Curly Chalker.....WOW Holy Cow!

Buck Reid · Post by **Buck Reid** » 7 Sep 2009 5:24 pm

The first time I met Curly, it was at the union hall in Nashville (maybe ten years ago) and I was like a kid in a candy store telling him how much I admired his work and he said " God bless you son but don't try to play any of that stuff I played or you'll starve to death". He was gracious and kind... unlike many of the rumors I've heard. Of course by this time he was in bad health. I believe he was indeed ahead of his time! So sad that he's not still around.

Jimmy Queen · Post by **Jimmy Queen** » 8 Sep 2009 8:35 am

There are mp3s available from Bobby's Caldwell cd with Curly Chalker at www.buckatune.net

Gary Walker · Post by **Gary Walker** » 13 Sep 2009 4:32 pm

In July 1969 there was a great steel show at Dewey Groom's Longhorn Ballroom and I flew from California because I heard Curly was playing. That was the motivator that made me go.
I got there in time to see Curly play on this small stage and stood 4 feet from him and it was the thrill of a lifetime. His set was over the top on His ShoBud Crossover. He complained that the two ShoBud amps were not getting enough voltage but I surely couldn't tell the difference. When he finished his last tune, Danny Boy, as only he could play it, he then picked up the guitar and accompanied Jimmy Day on his set. Like it has been told before, Curly was a lefty but played the steel and guitar right handed. I wonder if he had decided to have his axes left handed. would he have been even more of a monster player.
Too bad this was before Camcorders. What a treasure that would be. Curly also made the trip to Phoenix in the Spring of 1971 with Carl Smith to play an outdoor venue at a baseball field that featured Mel Tillis and many others, including a very young Tanya Tucker. She was introduced as "Little Tanya."

Dale Granstrom · Post by **Dale Granstrom** » 17 Sep 2009 2:53 pm

Curly has always been my favorite steel player since I saw him playing with the Hank Thompson band in about 1951, right after he recorded Cryin' In The Deep Blue Sea with Hank. I have all of his recordings that were put out on 12" disks and everything else that is available.

I was lucky enough to take six hours of personal instruction from him about seven months before he died. We also talked about his music career and a lot about Hee Haw.

He never played E-9 until he went to Nashville.

Dale G.

Bill Ford · Post by **Bill Ford** » 18 Sep 2009 4:38 pm

Check this out, also some of the ones on the right hand list.....Bill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy_TJVdo ... re=related

Dugg Collins · Post by **Dugg Collins** » 19 Sep 2009 5:25 am

On the recording of I LOVE YOU BECAUSE by Carl Smith. Is that Chalker or Jimmy Murphy? I have heard both and want to know for sure.

Bill Ford · Post by **Bill Ford** » 19 Sep 2009 6:27 am

Dugg,
Go to Gregg Cutshaw's website, he listed the breaks on this lp, don't know if it's on his website, if not do a search.

FWIW...Curly had the C6 on top,E9 on bottom.

Bill

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 19 Sep 2009 12:07 pm

Interesting. His bar does not appear to be a full-round bullet-nosed bar!

Gary Walker · Post by **Gary Walker** » 20 Sep 2009 6:50 pm

Dugg, "I love you Because" is all Curly's. If you get the DVD from Mike, you'll see Curly play it just like the Smith recording. Murph was also an incredible player, but after you've heard them both, the difference really stands out.

Mark Treepaz · Post by **Mark Treepaz** » 22 Sep 2009 9:15 am

Mike Perlowin wrote:Thanks for mentioning the DVD Charlie. I still have HUNDREDS of copies in my garage.

For those who don't already know about this, in December of 1986, Curly gave a concert here in California, and 2 weeks later, performed at Scotty's Christmas party.

Both performances were videotaped. Scotty still has his tapes, but the tapes of the California concert were lost when Jack Lox, the man who put the concert on died.

Jack also put on concerts with Buddy Emmons, Jimmy Day, and Doug Jernigan, and one featuring local players Red Rhodes, Jay Dee Maness, Johnny Davis (who plays guitar on the Chalker concert) Ron Epperson, and myself. All these were videotaped, and all the tapes were lost upon Jack's death.

Fortunately I had a very high grade copy of the Chalker tape. At one point I had the only copy of the tape. I had the DVD made so these performances would not be lost.

The DVD, which is 2 hours long, consists of most of the California concert, (Jack did not start taping the show until after Curly started playing, and did not capture the beginning of the first tune, and one song was lost when the tape ran out,) and the first of 2 sets he did at Scotty's party. During the second set people in the audience got up and sang, and it was determined that this material wasn't worth including on the DVD.

Besides being available from me, the DVD can also be purchased from b0b, Scotty (who will undoubtedly have some in his booth at the convention) The South West Steel Guitar Association (I think Billy Easton has them) and Russ Rask up in Washington State.

I just ordered a copy from b0b here via the forum. I can't wait to see what this is all about.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 22 Sep 2009 9:23 am

So what's the deal with him holding the bar backwards? Did he always do that? Or was it just "stunting" on TV?

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Curly Chalker.....WOW Holy Cow!

Curly Chalker mp3s at www.buckatune.net