Buck Owens and Moon-"House Down The Block" circa 1962

[Gary Hoetker]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKT2cWRicW4


Mooney is/was the innovator behind the Bakersfield/West Coast Sound, imo. Buck knew it all too well. This particular one circa 1962, among many others, is symbolic of the the inimitable tie Buck and Mooney had. He was one of a kind for creativity and style. Ever wonder how in the devil did they decide what to play on the intros, fills and breaks? The fill at the 20 second mark sends chills. Any idea what the string and pedal combination is on his Fender 1000 for that?

[Mel Bergman]

The break in this song is my favorite solo of any instrument, in any genre. I never get tired of hearing it. Ever. 60 years on it still slays.

[Jack Hanson]

Almost as good as it gets.

[Dave Zirbel]

I have that album on vinyl. Nothing beats Mooney on the Fender 1000, in my humble opinion of course!

[Bob Carlucci]

I could be wrong, and certainly won't argue the point with my friends here, but I think at the time of this recording Ralph was still using an old modified with pedals Magnatone, or National/Supro or something like that and NOT yet using the Fender cable steel.

I think I read somewhere that Buck didn't like the recorded sound Moon got on the Fender.

Just relating things from memory here.
Although the sound on this recording is spectacular, and I WISH I could duplicate it, to me it doesn't really sound like Fender, and Moons later recordings that I am aware of the sound was very thin and bright, not as nice as the sound on this recording... Just my $.02, and if I am wrong on this let me know.... bob

[scott murray]

I posted this interview of Buck & Don speaking to Ralph Emery a few weeks ago... Moon's name comes up a couple times. Buck sure speaks highly of him and kudos to Emery for bringing up his name https://youtu.be/qGjuvG2BC-4

[Greg Cutshaw]

I posted some tab for this here:

http://www.gregcutshaw.com/Tab/Tab20.html

[Dave Zirbel]

I could be wrong, and certainly won't argue the point with my friends here, but I think at the time of this recording Ralph was still using an old modified with pedals Magnatone, or National/Supro or something like that and NOT yet using the Fender cable steel.

The song is from 1962. Pretty sure it's the Fender 1000. I think the Magnatone Frankensteel was used mostly with Wynn Stewart. Bob, I know you're familiar with the short scale Fenders but his was a long scale with Jazzmaster pickups. They do sound a little different...you probably know this...

Any idea what the string and pedal combination is on his Fender 1000 for that?

The top 6 string are probably close to what he had on his Fender. Not sure if he had the knee lever changes on pedals or not...he never had the top E9 chromatic strings.

Also, read this from the old forum. Someone claims to have known and worked with Moon and posted his Fender E9 setup, to the best of his memory. It must have been still evolving because it doesn't show the high G# dropping to G on a pedal.
https://steelguitarforum.com/Forum5/HTML/008043.html

[Ron Hogan]

No DOUBT!

[Ken Mizell]

This is perhaps my favorite of all of the Mooney work on Buck Owens records. I like them all, but this one stands out. I've listened to this many times in a row since I have it on electronic media. I keep hitting replay. This one was one of Jeff Newman's "Moon Eared" specials from back in 1981.

I've listened to most, if not all, of Buck Owens records with Moon over the years, many, many times, kind of fanatically, actually. To me, I believe Moon is playing his old home made steel on House Down the Block. Compare the sound on House Down the Block to Under Your Spell Again, Foolin Around, and others from the late 50's, early 60's when Moon was playing the home made steel. It sounds a lot different than the Fender 1000 played on later Wynn Stewart and Merle Haggard records. No telling. I'm not an expert, just a rabid and obsessed Ralph Mooney fan.

[Michael Sawyer]

I unashamedly attempt Mooney's licks on stage in rural dive beer joints,with both feet.
He is why I bought the damn thang.....

[Donny Hinson]

Mooney is/was the innovator behind the Bakersfield/West Coast Sound, imo. Buck knew it all too well.

Mooney is one of my favorite stylists, and he has influenced me a lot! But in the interest of accurate music history, I feel somewhat obligated to refute Gary's statement (above). Mooney was a major contributor to the West Coast/Bakersfield sound, there's no doubt about that. But it was Wynn Stewart and Buck Owens that get the ultimate credit for it's creation and popularity. Wynn captured the essence of it in his few recordings before Buck achieved popularity. But Buck was certainly the major influence and driving force, racking up twenty-one #1 hits, and another thirty-nine Top-20 hits in the (sub) genre known generally as "West Coast" or "Bakersfield Music". Most of Wynn's stuff (and his only #1 record) came along well after Buck had already become a phenomenal success.