Nashville guitarist and songwriter Rick Gordon has played the Grand Ole Opry and Austin City Limits. But one of his fondest memories is the time he took the stage at the Smithville Fiddlers' Jamboree in 1974 as a 23-year-old struggling musician.

During that weekend, Gordon became the first contestant to win three categories -- guitar, mandolin and dobro.

It was that memory he was hoping to relive when he made a surprise visit last week to the Smithville Review office.

"All I've had was the memory and I wanted a physical record of it, because in the almost 32 years that have gone by, the memory of that day has become infinitely sweeter," Gordon said.

Living in Murfreesboro at the time he won the events here, Gordon sent his three plaques and a copy of the Smithville Review, complete with his picture, to his parents in New Jersey.

"I sent it all to my parents and I never saw them again," Gordon explained. "My parents and I weren't particularly close, but I did go back and visit them a number of times, but I never did see them (plaques and newspaper) anywhere and never thought to ask them about it. Later, my parents died and my brother took care of the estate and he never sent any of that stuff to me. So, it's been lost for almost 32 years."

While in the Review office, Gordon obtained a copy of the newspaper photograph and portions of the story that he plans to upload to his website at www.digiroo.com/rick.

The winnings -- $35 for each event -- were put to good use and stayed with Gordon over the years.

"With that $105 I went to Town Square in Murfressboro and saw a dentist for the first time since I was 17 and got nine fillings," Gordon said. "One hundred and five dollars would buy something in 1974."

During his visit here, Gordson was asked about his eventual weekend here and called it "the highlight of my young life."

In 1969 a younger Gordon was a "street player" (panhandler as it was known then) in California. He was a regular in front of the Bank of America building on Hollywood Blvd., singing Bob Dylan and Paul Simon tunes.

By 1974 he had made his way to Murfreesboro and took up residence in a small log cabin. He played in area festivals and signed up for the Smithville Fiddlers' Jamboree.

"For me, having played smaller contests prior to this, it was like being on the Grand Ole Opry," Gordon said. "It was very exciting. I had just turned 23 years old and it was a little bit overwhelming, a little bit of excitement, a little bit of fear and a lot of butterflies in the stomach. But I also had some confidence, having won some other events."

He brought three instruments here, a guitar , mandolin, and dobro, knowing such a move "tripled my chances of winning something. I was hopeful, but I didn't have the confidence to think I was going to have as good a day as I did."

Once here, he realized the competition was stiff.

It was "scary, flat out scary," he said of the competition that weekend. "I had only been playing mandolin for maybe a year and a half and dobro for a year. I had been playing guitar since I was 15 but only got serious about it when I turned 20."

In the end, the judges ruled Gordon had played well enough in each event to be named the winner, a first in the Jamboree's young existence.

A few months later, Gordon's confidence was temporarily shattered when he failed to win the flat-top guitar event at the Winfield, Kansas National Flat Picking contest.

Judged by the legendary Doc Watson, Norman Blake and Dan Creary, Gordon finished only in the Top 10, despite getting the best crowd response.

"When I didn't get called back for the top three (finalists) I hid in somebody's tent for about two or three hours before I could show my face again," he said. "When I did (come out), people were approaching me from all angles, telling me I got robbed. One of them was Norman Blake's guitarist, and the president of Martin Guitars came up to me and told me I had got robbed. Countless other people expressed their kindness."

With his confidence back, Gordon faced another problem -- finding enough funds to get back home in Tennessee.

"I had no money to get home. I had spent my last $10 to enter and I had hocked my dobro in order to get gas money to get to Winfield," he explained. "I brought this incredibly beautiful 1930 handmade guitar in the unlikely circumstance that I wouldn't be winning. A man offered me $200 for the guitar and told me the day I get that $200 back to mail it to him and he would sendback my guitar. It took a year and a half, but I finally did make that $200 and he sent that guitar to me."

Not long after the Kansas event, Gordon left Murfreesboro and moved to Austin, Texas "where there was a big music scene and that's when I began playing music in bands."

The rest, as the saying goes, is history.

Not long after arriving in Austin, Gordon worked with the famous Delbert McClinton, future No. 1 country songwriter Rick Beresford, and played Willie Nelson's 4th of July picnic in front of 25,000 fans.

He went on to open a show for Stevie Ray Vaughan at Fitzgerald's in Houston and also opened shows for his former judge, Doc Watson, along with Eric Johnson and the rock group Toto.

By 2002, he had joined Holly Dunn and company for an occasional road trip and some spots on the Grand Ole Opry.

Gordon now operates a recording studio in Nashville, does session work, and continues to write music.

"I've had some really sweet moments (in my career), but not too many moments with the magic that took place when I had just turned 23 years old" in Smithville, TN.