The Steel Guitar Forum

Jerry, I am trying to find out for Blackie Taylor here in Riverside, CA if you are the Jerry Hayes he knows. You could just reply Yes or Who the heck is Blackie Taylor????
Thanks in advance Steve

My first steel lessons were from Blackie and then I heard the big E.

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Swampwater Smyth

Charlie, I have known the guy when he had a shop off the traffic circle in Orange, almost 20 years. Been taking lessons, well, 23rd of this month will be one year. He is one of the living legends on the West Coast as far as I'm concerned, having him as a teacher is an honor.
Steve

Bobby, you can close this now, Jerry was the right Jerry. Steve

Hey Steve,
Yeh, I am the same one as my email told you. I'd like to put a few words about my old friend Blackie Taylor on this post. First of all I've known him since the middle sixties and we've both got about the same number of ex-wives so we're veterans. I always thought Blackie was a very under-rated player. He could play anything on the steel you wanted in any style. He played (Probably still plays) a single 12 Universal of his own tuning. He always tuned to A6th but had the first two strings (F# & D#) like an E9 tuning. I remember one time I went to see a guy named Carl Cody at a club in LA and when I got out of the car I could hear some great west coast Mooney type things coming out of the club. I went in and it was ol' Blackie. He lowered his A's to G# and his C#'s to B so it was the opposite of what most players do but it didn't bother him at all as he got what everyone else did doing it his own way. I think that Ernie Hagar does it the same way as Blackie. I rembember how he was always ready to help out the local players if a need arose. On many occasions if I needed a piece of equipment and didn't have the money to buy it as most musicians didn't in those days ol' Blackie would let us have credit. When a club I was working at got broken into one night and my amp was stolen Blackie let me try out a couple of different amps until I got one I liked and then he let me pay in out. I haven't seen him in a few years but hope to see him again at the convention sometime. I always liked to hear Blackie play the Jerry Byrd stuff on his A6th. Man he really nailed it proper!! It doesn't look like I'll ever get back to California. If you see him give him a big Howdy from me and I'll talk to you later............

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Have a good 'un! JH U-12


<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jerry Hayes on 07 November 2001 at 12:04 PM.]</p></FONT>

One more thing about Blackie...

I've met a few of his students in the past couple years, and I have to say that his unique teaching method is one of the best I've seen for getting total beginners up and running on this difficult to learn instrument. I've seen a couple of his students who never played any other instrument before actually play complete chord melody arrangements of tunes in a very short time, while actually getting a basic grip on reading standard notation in the process!!! Very cool Blackie!

More on Blackie, some of you probably know that Blackie was a bar band picker formany years, as a sideman and as a bandleader.
He has led the Southlanders on and off since the 1960s, as well as working with Sammy Masters on and off for about the same period of time.
Blackie has played with Billy Tonnesson (Blackie was on guitar at that point), Al Bruno, Cecil Bays, Sammy Masters, Clarence White, Archie Francis, Bobby Lee (the piano player, aka Robert Lee Crigger), Tokyo Ernie, Sneaky Pete (twin steels!), Gib Gulibeau, Thumbs Carlisle, Pee Wee Adams and many others.

Damn B;ackie sold me my Fender Amp that I later blew up but what a musician this man is and was. And I'll always remember how this man treated this new kid on the Block. I was using the name Joey C and played strickly bass from 62-63. This man is a SC Legend/ I had to re-edit and I would like to know if Blackie remembers Lou's Blue Fox?

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CJC

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Joe Casey on 07 November 2001 at 04:52 PM.]</p></FONT>

I couldn't agree more with anything said here, Blackie IS one under rated picker ---- and I get to see him play once a week at my lesson. Very good teacher, has stuck with me when I have been basically stoned on pain killers for months, not remembering a thing he said (I started writing things down). Just great and a good guy to boot. I will print this out and take it to him on Monday, should get a kick outta this stuff. And Jerry, thanks for the email, called him yesterday but he was in a lesson, never got back to him, maybe tomorrow I'll call again.
Steve

One more thing about Blackie. I taught Guitar for him for a while and in the process got to meet some of his students. One thing that impressed me about him was the fact that he didn't play the standard tuning(s) that everyone else did but he could play them (both E9 & C6) and he taught his students those tunings. He didn't try to push his tuning on them. I remember that Zane Beck had some students, namely Zane King & maybe Blake Fougerousse who he taught his tuning. I remember Blackie would be setting there with an acoustic guitar and he'd teach the student something and then he'd play rhythm to it. It helped them with their timing a whole lot. Margie Mays who's played on Scotty's convention as a featured artist and at the Hawaiian Convention also as well as others was one of his students. She played E9/C6 and later went to and E9/B6 Universal which Blackie could also teach that approach.

