The Steel Guitar Forum

For educational purposes only:

http://allensarchiveofearlyoldcountrymu ... rites.html

Thanks very much Andy!

What a treasure trove!

Here's more Jerry Byrd from the same site:
http://allensarchiveofearlyoldcountrymu ... 5-set.html

I had trouble getting to either this link or the one that Andy posted, but got around the problem by starting off at http://allensarchiveofearlyoldcountrymusic.blogspot.com and repeatedly clicking on the "Older Posts" link at the bottom of the page until I eventually came to the Jerry Byrd albums.

Kekoa, thanks for this - I find a date of 1953 for the release of the "Nani Hawaii" 45 RPM set. Does anyone know what steel JB was playing then?

He was still using his 7 str. Bakelite.

Anybody else having trouble keeping the blogs up? My page keeps going blank.

Thanks Ron. More trivia: I have the Cattle CD #296, "Early Country & Hawaiian Steel Guitar Classics", and all the Nani Hawaii tracks are on it, but they're dated 1949. Maybe that was when the 78s came out?...even Wikipedia's listing on JB dates it at 1953. I love digging for this kind of info.

If you'd care to see the actual group that cut that album, simply goe to www.jerrybyrd-fanclub.com/
and visit the JERRY's PHOTO page.

I've been communicating regularly with Mia Kuaana, Danny's daughter, who says her home was always filled with her dad's musician friends.

Thanks for that S.M., I think it;s likely that the tracks were cut in '49 and re-released on 45 RPM in '53. Great photo!

They were repackaged several times over the years; later in the '50s, as the LP "On The Shores of Waikiki."

Jerry's early stuff was great, with the bakelite sound.

Andy Volk wrote:They were repackaged several times over the years; later in the '50s, as the LP "On The Shores of Waikiki."

Thanks Andy, more good info.

You're welcome. For my personal taste, JB's tone on the Nani Hawaii session far surpasses the sound he got in later years on his Excel and Sho-Bud guitars. It's just the gold standard for that luxurious bakelite "growl."

It's a mistake to think Byrd's sound came that way out of the box. It's a combo of his incredible technique and pick attack, shaded by expert volume pedal use (his got louder on the upstroke,) and the tone of his Volu-Tone amp all coupled with the mid-50's engineering protocols used plus the ambient sound of the rooms in which he recorded.

Oh, I hear you all right - it's the reason some of us are obsessed with vintage instruments, amps, mics, and even limiters and EQs and so on.

As for the touch and the ears and the feel - money can't buy that.

Edit: oh, and we're definitely on the same page regarding the tone!

i never really had an interest in Hawaiian music until i listened to Jerry - his tone and phrasing is SO good, just beautiful, entranced, i just eat the stuff up - i recall reading where he said if you can touch someone with your music, its the true measure of an artist. well, he has to the point i have to stop and think, am i listening to the music, or a complete master of the instrument.

- now i wish someone would post some Dick Mcintire for educational purposes! there is nothing out there on him that i can find. i'd love to hear where JB got his tone from.

Well these two cuts should give you a good picture of exactly what the McIntire magic was all about. Dick had it all: tone, taste, touch, exquisite phrasing and the rarest of all qualities - knowing exactly how much to play and never, ever, over playing.

https://home.comcast.net/~aevolk/music/ ... nolulu.mp3

https://home.comcast.net/~aevolk/music/ ... Im_Pau.mp3

The Cumquat releases are a fantastic resource. Bruce Clarke, their founder died and the site is now administered by his son, Dallas. There have been reports on the forum of poor service/non-delivery so I would email first before I'd order to check availability, delivery, etc.

http://www.cumquatrecords.com.au/

I should add that the above cuts are from Bruce's CDs. Bruce was one of the greatest Jazz guitarists in Australia for many years though he started out on lap steel and returned to it near the end of his life. Bruce spent countless hours cleaning up these old 78s and his level of expertise and understanding for how this music should sound is really evident in the sonic quality - even in these compressed mp3s.

