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Topic: Brisbane Bop |
Drew Howard
From:
48854
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Posted 24 Sep 2005 1:32 pm |
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I know this has been covered already but couldn't find the info using the search engine.
RE: Brisbane Bop. Any guesses as to what guitar Vance Terry was playing, was it an 8-string or ten, and how he had it set up? Sounds like he had C6 pedals 5,6, and 7.
thanks,
Drew
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Drew Howard - website - Fessenden D-10 8/8, Fessenden SD-12 5/5 (Ext E9), Magnatone S-8, N400's, BOSS RV-3
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 24 Sep 2005 1:51 pm
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| Bigsby T-8, Paul Warnick owns it. |
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Billy Wilson
From:
El Cerrito, California, USA
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Posted 24 Sep 2005 4:03 pm
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| I'm not totally sure, but judging by some of the photos, Vance was already playing one of the many Wright guitars he played. He told me that he was getting about a new guitar a year from Chuck in those days. He'd get one then tell Chuck what more he wanted on a guitar and he would build it for him. Maybe David Wright could straighten me out on that. I believe the Copedent for the ultimate Wright that Vance played (20 pedals 1 knee lever) is printed somewhere on this forum. By Dave Zirbel maybe. |
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Mylos Sonka
From:
Larkspur CA USA
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Posted 24 Sep 2005 8:11 pm
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I have a couple of pictures of Vance and Jimmie from the 23 Club and Vance is playing Wrights/Sierras in both, if memory serves. If someone will email me with instructions, I will post these pics.
I have recordings of Vance in the late fifties after his Billy Jack Wills tenure and before he joined Rivers and the Cherokees, and Vance is playing the Bigsby.
I am not sure whether he was still playing the Bigsby on Dec 31, 1959, the date of his first gig with Rivers at the 23 Club. Maybe David can ask his dad about that.
But in my opinion, none of the Brisbane material features Vance on his Bigsby, and that is because he didn't start recording the 23 Club gigs until around 1964, by which time he was Chuck Wright's "test pilot" for the Sierras.
I pulled the Brisbane Bop reel-to-reels out of a dumpster once when Vance got kicked out of a place in San Rafael. Years later he wanted me to have them so he sold them to me for a dollar. I transferred the tapes to DAT because they were crumbling to pieces, so that Joaquin Records producer Jeff Richardson and I could go through them and locate the original songs that had been on the vinyl Brisbane Bop-- and Jeff then had the songs beautifully remastered for the CD. I remember one cut in particular -- "It's All Your Fault" -- was delaminating so badly that I used a dissecting microscope to painstakingly refix the oxide flakes like a tiny jigsaw puzzle. What a chore, but it came out good enough for one last pass.
For all his problems, Vance at heart was a truly sweet man. He took me and Billy Wilson under his wing and showed us how to play four-part guitar/steel twins. These days I am on steel and showing someone else how to voice the guitar parts. And so on it goes.
A friend is putting together a website for me. I intend to devote some space to Vance and post a bunch of unreleased Billy Jack and 23 Club stuff. There is a lot of video of him, too. Stay tuned.
Mylos [This message was edited by Mylos Sonka on 24 September 2005 at 09:14 PM.] [This message was edited by Mylos Sonka on 29 September 2005 at 09:44 PM.] |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 24 Sep 2005 8:16 pm
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Mylos, please except a personal thank you for whatever effort went into the restoration process. The Brisbane Bop Cd is one of my favorites ever, and "It's All Your Fault" is the top of the heap. We covered that tune in Blueground Undergrass and it became one of our top requests. Everybody loved it. Really, Thanks.
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Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
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John Steele (deceased)
From:
Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 24 Sep 2005 9:57 pm
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Mylos,
You have my thanks too. It's good of you to share those stories. Those recordings would be the perfect example of the term "Cult Classic". I'm glad to be a member of the Cult.
-John |
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Robbie Bossert
From:
WESCOSVILLE,PA,U.S.A.
