An idea from Danny Dees on videos ...

[Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)]

Hi, Everyone ...
Got an email this morning from an old steel student of mine, Danny Dees, who isn't yet a member of the forum, but loves to read the posts (he promises to join soon, but asked me to pass on his idea for the moment). Danny has an idea for those of us with multiple videos to do a post with a list of them.

Here's a cut & past of his email in blue type below that explains his idea:

An idea for the guys on the forum
From: Daniel Dees <ddees1952>
To: Jim Lindsey <ExcaliburSteel>

Hey Jimbo. I hadn't got around to joining yet so I can't post, but I've got an idea I wonder if you’d pass on to the guys on the forum and see what they think. I was noticing that you and a lot of guys have several videos on Utube. I know we can all skate around and look them up on there, but what about doing a post in the web steel part of your forum that lists all your videos with the links and maybe add the name of the song on each with a brief line or two about it and if its with a band, who the band is and where and when it was shot?

Maybe title the post something like “(name of the steel player) – My Videos List” or something like that? Would make life a little easier for old codgers like me to just go down the list and pick and choose whatever video I want to see. Kinda like a quick ref list. Do ya think some of the forum guys might go for something like that? Can you please let em know the idea and see what they think? I promise I’ll get around to joining the forum pretty soon so I can do my own posts, but for now if you could pass on the idea, would shore ‘preciate it.

By the way, that last video of yours sounded good but I wish it was longer, never heard such a short version of that song before but you’ve still got Gary Hogue all over you, sounded just like him. Any idea on whatcha gonna do for your next one? --- Danny

I think what he's suggesting is probably something like this (I'll use three of my own videos as an example):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnr48aDUdIs Domino Theory Of Love - Jim Lindsey with Ty Herndon & Ride The West, 1990, The Benchmark in Denton TX

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opitizvWfRM&NR=1 Shameless - Jim Lindsey with Ty Herndon & Ride The West, 1992, Texas The Club in San Angelo TX

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFxEO6KuGR0 Rockin' Robin - Jim Lindsey with Whatta Band, 1989, The Blue Moon in Port Orchard WA

So, does anyone think he's got a good idea about doing a post with a "quick reference" list of links to your videos?

I don't think he's got a bad idea and I can see where it'd be convenient to just go down someone's list like that to pick & choose. The only immediate problem I can see with it is that as you add more videos, wouldn't that necessitate creating a new post with a whole new updated list? Or, is there a way you can go back to a post you've already done and edit it with an update?

I'm sure Danny would appreciate any feedback you may have on his idea and I must admit that I'm curious, too, to see if anyone would be interested in his suggestion.

[Stan Paxton]

Jim & Danny, I think it's a good idea, at least from the listeners viewpoint; I never was good at finding things on the computer, so would help me to have 'em all right there on 1 page. Of course, I guess the guys doing the posting of links should weigh in on this as they are the one's doing the work.

[Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)]

Hi, Stan ... thanks for replying. Danny Dees is sitting right here as I type (well, he's actually messing around with my steel at the moment) ... he decided to "take a drive up from the country" and drop by to see how many had responded to his idea. You should have seen his face when he saw that there were over 100 views of the post and only 1 person responded. I guess he was a little disappointed and was figuring he'd hop on here and see several opinions, both pro and con, on his idea.

At the moment Danny is asking me to please do a complete list of my videos and serve as the Guinea pig to see how much work would be involved in making one. I'm not sure exactly how many videos I've uploaded, but I think there are several and it might make for a good bit of typing.

I'll give ole Danny this much ... he's persistent and says "Stan would like a list like that; at least do one for us; that way we can find your videos easily". He's telling me that if I do a list, maybe others will see it, see how handy it is and it might catch on as something they'd like to do themselves.

Well, it is a lazy Saturday and really cold outside, so I may go ahead a do one (that is, if Danny here will tune up my guitar and play it right ... he's using the torture method on me ... he detuned a few strings and is purposely playing it out of tune, making my steel sound like a dying calf in a hail storm, to see my face cringe and my ears bleed ... and says he's going to sit there and play it like that until I do my list) Will my ears ever be the same after hearing my poor steel sound like this?

[Chuck Hall]

It would be a great idea for those of us that only have a few videos up. But, Take someone like Bill Stafford and he has a ton of stuff up so it would be a lot of work to find them one at a time and create an html link with explanation.

