Are steel players weird?

Anders Brundell · Post by **Anders Brundell** » 29 Dec 2001 4:33 am

Sometimes reading old mags over again is rewarding in one way or another. Look what I refound in an old issue (there are no new ones, actually) of Tom Bradshaw´s Steel Guitarist, about Eddie Duncan, one of Hank Penny´s steel pickers:

“Eddie was different. He loved to eat raw hamburger meat and loved to drink kerosene and sweet milk. Sound crazy? (...) I tell you, all steel guitar players are dingy; they are weird!!!”

Well, sometimes I like the thought of being one of a chosen kind and not the average man in the middle – but I don´t think that we are really weird, are we? I think we are different personalities who go our own way, quite simply. Maybe we just weren´t born to follow (and I must admit that I like the smell of kerosene...)
Can some Forumite recall any weird activities of his own?

Anders in Falun, Sweden

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 29 Dec 2001 6:08 am

"“Eddie was different. He loved to eat raw hamburger meat and loved to drink kerosene and sweet milk. Sound crazy? "

Maybe his wife was a lousy cook?

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 29 Dec 2001 6:47 am

In a word, yes. Anyone "normal" wouldn't have picked this instrument.

Bill Crook · Post by **Bill Crook** » 29 Dec 2001 6:48 am

I like the ladies, Dose that make me weird ??

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 29 Dec 2001 6:59 am

I carried my 75 or 80 pound Sho-Bud up 10 or so flights of stairs at Radio City Music Hall NYC to get to the Studio on the top floor or somewhere up there. All this to see if one little "Gliss" for about 3 seconds would add something to a recording session. Then I carried it back down the 10 or so floors . I did get paid union scale but the 3 second deal was hokey...I couldn't use the freight elevator because the Doobie Brothers were setting up for a show in the Theater and they had just a little more clout then me..ya Think ? I actually thought about selling the steel to a guy on the 7th or 8th floor...
Oh yes, On the back of the album cover ,I got credit for carrying the Steel up the stairs, not for playing the gliss !
This whole affair took me about 8 hours with travel time. It may not qualify as wierd but it is one of the dumbest things I've ever done. But Heck, I chose the 80 pound beast and love it !

TP
[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 29 December 2001 at 07:25 AM.]

LARRY COLE · Post by **LARRY COLE** » 29 Dec 2001 7:22 am

Steel players are normal. Its the rest of the world that is weird. All musicians are almost normal too. How many people can use both hands, both feet, both knees, eyes and ears at the same time and all in different ways and make it all come together and get beautiful music? Who are the weird ones? Kerosesn and milk might be good but you can only drink it once. After that you you can't play steel anymore. You will be DEAD. My wife says all steel players are weird, even me, But she likes weirdos.

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LC. WILLIAMS U12, SHO-BUD PRO1,CARVIN TL60

Steven Knapper · Post by **Steven Knapper** » 29 Dec 2001 7:38 am

YES, people who take on this beast are different, good or bad, you can decide that for yourself. My view, probable a little weirder than most IE: more dedicated, detail oreiented, etc.
PS I like what Larry Cole said --- I like that!!![This message was edited by Steven Knapper on 29 December 2001 at 07:40 AM.]

Reggie Duncan · Post by **Reggie Duncan** » 29 Dec 2001 7:57 am

My great grandfather drank kerosene and died in a mental institution in 1920. He played a Lashley LeGrande III and started the Grand Ole Opry. We're not weird, just head of our time.

Ziggie · Post by **Ziggie** » 29 Dec 2001 7:59 am

I always told people when asked what I do that I get on a stage and make a lot of noise, act silly in front of people, and I'm also allowed to drink like a fish, (if I wanted to, but not likely to), and sometimes even wear clothes I wouldn't wear on the street, but I'm in front of all kinds of people stareing at me. But I also tell them I must do it well because people keep paying me to do it again and again and again.................. is that weird???
Ziggie

Mike Weirauch · Post by **Mike Weirauch** » 29 Dec 2001 8:08 am

My great grandfather drank kerosene and died in a mental institution in 1920. He played a Lashley LeGrande III and started the Grand Ole Opry. We're not weird, just head of our time

Reggie, was your Great Grandfather Bobbe Seymour? Oh, just re-read your post and Bobbe plays a LeGrande IIII and is still alive, I think!

LARRY COLE · Post by **LARRY COLE** » 29 Dec 2001 8:15 am

Reggie, I bet it was a black Legrande? Black ones Emmons sound better. Was it a prototype? What kind of amp did he use? A twin I bet. Or was it a rack system?

