The Steel Guitar Forum

just listen to ed black's mp3 of steelin corn.
great picking .does anybody have any info on him and
what kind of steel he played. great tone on steelin corn http://www.etsga.org/steelguitarplayers.htm


p.w

Ed Black was from Arizona lived in L.A. recorded with Linda Ronstadt and many others,Played a Z.B and then a Emmons,and was a good friend to many of us here on the forum.Ed passed away a few years ago from Cancer and is greatly missed.I was wondering in the future at the Phoenix steel Guitar show if there was going to be a dedication for Ed?or his family? He also had a band in L.A. called the Eddies.Other friends of Ed's Chime in!

Ed Black was one of the original California country rock steel players. Like Stu said, he recorded & toured with Linda R, and you can hear him on "Silver Threads And Golden Needles", her 1973 version from the Don't Cry Now LP.
Also, he's on Michael Dinner's LP "The Great Pretender"...some of the finest country rock never heard by the masses. It's out of print, but there are some of us that have it in our collection.

The Eddys were an instrumental band out here in LA, circa the '80's. Their two more well known tunes were "Saddle Up", which was a medley of TV western theme songs, and 'Steelin' Corn", which also featured some great guitar work by Rick MacDonald. During Ed's Ronstadt days, in the late '60's and early '70's, he played a ZB, but he switched to an Emmons p/p in the mid '70's and that's what he played for the rest of his life. "Steelin' Corn" was cut on his blue Emmons D10, which is now owned by Dan Dugmore.

Sadly, we lost Ed to cancer in Nov of 98, and, like Stu says, he is missed to this day.
He was my friend and neighbor, and we did lots of gigs together, with him on steel and myself on keys.
He was truly a prince of a guy....a real class act.

Hi Skip ... you beat me!

"Stealin' Corn" is from the Eddys CD. Rick MacDonald played guitar in the band with Ed and sent me a copy. I forwarded the MP3 to Charles site so people could hear how Ed played.

You can read some about Ed Here

I was and still am a big fan! I am also sad that Ed is not around because I trust he would be playing some great stuff.

All the best,
Russ

Stealin Corn,Saddle Up and the rest of that batch was cut over at Dave Pearlman's studio as I recall and Ed brought it over to my studio to do some overdubs and mix it. I pulled it out the other day and it still sounds as good as I remembered.Skip's right - Ed was a great guy,a great musician and a lucky S.O.B. When I first got to L.A. in the early 70s the first guy I met was Red Rhodes and the first thing he said to me was: "You're a steel player? New in town? Have you been out with Linda Ronstadt yet? She really likes steel players....Just ask Ed Black".

Ed was a great guy and a good pal. Many probably don't know that he also worked for a saddle maker in the San Fernando Valley and was an accomplished leather worker. He made me a picks/bar bag that I sadly lost on the road somewhere.

Miss ya, Ed...

Here's a pic of the Eddys, complete with handtooled gtrs, done by Ed.



L-R...Ed, Paul Marshall, Hugh Wright (RIP) and Rick MacDonald.

Yep Herb's correct. Some of the finest western leather work I've ever seen. Every picker in town had one of Ed's wonderful hand tooled guitar straps and some had their whole Tele encased in tooled leather.Ed was in love with the whole Southwest mythos,music,history,Native American art,cowboy culture,etc. His take on Duane Eddy,spagetti western music,the Ventures,Bakersfield twang,60s western TV show theme songs and more is summed up in his instrumental medly called "Saddle Up". When the Eddys performed live,they were a sight and sound to behold with their leather ensheathed Fenders and Zorroesque outfits. It was cooler than cool I tell ya - it was downright equestrian. Ed was a twangler fer sure.

A bass player talks about Ed in this interview around the 1 hour and 28 minutes mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGJbqfDXMec

Occasionally the world is a delightful series of coincidences. I bought this painting, a portrait of Ed Black, done by artist Ellen Bloom.

Any of you LA cats remember the music shows that used to be a night time feature on radio station KPCC-FM in the 80s and 90s? Ellen was the DJ for the Friday Night Blues Revue weekly program

I ran into her and bought this painting, she was displaying her art at a Christmas art show in downtown LA, I just randomly attended when meeting a friend there. Think I paid $40 or even less, actually negotiated a lower price (I still feel guilty about that), but really enjoy having this unique memento of Ed and his leather tooled Tele.

I knew Ed just a little from the LA steel tribe, but he sure was a nice guy. Sadly I never made it out to hear the Eddys.

I wonder if Ed did Waylon's guitar leather?

Craig,I'm pretty sure Waylon's guitar was tooled by a janitor in a club that he played in somewhere in Az,But not Ed...on day While having dinner at Ed's he showed me a custom 9string"Strat"that was Bobby Fuller's guitar that he played on "I fought the Law".

Here are a few photos of Ed Black's '68 Emmons D-10 that I bought, restored and then later sold last year.

Thanks Stu, cool story, he must have been a great guy to hang out with and quite multi-talented.

A Great Restoration job their Lynn. It is BEAUTIFUL. J.R. Rose

I saw Ed perform in person at a Hag concert at the Bakersfield Civic Auditorium in 1988 when he was in George Highfill’s Band. He was great! He is also is featured in Highfill’s album released at that time.

Ed was in Goose Creek Symphony (along with Mickey McGee, Doug Haywood, and Bob Willard Henke) back in Phoenix days.

Here's the lead track on Michael Dinner's "The Great Pretender" album; Ed plays steel and guitar throughout the album alongside Mickey, with Doug doing harmonies. Ed's playing and tone here are breathtaking, as ever.
So exemplary...it rings out every bit as gloriously now as it did then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i-ZzBQBlLA

Is this cover for the Martin guitar also made by Ed? I think they knew each other from the Linda Ronstadt days.

Joachim Kettner wrote:A bass player talks about Ed in this interview around the 1 hour and 28 minutes mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGJbqfDXMec

Great story Joachim! Thanks for the link.
Russ

The cover on the guitar Waddy's holding was not made by Ed. It's a recent special issue from Gibson commemorating Buddy Holly hits. Waddy's says "That'll Be The Day".
Keith Allison had one that said "I'm Looking For Someone To Love".
Not sure how many were made, but only a very few, and given to just a handful of players.
The guitars are standard Gibson J45 acoustics, with custom made leather covers.
Here's a link to an interview with Keith & Norm (of Norms Rare Guitars) discussing the special Buddy Holly Gibsons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQCz6qabzaE

OK, so now having taken the time to watch that clip I see that Waddy's doesn't say That'll Be The Day. I saw "Day"...but it's from the "Blue Days, Black Nights" part of the leatherwork.
Not sure what Waddy's says... I'll ask him the next time I see him.

Nice leatherwork, though. IMHO, Ed's was better.

Howdy Skip! All the best.

Right back at ya, Russ!

Skip, I have the Michael Dinner LP and now that you reminded me, I’ve played it twice already. A forgotten gem, for sure..

Yes it is, Olli. And your CD is a gem, as well... Thank you for the copy. It's in heavy rotation while driving to gigs.

Wow, thanks, Skip…