The Steel Guitar Forum

Here's the names of some of the SoCal lady pickers & singers I remember from the old days. Have any of you known or worked with any of them.......

JoAnne Rinard....mostly known around Orange county a very good singer and very nice to look at. We worked together at the Swizzle Stik, Shire's, and other places.

Cindy Carson.....vocalist, bassist, and yodler par excellence! Ol' Cindy had a great set of pipes and played a solid country bass. At one point she was with Capitol Records. We worked together a good bit over the years, mostly private stuff.....

Judy Lee...vocalist, drummer, bassist, and one very nice looking lady. I never had the pleasure of working with her in a band situation but have backed her up when she set in with a band I was in. I met her when she was 17 years old as she was going with a friend of mine who I was in the Army with....

Claire Courtney....vocalist, she appeared all over the area as a guest with other bands and also as a member of different groups. A very nice pleasant voice.......

Barbie Matthews.....vocalist/bassist, I'll have to say that I really loved this gal! Barbie and I worked together at Bonnie Price's Foothill Club and other venues. She was a sweet little ol' thing and a genuine asset to a band! I know that Mike Perlowin's in love with her too. She just made you want to hug her.........

Dee Ford.....vocalist/guitarist/fiddler/bassist/mandolinist and just about anything else she wanted to be. I worked with Dee for a year or two at the Foothill and we hit it off big time. She was a girl who "played like a man" in that she had genuine "gonads" in her picking on any instrument she had in her hands! We were 'buds and I thought a lot of her........

Gail Davis....vocalist...I never go to play with her but she was a fine singer and probably one of the best looking "chick singers" out there in her time. Unfortunately she died of cancer in her twenties. I think she might have made it nationally if she'd lived.

Sharon Leighton....vocalist. Sharon, along with her husband John were fixtures on the LA music scene for a lot of years. John unfortunately died of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). I think Sharon is performing Gospel music these days....

Jay Judy Kay....vocalist, I've always wondered whatever happened to her. A very talented petite little blonde lady who could belt 'em out.......

Princess Ramona......vocalist, I played with her some in the early days. She had a very unique voice and billed herself as an Indian Princess. A nice lady!

Kathy Robertson....vocalist, I backed her up once when she made an appearance with the Eddy Drake band and was very impressed. I think she's still performing in SoCal. An excellent vocalist!

Arlene McEwen....vocalist/fiddler. I met her when she was working the off nights at the Swizzle Stik in HB and began gigging some with her. A nice voice and an excellent fiddler. She sort of resembled Jeannie Kendall........

Dayna Wills....vocalist. Dayna's a fellow Forumite but she was in the SoCal music scene. We never worked together but played for the same boss as she was at the Hillside and I was at the Foothill Club and the same lady owned them. Dayna's an excellent western swing, pop, & country vocalist as well as being the neice of Bob Wills........

How some others from the old days? The ladies contributed heavily to the old SoCal music scene and carried their own weight........JH in Va.

Hey Jerry...
I see Kathy Robertson every now & then. She sings around some, and I believe she still works as a schoolteacher.
She's still an awesome singer.

Now,that's History on the women's side.I've picked with all but two of them. Let's see,we need Eddie Marie,Kathy Bee,Jeannie King,Pam Bellows,Pat Evans, Dottie & Debbie Collins,Donna Thomas,Jeannie Gayland,Ina Bear,Goldie Real,Pam Wren And many others. Leo

Leo, I remember some of those ladies too.....

Eddie Marie....She might be called the "Black Loretta Lynn" A very sweet black girl who could sing a country tune as good as any country girl out there. I met her as she used to come in at times and sit in with Clark's band. You were there too, remember?

Kathy Bee, I don't remember her, did she ever go by another last name?

Jeannie King, a fine lead guitarist! She worked in a band in the sixties with my ex-wife Marie Laswell..

Pam Bellows, I don't remember her either, also did she ever use another last name?

Pat Evans, no I DO remember her. She's an ex-girlfriend of mine from the last few years I was in SoCal. I produced a couple of records for her at Redhill Studio. I think you might have played drums on one of them.......

