Slim Idaho - Dewey Hubbard Aderhold - Revisited

[Dave Sichak]

Good afternoon Friends of the Steel Guitar,

Been a while since I've been on here. I've just finished writing a bio for Slim Idaho (aka Dewey Hubbard Aderhold Jr.). I get a kick out of discovering steel players and trying to document their careers where possible. This one has been on my to do list for a couple years. I tried posting this as a reply to a Slim Idaho thread, but its last activity was in 2013, thus this new one.

Why again Slim? Benny Kissinger wrote a song (and performed it) - Slim's Steel. The story I hear / read is that after his death, they would turn down the house lights and a spotlight would shine on his triple-necked steel guitar on the stage. Benny did his song and as you might expect, brought the house down. The WRVA Old Dominion Barn Dance cast did hold a benefit concert for Slim's widow, Mary on November 22, 1948.

I've seen it mentioned he played for Bob Wills, but have seen nothing to verify that. I know he did play with Paul Howard's Arkansas Cotton Pickers (one ad spelled his name Adderholt). He was also with Jack Gillette's Tennessee Ramblers for a times and I have a couple pictures of him with the group with his steel.

In 1964, Ginger Willis wrote a bit about the history and impact of the steel guitar in country music (remember, this is about 16 years after Slim's death) and made this observation:

"...The first electric guitar (Hawaiian) had six strings, same as the original, but the box itself was smaller and the amplifier gave it the different sound that was soon picked up by recording stars. For instance, all Hank Williams' records featured a solo on this new instrument now called the steel guitar. Jerry Byrd, Slim Idaho, Shot Jackson, Little Roy Wiggins and Don Helms were some of the early pioneers of this new sound." (CSR No. 84 - May 1964)

Then about 20 years later, the late Dr. Wayne W. Daniel (and who I knew and corresponded with for over 15 years until his health failed) wrote in his book Pickin' On Peachtree in 1990 (p. 183):

"The unique sound of the steel guitar, an instrument inspired by the Hawaiian music that reached a peak of popularity in this country around the time of World War I, had, by 1940, become familiar to hillbilly-music enthusiasts. By then electrified and made popular by such virtuosos as Leon McAuliffe ... the steel always seem to have been featured on the "(WSB) Barn Dance." Among the many steel guitarists who played on the show were Eddie Ross, Billy Strickland, Jesse Carpenter, Little George Tanner, Jimmy Colvard, Dewey Aderhold, and Boots Woodall.

Observation No. 1 - with references like the two writers nearly 20 and 40 years after his death and being mentioned withe well known folks - why is this guy not in the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame?

Observation No. 2 - I have seen in earlier posts going back over five years on this forum about his date of birth. I did some digging. His World War II draft card registration shows a birth date of April 28, 1925 and was signed on April 28, 1943 - his 18th birthday. That is what his grave stone shows. But the 1930 census records for the Aderhold family shows that Dewey was 3 years old in 1930 - which would mean he may have been born a couple years later. The 1940 census shows him at 14 years old. I'm thinking that maybe his draft card date he signed was an effort on his part to enlist in the armed services and serve his country even though he was 'officially' not old enough and they were probably not asking for any proof back then. If that wasn't enough, the Virginia death record document shows his birth date as April 20, 1924.

You can find his bio on my website if so inclined. I keep finding things. The most recent fun was discovering the KFH Barn Dance Frolic show in Wichita KS that featured the Ark Valley Boys.

I've been updating a couple of other steel guitarist stories on my site as well - they've been kind of ongoing projects as I keep finding things and I've rearranged their flow a bit for easier reading. Beryl Harrell. Roy Honeycutt.

[Don R Brown]

Dave, thanks for your efforts to document and preserve such information. All too often the few fragments of long-ago info fade and are lost. Putting it out there, via book, web site, or other means is the best way to pass the history down through the generations. you are keeping alive, in a manner of speaking, these artists and their contributions.

[Jack Hanson]

Unaware that Jim Colvard played steel in addition to his amazing electric Spanish guitar.

Al?