The Steel Guitar Forum

Curly was THE master of C6, for me. I just happened to purchase a DVD, from Mike Perlowin, fearuring concerts from 1986, in St. Louis and L.A.
I love it !
I don't imagine there's many other historical concerts like this available
Thanks Mike
Rick

I bought the dvd over a year ago and im very pleased dvd's dont wear out like vinyl or tape 'cos I watch it a lot , he is just jaw doppingly fluid with his left hand.....almost like hes playing in fine oil.

I bought this years ago when it first came out on vhs. Mike did every steel player a favor by putting this on DVD, No BETTER steel playing has EVER been done, by ANYONE,ANYWHERE,AT ANYTIME. There is no excuse not to own the GREATEST steel album ever recorded. YOU BETCHA,DYK?BC.

Did you guys notice how Curly really was impressed with the lead guitar player in the LA session? I thought he played six string like Curly plays steel. Larry

The lead guitar player is Johnny Davis. For being a guitar player, he plays one heck of a steel.

I wish to remind everybody that I still have between 600 and 700 copies of the DVD sitting in boxes in my garage. If anybody wants one, please send me an E-mail.

The reason I put this out was because I felt obligated to insure that this historic footage was not lost. Chalker was one of the best steel guitarists of all time. Possibly THE best, and this DVD captures over 2 hours of his genius.

Jim Bob is playing bass on this great album. The band alone is worth the price of the CD. YOU BETCHA,DYK?BC.

Johnny Davis is an amazing player.

On the St. Louis set,
Bobby Caldwell plays a nice axe. Another great stylist.
Rick

Went to see Curly in Minn. one time don't remember the year or the name of the song. A steel player told Curly , "I'm working on a song you have recorded, and I can't get that run you have in it,it's fast" Curly looked at him and smiled, stating "That run, I over dubbed it". And that's the rest of the story.

I've never been fortunate enough, to see him in person, but from what I see on the DVD, WOW !
He's got it all.
I keep watching closely, hoping to learn something.

Rick

I should mention that at one time I had the ONLY existing copy of the footage that comprises 2/3rds of the DVD. The original tapes were made by the late Jack Lox, who produced the concert. Jack generously allowed me to make a clone (on Beta) of his original VHS tape. When he passed away, the original tape was lost. I coped the beta tape, and stashed the original away in a drawer for years till the opportunity to make this DVD came along. And I kept the Beta deck all these years just so I could play this tape when the time was right.

I felt that this historic footage is so important that it HAD to be preserved and made available to our community. I felt obligated to insure that it survived.

Kudos, Mike, for your foresight and dedication.

Thank you for preserving this great music for us.

Mike
You were a wise man, (MP), to save that recording for 'history', as well as pleasure. His use of chords,& phrasing, was "one of a kind".
Country, R&B, & Jazz Standards, as only this "Giant" could arrange and perform !
I used to watch the Wilburn Bros., & Hee-Haw shows just hoping to get a chance to hear and see him play.
If I remember correctly, he used 4 levers,and 7 pedals on C6
According to Winston, (circa '77), #10 string was tuned to A,&
RKL lowered #3 A<G#,& #2 C<B
RKR lowered #3 A<Ab>C,#8F<E,raises str6 C<C#

Ped 7 lowers str.4, G<F>F#

Ped 9 lowers str 2 C<B

Ped 10 lowers str 1&2 E<D & C<B

Very interesting copedant,& as the DVD shows, performed exquisitely, by one of the "original masters, among steelmen"

At age 59,I can say, "so many changes and tunings, but so little time left to absorb and learn."
Rick

PS: Hope I've made No errors

If you haven't yet gotten the DVD, buy it from Mike-not only is it some fine playing, but he did this project on his own dime as a service to all of us.

I bought a copy from Mike and I'll always be grateful to Mike for this great DVD.

Two versions of "Long Black Liomsine". One with Caldwell and the other with Davis.
Just can't get enough
Rick

The unrevealed verts were: both raised the 3rd (A) to Bb. One raised the 1st(E) to F and the other lowered the 1st (E) to Eb. When both were activated, the 1st string stayed unmoved but giving the 3rd string raise to make a dominant 7th.

Thanks Gary,
I haven't worked on his copedant YET, but I plan to.
Right now use I use a "standard", on my 12 string, high G, and #2 D, #1 F.
I usually drop back 2 ftrets and use Ped 5 for my Dom7/9. A little tweaking, and it's workable.
Then of course, there's those "chords"!!
(next hurdle)
What a master he was!
Rick

Curly, was always, for me, on the jazzy side of country. I was in awe of his R&B selections, from Stevie Wonder. "Once in my Life", and "Sunshine of my Life". The man had NO limitations. Pure creativity.
Rick

Rick Winfield wrote:Mike
You were a wise man, (MP), to save that recording for 'history', as well as pleasure. His use of chords,& phrasing, was "one of a kind".

Rick,
Actually there was one other guy I've heard that found a way to play like Chalker. His name is Frank Hardcastle, and if you can ever find his CD, "Daddy Frank", you'll hear what I mean.

Joe

I was lucky enough to become good friends with Chalker in the early 80's, up to he moved back to Nashville and passed away. I hung out with him, sat in front of him and listened and watched him play 5 hours a night on weekends in Henderson, Nevada, and played guitar with him around Vegas in other bands for corporate parties, etc.... and after experiencing all that, NOBODY will EVER convince me that ANYONE else "plays like Chalker".

Yes there are some guys who are quite good at copping some of his trademark licks and style. That's not even close to being like Chalker. It's one thing to copy a style, it's another to invent and perfect it. Plus as mentioned, so much creativity and energy in his playing, he never seemed to run out of ideas.

Search him on Youtube and listen to what he could do on either C6 or E9, and I can tell you he could do that amazing playing a whole 5 hour shift and not run out. How many players of any style can do that? Not many I've come across.

He told me once, "It doesn't bother me if someone copies my licks, cuz I'll just make up some new ones!", and that's not idle bragging, he could and did come up with new stuff every time I ever heard him.

You're right Jim. Check You tube for the Wilburn Brother's song I'm Making Plans. I would post the link, but I don't know how. Curly makes a five beat slide up the neck of the old MSA without picking the strings and winds up down by the pickup. This is one of the smoothest E9th playing solos I've heard. I believe he is also playing on Hank Thompson's song, Crying In The Deep Blue Sea. One of the best none pedal solos I've heard.

Just recieved two copys from Mike. One copy goes to a buddy of mine, a fellow steeler,and a FO' BRO'.I've juat watched it, and all I can say is WOW.A great big thanks to you,for doing this, Mike. Bob

Jim

Here is the url for Curls picking with the Wilburn Brothers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b75msHFy ... re=related

Chuck

Jim P
you hit the nail on the head.
it's takes talent to copy some great licks, but to INVENT them, continually, is pure Genuis.
C6 or E9th, that "magic touch", smoothness, and exactness, with complex voicings, can only be executed by the TRUE MASTER, Mr. Curly Chalker.
As I tried to state earlier, besides pleasure, and entertainment, we have HISTORY, alive on this DVD. for all of us to share and aspire to.
Thanks again to Mike Perlowin, who, as stated, did it on "his own dime"
Rick