I don't want to discourage anyone. Like I said, I think it's a great idea.


For folks with a lot of stuff especially if it is on you tube, you could go to their home page and see their list. Like Mickey Adams (singlpilot)

Chuck

[Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)]

I would be a great idea for those of us that only have a few videos up. But, Take someone like Bill Stafford and he has a ton of stuff up so it would be a lot of work to find them one at a time and create an html link with explanation.

I don't want to discourage anyone. Like I said, I think it's a great idea.

Chuck

Thanks, Chuck, and I agree with you. Ole Danny and I have been sitting here talking about that very thing over the last few minutes. I do like Danny's idea and I think it's got a lot of merit, but, I'm with you when it comes to those who have a ton of stuff up already ... it could literally be a major project to do such a list.

I think I'll go ahead and do my list and post it in this thread (partly because I'm curious as to just how much work it'd actually be and partly because Danny has tortured me into submission with his out of tune playing of my guitar).

[Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)]

For folks with a lot of stuff especially if it is on you tube, you could go to their home page and see their list. Like Mickey Adams (singlpilot)

Very good suggestion, Chuck. I'll be sure that Danny reads this because it's a pretty easy way to look up videos.

I didn't get around to posting it yesterday as I ended up spending the whole day and evening pretty much giving Danny some new steel lessons on a few things he wanted to learn, but on Saturday we spent some time doing my list and it definitely does entail some typing and then going to each video individually to capture the link. Nothing difficult, but it was tedious and time consuming for sure.

Since we went ahead and did the list, here it is at Danny's request ...

Blue Jade (A Simple Rendition) – Jim Lindsey – Played at home in Arlington TX to a backing track, Dec 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc3V5RcDKjc

Blue Jade (A Practice Run-Through) – Jim Lindsey – Played at home in Arlington TX to a backing track, Dec 2009, a preliminary practice run-through played while getting some ideas for the song and a feel for the backing track. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsedYWfhcBQ

Sweet Memories (A Rough Rendition) – Jim Lindsey – Played at home in Arlington TX to a backing track, Dec 2009, a very rough rendition played early morning in the throes of a dastardly hangover (the result of having experienced drinking beer for the first time the night before). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU8Sr9ub-K4

Sweet Memories (A Practice Run-Through) – Jim Lindsey – Played at home in Arlington TX to a backing track, Dec 2009, a preliminary practice run-through played while in the grips of a beer buzz (my first time drinking beer in all my 55 years). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSqA-MDtbL8

Steel Practice + Dogs + A Friend + 3 Six Packs of Beer = This: – Jim Lindsey – Played at home in Arlington TX to a backing track, Dec 2009, when trying to come up with some ideas to play on Sweet Memories, my friend, Daniel, pops over with some beer (which I try drinking for the first time) and between the beer, Daniel making me laugh, my dogs making me laugh and even a flea bite, I never make it through the song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UIJo5N9wqs

Domino Theory Of Love - Jim Lindsey with Ty Herndon & Ride The West, 1990, The Benchmark in Denton TX http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnr48aDUdIs

Shameless - Jim Lindsey with Ty Herndon & Ride The West, 1992, Texas The Club in San Angelo TX http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opitizvWfRM&NR=1

Rockin' Robin - Jim Lindsey with Whatta Band, 1989, The Blue Moon in Port Orchard WA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFxEO6KuGR0

My Baby Thinks He’s A Train (Playing steel in an earthquake) – Jim Lindsey with Whatta Band, 1989, The Ship Ashore Resort, Smith River CA. This one is a survival mode recording … just as we kicked off the song, waves upon waves of aftershocks from the San Francisco quake of ’89 began hitting us. Very difficult to play steel in with my guitar moving in “circular” small violent motions under my picks and bar … at one point, the female vocalist (Paymela Faye) turns around and says “Just keep playing and they’ll keep dancing”. We kept playing and they kept dancing. Occasionally, you can see the camera shaking and hear the music warble as the shock waves go up the tripod into the camera. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9gOALoltko

I Fall To Pieces – Jim Lindsey with Whatta Band, 1988, The Mountain Way Inn, Spanaway WA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad2L5FRVo6c

Trick Rider – Jim Lindsey with Ty Herndon, 1992, The Rodeo Exchange, Ft Worth TX. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPK-RuiS-IM

