The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi Mike,

Thank you for mentioning the Steel Monday at Sam's Town Point. This December we will be there on the 12th.

I hope some of you can come!

Thanks a million,

Jim

Thank you Brett for the nice words. Kelcey and Brett were kind enough to let me spend several hours after the Saturday night Mesa show A/B-ing (if it's not already a word, it should be) their guitar with my 1965 wraparound. I played both through three different amps and preferred my Nashville 400 (s...

Hi Ray, My two cents worth... Paul and Doug were two at the top of my list when I was learning to play steel. One of the first non-Buddy Emmons albums I bought was Paul's "Just Pickin'" and proceeded to learn every note of it. I'm not saying I could execute it all well but I learned all th...

Hello everybody, Ordinarily I don't like to write about anything I play on but this time I will make an exception. Benny Kothmann, my great friend and terrific steel player from Menard, Texas has just released his "Halfway To Heaven" CD. It's nearly all Western Swing but includes two tradi...

Thank you all for the replies!

My best,

Jim

Does anybody know who is playing steel on the Bobby Harden "Nashville Sensation" LP?

Thanks a million,

Jim

Hello everybody,

I didn't see Dave's post or I wouldn't have added the redundant information -- sorry!

Bill,

I saw Rick with that white MSA once too.

I hope everyone is surviving house arrest...

Best,

Jim

Hey Herb, I just saw this. Here are the players: A1 Amarillo Depot Jim Baker A2 My Mind Is A Bridge For Your Memory Jimmy Day A3 Unchained Melody No Steel A4 Whiskey River Rick Price A5 Play "Together Again" Again Buddy Emmons B1 When My Conscious Hurts The Most Dicky Overbey B2 Rainbow-Co...

Hi Rick, Answer number one: Doug can play circles around me. Answer number two: I was playing drums. We wanted to do the album with as few overdubs as possible. To be honest, I'd rather not play any instrument if I am producing a record with an entire band. It can be difficult to keep up with everyt...

The Nashville settings Ricky posted were for one specific amp I played for years. It was the only one I ever set the presence at wide open. It was the best sounding Nashville I ever owned but there was obviously something wrong with it all the while. When it developed a hiss I took it to be repaired...

Hi Beverly, While re-reading my reply it sounds as if I am taking credit for the arrangement, which was taken from one of the Charley Pride's Pridesmen LPs. We stuck pretty close to their arrangement so I probably shouldn't have said "my version" but that the chord changes were for "t...

Hi Beverly, Here are the chords for my version. It is written in letters instead of numbers since the two parts are in different keys (A and F). I am putting split bars in parentheses. An "x" after the chord means a hard stop on the first beat of the chord. The tildes (~) set apart each 4-...

Dang! Thanks to everyone for the nice words. I really appreciate them. As I recall the hall was very cold that night and Jody is kind enough to let me wear my jacket on those occasions. I'd be happy to explain the solo to anyone interested. It's actually quite easy. When I was with Ray he had lowere...

Hi Steve, If I remember correctly the "Billie's Bounce" course also includes the Parker tune "Now's The Time". Both are fairly simple melodies but with two tunes I didn't have room for a solo. My CD of "Straight, No Chaser" does include two solos. They are fairly basic ...

Hi Steve, I tried to teach it the way Charlie Parker wrote it. For some great solos on that tune, I recommend Paul Franklin's "Just Pickin" LP. He plays it in Bb so not all the open string ideas are applicable in the key of F. My friends Steve and Larry Tolliver have a version on their due...

Hi Don, The point I meant to make is that Buddy Emmons overdubbed the second half of the solo sometime between when the reel-to-reel rough mix was rendered and the keeper track, which made it to record. It was certainly done during the same session. I was 17 or 18 when I heard it so that puts it at ...

Hi Marty, I forgot to weigh in on your post. A lot of the things they were releasing in those days were amalgamations from many sessions. If I remember correctly, "Rainbow Colored Words" and "Whiskey River" were both done by Rick Price. Coincidentally, he was playing the wrap-aro...

Hello everybody, There is an interesting piece of information about that cut. When I was about 17 they had just recorded that tune and John had an unmixed version on a reel-to-reel tape. Being very low tech in those days, I held a cheap cassette recorder to the speaker and recorded it. Sometime afte...

Hello everybody, Thank you to everyone who took the time to write such nice words. I am humbled. The 1965 Emmons is the steel I play most of the time. Ricky is correct about the history. The Sho-Bud is an early-to-mid 1960s permanent. Years ago Hal Rugg told me it is most likely a 1963. There is one...

Thank you, my good friend Herb, for posting the clip and thanks to everyone for the nice words. The amp is a Standel Custom, which is a hybrid of tube power and solid-state EQ, without reverb, that preceded the Super Custom XV. I think the amplifier is a 1963 model. It is a very low-power amp and ex...

Hi Dan,

They are available at the www.startexrecords.com website. You can also access it via the link on my website.

Thanks a million for asking!

Best wishes,

Jim

Hi Lonnie,

I remember that gig well. It was a high point for me too!

Thanks for the reply. My friend will be checking the replies to this post and will e-mail questions if something fits the bill.

I appreciate you taking the time to post detailed information.

My best,

Jim

Hello, I am helping a friend who has a friend who would like to buy a single-neck pedal steel with 10 strings. They aren't too limited as to which brand they'd like but would like a non-student model in the $1500 range. Please reply to this post if you have something that fits. Thanks a million, Jim...

Hi Jack,

I saw Dicky today and he said Henry Strzelecki was indeed there and Dicky thought he remembered Henry playing some drums. He also said the backup singers were at the live session.

I had no idea Henry plays drums and I am always glad to learn something.

Best,

Jim,

This LP is titled "Live At Randy's Rodeo". The personnnel: Steel -- George L. (Dicky) Overbey Fiddle -- Henry Hunsinger (Hank Singer) Bass -- Terry Yarbrough Lead Guitar -- David Zettner Drums -- Larry Roberson and Henry Strzelecki Rhythm Guitar -- Darrell McCall My best guess is the menti...