Debbie & Dottie Collins. I knew Dottie very well from the sixties and then I met Debbie when I played a session you were producing on her along with Dave Gant on keyboards.......

Donna Thomas, I played a few things with her and Buddy here and there. I have a recording of a gig we did at the Cowboy next to the Santa Any Freeway..

Jeannie Gayland, don't remember her, any other last names she might have used?

Ina Bear, ol' Teddy's wife! Ina & Teddy, "The Teddy Bears". Ol' Teddy was one of the first people I ever played music with when he was still married to Francis.......

Goldie Real, now she could belt out a song! I have a recording and a DVD of the benefit show we did at the DJ Ranch for Hank Cochram with Goldie singing on it.......

Pam Wren, don't remember her either might have used another last name.......Thanks for the mention of these ladies.......JH in Va.

Hi Jerry! Kathy Bee-Hamliton.Pam Bellows was the singing house wife that I Produced her album. Jeannie Gayland worked with Bass Guitarist Ray Emerson & Pam Wren is the wife of Guitarist Bill Wren. Some other ladies were Nancy Rowe,Roberta Stein,Carice Landon,Cricker Abbott,Cookie Jackson,Wendy Moyer & and a few others in our neighborhood. Leo

Jerry
I've worked with only three on your list.

First, Claire Courtney. She was Jimmy Lawton's ex-wife and came to the Holiday II a couple times as I recall. She and JL had a lovely daughter who's prob'ly in her 50's now. I talked to Jimmy just a couple weeks ago, in fact.

Sharon Leighton came by the Holiday with John and sat in one night. They were, as you well know, the house band at Nashville West, also in El Monte.

Dayna Wills is a dear friend and a true sweetheart of mine, but the numerous times we've played together has only been in Texas; except for one time in 2003 in Sacramento when I went into the WS Society Hall of Fame. Matter of fact, she holds the title of "Herb's Favorite 'Chick Singer'" , which is a story she'll have to tell. Her husband of course knows how lucky he his!!!

I also really enjoyed working a couple times with Mary Taylor. MT wrote "Queen of the House" that Kaye Adams had the hit on, if I remember correctly.

I did work one time with Donna Fargo, but she'd gone to N'ville and been a big star by then.

The ones I remember but never worked with were Princess Ramona, Janet McBride, and Lucille Starr, for whom I had the serious adolescent hots!!

Herb, I think "Queen of the House" was done by Jody Miller....

Lucille Starr? Man, I'd forgotten about her! I remember I also had the hots for her as she looked great with a very unique voice. Remember Lacy J. Dalton's first hit "Crazy Blue Eyes"? The first couple of times I heard it on the radio I thought is was Lucille as she had what Lee Ross (KFOX DJ) always called "the Canadian Trill"....

I remember when Lucille and her husband Bob Regan billed themselves as "The Canadian Sweethearts" and were all over the LA TV live music shows. Ol' Bob was a pretty fair picker on his Joe Maphis style Mostrite double neck........

I wasn't aware that Claire Courtney was Jimmy Lawton's ex-wife... small world in music ain't it?

Anyone remember Marsha Nichols? She was Roy's ex and played a pretty mean lead guitar herself!

Then there's Becky Hobb's, a very talented singer, songwriter, & pianist. She played the club circuit in SoCal for a good while before moving to Nashville. I remember playing with her once at a club in Huntington Beach but I can't remember the name of it...........JH in Va.

Dayna Wills is a member of this forum. She started a topic about Woodstock recently.

Hi Jerry:

I think us So.Calif. Forumites from years past remember Lucille Star. She could really get your hormones going. I played some gigs with her and her husband at the Pioneer Room in Norwalk, Ca. Bob Regan used to bill himself as the world's fastest guitar player which I doubt that Joe Maphis aprreciated. Alos got to play with Donna Fargo when she guested at Walt's Club in South Gate, Ca. She was being booked into most all the clubs around So.Calif. back in the 60's.

Duplicate

Billy Tonnesen wrote:Hi Jerry:

remember Lucille Star. She could really get your hormones going.

Hang onto thise hormones, Billy. Lucille is still doing it.

Billy:

Here is something for your eyeballs and hormones:

Wasn't Lucille Star and Bob Regan from Canada ?

