Jerry Byrd

[Mac McKenzie]

It is April 11th. in this part of the world, Jerry left us three years ago. We still play his music of course and just a few days ago I was discussing chords with a new member of our Assn. and he was very impressed with another member, who has a 10 string steel, locally produced by Doug Lomax, with an unknown tuning, sort of tuning within a tuning and we agreed that he gets some beautiful chords. Our new member was at the Jerry Byrd concert we had here, Jerry playing his twin neck, but he was amazed when I told him that all of Jerry's early work was done on a six string c6th. tuning and he said that he did not think that those chords were available on only 6 strings. I quote Jerry "The most indelible impression I want to leave with you is that the Hawaiian steel guitar must be played not only with the head and the hands, but also with the heart." I quote Jerry when he was here "It is all there for you to find, good luck." Head, hands, heart, he was also the master technician. We were lucky to have had him show us the way.

[Terry Wood]

Mac,

Your right, Jerry Byrd could play it all. I have heard a lot of steel players but he was one of the few that I have heard that I can't ever remember hearing him make a mistake. He was a perfectionist and he influenced all of us directly or later indirectly through the countless steel players that he influenced.

When Tom Bradshaw had his Steel Guitar Record Club a few years back, almost all of the great pedal steel players acknowledged Jerry's steel playing as early influences for their styles. This included players like Buddy Emmons, Lloyd Green, Tom Brumley, Bobby Black, Curly Chalker, Reece Anderson, Jimmy Crawford, and others.

I met Jerry Byrd many years ago at the St. Louis International Steel Guitar Convention that Scotty hosts. I never forgot it and the time we spent visiting. I saw him play only a few times live but have all of his L.P.s, tapes and later CDs. I think that his steel recordings are music that all steel players should listen to today too. He sure had an influence on my simple efforts. In essence, I think Master of the Steel Guitar probably fits him as well as anyone I have ever known who plays our beloved instrument.

If anyone has not read Jerry's biography they should do so. It is titled "It Was A Trip: On The Wings of Music." His book along with Mr. Don Helms' book titled "Settin' The Woods On Fire: The True Confessions of Hank Williams Steel Guitarist," these are must reads for the steel enthusiast. These books will enlighten and entertain steel guiarists for hours. Jerry's book is available here through The Steel Guitar Forum.

GOD bless!

Terry Wood

[Bill Creller]

I would have to say that Jerry was the biggest reason I got into steel guitar.

[John Bechtel]

Without a doubt, Jerry Byrd was the biggest influence for me to take up trying to play the steel guitar! Tie for second place were Jimmy Day and Buddy Emmons!

[basilh]

I agree most wholeheartedly.
The biography by the way, is called:-
"IT WAS A TRIP On Wings of Music"
(No 'the', and no colon separating the lines, the first four words Majuscule and the latter as mixed Title Case )
The way it's been quoted in the post above puts quite a different slant on the meaning to what the author intended.

[James Harrison]

Basilh, was that needed? Some of us can read and know that what is printed may not be exact but we understand what it means. We may not need to have an English class taught here. This is about Steel Guitar.
James

[basilh]

James, it was my LAME attempt at a "Hankeyism," I believe that some fell on stony ground !
BUT accuracy in all things would be the mark of a diligent persona, a trait much desired and needed by some to master or at least get by on this the most demanding of instruments.
So, irrelevant ? no.. needed, possibly, for some at least.

As an afterthought, YES it was needed because as I said in the questioned post, "The way it's been quoted in the post above puts quite a different slant on the meaning to what the author intended."
After it's all just semantics, and of course the 'Trans-Atlantic Syndrome'. There are many on this forum who's mother tongue is not English, and lest the intent and title of Jerry's excellent biography be misunderstood, the correction (Albeit less detailed) would be an insight into his mindset.

A misinterpretation of one little bit of what you may consider minutia, may in the long term be the cause of a tune or lyrics being completely bastardized beyond recognition. Attention to detail IS relevant to our chosen path with this instrument.

Lest we forget, Jerry Byrd was a superb technician and HIS attention to detail was apparent from his playing, he didn't choose the title "Willy Nilly"
Had someone posted a cover version of one of his tunes with a wrong note it would have soon been pointed out.