What Kind Of Fool – Jim Lindsey with Ty Herndon, 1991, The Rodeo Exchange, Ft Worth TX http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFNQsoLDNj4

Lone Star Beer (& Bob Wills Music) – Jim Lindsey with Whatta Band, 1988, The Mountain Way Inn, Spanaway WA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YXJrZrrAGY

Leave Him Outta This - Jim Lindsey with Ty Herndon & Ride The West, 1992, Our bass player, Randy Jeter, sings a Steve Wariner tune, Texas The Club in San Angelo TX. This one is an example of a sound man who doesn’t like steel and he kept pulling the steel way back in the mix, particularly during a brief steel solo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vudm1SRlIu8

Living In A Moment – Jim Lindsey with Ty Herndon, 1998, I can’t remember the name of this particular venue, but we were somewhere in Wisconsin and were co-headlining with Wynonna Judd (Wynonna, of course, being the main headliner) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDebV8jPbSI

What Mattered Most – Jim Lindsey with Ty Herndon, 1998, I can’t remember the name of this particular venue, but we were somewhere in Wisconsin and were co-headlining with Wynonna Judd (Wynonna, of course, being the main headliner). On this one, I got to use my Match-Bro. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBqlcs7AUog

She Wants To Be Wanted – Jim Lindsey with Ty Herndon, 1998, I can’t remember the name of this particular venue, but we were somewhere in Wisconsin and were co-headlining with Wynonna Judd (Wynonna, of course, being the main headliner). I apologize for the video and audio being out of sync on this one. Somehow, when I captured this one off of VHS onto my computer, a lag occurred between the audio and video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B7YeDmmTFc

I Love You Because - Jim Lindsey with Whatta Band, 1989, The Blue Moon in Port Orchard WA – There’s a story behind this one. I was very sick and ended up in the emergency the same night after the gig … my fever was 103 degrees. What I thought was a bad cold turned out to be a full blown case of pneumonia. There’s one little “jump” in the video near the beginning of the song where the guy recording it had to suddenly change the battery. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LczsOXAPTTY

They’ll Never Take Her Love Away From Me (My tribute to Gary Hogue & Junior Knight – song only) – Jim Lindsey playing at home along with a video of Gary Hogue and Junior Knight playing this song, Sep 2009. My twin in the song is with Gary’s playing while I play rhythms and a harmony with Junior’s playing. Meant as my tribute to these two great steel players, this is the second time I attempted to play steel again after laying off from music for nine years. Sadly, Gary is no longer with us but Junior is still going strong and remains one of my great inspirations. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_g0IaVZAag

They’ll Never Take Her Love Away From Me (My tribute to Gary Hogue & Junior Knight – with a vocal narrative) – Jim Lindsey playing at home along with a video of Gary Hogue and Junior Knight playing this song, Sep 2009. My twin in the song is with Gary’s playing while I play rhythms and a harmony with Junior’s playing. Meant as my tribute to these two great steel players, this is the second time I attempted to play steel again after laying off from music for nine years. Sadly, Gary is no longer with us but Junior is still going strong and remains one of my great inspirations. This video includes a vocal narrative by me addressing how Gary & Junior have been inspirational and a little about my guitar, which was Gary Hogue’s first Mullen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raynS6i7Buk

Angels In The Snow – Jim Lindsey playing to a CD of Gary Hogue’s instrumental, Angels In The Snow, Sep 2009. This is one that I was very reluctant to upload and I apologize that I’m shirtless in the video … this was my very first attempt to play steel again after laying off for nine years and this “Kodak moment” was captured on film by my old student, Danny Dees, who dropped by for a visit one day and, after learning that I’d not played since 2000, convinced me to finally put on my picks and try playing a song. My A/C was broken and the temperature in the house was a torturous 101 degrees (thus, the reason for no shirt). I played twin along with Hogue’s playing on the CD, but at Danny’s suggestion, I made sure my steel volume was dominant to be easily heard. Since I wasn’t dressed with the idea of ever uploading it to YouTube, I never thought anything of it, but leave it to Danny to spread the word to a few other of our steel playing buds that he’d got me to finally play again and caught it on film … suddenly, I had so many requests in email from people wanting to see this very first attempt at playing again that I finally complied, uploaded the video and here it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTHyITDrRsc

The following are audio files taken from cassette tapes and set to a slide show of still shots:

