Fred Shannon
From:
Rocking "S" Ranch, Comancheria, Texas, R.I.P.
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Posted 30 Jan 2004 11:51 am |
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This player was born on June 21st, 1936, to two loving parents Flo and Earl, in Pittsburg, Crawford County, Kansas. He had an adopted brother fourteen years old at the time. Remember this was in the latter part of the "dust bowl" in the mid-west, and jobs were scarce. Due to the depression, his mother's sister had moved and was living in Oregon. She lured his folks to the northwest, telling them jobs were plentiful. They weren't and as a result, his folks lost everything. Our guy was 18 months old at that time.
From 1942 through mid-1950, he attended J.V. Beach elementary school in Portland, Oregon. While in the sixth grade he met his childhood sweetheart who he later married in1955. This marriage produced four great children; two boys; two girls.
At age 7, a door-to-door salesman convinced his mother to enroll her charming son in the Oregon Conservatory of Music and Art, guitar class. He took class lessons for two years there, and his music education continued with Oahu Music Co. Several of our players have experiences with that company. Our player had a drunk for a teacher which soon brought that situation to an end.
He then spent three years with the Gibson Guitar Co. Music Course before he was "dropped". My inquiry as to the reason for the cessation, reaped a response similar to "It was due to my highly developed 'ear'."
Through no fault of his own, "Little Ivan" Roy Wiggins, playing with Eddy Arnold, became his next teacher. Wiggins was on virtually every radio station in the area, playing his heart out. This relationship came to an abrupt end when he chanced to hear some guy playing "Moonland" like he'd never before heard it played. The DJ failed to identify the player so it wasn't until some weeks later he heard another song, entitled "Steelin' is His Business" by this same unknown artist. The guy's name was Jerry Byrd!
From that moment on, Jerry Byrd has served as his mentor and instructor. He is also a very special one of a kind friend. Some time later, our guy was invited to become the Secretary of the Jerry Byrd Fan Club, working with President Millie Annis, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
While in grade school, he played on many talent programs hosted by the school. By 1950, he was a regular on the Oregon Journal, Juniors Radio Show each Saturday. He remained with that show over three years. This was a talent show, hosted by the local Oregon Journal newspaper over Radio KALE, which later was changed to KPOJ.
Sometime around 1950, he found a Fender Triple-8 to replace his Gibson single-6. Shortly thereafter, he won a spot in an all adult country band headed by one Jim Clinton. Clinton was a singer-guitarist of some renown in the area. but in short order our player was hired by Arkie Bennedict to play in his very popular "Jolly Cowboys Band", playing every Saturday morning over Portland's own radio station KXL.
This band also played at the area's most popular dance hall, The Division Street Corral, every Saturday night before crowds of 700-1,000 people. The audience consisted of adults and kids alike. After a couple of years, Arkie left the area, and our guy was asked to stay on with Arkie's replacement, Tom Kizziah and his West Coast Ramblers. He stayed with this band for a number of years.
While playing with this band, in April 1956, he acquired his six pedalled quad-necked Bigsby. This band primarily traveled throughout the area doing one nighters, and on their off-nights, routinely backed-up touring Nashville stars such as T. Texas Tyler; Lefty Frizzell; and many more. They were also on the air each Saturday night over Radio KGW, the NBC affiliate. Must have been pretty good because they followed the Grand Ole Opry, and they remained there a long time.
A local DJ, Heck Harper, subsequently took over the dance band chores, and again our player was asked to stay. They played for several years throughout the area, including the Portland Coliseum with a huge gathering of Nashville stars such as Carl Smith, George Jones, Hank Snow, etc.
On one occasion, while accompanying Carl Smith, neither the fiddler nor the accordion player knew any of Carl's songs, so after they each shrugged off the invitation to kick-off Carl's first song, Carl looked at our steel player with an inquiring and helpless "help me" expression on his face. In those days, being able to play the day's hit songs in the same style, note for note, was the standard. Our player knew Johnny Siebert's arrangements and set forth. When he got to the end of Johnny's steel part, Carl walked back to the steel guitar, and motioned him to play the entire song. He did this on each and every song on his list, that evening. He told me from this scarey experience, he learned to play songs from beginning to end, and not just the steel part in the middle. A hell of a way to have to learn such a complicated lesson.
He related another experience relative to a Ray Price incident. The band was playing at the Division Street Corral, fronting a Price Show. They were filling, waiting for Ray Price to arrive after his first show in downtown Portland. When the Price entourage hit the door, all his band members stopped, and packed-up their gear clearing the stage. During the first Price break our player heard a commotion in the dark among several of the spectators. It was some of the Price band members, led by Leon Rhodes. They had heard our guy playing when they entered the auditorium, and they were trying to find him. They seemed excited, and our player confirmed to them he was the one playing the Bigsby when they arrived. He was then invited to tour with them and ultimately end up in Nashville.
Evidently Leon felt he had a good chance of getting a music job when they got to Nashville, however, Ray and his manager were "a little under the weather", and the deal never was closed. The Price people left town and he remained behind. It was some months later he learned who Leon Rhodes was, simply one of the greatest guitar players of all times.
He informed me he feels fortunate to have had the playing experiences he's had and to have played dance halls, night clubs, outdoor street dances, live radio, live television, and a few studio recording sessions. He plays country-western, swing, and Hawaiian. After all of these years, he's returned to his beloved lap steels, and has enjoyed, with great enthusiasm, the experience of playing beautiful melodies on just six-seven strings.
His collection of Rickenbacher Bakelites have now grown to eleven, and now include additionally a double-8, and Shot Jackson Fry Pan-- short Scale. Currently, he's between playing jobs, but has had the good fortune, to have kept his day job.
His entire life has revolved around his steel guitar music. He further told me he does not regret a single day of it. His old record collection of steel guitar melodies is his most valued possession, that is just next to his guitars.
There have been those who expressed perhaps he failed to reach a higher status in the music business simply because he didn't drink, do drugs, smoke, or whatever. My immediate impression is he really doesn't care about the "miss" that much. As he and I see it, he did what he did, and has remained coherent enough throughout his life's experience to have enjoyed it very much.
He further told me he did the very best he knew how to do, and tried to stay consistent with it. He also informed me he'd like to be able to play music till his last, dying breath, and without steel guitar in his life, he really doesn't know what he'd do. He's even made a request in his will, all of his guitars be buried with him. When I asked him why he said, "Just so Rick Aiello doesn't get them too!" 
Got any idea who this youngster is? Let's go now!!!
fred
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The spirit be with you!
If it aint got a steel, it aint real
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