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LC. WILLIAMS U12, SHO-BUD PRO1,CARVIN TL60

Pat Burns · Post by **Pat Burns** » 29 Dec 2001 8:27 am

I like the ladies, Dose that make me weird ??

..Bill, if that wasn't a spelling error you need to meet some different ladies..

..Webster's defines the adjective "weird" as follows:

weird, a. [Irregularly from weird, n.]

1. Connected with fate or destiny; able to influence fate.
2. Suggestive of the supernatural; unearthly; ghastly; unnatural; uncanny; ghostly.

The weird sisters, the Fates.

...by that definition I don't think steel players are in general characteristically weird..

..now strange is another story:...odd, unusual, irregular, not according to the common way..
[This message was edited by Pat Burns on 29 December 2001 at 08:30 AM.]

Reggie Duncan · Post by **Reggie Duncan** » 29 Dec 2001 8:44 am

Mike, his name wasn't Bobbe Seymour it was Seemore Duncan. He played a Peavey 1000 as a matter of fact. On the leg of his guitar he had one of those cup holders with his kerosene in it. When he died, he was working on the design of a new pickup. Ford, I think.

Hey, sounds like you live in a dangerous place, Mike W.!

Bill Myrick · Post by **Bill Myrick** » 29 Dec 2001 9:05 am

When I took up this confounded instrament back in "69" I was 31 years old and on a "weird" scale, it was an improvement for me !! You see prior to then I spent my time bird hunting all day and coon hunting all night, rain or shine, freezing or thawing.

Reggie Duncan · Post by **Reggie Duncan** » 29 Dec 2001 9:09 am

Actually, I used to play bass with a steel player that had these horrible, bassy, overtones. After some time, I reaized that he was humming out of pitch. He hummed off key the whole time he was playing! He didn't even know my great grandfather!

Gary Walker · Post by **Gary Walker** » 29 Dec 2001 9:38 am

Weird? Not necessary but helpful. Anyone that would tackle playing this Rube Golberg contraption has to be bent just a tad, Gary.

Tom Stolaski · Post by **Tom Stolaski** » 29 Dec 2001 10:04 am

It is the players wearing only Saran Wrap with their hair on fire that are the weird ones. The guys that spin their bars like batons are very cool........................

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 29 Dec 2001 10:31 am

I started playing professionally in 1949, and I lived through all of the fads etc of the next 50 years...and I must say that I was never affected by any of them....if you believe that I have some "Ocean front property in Arizona", contact me soon as I don't have much time left!!!!!! www.genejones.com [This message was edited by Gene Jones on 29 December 2001 at 10:32 AM.]

Ernie Renn · Post by **Ernie Renn** » 29 Dec 2001 11:24 am

Kerosene? Sounds like a real drinking problem to me.

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My best,
Ernie

The Official Buddy Emmons Website
www.buddyemmons.com

chas smith · Post by **chas smith** » 29 Dec 2001 11:45 am

Does a fish know it lives in water?

Steven Knapper · Post by **Steven Knapper** » 29 Dec 2001 11:57 am

Are WE weird??? Case in point, look at Reggie --- ??? I, myself, am KNOWN for being weird on stage, I get to be someone else and get away with it for 4 or 5 hours. It has kept me sane for 30 years. Now that I am over 50, it doesn't matter, now I'm COLORFULL. It keeps us going by the mear fact that we have to keep learning the beast. If any of you can understand what I just said, please explain it to me. Steve

Joe Miraglia · Post by **Joe Miraglia** » 29 Dec 2001 11:59 am

I am sure glad I'm not as weird as most of you steel players--probably because I can't play as well as you! So what if I play out of tune, wear the picks wrong and use an old worn out bar. Never heard of Buddy Emmons or Jerry Byrd and my wife thinks I'm the greatest but there is nothing weird about me!!! Joe

Gary Lee Gimble · Post by **Gary Lee Gimble** » 29 Dec 2001 2:08 pm

Years ago, an available entree in fine restaurants had a main ingredient, raw ground beef. This dish was called steak tarter. I don't think this item added too much to the bottom line and since e-coli has been a hot topic, steak tarter may not be available any more unless you make it at home. In the middle east area there is a brandy made from plums which is 180 proof. They call it Schlivavitze. Don't quote me on the spelling. Anyway, Schlivaitze and steak tarter, kerosene and raw ground beef, whats not to like? A steel player that picks banjo better than steel?

Gary Lee

Steven Knapper · Post by **Steven Knapper** » 29 Dec 2001 2:49 pm

Hey Joe, you funny guy --- and wierd I'll bet!! S.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 29 Dec 2001 3:04 pm

'Had an uncle once who drank shellac. He had a tough life...but a beautiful finnish!

(LOL!)