One of the finest players and one of the nicest people I have ever met....rjMeeting Norm Hamlet
Moderator: Shoshanah Marohn
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Rick Jackson
- Posts: 446
- Joined: 4 Aug 1998 11:00 pm
- Location: Carson City, Nevada
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Mark Lind-Hanson
- Posts: 430
- Joined: 21 Dec 2004 1:01 am
- Location: Menlo Park, California, USA
Well you can't bat 1000-
It does seem to me that the way he(Dylan) had things set up with the keyboard, it actually was funcvtioning that way. But then, it has been a year now since I last saw him. If he HAS been playing the Fender on stage, that's some news to me. That's right about the lyrics though. Like I said, it's been a year.
He kept a Tele on the side of the stage also
(speaking of hillbilly feng shui) which he never touched nor went close to, either.
As far as his keyboard playing goes, it's a little like watching Paul Revere and the Raiders, all over again, you know? But I always preferred him as a guitarist.
Norm sounds like a fine guy. All those old Bakersfield guys always were.
It does seem to me that the way he(Dylan) had things set up with the keyboard, it actually was funcvtioning that way. But then, it has been a year now since I last saw him. If he HAS been playing the Fender on stage, that's some news to me. That's right about the lyrics though. Like I said, it's been a year.
He kept a Tele on the side of the stage also
(speaking of hillbilly feng shui) which he never touched nor went close to, either.
As far as his keyboard playing goes, it's a little like watching Paul Revere and the Raiders, all over again, you know? But I always preferred him as a guitarist.
Norm sounds like a fine guy. All those old Bakersfield guys always were.
Lana,
I got to meet Norm at the 2004 TSGA Show in Dallas. On that Sat. My wife & I were sitting listening to all the "Big Boys" pick! I told her, look at that guy sitting over there, (about six seats from us), he looks just like Norm Hamlet!!! I looked and looked at the "line-up" of pickers..but I could not find his name! (I still don't know why he did not play that show?) Finally I could not stand it any longer, I went up to him & asked him if he was in fact Norm Hamlet, he said yes!!! I got his autograph chatted a short time etc. What a GREAT steel player and just a GREAT PERSON!! I still can't get over it, how he sat there so "un-noticed" so to speak, for such a long time. We love-ya Norm!!
Neil & Barb Lang
I got to meet Norm at the 2004 TSGA Show in Dallas. On that Sat. My wife & I were sitting listening to all the "Big Boys" pick! I told her, look at that guy sitting over there, (about six seats from us), he looks just like Norm Hamlet!!! I looked and looked at the "line-up" of pickers..but I could not find his name! (I still don't know why he did not play that show?) Finally I could not stand it any longer, I went up to him & asked him if he was in fact Norm Hamlet, he said yes!!! I got his autograph chatted a short time etc. What a GREAT steel player and just a GREAT PERSON!! I still can't get over it, how he sat there so "un-noticed" so to speak, for such a long time. We love-ya Norm!!
Neil & Barb Lang
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Gary Walker
- Posts: 1937
- Joined: 20 Jul 2000 12:01 am
- Location: Morro Bay, CA
I've known Norm since October 1960. The following year, Gene Breeden put together a radio show for White's Music on a Tulare California radio station.
Norm was playing for a country group called the Farmer Boys in the Newhall area and giving steel lessons to Barbara Mandrell on the weekends.
He would come home during the week and he would play steel on the program we recorded for play on the following weekend. Norm was playing his Bigsby steel and his style was smooth as butter and every bit as pro-sounding as any Nashville steeler. In the years since, he has continued to polish his craft as he made his mark in the Haggard sound while maintaining his guy-next-door manner. His fame in the steel world has not changed his personality as he continues to be one of the good guys.
Years ago Hag was on Ralph Emery's Nashville Now show while Norm's first wife had passed away, Merle would not let any other steeler sit in Norm's place while he was out, out his love and respect for his friend, Norm
Norm was playing for a country group called the Farmer Boys in the Newhall area and giving steel lessons to Barbara Mandrell on the weekends.
He would come home during the week and he would play steel on the program we recorded for play on the following weekend. Norm was playing his Bigsby steel and his style was smooth as butter and every bit as pro-sounding as any Nashville steeler. In the years since, he has continued to polish his craft as he made his mark in the Haggard sound while maintaining his guy-next-door manner. His fame in the steel world has not changed his personality as he continues to be one of the good guys.
Years ago Hag was on Ralph Emery's Nashville Now show while Norm's first wife had passed away, Merle would not let any other steeler sit in Norm's place while he was out, out his love and respect for his friend, Norm
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Jim Walker
- Posts: 1793
- Joined: 31 Dec 2000 1:01 am
- Location: Headland, AL
I have met Norm on two occasions and both times were great. The last time it was in downtown Modesto but not at the Holliday Inn. Ha! Norm is a great player and and such a nice fellow. It's always a pleasure to talk with him and to see him play. In Steel Guitar country, he's a national treasure!
Oh, and what Smiley and Curt said X 3!
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Clark Custom D10 8&5
B-bender Telecaster
www.jimwalkeronline.com
Oh, and what Smiley and Curt said X 3!
