The Steel Guitar Forum

Perhaps this is a useless or annoying post, but I just want to remind everyone to take a listen to Together Again off Big Hits On Big Steel by Curly Chalker. It could change your life.

where can I hear it?

Brian you are sooooooo right. I am a big T B fan, but what Curly did with this 1, 4 and 5 chord is amazing.
I talk to Curly back in St Louis -76

Bosse inSweden

One of the great inequties in the world of the pedal steel is that so much of that man's music died with him, few players appreciate and replicate his stylings. His C6th sound on that album was something entirely new and different. Sadly, it was so different that the world wasn't ready for it. He was truly a player decades ahead of his time.

I suppose I should give everyone without the album a chance to hear the song so here's a link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?1pnvfnxmn9m

I have a feeling there will be a lot of people running to their local used record shops trying to find this album after hearing the song.

I get stired up at just the mention of Curley's name,In my opinion[some may disagree,that's ok]But to me he was the absolute KING of the steel guitar,There are MANY,MANY, great ones past and present,but I don't think anyone ever has or ever will get things out of a steel that this man did,That's why I advise everyone to get the DVD that Mike has for sale.DYKBC.

one of the other great inequities of the world is that curly and certain others are really great.....and i'm not!

Maybe Curly was ahead of his time. I am not sure. But I wonder how many folks would recognize "
Together Again " If you didn't tell them the song title ? It sounds to me like a lot of Chord progression and the melody was lost in there somewhere. I am not a jazz fan but can appreciate the mans talent.

My favorite Curly song is "Gentle On My Mind." It falls right after Lloyd's "Cold Cold Heart" as my favorite pedal steel instrumental.

Oh heck....just listen to it here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/r9bugn

I happen to fall into the catagory that think this was one of the greatest steel albums ever.

What was so great about Curly,He could take ANY song and make it is own,I have heard Together Again played by some of the GREATEST players we have do that song,most of the time it's almost a clone of Tom's version,Curly always did it HIS way,Bobbe Seymour is also very good at this.DYKBC.

The thing I remember about seeing Chalker live one time for about 3 hours he made it look so effortless that you felt you could go home and do the same thing... that is until you tried. Then you knew the true mastery he possessed. Another story I remember was after about an hour or so of playing he took a pause on stage and made the comment "I don't know what to play, I've played everthing I know". At that point a guy about 15 rows back jumped up and yelled 'play steel guitar rag' to which Chalker replied 'Someone throw that son of a b%$#@& out'. Funniest thing I ever heard.
Regards,
Wayne

I consider myself to be very fortunate to have met Curly in Nashville in October of 1969 at the D J Convention.
Curly was playing a D-10 Baldwin Sho-Bud PSG w/ a
7 X 6 setup. The photo of that Sho-Bud guitar is or was on Tommy White's website.
My only regret is that I didn't have a tape recorder with me at the time.

Roger

One of the best tributes to Curly is a Tune Mike Sweeney did on his Live at the Nashville Palace[FROM THE BANDSTAND]The tune is HANGIN'OUT WITH CURLY. A super hot tune played the way Mike plays everything,GREAT.DYKBC.

I have had the Big Hits On Big Steel and Counterpoint albums since about 1979 along with More Ways To Play and Nashville Sundown. I got me a good interface mixer to hook my turntable to my computer so I can get those records onto a CD before the turntable becomes a thing of the past.

That's what I did John,I had the lp more ways to play,plus lots of old steel guitar LP's that went back a long time,Smiley Roberts was kind enough to put them all on CD's for me,sure is easy to listen to them now.DYKBC.

a perfect antidote to the tone threads promoted by those most likely to profit from the myth

EBB, If I'm reading you right, you are saying it's the steel guitarist that creates the sound/tone and not the equipment.

Curly Chalker sounded like Curly Chalker no matter if he played a Fender 2000 (Big Hits On Big Steel),
Sho-Bud, MSA or any steel guitar he chose to play.



Roger

My only regret is that I didn't have a tape recorder with me at the time.

Knowing Curly Pretty well at about that time, That would have been a quick way to get rid of a tape recorder.

John, you could very well be right. I was a bit reluctant to take Curlys picture, but I didn't hear any discouraging words.

Ask Loretta Lynn What happened to her Martin Flat Top, nuff said.

Curly is my all time favorite. There are many great players; but, for me, he was the greatest. If you enjoy beating your head against the wall,try to play some of his stuff.
Clyde

You Need to hear Clydes Version Of "Making Believe".

The First Time I heard Clyde, I thought There was a ghost in the room. Clyde Bloodworth Makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. He is that Close to Curly's Sound. In Some Ways The Tone is richer, Because he plays an Emmons.

John Floyd is so right. When I grow up I want to play like Clyde . He is my hero!!!!!!!

I first met Clyde about 40 years ago and used to go listen to him and his band. It's too bad that he lives so far away now. I hope that he comes back this way again; IMO Clyde is one of the best. And you're right about Clyde doing the "Chalker Sound". Does Clyde still play the trumpet?