Just remember I played on a show for the Navy at San Diego in their big Auditorium. There was Lucille and Bob, Gordon Terry, Johnney & Joanie Mosby, and Luther Perkins (without J.C). The Band was Johnny Mosby's which included me, Clyde Griffin on Piano, Bill Carson on Lead Guitar, Art West on Bass, and a excellent drummer who had played with the "Champs".
After the show we went over to the NCO club on the base and jammed western Swing for another couple of hours. Luther Perkins was a great guy bnt his playing never went past what he played for J.Cash.

Those were the days !

Billy:

There is a good biography of Bob and Lucille here:

http://tinyurl.com/ncjwne

Anyone remember "Sue and Dell Smart" in So. Calif. during the 60's. They both were pretty good singers.

They hired me once over the phone but when I showed up for the gig they said they changed their mind and just said "sorry" the club could not afford another piece. I could have been nasty about it but it wasn't worth it.

Yes Sir Billy!, Del & Sue, They were movers in the neighborhood for booking local bands.Mike the son had a band called " American Made". Let's see who knows more about( Sue & Del) them. Leo

Hi Jerry,

Claire came to Holland for a tour inthe seventies and I was the steeler in the accompanying band. And as a matter of fact Jimmy Lawton lives about 2 blocks away from me and I will meet him this friday. Jimmy is doing well however I don't know how Claire is doing.

Ted

LJ Eiffert wrote:Now,that's History on the women's side.I've picked with all but two of them. Let's see,we need Eddie Marie,Kathy Bee,Jeannie King,Pam Bellows,Pat Evans, Dottie & Debbie Collins,Donna Thomas,Jeannie Gayland,Ina Bear,Goldie Real,Pam Wren And many others. Leo

Sadly, Eddie Marie passed away a few moths ago, from cancer.

I played lead guitar for Donna Thomas a few times around 1977-78, before I took up the steel. Nice lady as I recall.

This may not count as "working with", however when I was about 16 I was playing guitar with John Leighton's son John Jr. and we sat in at Nashville West a few times. Sharon Leighton was very kind to me and I made contact with her thru her website a few years ago. I think her last name is Joyner now and she performs gospel music. I was trying to find out what ever happened to John Jr.,however Sharon had no idea and seemed to have lost contact with him-I think he was John's son and her stepson. I was just starting out and sitting in at Nashville West was a big deal!

I worked with Del & Sue Smart extensively as I was the first steel player in their son Mike's band Western Union from about 1980 to 1984.

Played in the house band at Shires with Lynda Peace. Her husband Dave Wendell was a hot rockabilly guitarist.

Worked with Kathy Robertson a lot out at Loretta's

There are more but I just cant remember them just now.

I didn't see steeler Beryl Harrell's name mentioned, she was a steel pioneer for WS ladies and preceeded fellow lady steeler Marian Hall at the mid 50s THP shows. And took a back seat to nobody in the looks dept.

I didn't see steeler Beryl Harrell's name mentioned. She was a steel pioneer for WS ladies, even preceeded fellow lady steeler Marian Hall at the mid 50s THP shows, and took a back seat to nobody in the looks dept.

Ron Whitfield wrote:I didn't see steeler Beryl Harrell's name mentioned. She was a steel pioneer for WS ladies, even preceeded fellow lady steeler Marian Hall at the mid 50s THP shows, and took a back seat to nobody in the looks dept.

Beryl's son Don Triolo is a forum member.

Herb Steiner wrote:Beryl's son Don Triolo is a forum member.

Don and I are in occassional contact and I'm awaiting a fine write-up on his overlooked mother by the exceptional Deke Dickerson very soon. Hopefully the exposure will help lead to a nomination for her in the SGHoF.

Does anyone remember a Girl singer "BONNIE LEE"? So.Cal, circa 1950..did a recording "KISS OF FIRE"..BERYL HARRELL played Steel on that recording..if memory serves me it was produced by Cliffie Stone..The Band was either Eddie Cletro, dusty Ellison or could have been Tex Wallace..Bonnie was mentioned in a book by Tex "Jenks" Carman..I have tried unsuccessfully to find that recording, but to no avail..