Speedy West

[Bobby Caldwell]

The Bear Family box set is a must for Jimmy and Speedy fans. Unreleased tunes as well as the old favorites. Speedy and I were working on a album when he had his stroke. It was just in the talking stages and nothing was recorded. I wish we could have finished the project and so did Speedy. What great music they left us. I knew Jimmy fairly well but Speedy was my buddy. He was like family to me and my wife ,Linda. My mother and father loved Speedy as well. His wife Mary is such a dear lady and they were so close. I miss my pal Wesley Webb West and think of him often. GOD bless the man known as "SPEEDY". Bobby BTW My mothers maiden name was West. Could it be!!!!!!?

[Al Johnson]

Yes, Jerry.I meant to say Harold was a big man in the Cliffie Stone group. Close friend of Wesley Tuttle. I believe that Harold and Jimmy Bryant would do a twin fiddle set once in a while. Jimmy was a double threat fiddle and guitar. Al

[Chris Scruggs]

Goerge Gruhn the instrument dealer is a different person entirely.

cs

[Duncan Hodge]

Hello Stephanie,
This is a little off topic, but at one time I did own a Speedy West Marlen. In any event, I was wondering what part of Florida you are in? I only ask because people who may want to play with a pedal steeler are few and far between in this neck of the state.
Anyway, have a great evening!
Duncan

[Olaf van Roggen]

Speedy is one of my favorites too,I have a Ernie Hagar record called "Swinging steel guitar" where he plays a tune :Steel boogie twist" where he plays with the Speedy West Sound.
Recently Cindy Cashdollar recorded "Speedin' West with redd Volkaert and Lucky Oceans which is a good attempt.
I met Speedy once in Dallas in 2001 at the Steel Jamboree,Neil Flanz inroduced me to him.

[Stephanie Carta]

Hello Stephanie,
This is a little off topic, but at one time I did own a Speedy West Marlen. In any event, I was wondering what part of Florida you are in? I only ask because people who may want to play with a pedal steeler are few and far between in this neck of the state.
Anyway, have a great evening!
Duncan

Hi Duncan. I'm down south near West Palm Beach. I work at the Bamboo Room in Lake Worth. I know of a couple decent steel players around here. One was stuck in a bad bar band playing bad country songs, and the other played in a band called the Atomic Cowboys which was fronted by Jim Wurster. http://myspace.com/jimwurster

[Gary Walker]

I too, like Billy E, owe my love for the steel to Speedy. I was a young teen when he was recording with Ernie Ford, Kay Starr, Bing Crosby in the early 50s and was blown away by his fireworks on that Bigsby.

In '59 he and Roy Lanham were in the Fender room at the Ambassador Hotel. Meeting my hero was incredible. When Roy took a break, Speedy asked me to play rythum to a request that a young boy asked him to play, "Steel Guitar Rag." Maybe his pyrotechnics were a bit too much for the steel purist, but he displayed with such abandon and incredible control, possibly unequaled by today's players.

[Joe McHam]

Speedy is there among some of my steel guitar heros..
www.in-loving-memories.com

[Tim Victor]

Kicking up the dust in another sleeping topic...

I just love that photo of Speedy on p.31 of Winnie Winston's book, with his shades and the butt between the last two fingers of his right hand and his snazzy Marlen-built Speedy West doubleneck. And those white loafers!

I'd love to hear what he sounded like then. Were/are there any recordings of his playing from the '70s?

[Mitch Drumm]

Yes:

Look for a Speedy CD called "For The Last Time" sold right here on this forum.

[Roual Ranes]

If you can find a copy of Ernie Ford and Kay Starr doing "I'll Never Be Free"......listen to what Speedy does to that. Far far out!

[Tim Victor]

[Mitch Drumm]

Look for a Speedy CD called "For The Last Time" sold right here on this forum.

I've seen that one but had no idea when it was recorded. Does anyone have any info on when and where that one was made? Everywhere it's listed, the only date given is 1990, but that can't be right. Speedy hadn't been able to play since 1981, right? And Jimmy died in 1980.

[Roual Ranes]

If you can find a copy of Ernie Ford and Kay Starr doing "I'll Never Be Free"......listen to what Speedy does to that. Far far out!

YouTube's awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3UB7YSxCX4

And yeah, he has it going there. That's a heck of a vocal duet too. Harmony's right on the money and they both swing it out real good.

1951... It's kinda funny what people remember as "'50s music" and what usually gets left out from that decade.

[Mitch Drumm]

Tim:

http://gritsradio.blogspot.com/2009/03/ ... dcast.html

"he and Speedy West did manage to get together to record one final album in 1975 (released in 1990 on the Step One label as "For the Last Time").

[Tim Victor]

Great link, Mitch. Thanks for following up. I'll have to get that one for sure.

[Bobby D. Jones]

I read somewhere that one album of the Osborne Brothers Bluegrass. Speedy played on, Tennessee Hound Dog and ROCKY TOP have steel guitar on them. I know one night I came off stage some guy came up and said he never heard such thing as playing Rocky top on a steel guitar. I said every listen close to the original. Speedy West is right with the Banjo. He advised he had one at home. He never said another word to me when I played there afterward.

[J D Sauser]

Ray, may we assume that you had the three tunings Speedy had on HIS Bigsby BEFORE he settled on a basic E9th and the E13/b5 (aka. F#9th) on his later guitars (Fender 800)?
Do you still recall which they were and how they were setup?
Mind sharing?

Thanks! ... J-D.

Speedy West was a long time favorite of mine. My 4-neck Bigsby has three of Speedy's necks installed thereon. At one time, I could play all of Speedy's recordings, note for note, with the exception of "Stratosphere Boogie" and one or two others that were similar to it in speed.
What I found frustrating was, in the olden days, very few rhythm guitar pickers could continue to play the proper chords for the wild screaming choruses and bar slamming episodes. After many years, I just gave up. Why learn 'em if no one can play them, right?
The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Assn. website has several of Speedy's tunes that we did on live TV back in the good ole days, PRIOR to the 1980's! These of course were done on the Bigsby.

[J D Sauser]

It so seems Ray answered my very question on an other thread and I had overlooked his answer (probably I was traveling).

When Paul Bigsby constructed my four neck BIGSBY in 1956, I asked if he could put Speedy Wests' tunings on it just like Speedy had them. He told me before I rec'd the g'tar that he had set it up just like Speedy's and here's what I got: (Hi to Lo)

G# E C# B>B-FLAT G# E C# B

E C# G# E B-FLAT F# E-flat F# (7 & 8 chromatic)

E B>C# G#>A F# D>E B>C# G#>A E

I must say I am surprised to see that he basically had a crude version of E9th on what was initially said to be Bigsby #1 (and now is guessed to have been #2 really.). Anyways, just around the time when Bus Isaacks went officially "on record" with E9th (Webb Pierce's "Slowly") and turned the C&W world upside down.

Interesting too, that Rays tuning apparently had the middle "B" LOWERED to Bb (whereas Speedy's "F#9th" (E13th with a flat 5th) would raise the Bb to B (it remains my theory that this was because of technical limitations of early PSGs... raising was easier!).

Anyways... it would be nice if Ray could chip in further.

... J-D.