I wonder what Steel Player did the late Bill Boyd help work!

LJ Eiffert · Post by **LJ Eiffert** » 27 Mar 2008 7:51 pm

I was sitting here with my fingers wondering what Steel Guitar Players did my late friend " Bill Boyd ", help to become famous? Could it be ... ..... or >.. <.. ,,,,,,, or ? Leo J.Eiffert,Jr. & Pigeons with over worked brains.

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 27 Mar 2008 10:42 pm

Lefty Perkins, Paul Blunt, John Boyd, and Noel Boggs all played with Bill Boyd. The Noel Boggs stuff from around 1947 is as good as anything Noel ever did--fantastic. The following pic is from 1945. I'm wondering if that is Lefty Perkins on steel?

Charles Davidson · Post by **Charles Davidson** » 27 Mar 2008 11:48 pm

LJ,doubt if many of this new generation know who Bill Boyd is,there were so many great ones in that era that have been almost forgotten like Bill,Al Dexter,Cliffie Stone,Lula Belle and Scotty,Johnny Bond,Clyde Moody,Ted Daffan,Jenny Lou Carson,Wesley Tuttle,Kenny Roberts,Rome Johnson,Hank Penny,Ernie Lee,Bob Atcher,etc,all great artist but sadly almost forgotten.DYKBC.

LJ Eiffert · Post by **LJ Eiffert** » 28 Mar 2008 2:51 am

Charles,sure this new generation knows who all these people are you mention.Bill's in The Academy of Country Music MUSEUM in Nashville in all those Board members mind.I'm almost sure Fran is in there too! I'll have to take a better look.Righ is right and wrong is wrong,but,the truth is we can only keep these people alive who are gone from this earth.Like I said before in many of my topics.It's my mission to get these people to do the right thing that they all sing about who ? .. .. Leo J.Eiffert,Jr. PS;I would love to see this matter go to court!Oh yes,that right Stonewall Jackson did! It's just my opinion!

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 1 Apr 2008 2:43 pm

LJ,When I played at the Palomino in the late 70's I knew Bill as the ACM guy,and his daughter Sherry ran our lights some times...I had no idea that he played.

LJ Eiffert · Post by **LJ Eiffert** » 1 Apr 2008 6:45 pm

Hello Stu,Sometimes I think we all got a turn at the Palomino Club in North Hollywood,California.Bill Boyd had a lot of talent and was very smart about it.If you knew Sherry,did you knew Bill, JR. Were you a member of the ACM? And last,do you know what Artist act did the gig at the Palomino to close the doors?. . Leo J.Eiffert,Jr.

LJ Eiffert · Post by **LJ Eiffert** » 8 Apr 2008 7:21 pm

Oh well! Looks like " Bill Boyd " didn't help to many Steelers in the music business with a career.Well maybe Tommy Wiggins did with a little help from Bonnie Price.Leo J.Eiffert,Jr.

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 9 Apr 2008 11:37 am

LJ,I wasn't a member of the ACM,Not sure if I knew Bill Jr. I worked for Jimmy Snider,with Thumbs Carlie,and Greg Humphries,Sometimes I played guitar sometimes I played steel.Stu

LJ Eiffert · Post by **LJ Eiffert** » 10 Apr 2008 6:23 am

Hello Stu,you played with some great Neighborhood Musicians there.Boy,the Cannonball Express was on a roll from the Laramie Station to the Crazy Horse in those days.The power of Bandstand personalies was good salesmen for the Steel Guitar and it's Musicians for Country with a little Neighborhood Hootenanny.The Acclaim of my Cajun talk is coming out to much from my fingers.You talk care good Buddy & God Bless you & your Family. Leo J.Eiffert,Jr.

LJ Eiffert · Post by **LJ Eiffert** » 18 Apr 2008 7:00 pm

This topic, some of you forum brothers I know who are members that my late friend Bill Boyd helped.Just like " Shawn Parr " from Go-Country 105 fm Radio Station in Los Angeles,California.> Leo J.Eiffert,Jr.