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Posted 24 Sep 2005 10:05 pm
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Hi Mylos,
I LOVE Vance' playing but have so little of it. The Billy Jack stuff, some Bob Wills,Brisbane Bop, etc... Please let me know about ANYTHING that you make available.......Vance is one of the most unappreciated steelers ever in my opinion. People seem to concentrate more on the negative aspects of his life, which was his business; rather than his brilliant playing, which was for all to enjoy.
[This message was edited by pix1 on 24 September 2005 at 11:06 PM.] |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 24 Sep 2005 11:31 pm
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| I could be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time. |
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Drew Howard
From:
48854
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Posted 25 Sep 2005 6:28 am
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Mylos,
Thank you for your hard work in saving the tapes of this wonderful music, you've made a lot of steelers very happy!
cheers,
Drew
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Drew Howard - website - Fessenden D-10 8/8, Fessenden SD-12 5/5 (Ext E9), Magnatone S-8, N400's, BOSS RV-3
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Jimmy Douglas
From:
Raceview, Queensland, Australia
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Posted 25 Sep 2005 3:02 pm
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What a great thread! Mylos, thank you for sharing those stories, it would be great to see any pictures of the Cherokees and I for one look forward to a page that pays tribute to Vance's astounding musicianship.
JD[This message was edited by Jimmy Douglas on 25 September 2005 at 04:08 PM.] |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 25 Sep 2005 3:56 pm
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| My thanks too, Mylos, for caring enough to save an American musical treasure. |
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Billy Wilson
From:
El Cerrito, California, USA
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Posted 26 Sep 2005 12:31 pm
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| Good to see you you on here Mylos. I'd have mentioned Mylos Sonka right off the bat but I hadn't seen him on here in a long time. It would be great if there were some web space devoted to Vance Terry and his incredible music. |
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David Wright
From:
Pilot Point ,Tx USA.
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Posted 27 Sep 2005 8:21 am
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Sorry, just sceen this post.
I'm not sure either if Vance was playing A Sierra/Wright..on the recordings... I would'nt be surprised if it weret a Sierra, my dad build a few guitars for Vance, He was a increadable player to say the least!.. I had know Vance damm near my hole live... Vance's father in law delivered my youngest sister Kathy in Corning Ca, in 1959...back a few years ago, Dad and I had dinner in at the Doc's one time home/office, it is now a fine dinning joint!..
Mylos, was a good friend to Vance, and knows as much about Vance as anyone, I too would like to thank him for the Brisbane tapes...they are great!.. I had the Honor of palying with Jimmy Rivers also... and little Jimmy Rivers and I played togather in the Kenny Pierce Band in the 80's...if you go to my web sight, I have a pic of Vance there with his 20 pedal marvel...
Mylos email me the pictures I will post them..and fix you email adress here !!! it dont work!!!!!
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 M.S.A.
M.S.A. Millennium
S-12 9 & 6
Bb is where it's at!
Peavey-2000-PX-300
David's Web Page
[This message was edited by David Wright on 27 September 2005 at 09:23 AM.] [This message was edited by David Wright on 27 September 2005 at 09:26 AM.] |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 27 Sep 2005 10:48 am
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Here's a few you may not have seen:
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Billy Wilson
From:
El Cerrito, California, USA
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Posted 27 Sep 2005 2:43 pm
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| Were those top two photos taken at Bimbo's in SF? That show was a big deal because Vance and Jimmie Rivers did very little playing together in the later years. Looks like Johnny Gimble, Don Burnham, Bruce Stelter and who is the other steel player? I still regret not getting to go to that one. |
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Dan Tyack
From:
Olympia, WA USA
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Posted 27 Sep 2005 3:26 pm
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Looks like Bobby Black to me.
Why does Bobby keep looking younger the older I get?
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www.tyack.com
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Drew Howard
From:
48854
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Posted 28 Sep 2005 6:03 am
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Wow! What great shots. THank you!
