The Steel Guitar Forum

Who played steel for Bob wills in 1951. All I got from a short film on TV was Bobby . The short was calld Paramount Misical Shorts.Thanks

I always thought it was Leon ,not sure if it was LeonRaush , when they played the Steel Guitar rag ,Bob would say "takeit away Leon ""

R.L.Jones

It was Leon McAuliffe who took it away (often from Leon Rauch!)

sounds like your are looking at the "snader transcription" films which total somewhere around a half dozen songs, with bobby koefer on steel--probably grinning a lot and looking at his hands occasionally. great stuff. joe holley on fiddle i think?


<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Mitch Drumm on 03 March 2005 at 12:15 AM.]</p></FONT>

Hi Mitch, Thats what I saw. It was great never seen anyone play steel that way before. I think he only looked down 2or3 times and grinning like an old cat let out for the night.

My records show the following for the Bob Wills group in the 1951 era:

Joe Andrews 1951-1952
Billy Briggs 1951
Skeeter Elkins1951-1955
Bobby Koeffer 1951
Paul Magee 1951-1952
Romona Reed 1951-1952
Carolina Cotton 1951
Cotton Whittington 1951

So I guess the steeler was Koeffer. Plays with a thumb pick and doesn't have to look at the guitar to play it.

Leon Rausch was a vocalist/bass player with the Playboys and now runs the group labeled "The Texas Playboys".

BTW I have a researched listing of all the players that played with Wills from 1935 through his last recording session that Merle Haggard sponsored and was produced by Tommy Allsup, along with the years they played. If you would like I can email that list to you. Just email me. It's too long to publish on the Forum.

fred

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"From Truth, Justice is Born"--Quanah Parker-1904


<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Fred Shannon on 03 March 2005 at 02:23 PM.]</p></FONT>

HOW THE HELL DID BOBBY PLAY STEEL GUITAR W/ JUST A THUMB PICK, BOBBY KOEFFER THAT IS SOME BODY EXPLAIN THIS PLEASE.

Saw this show again and taped it. will try to put it on VCR tape.So I can mail to whoever to look at and than he can pass it on to the next person and so on.

Herman. I've watched Bobby play many times. He not only just uses a thumb pick, he holds the bar funny. Just to watch him you would think he is not muting the strings. But he is. Fantastic player and fantastic person.

Thats an under statement about holding the bar funny.Brings to mind what Jeff Newman said, what(not) to do in his Video. Looks like he is trying to pull door hinges off. But ha it sound good and thats what counts.Great piece of Steel history .

Bobby also held the bar, with his thumb on top and out toward the end of the bar..and his bar was not a round bar ,if I remember correctly..it was kinda rectangular shaped, looking at it from the ends..and was not rounded up on the front end, but cut on an angle ???? He held it tilted, grasping the bar with his hand,not cradling it long ways with his fingers..
But what a picker....

RP...'come on in'

I guess Bobby Koffer just proves its not how you play it, it is how you play.

One evening I spent the whole evening watching him and I don't have a clue how he does it, but he in fact does play with only a thumb pick and he does hold the bar in a unique way. He also plays standing up.

Fantastic player also no pedals.


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Remington Steel T-8 Steelmaster
Gibson Console Grande