The Steel Guitar Forum

Anyone remember Earl Ortega form New Orleans?

When I played in the New Orleans area in the eary seventies I knew Earl very well. He was a great player and friend.

At one time Shot Jackson wanted Earl to travel the country demonstrating Sho-Bud guitars but Earl was a homebody and did not like to travel.

He spent his entire career in the New Orleans area and many an aspiring steel player went to hear him play.

I was saddened to hear of his death.

I can hardly believe that no one has heard of Earl, now deceased. When the big boys were in the New Orleans area, they would stop in to hear him play. Buddy Charleton for one. He was equally talented on both the E9th and C6th. As a kid in the 70's I would tune in WNOE radio from N.O. on Sunday evening from a lounge and listen to Earl. I can still remember his playing, especially the C6th. I was listening to Curley Chalker on the Wilburn Bros. or maybe the Hee Haw show on Saturdays and Earl on Sunday. There playing was similar in my opinion. An example of how wonderful musicians seldom get the recognition they deserve. Lost in the shuffle.
I was told he had played some for Loretta Lynn and was hoping to get verification. I am sure it was early in her career.

Bump

Hey Reggie,
I never got the chance to hear him but I heard of him from another deceased Latino Steel Player in the Los Angeles area by the name of Art Sanchez. We were working together at the time and I asked him once how he became interested in the steel guitar as it didn't seem to go with his heritage. Art noted some others he'd heard of and mentioned Earl Ortega in New Orleans. He hadn't had the pleasure of hearing him either but hoped to some day as he'd heard what a great 6th player he was. He also mentioned Bert Rivera who played with Hank Thompson I believe. In closing, any loss to the steel guitar brotherhood is terrible as our ranks are becoming depleted more and more everyday. What was the cause of his death? Art's was from a massive cardiac arrest.

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Have a good 'un! JH U-12

Bert Rivera is still playing in the Austin/San Antonio area and is on the program every year at the Texas Steel Show in Dallas. www.genejones.com

I believe that Earl was in declining health for some time before his death. I think he had a stroke and maybe some heart problems.

Earl was NOT hispanic. He was of French extration like many people in New Orleans but I don't ever remember him speaking french. His wife (Bertha) introduced me to one of my ex wives. I've been mad at her ever since. Well...not really, I don't think Bertha knew she was a goof ball..NUYK NUYK
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Quesney Gibbs on 27 December 2001 at 01:38 AM.]</p></FONT>

"Little Earl"--quite a player. One of the best in his days - along with Johnny Bonnevillion (sp?) also of New Orleans.
I used to listen to both those great artists over radio station WWL in the late 40s and maybe even before then. When I was in High School in Gulfport, Mississippi (prior to '49)I often played in the New Orleans area a lot and would be able to go and listen to those guys from time to time. Joaquine Murphy and Jerry Byrd and those guys had nothing on or over "Little Earl" and Johnny.
Big influence over some of us in this area of our world. Thanks for the memories.
Bill Stafford

(Another great player from Biloxi at that time was Ernie Harvey. Any one hear of him?
Ernie did a ldot of work with Lefty Frizzell at that time. He was called the "man with a thousand fingers" here on the Miss. Gulf Coast.

Reggie, not to change the subject, but I happened to notice that you and Quesney Gibbs both live in McComb, MS. I live in Winnfield, Louisiana, about one hour south of Monroe,LA, on hwy.34. Check it out on a map. How far and where are you guys located? I would love to jump across that LA,MS.line to jam with you guys any time that is convenient. Yes, I would drive that far to pick with guys that KNOWS how play. E-mail me if you want, I would love to talk about getting together.Just click on my glasses above my post to get my E-mail address. If you can't get it, here it is......steelawake@aol.com......Later,pickers.

I had the pleasure of meeting and hearing Earl play in New Orleans about four years ago. Great player and a very nice man. The band was somewhat generic, and to me he was by far the strongest instrumentalist. I didn`t go back to see him again, thinking I could catch him anytime. He passed away before I saw him again. I regret not hearing him more often.

Hey Quesney,
I don't think I've ever heard of any French person named Ortega, has anyone else?
Being raised with a lot of Hispanics in Southern California I believe Ortega is a very common name among Hispanics and is non existant in the French community.

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Have a good 'un! JH U-12