The Steel Guitar Forum

Jeff will truly live through his students,for sure myself.Peace be with you and may the Lord comfort your Family.You will never be forgotten,Never.Tony

In 1976 I took my first New Seminar with Jeff. It truly was a mind altering experience.
I find myself feeling a strange mix of horror and anger. That he was killed in such an arbitrary way bothers me the most. I know he was doing one thing he loved but he was really a steel player thru and thru and I just wish he had stayed away from that minature aircraft.

Last time(1999) he was in Sacramento doing a seminar we were all kind of mooning around about the death of Jimmy Day and he said "He lived a full life and now he's gone, lets go to work". I fear I will not be able to let go of Jeff's passing that easily. The world today is truly a dreary place..Peter Dollard

I never knew the man except for his reputation as an excellant teacher, but I regret the fact that I will never now be able to thank him for his tuning chart that I refer to constantly.
My sympathy and best wishes to his family, the steel guitar community has lost an icon.

Jeff will be missed by the entire music world. I thank the Lord for the opportunity to have attended his seminars and learn from his teachings.

My sympathy goes to his entire family.

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I pray that the Lord will be with Jeff's family & loved ones at this time. He will be more than just 'missed' by all of us.

Ernie Pollock

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So many of us owe so much to Jeff. Our prayers will be with the family.

Tony & Denise Rankin

I spoke with Jeff at the Dallas show.
What a loss.
God be with him.
GP

My sincere condolences to the Jeff Newman family on their loss. Our prayers are with each one of you.

Carl West

Johnny and I would also like to extend our sympathy to Fran and the family over Jeff's passing. We are both having problems dealing with this. Johnny, as are all of you, deeply saddened by this awful news. I was thinking this morning that I will miss Jeff being at the shows, but mostly I'll miss the fun he brought to them. In attending Scotty's show for the past 27 years in a row, I've been there when Bobby Caldwell took a chain saw to his guitar right on stage, and the steel guitar roulette thing he did with the red lights in front of four or five players on stage. What fun that was..everyone truly loved it. I'll miss him sitting on the side of the stage when I play and looking over and seeing him smiling. I'll also miss the giant foam cowboy hat he wore at times too. Truly he was creative and a showman as well. I told Johnny this morning that Jeff is probably already organizing a "red light" jam with Curly Chalker, Speedy West (who can play now) and all the others who went on to be with the Lord. We were talking about this on the way to work this morning, and we were both laughing and crying at the same time. I wonder what Curly will say when Jeff hands him that oversized bar and picks? He'll be missed so much. It won't be the same anymore at the shows.
Joan<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Joan Cox on 09 April 2004 at 12:39 PM.]</p></FONT>

I just got back in from Nashville. Both Randy Beavers and I sat at 8:30 at night and talked with Jeff at a table at the NTSGA. I got a call as I was leaving the hotel Thursday morning informing me of his passing. I just can't believe it! I was JUST talking to him. May God rest him.

Jeff Newman was the best friend the steel guitar and those who play it will ever have.
The one class I took from him gave me ideas I use not only in playing pedal steel but in teaching as well. Stole a few jokes, too.
I remember the soul he put into a tune he dedicated to Jimmy Day at the Arizona Convention and the catch in his voice as he spoke about how much he missed Jimmy. Plenty of us will have the same feeling talking about Jeff.
Mark

Having met Jeff on several occasions both on courses and at the British SteelFestival I found him to be helpful to the extreme, and a warm hearted gentleman .From a fellow steeler and flyer all I can say is you will be missed.My condolances go to his family. le

Oh no, that is truly tragic. My condolences to Jeff's friends and family.

i just talk to jeff two weeks ago. i am very very sorry and sad about this lost. he help me so much with my p.s.g my heart gos out to his wife and family

paul wade

My deepest sympathy goes out to Jeff's family.

I never met him and only talked to him briefly a few times on the phone, but from seeing and listening to him so much on so many of his videos, it feels like I've lost a close friend.

Strange thing, just Tuesday morning I had been looking at some pictures of Jeff's Hilltop school <http://davidw.smugmug.com/gallery/48426>. Had seen them before, but for some reason ended up at that site Tuesday, thinking once again about going to the hilltop myself some day.

The unfortunate thing about that is that the money for it was in the bank, and my fantastic wife had already given her OK a couple years back. Lately, she had been actively urging me and even nagging me to go ahead and do it. Why didn't I just do it? There's a lesson there.

And as these many tributes make clear, he knew that lesson well and was demonstrating the answer in the way he lived his life. I can just imagine him saying "You can either take my advice, or you can wait around until you finally come to the same conclusion I did."

At the end of Jeff's "Up From the Top - F Lever" book, there's a section called "Star Maps" where he talks about seeing patterns on the neck like constellations in the night sky. He gets almost poetic, talking about taking time to learn where each major chord is in the no pedals/AB/D/AF positions, knowing them cold, and how that unlocks not just his own courses, but those from anybody.

He then said "If every player who came to my seminars, or to school, knew these simple, basic positions, we could fly into some wonderful things to play. Instead I spend most of my time trying to get 'C is on the 8th fret' out of the way...Don't put the burden on me as the teacher; I can't do this for you. Only you can teach you. Meet me half way, do your homework, and I will show you how to play like a pro, and so will everybody else who tries to show you something."

I took that to heart and am the better for it. Thanks for everything, Jeff.

I first posted a reply almost exactly like Mr Joey Ace, and I think that is a very appropriate tag given my friends that were not so fortunate to pass while doing something they loved. My recent 45 yr friend suffocated by choice, and my "Namesake" Don West probably didn't have the luck to pass while playing a "Solo from Mars".

I have a simple saying, that is meant more for me and those that know me personally.

"In this Life, you do what you do, Right or wrong, it's Done.

If you're lucky you will be taken before you have to go into detailed explainations."

Salvation is through faith. It is manifested at the End.

THe road to it is a bumpy one at the least.

Play On Mr Newman, with Don, JCD, Danny, and all the others.



Eric John Lundgren

Eric West

Terribly sad.... A tough loss for the steel community.

Condolences to Jeff's family.

I know I have shed tears today, just reading about it this morning on the forum. After spending four days with him in a class, this past January in Mesa, AZ, I feel like we have lost a friend, teacher and mentor. Fran, our prayers are with you, and the music in heaven will never be the same. He is probablly setting up classes for the angels!!!!
He is one man whose life has touched so many.
We miss you, you were the BEST!!!
Dan