George Redmon · Post by **George Redmon** » 21 Apr 2008 5:47 pm

Anyone know what steel player played for Ted Daffins i think, and put out "Blue Steel Blues" on a 78. I still have that 78 Record. Wasn't it Al Dexter that did a great version of "Wine, Women, & Song"? Also on a Vocalion 78RPM record? Now that was music...

LJ Eiffert · Post by **LJ Eiffert** » 21 Apr 2008 8:57 pm

George Redmon,Thank for the name " Ted Daffins".Now here a memory.The last time I spoke and scene " Ted Daffins " was in the mid-70's at his house with his relative friend of mine " Tommy James " from West Monroe,Louisians and Ted was livin' just west of Houston,Texas. Tommy James and myself owned a Record Company called CopyCat Records. Sincerely in Music,Leo J.Eiffert,Jr.

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 21 Apr 2008 9:13 pm

Ted Daffan's steel player was Ted Daffan, oddly enough.

George Redmon · Post by **George Redmon** » 21 Apr 2008 9:37 pm

Is that right Mitch? well i didn't know that, thank you for that tid bit. You know, this new modern country music is ok i guess. It's not my cup of tea, i'm a realllllll old guy, in a youngsters body, or is it a youngster in an old....well anyway. I love the old bands like the ones mentioned here in this thread. I still play the old C6 as a matter of fact. I put a lot of the old 78s on CD, and get them out now and then, to remind me that at one time music was great. Not knocking the new country stuff, but Big & Rich just doesn't stand up to the great old country & swing music, that is a part of our culture.

LJ Eiffert · Post by **LJ Eiffert** » 22 Apr 2008 8:58 pm

Hey George Redmon,Big & Rich do stand up! Who you think is running the music indrustry in Nashville USA.Let's give them respect for what they do,not for what they are doing to Country Music with that Rap A Rock A Billy with Traditional Country Music.Wait,the steel-Guitar is still alive in their Music! That means Musicians are still eating. > Leo J.Eiffert,Jr.

George Redmon · Post by **George Redmon** » 23 Apr 2008 7:28 am

No my friend LJ, nothing against B&R, and i just used that "Act" as an example. I stand by my statement in regards to todays music in general. Todays music is not even close, on the same planet as the wonderful music of years ago that helped form the foundation of todays music. As far as eating goes, theres someone out there that will buy anything and call it music, i to am glad they are eating. To say their end product is on a par with the founders of the very music that is part of american culture, and i'm not speaking of just country music. Does our herritage and musical culture a disservice. your buddy George

LJ Eiffert · Post by **LJ Eiffert** » 23 Apr 2008 9:56 pm

George good Buddy,I'm in total agreement with you about our music,Traditional. Big & Rich are the Northern Star to the Eastern Star.Now,as for the South & West,that's something to think about.Remember they call themself the Nashville Mafia. With that frequency modulation gives us the power tone,now you know why Snoop Dog has a Country Record just to add into Cowboy Troy.Something is wrong here and the general public could care less,just give them a limo ride with a bad finger and they're happy. Sincerely in Music,Leo J.Eiffert,Jr. & Pigeons Band flying home with No Body.

Shari Boyd · Post by **Shari Boyd** » 29 Mar 2013 10:10 pm

First off.. I'm Shari Boyd, my dad is the Bill Boyd Leo was talking about.. the ACM guy! He had NO talent for singin or pickin but he had an ear for those that could! I was doing a Google search for my dad as I was feeling a tad melancholy as his birthday is Sunday and I saw y'alls thread and so, joined to reply

Stu.. I remember you well.. the years I ran the lights at the Pal were some good ones. You and Pete on steel, Doug (RIP) on fiddle, Steve on the drums, Humphreys on Bass and Ed Hill on piano with Jack on guitar.. those days just make me smile.

The Pal was a great club but daddy used to swear if everyone took one staple out of the walls it would crumble. Tommy Thomas was one shrew business an too.. I had to work 2 other jobs to pay my bills just for the honor of workin my butt off there...

