The Steel Guitar Forum

A friend of mine shot this video of Junior. He gets to steel playing in the second minute. Note the string pulls.

Also, check out the Bigsby style pickup on the steel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_DALIHbdbU

Enjoy.

Mike, that's great! Thank your friend for us. Where does Junior Brown get all that energy?

GB

"Hung Up" is definitely his hottest tune. The energy comes from 30+ years of playing. What seems impossible to some is pretty easy once you have the hand strength, muscle memory, and dexterity. That guitar playing is hot, but after 18 years of playing I can play like that for quite some time. I only hope I can get there with steel.

Thanks Mike!
Benjamin

Just fabulous as always! I wonder what happened to his Sho-Bud pedal steel rig he had made-up for him not too long ago?

every time i see JB, i cant help but think of the first time i saw him, when he first started touring in the early 90's - there were 13 people in the audience... all guitar players, that had no doubt, like me, seen the article about him in Guitar Player mag and curious to check it out. (this being before the web & youtube you could only envison what the heck he was doing) we all sat there with our jaws dropped. the next year, he had a video out on MTV and the same club was 500 people standing room only.

the other thing i recall is how smokin' his wife Wanda was back then - it was a toss up who to look at - him or her

edit: Tanya Raye is his wife - where did i get Wanda?...20 years and many cold beers that night....

First time I heard Junior was on the Trespass soundtrack that Ry Cooder did. At the very end of the album, Junior does "Party Lights", but it is a different version than Guit With It, with fiddle--very country-ish.

I saw him not long after that at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ--the first of many times. Had fun with him a few summers ago doing a few shows.

Ha! Nice quote of Miles Davis' "Four" in there.

I was just thinking that having his Guit-steel on a stand gives him more freedom in playing the 6 string. (I know it helps me a lot to have a steel on a stand rather than in my lap.)

I think it would be an interesting experiment to try mounting a regular guitar on a microphone stand.

Here is a clip of him playing blues in the style of Albert King. (Caution: no steel content)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBmDH1sON3o

Thanks for uploading the link!

Steve Ahola

P.S. Speaking strictly for myself I kinda got tired of all of the You Tube videos of him playing like Jimi Hendrix. I did think it was really cool to hear him do Hendrix on some of his early albums because of the sheer novelty factor but that just scratches the surface of his many talents.

Love the short Boot Heel Drag quote!

Yep! There's only one Junior Brown. One of the most imaginative players around today. Is that an Alligator jacket? Too cool. Love his baritone too. Here's a fav.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16qsYreBJZE

My band opened for Jr. Brown a couple of times about 10 years ago, and I got a close look at his picking. He's exciting to say the least! I went home wondering where I went wrong!

Great video. I believe his wife is Tanya Rae however. She has an EP out with a mighty fine version of "His and Hers".
>the other thing i recall is how smokin' his wife Wanda

Incredible...what a virtuoso! One amazing, unusual technique after another.

The drummer sure knows Junior Brown's music well. Beautiful drumming on top of the beautiful steel and guitar.

Thanks, Mike.

Andrew Roblin
International Sho-Bud Brotherhood
Janitor

As to Junior quoting other tunes in his riffs, he addressed that very thing in an interview I saw. His words were something like, "I like to throw in a few, Hey, remember this? things." He puts on one of the most entertaining shows you'll see as well as a technique clinic.

I remember seein Junior for the first time when he opened for the Mavericks never havin even heard of him and leavin totally blow away. I've seen him a half dozen times since then.

Is it common to use a flat pick like this?

Also, I'm sure it's been discussed before but what tuning does JB use?

- C

Great skill, great talent but poor taste. Disconnected fluff and trash. I don't get it.
That's great for a circus but I can't imagine why anyone would want to listen to it.

James Quillian wrote:Great skill, great talent but poor taste. Disconnected fluff and trash. I don't get it.
That's great for a circus but I can't imagine why anyone would want to listen to it.

James, Junior is Junior.

I agree, it's not the most musical, but Junior is capable of being musical--very much so. In this situation he is being a showman.

He deserves a bit of respect.

Mike Neer wrote:I agree, it's not the most musical, but Junior is capable of being musical--very much so. In this situation he is being a showman.

Good point! Playing live has a lot to do with the energy created, and the vibes and the atmosphere. What sounded incredible at the time will often sound terrible when you listen to a recording of that show later. (Not everybody is in the moment- you always have those guys standing with their arms crossed analyzing the performance more than enjoying it.)

On the other hand a studio recording will try for something that will sound good on the 5th listening. Hopefully having the listener find something new each time that they listen to it.

Not too many years ago many performers did not want their live shows to be recorded by audience members because they had no artistic control over it. But with YouTube and cell phones everywhere it is something that has gotten out of control.

Just ramblin' on...

Steve Ahola

James Quillian wrote:Great skill, great talent but poor taste. Disconnected fluff and trash. I don't get it.
That's great for a circus but I can't imagine why anyone would want to listen to it.

I believe it's a blues festival. They are generally a pretty "easy" crowd (moreso if you add beer!).

I hafta say, I like Jr's songwriting best, his singing second, and his playing third. He's great, technically, but a bit much for me, especially his wanky "blues" guitar playing. I hafta say he gets some great stuff on the steel and his PSG playing on his records is right on!

Tanya, on the other hand...first time I saw them she broke an A string on the second song of the set!! That's impressive!!

Junior is an entertainer, and does all kinds of outrageous stuff to engage and amuse the audience, while at the same time playing stuff that most of us can only dream of executing. He can dazzle a crowd with his guitar and steel pyrotechnics while singing songs that are often really funny - I mean a song with the line "you're wanted by the police and my wife thinks you're dead..." is just as over the-top as some of his guitar work.

Sorry for the negative commentary. No, I cannot even come close to executing as Jr does on the steel, and was glad to have the close-up look; thanks!

But I stand by what I said about Tanya: blowing out an A string playing rhythm on an acoustic flat top, in the second song of the first set!! Ferocious!! (she was probably pissed at Jr about something!)

Yeah, you gotta be pretty pissed or something to break an A string! I can't even remember ever doing that......

James Quillian wrote:Great skill, great talent but poor taste. Disconnected fluff and trash. I don't get it.
That's great for a circus but I can't imagine why anyone would want to listen to it.

its sort of a catch 22 with all of this live youtube content - you have to take into account its an entirely different response being at a LIVE show with all the energy and entertainment value vs sitting in your cubicle watching YT, munching on donuts.

i would say the ONLY 2 steelers making a living these days are Jr and Robert Randolph - and these guys are showmen.
anytime either of these guys comes up it resorts to this

I have seen Junior a few times up here in MA. His shows are always excellent. There is plenty of showboating but the meat of his shows are clever catchy songs, an awesome voice and tasty (at-times jaw-dropping) melodies/rhythms/solos on the guit-steel. So now that everyone has had a chance to criticize this video here does anyone know what tuning he uses?