The Steel Guitar Forum

Thanks again to everyone. This information is great.

BTW, I picked up Steel Guitar Hawaiian Style yesterday. The lead off track has Jerry playing resophonic hawaiian style, which I am not used to. What a wonderful sound. Quite different from the bluegrass/country influenced reso playing I usually hear. Refreshing.

Ya'll were right about his tone on the electric. And his vibrato...wow! Can't wait to digest this one and pick up some more.

Which tracks did Jerry record with Hank Sr? I was under the impression it was all Don Helms on those recordings.

My LP copy of "Song Of The Islands" (Bear Family BFX 15130) lists James Farmer as the steel player. What does the original Columbia issue and Bear Family CD say?

Chris: I'm pretty well just going on memory here, as I scan the titles on the Hank box
(why no discography?!) but I think the Hank Williams sides on which Byrd played include the following:
Rootie Tootie
Honky Tonkin'
I Can't Get You Off of My Mind
I'll Be a Bachelor 'til I Die
Mansion on the Hill
My Sweet Love Ain't Around
Lost on the River
Lovesick Blues
I'm a Long Gone Daddy
The Blues Come Around
There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
My Bucket's Got a Hole In It
A House Without Love
I Just Don't Like This Kind of Livin'

I may be wrong on a couple here, I'd have to listen to be sure, but I think this is more or less correct.

Good job Ian.

I do not mean this as any disrespect towards Don Helms folks, but I never got over HW getting rid of JB. Course bein' JB's #1 fan on this earth probly splains that. What ya think?

God bless all,

carl

I don't know, Carl, Byrd's playing on these tracks is extraordinary, certainly much more intricate and sophisticated than anything Helms did. Even so, it's not hard to hear why Hank apparently prefered Helms. The extreme simplicity of his style is a perfect fit with Hank's. By the way, it's pretty obvious in Colin Escott's Hank biography that Williams and Byrd weren't exactly a mutual admiration society.

Hi Non-Peddlers,

Yes, Jim Farmer played on a bunch of Marty's recordings and was with Marty for years. He moved from AZ to Nashville with Marty when he went there and was a close confidant and employee with Marty for years. Later on he quit playing steel and started helping with the Marty Robbins Enterprises, publishing company. He passed away in the last 5 years or so.

A lot of Jim Farmer's steel work sounds sort of like Little Roy Wiggins type playing. My brother always dug that.

Jerry Byrd played on several of Marty Robbins recordings and he did record with Hank Snow too. Though Kayton Roberts was with Hank Snow for years.

Jerry was on a lot of Country tunes during the 1940's and 1950's. My good friend Dale Sledd formerly of the Osborne Brothers (Bluegrass) knew Jerry in Nashville and says Jerry used to play a lot of Dog House Bass on some radio shows with the Wilburn Brothers too.

God Bless,
Terry Wood

Thanks Ian. I have the Hank Sr box set, or most of it, on cassette. I don't have the book that came with it, so I'm unable to get any info about those recordings. I'll have to give those tunes a listen and compare the styles of Helms/Byrd.

BTW-what's the name of that Hank Sr biography you mentioned? I'd love to read about his (brief) life and career.

Chris: The Colin Escott Hank bio is called simply "Hank Williams: The Biography." It's published by Little, Brown and came out in 1994. As far as I know it's still available. A little dry, and not without its limitations, but altogether the best Hank biography yet.

I have the Hank Williams SR Box set and all
the musicians are listed for all the tracks
that I could see. As far as comparing is
concerned. Sorry, I was never A big Don
Helms fan, but he was right for Hank's
regular band. But I've been a Jerry Byrd
fan since the late 1940s, exchanged a few
letters with him when I was in the Army, just
seemed like a nice person. He worked with
the Nashville scene as long as he could
playing rhythm guitar and leading groups
played bass at times, but his real talent
was and still is the steel guitar. On the
Hank SR recordings,Hank usually sang with
part of the Red Foley band with Jerry Byrd,
Zeke Turner, Tommy Jackson, but from what
I read Hank and Jerry were not friends.
So, I still enjoy them both. Al

Al: The "Complete Recordings" box has a discography, but the earlier "Singles Collection Plus," which I have, does not.