I appreciate your positive comments about JERRY BYRD.As you say, NANI HAWAII was a one of a kind project.

I've found the tone to be unequaled anywhere else.

From time to time on KING lable, I've found some truly great tone, similar to the Kuaana records.

For Example: "KENTUCKY" by the Short Brothers

"Too Young" by Clyde Moody

and many others..............

Andy Volk wrote:JB's tone on the Nani Hawaii session far surpasses the sound he got in later years on his Excel and Sho-Bud guitars. It's just the gold standard for that luxurious bakelite "growl." It's a mistake to think Byrd's sound came that way out of the box. It's a combo of his incredible technique and pick attack, shaded by expert volume pedal use (his got louder on the upstroke,) and the tone of his Volu-Tone amp all coupled with the mid-50's engineering protocols used plus the ambient sound of the rooms in which he recorded.

It's a shame Jerry's great friend and Bakelite hero, Wanyne Tanner doesn't post here any more, he could comment extensively on how Jerry's 6 and 7 string mains were exceptional Bakelites, easily allowing for the infamous 'moan' some are known for, while many Ricks cannot conjure it up as easily, or at all. And it certainly does have a lot to do with the player. As an example, Wayne showed his buddy Tom Brumley how to get it on Tom's B6. But then Tom later 'lost' it and came back to Wayne upset about his guitar now being unable to do it, only to have Wayne play the same guitar and easily coax the moan right back into life.
I have many emails from Wayne describing the intracacies about Jerry/Bakelites and the dream sound that can be acheived, and how to do it. I should post those in another thread. Ray knows well about all this and can provide mucho info as well.

Jerome, more than one fine steeler say Jerry was probably the only true Master of the steel.
BTW, you can find some public domain McIntire by googling his name and including - blogspots or mediafire in the title.

According to the Jerry Byrd Fan Club......

This album, according to Mercury Records, was recorded in January/February, 1950. The location was not noted.

For my personal taste, JB's tone on the Nani Hawaii session far surpasses the sound he got in later years on his Excel and Sho-Bud guitars. It's just the gold standard for that luxurious bakelite "growl."

It's a mistake to think Byrd's sound came that way out of the box. It's a combo of his incredible technique and pick attack, shaded by expert volume pedal use (his got louder on the upstroke,) and the tone of his Volu-Tone amp all coupled with the mid-50's engineering protocols used plus the ambient sound of the rooms in which he recorded.

I agree 1000%, Andy. By the 1970s Jerry was playing guitars made by pedal steel companies... Pickups with more windings, a completely different sound, and solid state amps, no more tube amp growl. I also agree that much of the sound was in Jerry's hands and head. He really attacked the strings aggressively... I like that.

I wasn't aware that he used solid state amps. The Twin Reverb seemed to be his amp in later years.

I thought he used Peavey amps later on. I could be mistaken, but his tone after the mid-70s was very clean with a lot of lows, compared to his 1950s tone. His playing was awesome, but his later tone was rather sterile IMHO... Not as raw and exciting as his earlier sound. Maybe part of it was the recording gear, the mics, solid state recording consoles, etc.

I'd be very surprised if Jerry EVER used SS amps out of choice, he was a staunch tuber, even putting up with them in his teaching room, but if anyone knows for sure I'd like to hear about it.

You're probably right, Ron. I was thinking that his later tone sounded SS to my ear. That could be due to other factors... his Sho-Bud guitar, the studios, etc. I do know that his sound changed quite a bit over the years. By the way, I too have a silverface Fender tube amp in my teaching room... the same one for 35 years!

Deleted

Doug Beaumier wrote:I too have a silverface Fender tube amp in my teaching room... the same one for 35 years!

Jerry used his SF Twin at shows and kept a Music Man 2x12 at Harry's Music. Harry's just moved down the road from thier historic building, so the history is fading ever further for those who set foot in ol' Harry's.