Peter Huggins · Post by **Peter Huggins** » 30 Mar 2013 8:56 am

Hi Shari! I remember you from my brief days at KGBS-FM / KTNQ, as well as the Palomino. Don't remember if you were at LA Valley College radio as well, but that's where us boys (Cory Baker, Kurt Colditz, Scott Mason) came from. I remember some of those guys were so mean to you and it used to embarass me.

I wasn't aware of your Father's part in Country Music History at the time, but I discovered it later on as I researched Steel Guitar through old recordings and the like. Somewhere in my vinyl collection I have the RCA Bluebird reissue set of Bill Boyd's Country Ramblers, but it's packed away and I haven't listened to it in a long time. I do still listen to a German CD, "The Eyes Of Texas", a lot (Cattle Compact CCD 205). It has selections dating back to 1935, and the singing is not as bad as some other singers of that and subsequent times, haha. And the arrangements are Great more often than not.

I also recall a story you told me about a guitar your father had made for you, like a big cowboy guitar only child sized, with your name inlaid in the fingerboard, and it being stolen. That sad story has stayed with me, and I still keep an eye out for it in my guitar travels (Going to TX next month for the Dallas Int'l Guitar Festival!). I still believe that someday somewhere it will turn up (Hey, anything can happen! I got my Les Paul back 14 years after it was stolen back in college).

I miss the Palomino. Some friends played in there within the last month before they closed the doors. After Tommy died his sons continued to run it, but it was a shell of its former self. Today the building it was in is a Latino banquet hall, rented out for Quincenarias and the like. Of course, the neighborhood isn't what it used to be either....

I always wondered whatever happened to you. Glad to hear you are alive and out there, somewhere.
Best Wishes, Peter aka Guitarmaniax

Shari Boyd · Post by **Shari Boyd** » 31 Mar 2013 9:32 pm

Yes, I was on the radio at LAVC as well.. as Brandy Somers, also served as the Attorney General in the Student Government.

Let me get something straight, my dad was not a musician or a singer, that was a different Bill Boyd. My dad was a DJ and Producer. Don't wanna be confusing the two and giving him credit beyond his contributions to the industry. He was a DJ on AFN Frankfurt and had a radio show called 1605 to Nashville, later at AFRTS he produced a multi segment radio show that documented the history of Country Music to that date. He also produced shows for the military starring a number of different artists as "hosts" to be broadcast as well. Upon retirement he worked for Capital Records and this is when his service to the Academy of Country Music when into high gear, working with Gene and Ron Weed (and later along side Dick Clark at DCP) they promoted and assisted in the growth of the ACM into the mega force in country music it is today. He working with talent on many shows including the AMA's, Hot Country Nights. He had become good friends with many artists during our stay in Germany and he built those relationships and many more over the 40 years in the business.

I never took what Cory, Scott and the bunch did to heart ~ they weren't the nicest bunch but no one ever took into account that although my dad helped me get that job (he was close to Ron Martin) it was my willingness to learn the job, get my license and bust my butt every shift that helped me keep it for 3 years. I was a lot younger than the rest... and when I started at KGBS I was not only a part time student at LAVC, but also a High School Junior. So I was pretty busy.. but yea, I haven't forgotten their "kindness" *laughs* which is why I always find it funny when I've run into any of them in person or on social media ~ they all apparently have no recall of how they treated me back then, they act like it's old friend week... and I just leave it be.

Daddy never made any guitar, but Leo Fender did rework an old Les Paul short neck bass for me ~ that one was stolen...

As for me I finished college, kept one foot in the industry til the mid 90's and then finally decided it really wasnt for me and decided to stick to accounting full time. I have my own little Bookkeeping Service in Nashville ~ take care of my mama whom I moved in with me a few years ago after he retirement from the ACM. I spend a lot of time with friends laughing at the joke country music has become. As much as I miss my dad, I'm glad he wasn't around to see it become a shadow of it's former self. With the exception of very few.... country music resembles more the Top 40 of the 70's than country music but thats just my opinion.

As for Tommy and the Palomino... I had a good time working there.. met a lot of awesome musicians and artists, some I remain friends with to this day, sorry I can;t say that about the many years I spent at KGBS/KTNQ ~ from 15-20 is a long time for a "kid" to hold on to a job and I loved my job there... now, like the Pal, it's just another outlet for hispanics, lol

Peter Huggins · Post by **Peter Huggins** » 31 Mar 2013 10:36 pm

Shari, my apologies for confusing your father with the other Bill Boyd. Funny what our minds remember and scramble up over the years . . .

