For Older English Players; Gordon Huntley.

Archie Nicol · Post by **Archie Nicol** » 11 Oct 2007 3:14 pm

I'm sure a lot of you have fond memories of Gordon.
Here he is in 1970 with MSC. Sound quality is pish, but you get to see and hear the man.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=malDzOSl1pQ

Arch.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 12 Oct 2007 5:00 pm

...and he broke a string in the middle of the number !

Poor guy !

Good playing.

(I guess I would fit the description "Older English Player". Born 1945 in Birmingham.)

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 13 Oct 2007 2:54 am

Alan F. Brookes wrote:...and he broke a string in the middle of the number !

Poor guy ! Good playing.

(I guess I would fit the description "Older English Player". Born 1945 in Birmingham.)

He had 9 more strings left to play on Alan!! It was an occupational hazard with the old Denley & Rotosound guitars. Great shot of Gordon. Its sad to think that he didn't have too many years left to live after this was filmed. He was a terrific C6 player and I much preferred that to his E9 stuff.

Bernard Curnow · Post by **Bernard Curnow** » 13 Oct 2007 9:08 am

It was grate to see Gordon in the Video He was a fine player and a grate friend in the seventy’s I Met Gordon in about 1972 at the ZB Guitar shop in Maidstone run by Erick Snowball.
With Gordon’s help we designed a 10 string roller head that would double rise an double lower on every string if required I built a single 10 from scratch and built a double 10 for Gordon which had black necks and a red body Gordon said that this one he was going to use for recording only and that it was not going on any Gigs.
I lost contact with him in about 1975.
Does any one know if this guitar is still in existence if so I would like a photo?

Bernard Curnow (Cornwall UK)
Learning to play DB single neck 10 Sho-bud

basilh · Post by **basilh** » 13 Oct 2007 9:21 am

Bernard, we can include a request to our readers in the next issue of Aloha Dream, if you wish. A lot of them knew Gordon and also thought him great..

click here for Gordon Huntley Bio.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 13 Oct 2007 12:58 pm

Blimey ! That bio really takes me back. There are a lot of familiar names there that I hadn't thought of in years.

I didn't realise that Wally Whyton was no longer with us. Having been away from England for so long I'm almost afraid to ask about people nowadays !

I remember being very impressed with Southern Comfort's version of Woodstock. But I always imagined they were an American group.

I never knew Gordon Huntley, but Colin Lowe, the lead singer for the group Magnum (which only recently broke up after 25 years of touring) is the brother of my best friend Chris Lowe, and back when Woodstock was in the charts, at a jam session in 1971 with members of Magnum and our regular session attendees, we recorded Woodstock with me on steel. At the time I was playing I had Gordon's playing in my head, although my rendition was nothing near as good as Gordon's. With Magnum having something of a cult following, I guess our old unpublished session tapes would be collector's items by now if anyone but us knew about them...

I've been a fan of Fairport Convention for many years, and I remember how well Sandy Denny sang with them before her tragically early death.

Jonathan Shacklock · Post by **Jonathan Shacklock** » 13 Oct 2007 1:46 pm

Arch, thank you so much for the link. Another great one here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ELVsWYC9_EA

PS Alan, you'll appreciate the Sandy Denny Live at the BBC set that's just come out.

Matt Dawson · Post by **Matt Dawson** » 13 Oct 2007 11:33 pm

Thats wonderful! I was at that gig (I'm from Tunbridge Wells). Thanks. Iain looks so young too!
If anyone ever sees footage of MSC doing Woodstock on the Whistle Test, please let us know.
Matt

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 14 Oct 2007 6:41 am

At the time when MSC were no. 1 in the UK pop charts with Woodstock, Ian Matthews was interviewed by Melody Maker. He mentioned that he was an admirer of Merle Haggard. Quite few people said Merle who?

Jimmy Gibson · Post by **Jimmy Gibson** » 14 Oct 2007 11:33 pm

Hi Bernard,what part of Cornwall do you live?i would love to meet you,and maybe we could do some picking together,i remember Gordon very well,i went to Maidstone many times,i even bought a S/BUD LDG from Mr Snowball,and met and heard Gordon playing his ZB in the shop many times.Please get in touch if you fancy a chat,i did try to email you but not sure if you got the email,

Jimmy.

Matt Dawson · Post by **Matt Dawson** » 16 Oct 2007 3:30 am

Incidently at 49 I consider myself a younger english steel player

Dave Hepworth · Post by **Dave Hepworth** » 16 Oct 2007 4:42 am

Hi
In 1970 i started university at Leeds.I remember seeing MSC during freshers week.They were supporting Deep Purple.I remember watching Gordon and playing Woodstock-such a haunting sound that has stayed with me ever since.This was one reason I took up steel in 79.
.I thought MSC were superb and a big part of that superbness was Gordons playing on the steel.I also remember his amp rig which seemed to consist of 2 Fender dual showmans-wow!!

Regards Dave

Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 16 Oct 2007 11:36 am

Thanks to Matt Dawson I became somewhat familiar with Gordon's playing... it's cool to see the man in action !

Gordon is not just for Brits of a Certain Age

The Steel Guitar Forum