Surf and Steel - Kai Winding Spinner

Lap steels, resonators, multi-neck consoles and acoustic steel guitars

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Jeremy DeHart
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Surf and Steel - Kai Winding Spinner

Post by Jeremy DeHart »

NO idea who this steel player would be. This is probably the Wrecking Crew folks I would think. Anyone know?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnpToqA ... ding-Topic
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Andy Volk
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Post by Andy Volk »

No idea who is on steel but I'm pretty certain this record has nothing to do with jazz trombone master Kai Winding and Kenny Burrell.
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Mike Neer
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Post by Mike Neer »

Andy Volk wrote:No idea who is on steel but I'm pretty certain this record has nothing to do with jazz trombone master Kai Winding and Kenny Burrell.
Actually it does! Isn’t that bizarre? This was recorded on the day I was born, May 28, 1963.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_Surfin%27
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Andy Volk
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Post by Andy Volk »

After I typed those words I had a gut feeling I'd regret them. Guess they had car payments to make!
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Mike Neer
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Post by Mike Neer »

Andy Volk wrote:After I typed those words I had a gut feeling I'd regret them. Guess they had car payments to make!
Yeah, it’s horrendous.
Bill Hatcher
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Post by Bill Hatcher »

ok. i have this recording in my collection. this is a verve record, so the wrecking crew will not be on it. it was recorded in new york. winding and burrell were verve artist at the time so that explains that. the other thing that explains this recording is that it is a creed taylor production. no more needs to be said about why when you see his name. the players are fabulous, the studio was fabulous and claus ogerman worked on it, so that is fabulous too.....but its not what you would want to hear kenny burrell play, or what you would expect him to play, but then again burrell was also a session player in new york playing on all sorts of things. the sound of this recording is top notch....what they are playing may not be your cup of tea, but for 1963 it was for sure a produced up deal. if you heard this in 1963 it might have had some gee whiz factor.

when i hear recordings like this, i try to appreciate at least the fact that you are hearing the greatest studio players from that era in a live setting where they are probably playing these arrangements all at one time with a studio full of folks. there is a genre of music called space age batchelor pad where these instrumental records have a following. alvino rey playing on the esquivel recordings comes to mind.
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Christopher Blood
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Post by Christopher Blood »

Dang I hope the rest of the record is better. Former trombone player here and Kai Winding was one of my Faves along with JJ Johnson. They made some great Jazz together. This must be around the time JJ semi retired to sell insurance.
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Garry Vanderlinde
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Post by Garry Vanderlinde »

Well I don't know who the steel player is (would really like to know) but it's really cool kind of like Santo with the high vibrato single string work, maybe following a trend of Santo & Johnny hits at the time... 8) 8) 8)
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Dan Koncelik
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Post by Dan Koncelik »

The musicians were secretly recorded as they were waiting for Brian Wilson to show up for the Pet Sounds Sessions while he was off on his search for an army of 50,000 didgeridoos :D
Peter Harris
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Post by Peter Harris »

Dan Koncelik wrote:The musicians were secretly recorded as they were waiting for Brian Wilson to show up for the Pet Sounds Sessions while he was off on his search for an army of 50,000 didgeridoos :D

I'll have what you're having....
If my wife is reading this, I don't have much stuff....really!
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Dan Koncelik
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Post by Dan Koncelik »

I'll have what you're having....

All you have to do is walk hard, Peter:

https://youtu.be/f_1mxNtLCK0
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Cartwright Thompson
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Post by Cartwright Thompson »

I’m looking forward to this:
https://youtu.be/jJYszWHHcnA
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Erik Alderink
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Post by Erik Alderink »

I dig it! Thanks for posting this.
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Dave Mudgett
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Post by Dave Mudgett »

This was the big song from that album - More! The Theme from Mondo Cane - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-I5L-0oJSM

They were coppin' the surf wave. Most of the spacey stuff was the ondioline. It was all over the radio in the summer of 1963, at least where I was (Boston). Pre JFK assassination, pre Beatles, the Great Folk Scare was still in progress, more or less. Kumbaya times.

I still remember this stuff like it was yesterday. I probably still have my dad's copy of the record somewhere in the piles. Yeah, this is not the sound that made them famous, but I still like it.
Bill Hatcher
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Post by Bill Hatcher »

Phil ramone engineer.
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Mike Neer
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Post by Mike Neer »

I used to have a really huge collection of LPs, cassettes and CDs, and most of them were purchased on the basis of who might have produced, played or engineered it. I always naively figured that there had to be some redeeming quality in the recording based on personnel. A lot of times I had to dig deeper and listen a few times to find it. Some projects didn’t make it.

You can find some nice recordings by Marcel Bianchi and other South American and European steel players that have nice vibe.
Michael Diabo
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Post by Michael Diabo »

The album is certainly of the era. Though I can’t find any evidence of this, the surf guitar playing doesn’t sound like Kenny Burrell to me. I have no doubt he could do it, but there is something about it on a couple of songs that sound like they might be played by an uncredited studio player (like a lot of Ventures albums). He certainly stands out on the songs that he sounds more like the Jazz/Blues style of his I’m more familiar with.
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