[c c johnson]

I think our problem here is the translation between english and "mercan".Keoki Lake is bilingual and speaks fluently in both languages. And then we have"texican". God bless Texas. BTW Baz the latest issue of Aloha Dream best yet. I read it over and over before filing it in my bookcase. cc(texican)

[basilh]

CC I concur, but lets be careful lest that reprobate from the "Old Penal Colonies" asks the moderator to have us ostracized and castigated for being "Off Topic"
(Moderator please note this IS on topic)
We were never fortunate enough to have Jerry Byrd play at a convention in the UK but we do have the videos of him elsewhere to peruse.
Talking about conventions etc, Pat's 65th Birthday Party is being held at the same venue we use for mine (The Shustoke Yacht Club)
Any member who can get there on Wednesday April 23rd would be most welcome, but let me know of attendance IN ADVANCE.
Those with ancestors who were sent to Botany Bay are of course banned from entry to both the Yacht Club and the UK in general.
Did you know Jerry Byrd's father was English ?

[Ray Montee]

I understood JERRY BYRD to say on more than one occasion, that his parents were of GERMAN ancestory....and that was why he experienced such an uphill battle when he wanted to quit high school and become a traveling musician..... as a life career.

Could "I" be wrong, once again?

[Ron Whitfield]

Jerry told me his Mom and Dad were German.

Maybe Jack will fill in the blanx as to the percentages of both.

There is so much more to Jerry's life that he left out of his book. Too bad there can't be a 2nd volume.

[Ray Montee]

Ron I surely do appreciate your supportive comment about Jerry's lineage. I tho't there for a moment that my Oldez-Timers had flared-up, once again.

One of the reasons we elected to invest so heavily in the JERRY BYRD-Fan Club website was to compliment what many of us have felt, was LEFT-OUT of the otherwise great book about Jerry's life.

So much debate about simple things that have long been known to the dedicated JERRY BYRD Fans....are posted right there on the FAN CLUB Site, including his great music! Many of his early day songs with Lulu Belle & Scotty, Ernie Lee, Red Kirk, Rex Allen, Patti Page, Ernest Tubb, Red Foley, etc., are believed by some, to be classic examples of some of JERRY's best work. The Rick guitar and Volu-Tone amp really put out a solid, magical sound. Jerry told me shortly before his passing, that he wished he'd have kept those two items as they truly are what made him as famous as he grew in time, to be.

In fact, those of you proudly boasting of having Jerry's latest CD's and Lp's are missing a tremendous amount of top drawer music by not recognizing the fabulous performances on these older, early day records. They're on the JBFC, FREE!

Any of you have personal photo's of yourself and Jerry that you'd like to see posted on the JBFC Site, just send them to ME, along with permission to use them and an explanation of what each photo shows.

[Ron Whitfield]

No sweat, Ray!
Bas has posted this mis-info before, so let's not let it run away and become urban myth.

As always, Ray, thanx for re-starting The JBFC and doing so in a manner that is befitting such a fine man, and Jerry too!

I've always felt that Jerry was a Rickenbacher man.
Even tho he could make the crummiest steel sound good, his love for the Rick's tone made up the rare optimum combination of a master player playing thru a top quality steel set up to his specs and using an amp that loves that guitar = legend.
His custom Sho-Bud took a lot of fine tweaking before he liked it enuf to use regularly, but as awesome as he could make it sound, he always sounded better on a Rick.
It was always a good day at Harry's when he'd grab my 'new' B8 to run the week's lessons off on.
Nothing tops that sound.

[Ray Montee]

Ron......thanks for the input!

I'd completely forgotten that you'd been a frequent visitor at HARRY's Music....and were definitely inside the loop, as far as Jerry is concerned.

Tell me......about the Sho-Bud g'tar Jerry used for the latter half of his fabulous musical career. You mentioned he had to tweak it before he was completely satisfied with it.

WHAT?, for example, did JERRY do, to bring it up to his specifications? He told me that he knew absolutely NOTHING about electronics. He knew only that on the amp, for example, there was a little toggle switch that when turned on one way, a little red light would iluminate and it would make the tubes glow brightly. Turning it the opposite way, it would all go off.

On other occasions, he seemed to be quite aware of how many winds and what dimensions of WIRE were needed to make a pickup work to his liking. He even shared with me how to make a dead string work better by inserting a thin strip of tin foil beneath the pole piece (on a Rick). He also shared with me his preferences for TONE & Volume control potentiometers, as noted on the JERRY BYRD-Fan Club. He also was well versed on the best strings.

