The Steel Guitar Forum

For those of you have this CD, the Big E, a Salute to Steel Guitarist Buddy Emmons, would comment on it, please? It appears to have a number of top notch steel players.
Thanks, Stevet

It is an excellent cd, you will not be disappointed.

That CD gets played a lot here in the workshop. As I wait for the furnace to warm the place up a bit I'll offer my comments.

First, it is a very well produced project. Top quality all the way as we would expect from Steve Fishell.

Paul Franklin, Tommy White, Steve Fishell, Jay Dee Maness, Buck Reed, Greg Leisz, Doug Jernigan, Randle Currie, Roosevelt Collier, Mike Johnson, Norm Hamlett, Dan Dugmore and Gary Carter are the featured steel pickers. Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, Willie Nelson, John Anderson, Raul Malo, Chris Stapleton, Joanie Keller Johnson and Jimmy Dickens contribute vocals. Duane Eddy does some very cool guitar parts on two numbers and Albert Lee plays guitar on a selection with Jay Dee.

I like the fact that it is not intended to be a note for note copy of the way Buddy did these tunes. The players make the songs their own, just like Buddy made songs his own.

We have a nice variety of sixteen tunes here. In todays' world of everyone talking about steel guitar tone this recording serves as a good reminder that there are a lot of different tones that are all good. As an example, Jay Dee's tone could not be more different from Randle Currie's, yet they are both excellent.

I love "Blue Jade" as performed here by Duane Eddy and Dan Dugmore. Tater performing "When Your House Is Not a Home" near the end of his life is a very moving piece. Joanie and Mike Johnson performing "Someday Soon" is another especially sweet treat.

Of special mention in my opinion is Greg Leisz wonderful performance of the old old old Scottish tune "Wild Mountain Thyme" on which he did vocals and played steel, acoustic guitar, mandocello and Weissenborn. It is simply beautiful and very creative. It's nice when people come at an old tune from a completely different angle.

I can't recommend this CD highly enough. Listen with an open mind. You will likely hear something new and refreshing. Steve Fishell's seven pages of liner notes are worth the price of the CD.

It's a great CD, I love it!

I agree with Doug. I've listened to it dozens of times and I never seem to tire of it.

Some of the finest playing on the planet, all in one place. I don't know how Mr. Fishell pulled it off, but he created a fine, fitting tribute to The Greatest.

It's an excellent album, but I wouldn't have expected anything less from Steve Fishell.

Steve is a man of no small importance to the world of steel guitar, and to whom I pay attention. Not only a great player and producer, Fish is one of our community's movers and shakers when it comes to getting things accomplished. His involvement with Buddy and his legacy go back years.