The other East Bay Ray

[Chance Wilson]

I don't think I've posted on no pedals in 20 years so here's an article about Ray Meany. I have a soft spot for Oakland lore because I got a lot of my inspiration from 78s I dug up passing through there as a kid. I would buy the records with the most scratches and cigar burns figuring they were the hottest numbers that got the most play.

Meany published a lot of sheet music and one has a picture of the Rickenbacher diamond shaped "Vibrolynn" on it-that thing ever turn up?

https://neverquitelost.com/2020/01/09/w ... -route-66/

Meany amp:




Meany lap steel:



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[Mel Bergman]

Great article Chance. Hope you are doing well.

[Chris Templeton]

Yes, a great article.
When I was in Japan in the late eighties I was very surprised at how popular Hawaiian music and hula was.
Clubs, shows and newsletters.
A show I want to, most people were in their 60's on up, so many have passed on since then.

[Glenn Wilde]

Nice! Those items are made by Magnatone, also native Californian. You know about Dude Martin?

[Chance Wilson]

Sorry for the slow response-I'm getting too old to hand crank this signal generator long enough to keep the router on and type with my free hand. I guess I should upgrade to a solar panel one of these days. Yes, I know of Dude Martin, the fifth floor of the Cliff Hotel (Redwood Room was always my favorite night cap),the 13 or so year old yodeling blonde bombshell slap bass player Helen Hagstrom that probably influenced Ollie Imogene Shepard and later married Deuce Spriggins & dragged Dude south to the Hoffman Hayride. I'm equally interested in their local influences from the first full length, color and Broncho western films to dustbowl honky tonk Valley goodness that might have gestated in Cliff Sundin's Oakland studio or the basement of the Mark Hopkins, another old hotel I used to play at. Dude was the dude. If I didn't know better, I'd say country music started in the Wild West and the first race mixing records were of the father of country music and recorded in Santa Monica. I'll leave it to our Peers to fill in the blanks or the winners who write history to leave us thinking we've made it when we stand on a little circle of pre flood wood behind the Purple Orchid. Thanks for your interest!