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Clark Custom D10 8&5
B-bender Telecaster
www.jimwalkeronline.com
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Mark Lind-Hanson
- Posts: 430
- Joined: 21 Dec 2004 1:01 am
- Location: Menlo Park, California, USA
Following is a couple of interview q& A's with Merle Haggard on recent developments (trneds?) in country music...
Connect Savannah: If there’s someone reading this who’s never considered themselves a country fan, what’s the one album Merle Haggard would encourage them to pick up that would serve as a great example of the very best country that’s ever been recorded?
Merle Haggard: Well, I don’t know. I don’t even consider myself country anymore. I identify more with what’s happening in rock and roll right now, and it’s the rock people who seem to identify with me the most, and treat me with some sort of respect. The country people are out to use my name for different things if they can, and the rock and roll people seem to just like me for who I am.
To hell with country! That’s the way I’m feelin’ about it.
Connect Savannah: Why do you think that is? I remember when Johnny Cash was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Roseanne Cash said it meant much more to him to be accepted as a peer by those folks than it ever did for him to receive praise from the country music business.
Merle Haggard: Well, the rock people are coming from the heart and soul, and country people are always tryin’ to use you.
Connect Savannah: That’s so strange: Rock and roll always gets tagged as the shallow, callous genre, while country made a name for itself as being a more traditional and spiritual form of music that’s linked to the heartland and the whole compassionate conservative movement.
Merle Haggard: I think it went south along with our whole country. See, the whole situation of life has changed. What they’re calling country is about as country as downtown New York! It’s got nothin’ to do with actual country music. Country’s supposed to be about people who find their way from the soil to the microphone — instead of bein’ shaped into some kind of phony perfection with computers like they do nowadays. I mean, who can sing and who can’t? You really can’t tell anymore.
Connect Savannah: Who do you listen to for pleasure or inspiration these days?
Merle Haggard: I wish I could give you a title of something. I don’t really listen to much new music at all. It doesn’t speak to me. XM’s about the only radio I listen to anymore. We listen on the bus to a satellite channel called Hank’s Place. I listen to old pop and country, but I don’t pay any attention to what’s goin’ down today. I don’t find any melodies at all that I can sit down and whistle! I always thought music was lyrics and melody together. Nowadays it’s just lyrics and the same melody over and over again. There’s so little uniqueness, it really doesn’t turn me on.
Connect Savannah: My buddy Webb Wilder is fond of saying that real music is out there and real people are making it. I figure that’s why you and the Strangers have continued to do well on the road.
Merle Haggard: Well, I’ll tell you what - you’ve hit it on the head. That’s the reason we’re drawin’ people. They’re starved to death for real music! They sure can’t hear it on the radio anymore.
Connect Savannah: If there’s someone reading this who’s never considered themselves a country fan, what’s the one album Merle Haggard would encourage them to pick up that would serve as a great example of the very best country that’s ever been recorded?
Merle Haggard: Well, I don’t know. I don’t even consider myself country anymore. I identify more with what’s happening in rock and roll right now, and it’s the rock people who seem to identify with me the most, and treat me with some sort of respect. The country people are out to use my name for different things if they can, and the rock and roll people seem to just like me for who I am.
To hell with country! That’s the way I’m feelin’ about it.
Connect Savannah: Why do you think that is? I remember when Johnny Cash was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Roseanne Cash said it meant much more to him to be accepted as a peer by those folks than it ever did for him to receive praise from the country music business.
Merle Haggard: Well, the rock people are coming from the heart and soul, and country people are always tryin’ to use you.
Connect Savannah: That’s so strange: Rock and roll always gets tagged as the shallow, callous genre, while country made a name for itself as being a more traditional and spiritual form of music that’s linked to the heartland and the whole compassionate conservative movement.
Merle Haggard: I think it went south along with our whole country. See, the whole situation of life has changed. What they’re calling country is about as country as downtown New York! It’s got nothin’ to do with actual country music. Country’s supposed to be about people who find their way from the soil to the microphone — instead of bein’ shaped into some kind of phony perfection with computers like they do nowadays. I mean, who can sing and who can’t? You really can’t tell anymore.
Connect Savannah: Who do you listen to for pleasure or inspiration these days?
Merle Haggard: I wish I could give you a title of something. I don’t really listen to much new music at all. It doesn’t speak to me. XM’s about the only radio I listen to anymore. We listen on the bus to a satellite channel called Hank’s Place. I listen to old pop and country, but I don’t pay any attention to what’s goin’ down today. I don’t find any melodies at all that I can sit down and whistle! I always thought music was lyrics and melody together. Nowadays it’s just lyrics and the same melody over and over again. There’s so little uniqueness, it really doesn’t turn me on.
Connect Savannah: My buddy Webb Wilder is fond of saying that real music is out there and real people are making it. I figure that’s why you and the Strangers have continued to do well on the road.
Merle Haggard: Well, I’ll tell you what - you’ve hit it on the head. That’s the reason we’re drawin’ people. They’re starved to death for real music! They sure can’t hear it on the radio anymore.