Too Cold To Hold – Jim Lindsey with Jon Dennis Smith & Southern Thunder, 1990, DSL Recording Studios, Dallas TX. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vd56PRrHc4

Unidentified Tune by Eddie Raven – Jim Lindsey with Jon Dennis Smith & Southern Thunder, 1990, live show recording at a club in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. This was recorded with a small cassette recorder placed nearest the steel amps, so the steel is very out front (recorded for the purpose of critique, something I used to do at live gigs to grade myself and improve any deficient areas that needed working on) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EZw46tUlcY

Highway 40 Blues – Jim Lindsey with Whatta Band, Dec 28th 1988, The Esquimalt Inn, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. This was my birthday and the club owner sent up several shots of a liquor called Black Sambuca … by the third set in which this was played, I was pretty buzzed and this was the only time I’ve ever played live on stage with a buzz. This was recorded with a small cassette recorder placed nearest the steel amps, so the steel is very out front (recorded for the purpose of critique, something I used to do at live gigs to grade myself and improve any deficient areas that needed working on) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKCjvHpXF1A

A Way To Survive – Jim Lindsey with Whatta Band, 1989, The Ship Ashore Resort, Smith River CA. This was recorded with a small cassette recorder placed nearest the steel amps, so the steel is very out front (recorded for the purpose of critique, something I used to do at live gigs to grade myself and improve any deficient areas that needed working on) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT-6g7gT-Ec

Don’t Tell Mama I Was Drinking – Jim Lindsey with Ty Herndon, July 3rd 1997, The Napa Valley Fair, Calistoga CA. A board mixed recording from our concert for The Road, heard in 23 countries over 250 radio stations live via satellite. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7RSiAvo8e4

Wow ... I didn't realize I had uploaded that many. Anyway, Danny Dess, here's the list you wanted.

[Pete Young]

I think that's a great idea. Bill Ferguson did that with all the videos he has posted. It makes it so easy to just go to the one you want.

[Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)]

Hi, guys … I’m never one to feel to need to “defend myself” when it comes to the way I play steel, but I got a very disturbing email from someone regarding my steel playing in the Whatta Band videos.

The guy in question sent an email and really blasted me in a not so complimentary fashion (to put it lightly). He wasn’t blasting the quality of my playing, he was blasting how much I played in the Whatta Band songs. He really dogged me about walking all over the singers and guitar player and said straightforwardly that in his opinion I was one of those discourteous and disrespectful steel players who give us all a bad name by playing too much in the songs and that I was a very poor example of what a steel player should be.

So, I thought it might be wise to say a quick word about the Whatta Band videos, lest someone else ends up getting the wrong impression regarding how much steel is in those songs (just like the guy who blasted me so badly in email).

Yes, it's true that I played a lot in the course of the songs with Whatta Band, but, that is exactly what Whatta Band wanted. When I was hired with that band they literally had one requirement for their steel guitar player: play too much and too loud. And, that was for real. It took me a little while to get used to playing that much in songs, but that was the job requirement with that band and what the singers and guitar player wanted, required and demanded of their steel players. We were four pieces, instrument-wise, and they wanted the steel to be dominant at almost all times and fill every hole and gap, not merely with chords, but with picking as well. Basically, their approach was almost to structure the band around the steel as a nucleus for the sound and it’s what worked for them, what they liked and what they wanted for their sound.

So ... if the amount of steel in the Whatta Band videos seems a little excessive and too much or runs over the singer and guitar player, the steel was never played with that intent. Please understand that it was the band's requirement as a whole for it to be that way, not my own personal desires as a steel player to be discourteous and play too much.

[James Kerr]

I have at the moment 37 Videos up there on You Tube, there is no way I would spend that much time listing them all, think how long the page is going to be. The reader would get fed up before reaching the end.

Anyone who wants to browse only needs to click "More from Kerrsteel" on the You Tube page and all titles will be revealed and how old they are.

James.

[Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)]

James, I understand ... after I typed up my list for Danny Dees, I was definitely ready to take a break!

I noticed that, after seeing the time it took me to do mine for him, Danny hasn't mentioned anything more about people doing full video lists, either.

He did give me a call on the phone, though, to say that he appreciated the list and that he's using it.

By the way, I looked up some of your videos and enjoyed them.

[Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)]

Oh, by the way, James, I love the little backing track you used on Will Ye Go Lassie Go (Wild Mountain Thyme). That's the first time I've heard a backing track for it and it was cool.