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Topic: Hank Williams Sr steel guitar tuning and playing style |
Lonnie Wells
From:
The Buckeye State
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Posted 11 Dec 2008 3:15 pm |
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I really enjoy those old songs Hank Sr. did and the basic steel that was used. was most of his music done with 6 or 8 string lap steel? what tuning did those guys use back then? I'm thinking I would like to tune up my c-6 neck to some of that tuning and see if I can work some of those tunes out.
thanks, Lonnie |
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Dustin Rigsby
From:
Parts Unknown, Ohio
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Posted 11 Dec 2008 3:42 pm
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Outside neck-
A C# E G# B C# E G#
(Don calls this tuning an E6)
Inside neck -
F# A B D# F# A C# E
(Don calls this tuning a B13)
I hope this helps. Reprinted from Brad Sell's web page |
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Mark Durante
From:
St. Pete Beach FL
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Posted 12 Dec 2008 4:07 am
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Lonnie Wells
From:
The Buckeye State
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Posted 12 Dec 2008 9:27 am
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| Thanks guys, this forum is great! |
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Fred Glave
From:
McHenry, Illinois, USA
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Posted 12 Dec 2008 11:54 am
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| Mark, That's a nice little note you got there from Mr. Helms. Very cool. |
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Mark Durante
From:
St. Pete Beach FL
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Posted 13 Dec 2008 4:24 am
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| Don was a real inspiration to me in every way. |
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Jay Jessup
From:
Charlottesville, VA, USA
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Posted 15 Dec 2008 11:12 am
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| Correct me if I am wrong guys but didn't Jerry Byrd do some (not all) of Hank's studio stuff? Maybe some of the earlier tunes? If so I assume he would have been using C6 on those tunes. |
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Larry Bell
From:
Englewood, Florida
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Posted 15 Dec 2008 1:14 pm
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Jerry Byrd was on several of Hank Sr.'s early hits ("I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", "Mansion on the Hill", "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight", "Lovesick Blues")
Smokey Lohman was on a bunch of early stuff ("Honkey Tonkin", "I Saw the Light", and a few others), as was Don Davis ("Honky Tonk Blues", "Lost Highway", "Mind Your Own Business", "My Son Calls Another Man Daddy"). Herman Herron also played steel on a few sessions.
The rest of his hits featured Don Helms on steel guitar ("Long Gone Lonesome Blues", "Why Don't You Love Me Like You Used to Do", remake of "My Son Calls Another Man Daddy" 1950, remake of "Honky Tonk Blues" in Dec 1951, "Moanin' the Blues", "Cold Cold Heart", "I Can't Help It If I'm Still In Love with You", "Howlin' at the Moon", "Hey Good Lookin'", "Ramblin' Man", "Pictures from Life's Other Side", "Half as Much", "Honky Tonk Blues" remake 1951, "Jambalaya" -- with Chet Atkins on gtr, "Settin' the Woods on Fire", "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive", "You Win Again", "Your Cheatin' Heart", "Kaw Liga", "Take These Chains from My Heart" and many more)
Don played on everything from early 1950 until Hank's final studio session in the fall of 1952. I remember this because Don and I were talking about when he rejoined the Drifting Cowboys and it was the day I was born, Jan 4, 1950. He had played many radio shows, etc. that were recorded before he left the band to go into the Navy in WWII but Hank's first studio session was in late 1946, at WSM Studios in Nashville. When Don came back stateside after the war he stayed in Alabama for a few years before moving to Nashville and rejoining Hank full time.
There is a lot of information on the web if you dig for it.
_________________
Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
My CD's: 'I've Got Friends in COLD Places' - 'Pedal Steel Guitar'
2021 Rittenberry S/D-12 8x7, 1976 Emmons S/D-12 7x6, 1969 Emmons S/D-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Quilter ToneBlock 202 TT-12 |
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Ernest Cawby
From:
Lake City, Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 15 Dec 2008 7:24 pm hi
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Don recorded a lot with other Artist, it is on a cd I have where he told of them at Daleville Alabama last year. He also played some pedal steel, but seems like people liked his Gibson better.
ernie |
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