Chuck Caldwell-Okla Steeler

[Ken Frazier]

home : news : obits Share November 18, 2010

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11/18/2010 1:19:00 AM
Charles 'Chuck' Caldwell Jr.



Funeral for Charles "Chuck" Caldwell Jr., 76, Lawton, will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Letitia Baptist Church with Raymond Caldwell officiating.

Mr. Caldwell passed away Monday, Nov. 15, 2010, in Waurika.

Burial will be at Letitia Cemetery under direction of Lawton Ritter Gray Funeral Home.

Chuck was born April 10, 1934, in Duncan, to Charles Leonard Jr., and Bessie Mae Dodson Caldwell. He grew up in Indiahoma and Lawton. He married Lois Caldwell on Jan. 13, 1961. He was known by musicians with whom he has played as "The man who tamed the steel guitar." Chuck, aka Sebert McDokes, had worked with a number of Western Swing and Country music luminaries from his long-time base of Lawton. He started playing guitar in Lawton at age 5 or 6 when he picked up a guitar his mother owned and on which she could play a few chords. While he never learned to read music formally, Chuck began picking out melodies by ear, took a few guitar lessons, and joined his first band at age 12. As a young boy, he played guitar but his eventual encounter with the Hawaiian steel guitar caused him to switch to steel. However, he retained the right-hand technique he developed for the standard guitar using a straight pick in the nails of three fingers.

Since Lawton is close to Fort Sill, plenty of work for musicians existed in the town to entertain troops on R and R. By the time he was 16, Caldwell was playing professionally throughout Oklahoma and Texas with the Southern Aires, led by Western swing and rockabilly legend, Tommy Allsup. He kept this gig from 1950 to 1964, during which he saw his first pedal steel guitar around 1950. After trying to make his own pedal steel with mixed results, he acquired a Gibson Electraharp in the late 1950s, began mastering the instrument and became known in Oklahoma western swing circles as a fine player. That status garnered him his most extended touring dates with Merl Lindsay and his Oklahoma Night Riders who were based in Oklahoma City. He traveled from Nashville to North Dakota, and from Las Vegas to Anchorage, Alaska, playing with Lindsay.

Throughout his career, Caldwell worked with a number of significant musicians on stage, including Loretta Lynn, Marty Robbins, Tex Ritter, Don Gibson, Webb Pierce, Jim Reeves, Little Joe Carson, Mo Bandy, and Joe Stampley. Chuck also did eight tours with the Grand Ole Opry, backing up Little Jimmy Dickens, and also toured with Pee Wee King. With the Southern Aires, he opened for Elvis Presley's combo seven times in 1955, just before Elvis exploded on the national scene with "Heartbreak Hotel" in 1956.

Caldwell has seven independent CDs to his credit, including Johnny Case Presents Chuck Caldwell: Country Music Legacy (Priority Records), recorded from 1974 to 1977, demonstrating his grasp of the instrument on a collection of country music classics, as well as his own composition, "Lawton Blues." While his overall career might be relegated to the good memories of musicians with whom he played, and who obviously appreciated his skill on the steel, he is also remembered for a unique footnote in rock and roll history. He was present at a Clovis, N.M., recording session in May of 1957, where Buddy Holly was laying down his first big hit, "Peggy Sue." Needing a little more rhythmic texture, Caldwell was asked to jingle a set of keys during the recording, which can be heard especially during the song's choruses. Chuck was also asked to be on Hee Haw for five shows between 1974-1976 but turned them down and gave the job to Curly Chalker.

He went on the road with Wayne Newton to Las Vegas, where he played on and off until 1979. In 1979, he returned to Oklahoma to play with "The Branders." Awards Chuck Caldwell has received in his 55-year country music career: 11 different Country Swing Halls of Fame, Branson Ring of Fame, Country Music Hall of Fame in Albuquerque, N.M., Missouri Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Tennessee. In 1984, the Country Music Magazine listed Chuck Caldwell as one of the top two steel guitar players of all time. Chet Atkins was his inspiration. Daddy thought that no one could hold a candle to Chet Atkins.

Survivors include four sons and their wives: Raymond Caldwell and Phyllis Gallay, and Jimmy Dale Caldwell and Cheryl, all of San Antonio; Rodney Caldwell and Deborah, Helotes, Texas; and Charles Robert Caldwell and Laura, Alma, Ark.; one daughter, Victoria Caldwell Biscaino, Lawton; his brother and sister-in-law, Billy Quinn and Betty Caldwell, Lawton; and four grandchildren: Preston M. Laughy, Jaedon Mitchell, Emberlin Grace Caldwell and Ainsley May Caldwell.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his daughter, Deborah Ann Conway; and his wife, Lois Caldwell.

An online guest book and sympathy cards are available at GrayFuneral.com.

[Mitch Drumm]

Here is Tommy Allsup's Southernaires in 1952. Is that Chuck second from left behind the Fender steel? He would have turned 18 in 1952.

[Ken Frazier]

I do not know. I arrived in Lawton Okla in late 1970.I had the pleasure of working with Chuck Caldwell off and on for many years before leaving for Phoenix Az in 1987.
Ken Frazier