten up and dirty, so the man at the train station agreed. Then, Randy cleaned it up and sanded it like a house when you paint it. Matlock is getting impatient and tells Randy to start painting.
But Randy stays and starts singing a song when Matlock walks away. At the song’s end, Matlock is standing in awe of Randy and his singing. If you watched the show in the 80s and 90s, you’d remember Matlock’s love for hot dogs and his old Ford Crown Victoria. Andy made the character memorable right down to his all-gray suit.
Randy Travis spoke about his time filming the ‘Matlock’ episodes. He said, “He (Andy) had a small handmade guitar, and I was admiring that on our last time working together. I was admiring that guitar, and a couple days later, he had one there and came to the set and gave it to me.”
The guitar Andy Griffith gave the country music star became a treasured possession. Randy said, “It’s wonderful. It’s sitting in the house right now, and I pick it up and play it pretty often.” The two men cherished their time together filming the iconic TV show.
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