The Steel Guitar Forum

Dickie Harris played steel , a 3 or 4 neck Fender , for Ernest Tubb from 1950 thru 1956 . Then he disappeared and Buddy Emmons took over in 1957 or 58 . I spoke with him briefly at the E T Record Shop nite time show in the summer of 1951 and I often wondered what happened to him ?? Any of you older Nashville or Texas guys know what happened to Dickie ?? He played well but used no pedals . Eddie "C"

Yessir, loved his sound! Ernest didn't give him many solos, but his backups were a vital part of
Ernest's sound. Notice when Buddy came into the band, he quoted a lot of Dickie's signature licks.
Makes me think Buddy appreciated him, too.

Oh yes! Dickie worked w/Tubb from 1950-1956 (replacing Billy Robinson), so he probably did more recording with Ernest than any other steeler except Buddy Charleton. Butterball (Tommy) Paige, another old Troubador, used to live nearby, and told me several humorous stories about playing with Ernest back in the '40s. Unfortunately, they can't be retold on a public forum!

Unfortunately, we lost Dickie Harris in 2016 and his wife Joyce this year. I purchased a few things at the recent estate sale along with this photo of Dickie - wanted to share with other steel guitar players. Mark

Never seen so many left handers (ha, ha). Turn the photo over.

Bill

Yes - the photo is backward. Dickie was into photography and had a full darkroom in his basement. I suspect he made this print and mistakenly had the negative in backwards.

I was wondering if Dickey Harris and Bootsey Harris who played with Curley Williams and the Georgia Peach Pickers are the same person ?

I don't think so - I knew Dickie for over 30 years and never heard him mention the name Bootsey, Curley Williams, or Georgia Peach pickers. Dickie was raised in south Nashville

Thank you Mark. Bootsey was from Mississippi I'm pretty sure.

This clip has a great solo played by Dickie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQpfQ8T1Cag

Nice! I heard some Speedy in his playing.

I did not have the privilege of personally knowing Dickie, but I did own his three neck Fender Custom for a number of years after he passed. It was an honor to possess it for a while, but I hardly ever need a triple neck so I didn’t use it much.

A few weeks back I sold it to a young Nashville area non-pedal steel player named Eddie Rutland. He is turning out to be a really great player and genuinely loves the old stuff of that era.

What really sealed the deal for me was the fact that he plays in a band where the lead singer owns and wears one of Dickie’s Nudie “Texas Troubadour” band uniforms from that same era! I’m glad to know that guitar and suit will be onstage together again, only with different people!

~Chris Scruggs~

Photo flipped to proper side

Thanks for the flip.

Bill