Drew
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Drew Howard - website - Fessenden D-10 8/8, Fessenden SD-12 5/5 (Ext E9), Magnatone S-8, N400's, BOSS RV-3
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Mylos Sonka
From:
Larkspur CA USA
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Posted 29 Sep 2005 8:42 pm
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The color pics were taken at Bimbo's 365 Club in San Francisco around November 1992. That is Johnny Gimble on mandolin standing next to Kevin Wimmer, the bearded guy on fiddle. The other pic is, left to right, Bruce Stelter, Vance, Don Burnham, Jimmie Rivers and Bobby Black.
My pal Johnny Cuviello, who turned 90 last month, guested on drums that night.
Vance's daughter Rozlyn works a couple blocks away from where I live. I printed the teenage Vance picture and walked it over to her. She confirmed it was her grandmother standing beside Vance. She cried tears of happiness to have that picture, which she had never seen. The picture would probably have been taken after Vance was with the Billy Jack Wills band-- I think he said he got that Fender after he joined. He got the Bigsby later, in 1953.
Notice Vance is using three fingerpicks way back then. He told me his idol was Noel Boggs and he saw Boggs using two fingerpicks and a long nail for the top note. He just decided to use an extra fingerpick instead of a nail. The films I have seen of Boggs seem to show him with three picks, but it's hard to tell with the crappy video quality of the tapes I have. Maybe someone on here knows. I am curious about that.
Mylos
[This message was edited by Mylos Sonka on 29 September 2005 at 09:55 PM.] |
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Jussi Huhtakangas
From:
Helsinki, Finland
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Posted 29 Sep 2005 9:50 pm
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The three finger picks caught my attention too, though I already knew about it. Seems like it was thing to do back then in that area  A lot of the steel players around San Joaquin Valley did; Vance, his predecessor in Billy Jack Wills' band, Tommy Varner did too. Eddie Gabbard who buddied with and learned from Tommy used three picks and I think I have a picture of Bobby Black using three picks too. Any others? |
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Cartwright Thompson
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Posted 30 Sep 2005 2:41 am
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Mylos,
Nice to see a picture of my buddy Bruce "Golden Throat" Stelter.
Back to the subject of Brisbane guitars, Vance once told me that on the recordings he was playing at least three or for different Chuck Wright guitars. He said that he could hear distinct differences in the sound of each one when he listened to the tapes.
I'd love to hear more of those tapes. I know that there is at least one other version of "Twin Guitar Special" that rivals the realeased version. |
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Drew Howard
From:
48854
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Posted 30 Sep 2005 5:46 am
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Wow, Kevin Whimmer, I've played with him, he is a hot fiddler!
Where are Vance Terry's Sierra/Wright guitars?
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Drew Howard - website - Fessenden D-10 8/8, Fessenden SD-12 5/5 (Ext E9), Magnatone S-8, N400's, BOSS RV-3
[This message was edited by Drew Howard on 30 September 2005 at 06:49 AM.] |
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Billy Wilson
From:
El Cerrito, California, USA
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Posted 30 Sep 2005 11:26 pm
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| The 20 pedal pink guitar show in the photos is in the posesion of Wendel Moore. Wendel and his wife Charlotte were big supporters of Vance during his times of need. They did alot for him and in return Vance would do the accounting for Wendel's construction business. I don't know if you guys realize that Vance was an accountant who got very high up in international banking, traveling to New York and London. Wendel would like to donate the steel to a museum for musicians if such a thing existed. |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 1 Oct 2005 9:13 am
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| Yes, the trajectory of his life was pretty extreme. |
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Drew Howard
From:
48854
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Posted 2 Oct 2005 7:05 am
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I've worked out arrangements for "Alamo" and "A Smo-o-oth One" for C6. Eventually I'll get around to tabbing them. They are a blast to play. Hats off to Mylos!
Drew
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Drew Howard - website - Fessenden D-10 8/8, Fessenden SD-12 5/5 (Ext E9), Magnatone S-8, N400's, BOSS RV-3
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