Bobby Thompson and Lloyd Green

[robert kramer]

Photo of two "A" Teamers from July 21, 1971, in today's Nashville Tennessean: banjo/rhythm guitar player Bobby Thompson and steel guitarist Lloyd Green. Bobby, along with Ben Keith, developed the chromatic style of banjo. Bobby was also in the staff band on Hee Haw. Lloyd is pictured here with his Baldwin Sho-Bud "rack & barrel," the "Easy Lovin" guitar, on everything between 1970 and 1973 when he got the first production LDG. The Baldwin was the guitar Lloyd took the C-6th off of and replaced it with a pad all recounted here in Rick Kienzle's article in the September 2008 Vintage Guitar Magazine:

Rich Kienzle, "Vintage Guitar Magazine, September 2008.
https://www.vintageguitar.com/3683/lloyd-green/

Bobby & Lloyd along with Chet, Charlie McCoy, trumpeter Cecil Welsch, plus the Music City Pops Orchestra were working on "Albert Coleman's Music City Pops In A Country Concert" for RCA.

Steel Guitar Rag / Blues Stay Away From Me / Sophisticated Hoe-Down / Lonely Trumpet / Chaplin In New Shoes
Foggy Mountain Breakdown / Release Me / Seattle / The Last Letter / Wintergreen

[Nicholas Thomas]

I wonder what became of this guitar?

[Jim R. Harrison]

I've got that LP by Albert Coleman and the other artists Robert mentioned, above. It was one of my earliest recordings I have with Lloyd Green. Love it!!

[scott murray]

great photo of two Music City legends. it's strange to see Bobby Thompson smiling

it was Bill Keith who developed and popularized the chromatic banjo style with Bobby. both had heard and met Carroll Best who was already playing that style regionally in western North Carolina and said he "learned it from his daddy." Carroll also played with The Morris Brothers briefly in the mid 50s but didn't get much national/international recognition until much later in his life.
Carroll Best:


Bill Keith was a fabulous steel player too and in addition to co-writing the famous Earl Scruggs banjo instruction book, he also co-wrote the Pedal Steel book with Winnie Winston.
Bill Keith:


not to be confused with Ben Keith who was another top steel man and multi-instrumentalist. Ben played steel with the likes of Faron Young and Patsy Cline before spending decades with Neil Young.
Ben Keith:

[David Ball]

I got to spend some quality time with Bill Keith on several occasions while were both teaching at banjo camps.

Bill was amazing. He could sit there talking to you, while noodling crazy jazz on the banjo in the background and if you asked at any time, he could explain in detail the theory behind what he was noodling. But he was always concentrated on the conversation and not the noodling! Not many can do that. I was and am in awe.

I could never touch that man't picks, but he was a good fellow as well as a hell of a picker.

And Ben Keith, playing that cabinet end Sho Bud is a player after my own heart.

Bobby Thompson was a great picker too--never met him, but was always impressed by his chops.

Great pic!

Dave

[Bill Cunningham]

My favorite Lloyd LP is called “Lloyd Green and His Steel Guitar”. It’s the one with “Midnight Silence” on it. Thompson is all over that LP. I think I will play it right now.

[Greg Cutshaw]

Music City Pops in a Country Concert entire album is on Apple Music. Listening to it now.

[Jim R. Harrison]

Bill, I've got that recording by Lloyd as well, although it's only on cassette. My favorite is Lloyd's LP "Mr. Nashville Sound", recorded five years earlier than "His Steel Guitar" LP.

[robert kramer]

Ben Keith's steel in the photo with Faron Young's "Country Deputies," Roger Miller, Darrell McCall,and Odell Martin is the first Sho-Bud double neck.

Scott Murray, thanks for clarifying about Carroll Best and the chromatic style banjo. I knew there had to be an earlier player. And while we're on the subject of Kenny Baker: Baker tells a story of how Monroe first heard Bill Keith. Bill Keith went down to the Ryman and was pickin' in one of the dressing rooms. Baker heard him and went to get Monroe. Monroe listened, but as Baker said: "He wouldn't go in the room." Monroe wasn't sure he wanted that sound in his band, but Baker told him, Bill, I think it would be good for our music." The rest is history. Monroe changed Bill Keith's name to "Brad" Keith because there could only be one "Bill" on the Bluegrass Boys band.

[Ken Pippus]

Not Ben, Bill. Different player.

Ben was a Nashville mainstay then. Spent the long end of his career with Neil Young.

Bill played banjo, including with Bill Monroe, who insisted he be called Brad ( William Bradford Keith.)

[Ken Pippus]

Like Scott said, then deleted! To further confuse matters, Bill Keith ended up playing steel for a while with that other Canadian folk-rocker, Ian Tyson, with The Great Speckled Bird.

[robert kramer]

Here's Bill Keith playing steel on Maria Muldaur's "Long Hard Climb" from 1973:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2EOmtaNpMY

[Bob Knetzger]

Great pic of Thompson and Green together- thanks for posting. I knew of and totally dug Bobby Thompson’s fantastic bluesy “chromatic” banjo picking style, but I didn’t know he could smile! Here, finally Pickin’ AND grinnin’, ala Hee Haw, where most people first heard his endless looping banjo runs on the theme song.

One more thing they had in common: at one point Baldwin owned both ShoBud and Ode/Baldwin banjos. That Baldwin banjo Thompson is holding is quite famous: his “propeller” Style D model Baldwin (named for the shape of the inlay on the highest fret). He modified the sound of the banjo by radically dampening the head with a cloth inside the resonator. He preferred a less clangy banjo tone without all those harsh high freq overtones. He wanted a more fundamental tone for recording.

I’ll find some of those recordings with Green. I love the stuff Thompson did with Buddy Emmons, like the Ray Charles and Marcel Dadi recordings.

[gary pierce]

I still have a cassette recording of Bill Keith when he visited Bobby to learn of his chromatic playing.

[Peter Dollard]

The occurrence of Bill Keiths and Thomsons meeting happened because banjo player Steve Arkin dropped by to see Keith and told him hed just seen "the best banjo player i ever heard". Arkin who had just played the fair circuit that summer with Monroe was returning to Massachusetts. So Keith said "well lets go see him"....Things picked up when Bobby played a fine version of Caravan, Keith had worked aout a version of NOLA by Fred Van epps and soon the two discovered that independent of each other they had changed the course of banjo forever