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Have a good 'un! JH U-12

Another guestion for Jerry Hayes!!!
Did you ever live in the Greenville(UpState)area of South Carolina...and play with/for a girl named SANDRA??
Get back to me here or at Grouchyvet@Cartertn.net
Bob Hayes

Hey Bob,
No I never lived in Greenville, SC. But I used to play with a waitress named Sandra when I lived in LA........

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Have a good 'un! JH U-12

Blackie Taylor was a major dealer back in the Dekley days and is still a good friend. He is always at the Dallas show and can usually be found in Gene Fields booth.

20 some years ago, I bought a Dekley bar from him in anticipation of getting a steel, 20 years later!!! Still have that Dekley Bar and used it playing lap steel in various bands over the years. Finally got that pedal steel last year. <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Steven Knapper on 08 November 2001 at 03:49 PM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Steven Knapper on 08 November 2001 at 06:51 PM.]</p></FONT>

I have known and dealt with Blackie for many years also. I was out at his store in Rubidoux, CA, about two weeks ago and we started discussing his tuning. He plays an A-6th open, E-9, pedals down. His floor pedals all lower instead of raise. Blackie told me that someone mentioned this unorthodox method to Jeff Newman. Jeff thought about if for a moment, then replied " well maybe the rest of us have been doing it wrong all these years"

Some time ago I saw an online diagram/plan, schematics of the steel that Gene custom built Blackie in recent years, it's amazing, although I can't seem to find the page now.

Regards

Jason

Hey Jason & Jim Bob,
I think Blackie's tuning went like this, high to low:

F# D# A E C# A F# E C# A E A

I remember in the 60's he had a Fender 400 which Gene Fields had made into a 12 string and I believe that Bookie Moden helped him set it up with the chromatic strings on 1 & 2. I've often wondered what ever happened to that guitar. Hey Steve, if you read this post see if you can find out where that guitar went. There was another Steel player from around the Oxnard/Ventura area named Paul Barfels who had the same kind of thing done to a 400. He even used some of Fender floor pedals hooked to the bottom of the guitar for knee levers.

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Have a good 'un! JH U-12

Got ya Jerry, will see him tomorrow at 11:30 AM (like clockwork). Too bad Blackie isn't better about eamil, but thats Blackie.
Steve

About 20 years ago I called Blackie and asked him how much he charged for lessons. He said 20 bucks. I scheduled one, then went to his place, handed him a 20 dollar bill and said. "OK, teach me how to take this thing apart and put it back together."

Blackie was of course expecting me to ask for a lesson on how to play. He was surprised, but agreed to show me. Later I completely disassembled my steel, and re-assembled it. It took me 2 weeks.

Jerry, why don't you call Blackie and ask him about his old Fender. I think he retired it and played a Sierra for many years. I seem to remember he told me that he sold the Fender to someone. Since his Sierra, he plays GFI exclusively. He kept his Sierra for a couple of years and then sold it, also.

Guys, as I have a lesson this AM with Blackie, I'll get as many answers as I can and post em for all to see.
Steve

OK, here is what happened to the Fender. He sold it to some guy on credit, then the guy disappeared. Many moons later at his Riverside store, a guy walked in with an old Fender and asked for some repairs ----- was HIS old Fender he got stiffed on. Blackie went ahead and made the repairs, the guy was hoping that Blackie wouldn't reposse it, he didn't. This guy came back later and looked at other guitars, bought one. Here is the kicker, he gave Blackie back the Fender, insisted he take it and it sits in his eldest daughters house to this day. Hope that answers the ????'s about Blackie's 'ol Fender. I asked him if he would take a picture of it for me, if he does, ya want me to post it??
Steve

Steve, yeah that would be cool.
Hey, when you get a chance ask Blackie if he still has a jpg. file pic of him with the Sammy Masters band in 1968 with Sammy (bass), Tokyo Ernie (drums), and Cecil Bays on guitar. there's a sign with the bands name, although Al Bruno's still listed as the guitarist as Cecil had just replaced him.
Apparently when his eldest daughter saw it, she cracked that he (Blackie) looked like Steve Allen!

Yeah Jason, I will. See him every Monday, and I will get back to you email wise soon. I'm still kinda slow in the head from 4 years of narcotic pain killers----but I took my self off 6 weeks ago. Feel better physically, but it take longer to flush out the brain, or I got brain fried somehow!! Be patient, I WILL get back to you.
Steve
PS How'd you end up in Austraila (sp?)???

All I can say about Blackie Taylor is
"What A Guy" Always good and fair to pickers and if you needed a favor, Blackie was always there. ! I've known him since the early 60's and he's still the same guy. A GREAT ONE !
I recently bought my Evans 150 from him.We never want to loose track of a guy like Mr. Taylor . . . I love ya man !

Carl West

Emmons D-10
Fender 2000
Twin-Reverb
Evans 150