The Steel Guitar Forum

I have an album of Kayton Roberts on the Maple label. Its called The Bells of St. Marys

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Steelin' Greetings
Marco Schouten

I had the rare pleasure to spend a day with Mr. Roberts a few years ago when he was visiting friends in this area. It was billed as a seminar, but that's a rather stuffy way to describe as joyful an experience as spending a few hours listening to one of the great musicians playing and talking spontaneously about his experiences in the music business. An utterly amazing player, and he and his wife are two of the kindest,
most thoughtful people one could ever meet. A
treasured memory!

Ian, is Kayton a real tall guy? Or is his Dual 8 just a short guitar?
It's great to see him sitting at that old Fender.

He's really one of my favorite players. He started playing at the steel shows a couple of years ago. Wonderful artistry!

Hi Jeffstro,

First the good news. Kayton is alive and well and living in the Nashville area. He is doing a very limited number of steel conventions.

Now the part that will kill you. For the past two years Kayton has played at the Florida Folk Festival in White Springs--about 1.5 hours west of you. Regretably, he won't be there this year--I don't know why. Kayton was born in Cross City, FL and played a weekly dance in White Springs for something like ten years. Last year at the festival his performances included playing for a western swing dance with a band that included Vassar Clements. Wow, Kayton can really cook!

His steel is a Dual 8 professional circa 1953. He says he bought it new and it is the only steel he has ever owned or played. It's like a part of his body and brain. Mmmmm--maybe there's a lesson there?

Anyhow, Vassar is dedicated to coming to the FFF every year. Come on over. It's Fri, Sat and Sun this weekend.

All the best,

Bob
I'm in Gainesville. Maybe we should connect.
Drop me an Email.

I noticed his name in the credits on Hank Williams III's debut album,but I'm not sure which tunes he is on. Vernon Derrick is also listed in the credits.If you haven't heard this album,it's surely worth checking out.

he was at Scotty's in '98, is he coming this year?

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Chris Kennison
Ft. Collins, Colorado
"We can't afford to let Nature Run Wild" - govt. offical - Alaska

Mr. Roberts played steel tonight on the Grand Ole Opry for Hank Williams III and he cooked!

Cooked was an understatement. And they just casually mentioned that the audience at the Opry gave Kayton Roberts and that old Fender a Standing Ovation as he left the stage.

alright, everybody! don't keep me in the dark: gimme a discography! what albums is he on?

Kayton got the best Booo waaa sounds Ive heard in years. Ive always liked Hank III hes so much like his Grandpa its scary. Great gig!!!

HOWaiian,

A little history. Kayton was indeed raised in north Florida. And he does play a 1953 Vintage Fender D-8. And it is the only steel he has ever owned. Upon close observance, it looks like it went down with the Titanic!!

He is a Jerry Byrd fan in the highest magnitude. If you listen to him closely, you will hear a lot of JB in his playing. But there is also a lot of Kayton in his playing. One of the interesting things about Kayton is when he was hired by Hank Snow over 30 years ago, Hank said, "I like the way Joe Talbott plays. I want you to get his sound as best you can." Joe had played on a lot of Hank's original "rise to fame" songs like "Movin' On"

Kayton did this proudly. So with a little of JB, a little of JT and a little of Kayton, you have a mixture of some mighty fine lap-steel playing.

Kayton, as has been stated, does in fact pull strings behind the bar. He also uses a Steven's bar. His most favorite tuning is C6 with a C# and a C in there on the bass strings with low, low A on the 8th string. The same A that we get on the 10th string on C6 (D-10) using the 8th pedal.

He has a talent that very few players have and that is to leave a "break" so that the very next note is the Singer's beginning note. No matter how many bars the break takes. The greatest player in the world on this, is of course Jerry Byrd. The second is Buddy Emmons. And strangely, Little Roy Wiggins had this inate talent.

Kayton's postion style behind the steel is quite unique. The top of his steel is below the top of his knees. And he plays in a bent over manner. Also his volume pedal is on the outside of the legs of his his D-8. When first seeing it, one often gets the feeling this would be a very cumbersome way to play.

Well it might be for most of us, but, it has in NO way ever hurt Kayton's playing.

His wife IvaLee, who often plays with him wherever he plays, insists on an upright piano. Kayton knows just about every song ever written commensurate with his style of playing. And that is just one more of his amazing talents.

Like JB and RW, he is strictly a melody player, but even though he plays the melody more than one time, he always plays it differently on subsequent passes. If you would like to hear him at his very best, call Scotty's and ask for the Tape of Kayton and Herb Remington called, "From Houston to Nashville". Truly a beautiful selection of classic tunes played as ONLY these two giants could do it.

He has 17 zillion "road" stories to tell, experienced when he was traveling with Hank Snow for all those years. And some will put you in the floor splitting your sides. One of the most classic is the time one of Hank's fiddle players slid the tip end of his bow under Hank's toupe' and lifted it right off Hank's head as he took his break on the stage of the Grande Ole Opry. And what a break it was. In fact he never fiddled for Hank again. It seems that Hank was NOT the easiest singer to work with and had been on the fiddler's back for sometime previous to that night on the Opry. Soooooooooo

Yes Kayton is one of a few players of our beloved instrument that are soo uniquely different. I suppose I would have to put him in the same league as Lew Houston. Both are awesome players that garner as much love watching them play as listening to them play. A rare trait indeed.

carl

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by C Dixon on 21 January 2001 at 08:44 AM.]</p></FONT>

Kayton had no trouble keeping up with them young guys in Hank III's band on the Opry last night. Does he tour with them?