I don't think I ever met Gene Weed, but I remember him being one of the DJs at KFWB ("color radio") before it switched formats to all-news (Ron Weed is still active in TV production, saw his name in the credits on a show the other night). I never met Leo Fender, but I did talk with George Fullerton on a few occasions. Also I was fortunate to get to meet Les Paul and actually hang out with him a few times.

Cory Baker was on the radio in Barstow, CA for many years, but left the air a couple years ago and now manages a hotel there. Last time I checked, Scott Mason was still teaching radio at LAVC and also still Engineer and occasional on-air talent at KROQ.

Me, I went from radio to the phone company for almost 30 years (with a couple of years working at the original Schecter Guitar Research and some time driving a taxi overlapping those other two jobs), keeping my hand in the music field by playing guitar, bass, and lap steel, as well as doing tech, roadie and cartage work (which I still do), along with historical research on guitars and the occasional work in video production, culminating in my role as cameraman / line producer for the Deke Dickerson Guitar Geek Festivals the last nine years (Deke is one of the few around today to still play music in a traditional vein - American Roots music as he describes it - although his variations into rock'n'roll, etc. are just as demonstrable of his vast talent and sense of humor). Pacific Bell was very good about scheduling me time off to go on the road, which I doubt would be allowed today. Eventually I put in enough time to be able to schedule my vacation weeks around the Dallas and Arlington guitar shows as well as the NAMM show.

My favorite time at Ten-Q was getting to sit in the studio and watch the Real Don Steele (a true L.A. radio LEGEND) at work LIVE and VERY LOUD. My ears are still ringing, haha. Radio ain't what it used to be either, and I guess the same has to be said for the record industry.

Guess I've blathered on long enough, so I'll shut up now.

See you on the internet

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 31 Mar 2013 10:54 pm

Hello Shari, I looked around the net for your father, googling his name in connection with AFN. Radio. Maybe it's new to you?

Manche damaligen Moderatoren sind mittlerweile im Ruhestand und halten ihre aktive AFN-Zeit durch rege Erinnerungen lebendig, wie der Moderator Bill Boyd, der im Video zur AFN-Geschichte sagte: „Sie hörten Airforce Sergeant Bill Boyd. Seid nett zueinander und besonders zu euch selbst. Ich sage niemals Good-Bye. Wir sehen uns irgendwann, irgendwo. Bis bald.“

Die 1994 im Film „Radiostar“ gemachte Aussage Boyds bedeutet jedoch längst nicht das Ende von AFN. Der AFN Korea geht immer noch regelmäßig auf Sendung, der AFN Mannheim versorgt unter anderem die noch in Heidelberg stationierten Soldaten mit Information und Unterhaltung (der ursprünglichen Mission des Soldatensenders) und der AFN Wiesbaden geht seit 2004 regelmäßig live mit diversen Unterhaltungs- und Informationssendungen aus den USA live auf Sendung.

There must be a movie somewhere!
http://www.cinema.de/film/radio-star-di ... 32401.html

Here's a picture I copied from the above information.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 1 Apr 2013 4:22 pm

shari..was the steve on drums my buddy steve namle?
if so, he's still a wonderful drummer and person.

Billy Tonnesen · Post by **Billy Tonnesen** » 2 Apr 2013 1:26 pm

At one time in the early 40's Paul Westmoreland played Steel with Ted Daffan at the Foremam Phillip's Barn Dance at Venice Pier, Calif. I believe Paul was also the writer of the song "Detour".

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 2 Apr 2013 2:28 pm

billy..somewhere along the way okie paul changed the name of his bell ave corral (club in sac) to the detour inn!

...there's a muddy road ahead...detour...

The Steel Guitar Forum

I wonder what Steel Player did the late Bill Boyd help work!

I wonder what Steel Player did the late Bill Boyd help work!

I'm bringing this thread back from the dead:)