I understand that at one of the Aloha Steel Guitar Conventions, years ago, Jerry played a whole bunch of different members' steel guitars outside the local motel. I seem to recall, Scotty had his Panda Rick for sale......that is, until Jerry played on it and he then withdrew his sales offer.

Come on RON, please tell us more!

[Ron Whitfield]

I wish I could! But I never got into the physical minutiae concerning his dbl., just recalling him stating what I mentioned, during a discussion about Shot and Howard White.
Another example of questions I never got around to asking. I was only 'in the loop' on Monday mornings for little more than an hour, but it was a pretty cool loop none-the-less.
As is very common, he had teeny bits of hard plastic (from credit cards, etc.) in a few spots at the bridge and nut to even the string's profiles or eliminate buzz. But unfortunately, that's as far into it we got.

Maybe Scotty, who now has security of the guitar, or another who spent decades inquiering on Jerry, could shine more knowledge on this matter. I've always regretted not asking further, but there was never enuf time for everything at any one sitting.

[Bill Creller]

I like everything Jerry recorded, but I like his early stuff the most, when he was using his bakelites.

[basilh]

Ron,
As much as you CLAIM to be a Jerry Byrd aficionado, you obviously haven't ever read the book..

Page 13 states CATEGORICALLY that, "My Father was ENGLISH.."

Please check YOUR fact before posting derogatory remarks..

You could have said that I was mistaken, but to classify it as miss-information that I'd previously posted is a defamatory remark.
(Edited to change page number and tone somewhat)

[Jack Byrd]

Now now boys. Let me set the record straight. I am the genealogist of the family and have been researching our family for over 40 years and rcently have been working with a small group of cousins to work our ancestry further back. I have determined that our ancestry on my fathers side is English and have a paper and DNA trail back to 1695 still here in America. We have a DNA trail (not confirmed with paper yet but in the works as I write) back to 1650 still in America. I am under the opinion that the DNA connection will be discovered in England not in America. It can get very confusing considering the early history of this country and where people migrated into and the influence the various ethnic groups had on the early settlers such as the Dutch, Swedes, Germans, Scotch, English and Irish had on the indivuals that were not of the that ethnic group when they intermarried with them.

Our mother was DUTCH/GERMAN. Her paternal grandfather immigrated in 1847 as a boy of seven from the border area of Holland and Germany. On his Civil War records which I have he lists his place of birth as Holland. Her maternal grandfather was born in Ostrecher, Germany according to his Civil War records. I have not been able to locate where that is in Germany.

So Jerry's YDNA which would be the same as mine indicates our male side is English. On our mothers side a paper trail indicates Dutch/German, take your pick. So I would say you are both correct to some degree.

[Earnest Bovine]

Österreicher = "Austrian"

[Warren Slavin]

Bas, yes Jerry's autobiography does state "My father was English", however it is on Page 13. Your quote is correct.

I recall at a convention in Joliet (maybe '88 or later) when Jerry was there and the same year that he announced that he was going to retire from regular scheduled gigs at the Halekulani because he asked for a 15% increase for his group and was denied by the banquet and entertainment manager, who at the time, was German -- Jerry said this stirred up my German blood because the Hotel was getting $14,000 a week for Penthouse Suites. Jerry's autobiography (page 13) stated that his mother pretty much ran the show in the Byrd House so that's the reference to Jerry's German upbringing.

I think Ron and Bas both score an "A" on this one.

[John Billings]

I thought Jerry was a Lima Beaner! (You've got to be an Ohioan)
When I met him at the Beachcomber, he was playing, as I recall, a stand-up Shobud S-11. His tuning was some sort of chromatic tuning. The club was empty, and we spent every one of his breaks chatting. Very gracious, and friendly man. A memory that I truly value!

[basilh]

I only mentioned Jerry's FATHER. How was I passing on and perpetrating "Mis-information" ?
Jack says his father WAS English so did Jerry..
Ron scores a big zero for insinuating my intent was to misinform..

[Bill Creller]

There's nothing cheaper than Waikiki hotels when it comes to paying musicians.
The bottom line, if there is one, is "don't quit your day job"

[Edward Meisse]

In some parts of the country I have heard of venues charging musicians to use their stage. If that's true, I'd say the Waikiki are second worst.

[Ron Whitfield]

Thanx Jack, for laying it out as it truly is.