This was a real treat for me--I've never seen Mr. Roberts and barely heard him on a couple of cuts. He hunkers down on that Dual Pro and looks like he's gonna tackle it if it tries to get away. It's refreshing to see someone play with such animation rather than the familiar rigid reserve we are so familiar with. Someone once said to me, as we were watching someone play, 'he can't be making all that music--he's not even moving!'
Nobody will say that about Kayton.
I didn't notice the volume pedal. In fact I was thinking that maybe he was working the volume pot as well as the doowah tone pot.

C Dixon-

thanx muchly for the info!

I have the tape mentioned earlier by Kayton and Herb. Superb!

For an old cogger that's still trying to learn, what is involved in the technique mentioned by Carl Dixon of Kayton "pulling the strings behind the bar?" Can you give me a description of what he does. I suppose, after listening to Kayton, you have to see it to believe it!

Also, I have never seen the Stevens bar. Can someone describe it for me.

Kayton is my favorite, next to the one and only JB-- the king.

oj hicks

Seeing Kayton reminded me that you dont see many really really good young lap steel players. It takes years to get as good as Kayton and others mentioned in this thread. Sure there are some good youngsters out there but these older guys with a little silver on top or no silver at all LOL can do something the young players just cant do its hard to put into words really. Give me an old fart anyday that knows how to really play and he blow the doors off these younger guys. I just sold my 57 Stringmaster and seeing Kayton made me wanna play steel again so bad got a cool old national lap today.

"For an old cogger that's still trying to learn, what is involved in the technique mentioned by Carl Dixon of Kayton "pulling the strings behind the bar?" Can you give me a description of what he does."

OJ,

This is a technique used by many lapsteel players that permit you to raise one or more strings by pulling them with fingers to the left of the bar.

A couple of examples using the following tuning:

E
C
A
G
E
C

1. Pull the 3rd or 6th string to get an A7th chord.

2. Pull the 4th string to get a C7th chord.

3. Pull the 1st strng to get an Fmaj chord. (first three strings. Aslo, pull 5th string.

4. Pull strings 3 and 4 to get a diminished chord.

It takes a long time to perfect it and there are NO stops. So it is easy to under or over shoot it. But the masters like Kayton and Billy Robinson* have it down pat. They usually take the ring finger tip of their left hand a grab the given string and pull it towards the rear of the bar.

The difficult part is keeping the string in contact with the bar. There is a tendency to push it down and away from the bar and this is disastrous. So one developes a little "hook" between the tip of their finger and the string. This permits the sring to be pulled (stretched), yet still held in close contact with the bar.

Close observance of Kayton and Billy Robinson (probably the greatest of them all at this technique), will show them doing it so effortlessly as to be second nature to them.

It is interesting to note that Pedal Steel Guitar players use this technique also. Pulling the 1st srting from and F# to a G has been done by just a whole bunch of players. One of the best is Lloyd Green.

"Also, I have never seen the Stevens bar. Can someone describe it to me?"

The Stevens bar dates back to the 40's. It was conceived to be the answer for young players who had difficulty holding on to the bar. It has an odd shape. The bottom of it is round but not nearly as round as most round steel bars. Just a slight arc in comparison.

But where they really are unigue is how they are shaped from there on up to the top.

Think of taking a piece of clay say 3 inches long, 1 inch high and 1/2 inch wide. now hold that clay bar and roll the bottom of it to form a slight arc that rides on the strings.

Then take a 3/8" round piece of steel and press it in to each side of the bar AND the top.

In other words a groove for the thumb, the first finger and the middle finger to fit into. Some players cannot hold a round bar. Or they never learned to more probably. In any case the bars have been sold all over the world for over 60 years. Most quality music stores sell them including Elderly's.

One thing that is a disadvangtage is they are made of brass, then chrome (or nickel) plated. This plating wears off quickly as the bar is slid along the strings. Many dobro players use them today.

carl

* Billy Robinson was the Jerry Byrd protege' that was hired bye Red Foley, when Jerry quit Red over a dissagreement in the 40's during the time Red was the star on the old Prince Albert's "Grande Ole Orpy" national radio show.

Many, many listeners including my self never knew that the Jerry Byrd we heard backing Red was in fact Billy Robinson. One of Billy's classic rides was on Red's hit song "Tenneesee Saturday Nite". There is NO way one could tell it was not JB.


<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by C Dixon on 22 January 2001 at 09:57 AM.]</p></FONT>

Bobbe Seymore is an expert at "pullin" the strings behind the bar also. He uses the technique on his C6th neck in conjunction with pedals and knee levers.

Rumor has it that Kayton will be back at the Florida Folk Festival again in 2001,Memorial day weekend. I'll check into it and post the results.

Another great musician from Florida, Vassar Clements, plays at the Festival every year. In 1999, Vassar and Kayton were part of a western swing band that played for a public dance. Kayton may be known for playing the melody, but he was doing some HOT improvising that night.

Kayton is always inspirational to see. He's such a great player and always seems to be enjoying himself no matter what kind of music he's playing or with whom. And with all his energy, he can outplay and outlast a lotta players a few decades younger than himself!

As for the Hank III gig, Kayton played it pretty regularly til a couple of years ago. Since then, Jim Murphy and Ron Blakely are the two who have probably spent the most time out with Hank. Recently, though, he only takes steel along on certain dates. For those he uses several folks depending on who's available at the time. It's great to see/hear Kayton doing some of those shows again, though.

No one has mentioned the Kayton Roberts L.P. released years ago titled simply "Steelin' " In my opinion the best thing he ever released as a solo album.

Kayton played the Theme song from the classic movie " Gone With The Wind," real name "Tara's Theme." It is one of the prettiest non-pedal songs I ever heard.

Kayton Roberts gets an AAA+ grade from this teacher. I'll always be a fan of his playing!

T.J. Wood
3 Nails + 1 Cross = 4 Given