The Steel Guitar Forum

Bill Hankey wrote:Craig,

Have you listened to AMBER DIGBY? She is true country. If you like country music, you'll like her performances. Dicky Overbey has recorded with AMBER in the past.

Yes Bill I have all her albums. So what you are asking is not when true country will be back but when will steel guitar become dominant again in a recording. Lane to me Skeeter and Patsy are just as country as Norma Jean and Kay Adams. I also like all Jim Reeves and Ray Price. As far as Paycheck goes I liked him until he turned outlaw and became Nashville's first big coke freak. Never did like Shania or Bradley Kincaid but loved Bill Monroe and Grandpa Jones. So I must be a freak of nature?

To me, Danny Boy, For the Good Times and You're the Best Thing sounded like Ray wanted to be Perry Como.
From Crazy onward, Patsy sounded like Peggy Lee in boots.
And I'd HAPPILY trade Bill or the Stanley Brothers (except for George's bass playing) for Jim and Jesse or the Osbornes.

And just when you have come to believe that moldy figs only existed in the jazz world... all this.

You gotta love it!

Lane raises good points because when I first heard Price doing the big arrangements, I didn't care for them either. But through the years they have grown on me. Just getting old I guess. And for the record I like Jim and Jesse and the Osborns also. I finally decided that if I like a song I like it and I don't care where it came from or when it was recorded.

Me too. While I dislike most pop-targeted arrangements, I won't say, of well-done records, "that stuff sucks.".
But if I hear I Won't Mention It Again, I'll fire up youtube and wash it away with Soft Rain.
But with the ability to find nearly everything now (I have an MP3 of Sousa conducting his own work), and acts actually supporting themselves with Jimmie Rodgers or Uncle Dave (as well as Buck and Wynn), no music will DIE, but will assuredly become a "niche" form, and will probably also undergo modernization at the fringes (notably that horrid grit on the Teles, ICK...or solid state steel amps)

I saw the best band in Nashville last night at 3rd and Lindsley, The Time Jumpers, and they sold out two hours before showtime.
To me that shows what people really want to hear, not a bunch of country rap which I call crap.

gary pierce wrote:I saw the best band in Nashville last night at 3rd and Lindsley, The Time Jumpers, and they sold out two hours before showtime.
To me that shows what people really want to hear, not a bunch of country rap which I call crap.

Talent and style/genre will always trump material. Give some Beatles songs to the Texas Playboys and it will come out as western swing, not British rock.

The Time Jumpers could do an album of Perry Como music and it would be fantastic.

Of course, I'm old enough to enjoy Perry Como songs BY Perry Como, but you get the idea.

gary pierce wrote:I saw the best band in Nashville last night at 3rd and Lindsley, The Time Jumpers

It may not be too far a stretch to say they are the best band on the planet, let alone Nashville.

If there's a better band out there somewhere, I'd sure like to hear 'em!

Check out a young lady who sings BILL ANDERSON'S song called "WALK OUT BACKWARDS". Her name is LEEA GOENS. VINCE GILL speaks very well of her. She loves to sing country music.

So Bill what you are saying is as long as it shuffles and twangs doesn't have more than three chords and a lot of steel it is true country, right?

Craig,

It depends on who is holding the guitar. There is huge gap between players who can play rhythm guitars and proper chord changes. They are far and few between. Most haven't a clue of what they are missing. Many hold their guitars for show and nothing more. The sad part is knowing that most fans haven't caught on to that particular trick of the trade.

Bill you keep dodging my question.lol I know we will probably have a time where we have a hard core country sound again. That went to hell with Brooks and Dunn, Shania, and Garth. What do you call true country? It is hard to define isn't it?

Bill, if you're gonna pimp an artist (a good thing), spell it right.
TEEA GOANS.

Craig:
I think Garth Brooks pretty much answered your question with this quote:

"True country music is honesty, sincerity, and real life to the hilt."

He pretty much got away from his own quote after his second lp release, tho', IMO.

Lane,

I truly appreciate the spelling check of TEEA GOANS' name. Vince spoke her name and I recognized that if there was a chance to misspell, it could happen by attempting to spell her name. Actually, dozens of entertainers have changed their names for one reason or another. CONWAY TWITTY is a good example. I was in error; no excuses!

Lane,

I've been tempted to resort to a picayunish flavored criticism for quite some time. However, realizing that the hunter can become the hunted in this game of superior intellectual capabilities, halted any thoughts of making an issue of trivial matters.

Bill Hankey wrote:Lane,

I've been tempted to resort to a picayunish flavored criticism for quite some time. However, realizing that the hunter can become the hunted in this game of superior intellectual capabilities, halted any thoughts of making an issue of trivial matters.

Choosing one's battles wisely is the mark of a thoughtful man, Bill.

As an emergency room doctor once opined, "dream all the Impossible Dreams you want, but fight fewer Unbeatable Foes."

It is difficult to perceive which of the two bad habits appear as the most ridiculous. I'm making reference to the "CAPO" and tuning the guitar to an "OPEN CHORD". I think DOLLY PARTON was able to pull that retuning "trick", and I seem to recall the singer of "THE HONEYCOMB" song resorting to open chord tuning. Mention sharps or flats and watch the capos come flying out! Nowadays, the ugly capos are within easy reach at the tuning end of the guitar.

There are times, Bill, when capos are used and not because of flats and sharps. Sometimes it is to add a different flavor to a song accomplished by the way the chord is laid out differently. For instance you can play Pure Prairie League's song Aimee in A without a capo, but placing a capo at the second fret and playing in G gives it a different sound and texture.

Craig,

Once again, I say that capos are nothing more than additional junk to carry. Those higher octaves can be found further up the neck of the guitar. If you crave the sounds of the mandolin, they are readily available at music stores. Shortcuts cheapen musical performances; it's time to pay your dues. In a word, PRACTICE!

It is difficult to perceive which of the two bad habits appear as the most ridiculous. I'm making reference to the "CAPO" and tuning the guitar to an "OPEN CHORD". I think DOLLY PARTON was able to pull that retuning "trick", and I seem to recall the singer of "THE HONEYCOMB" song resorting to open chord tuning. Mention sharps or flats and watch the capos come flying out! Nowadays, the ugly capos are within easy reach at the tuning end of the guitar.

Once again, I say that capos are nothing more than additional junk to carry. Those higher octaves can be found further up the neck of the guitar. If you crave the sounds of the mandolin, they are readily available at music stores. Shortcuts cheapen musical performances; it's time to pay your dues. In a word, PRACTICE!

I see it has now devolved into yet another Hankey capo rant. Bill, your windmill awaits you...

It's got to be a big Capo to fit over a steel LOL.

Barry,

Monkey see, monkey do! Speaking of bad habits, go to the files that contain the world's finest steel guitarists. Watch their methods of adjusting their finger picks during rests. There is room for improvement from a camera's point of view.

Please explain what that has to do with capos..

Bill do you play guitar and how long and what kind of music? Oh yeah I forgot you are still living in the era Of Jimmie Rodgers and his blue yodel with three chords because that is true country to you. Sometime come to my area to one of my gigs and try to keep up with only three chords.