The Steel Guitar Forum

Our local, left-wing Weekly rag, Fort Worth Weekly has a huge cover story on his scam. A lot of reading, but interesting.

Danny<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Danny Naccarato on 15 January 2003 at 09:34 PM.]</p></FONT>

"STEEL BARS AND STEEL GUITARS"

Catchy title too!

Thanks for the link, Danny. Interesting.
It make no mention of Mr Petty being missing, as did the other articles.

Does anyone know if his is missing to the courts?

Much-needed exposure for our beloved instrument...

I've heard both that he's dropped out of sight and I've also heard that he simply hasn't been sentenced yet. I think he has a sentencing date soon and if he misses that or shows up it'll be front page news here so I'll let yall know when I hear something. Sure hate to see someone of his years in this kind of trouble.

Rick Garrett

"Much-needed exposure for our beloved instrument..."

How does the saying go, "Any publicity is better than no publicity at all".

I think I read that he was taking deposits on single neck crossovers.....

<SMALL>"single neck crossovers....."</SMALL>

That sounds like a Wrestling Hold.

I'm trying to not make any comments about "bars".

.......I am saddened by Al's current situation. Irregardless of the current publicity, Al is an Icon in our steel-guitar neck of the woods.....I pray that a satisfactory solution can be found for those allegedly harmed by his business practices....... www.genejones.com

Mr. Jones has once again expressed my sentiments, as only he can.

Gene, Reggie well put. Albeit I never met Al, I do feel like I know him. My teacher, Blackie Taylor, was once a student of Al, long long ago. The stories I have heard. Does make you sad and I too hope it is resolved soon, somehow.

He must undoubtedly be the most wealthy steeler in the world.

I remember in the old days we'd go to this club out on Lincoln Ave. in Cypress where Al Petty and the countrymen were playing. Al didn't wear a toupee at that time!! One night a bass player friend of mine (Bobby Ray) and I went in there and Al was in the middle of a beautiful slow instrumental. The bandstand was about 3 feet off the floor. Bobby walked up in front of him and started pulling on his pedal rods like he was milking a cow. All of a sudden these horrible sounds started coming out of Al's amp. He stood straight up and yelled "You Fool, you fool". We got out of there in a hurry as Al was a pretty big boy and Bobby was only about 5'4" tall. A few years later a friend of mine (Al Brown) was playing drums for Al in Long Beach at the Breakers Hotel. We used to go see him a lot and enjoyed the great music. Al told me one time that I looked familiar and I reminded him of the pedal rod incident and he said he hoped I wasn't hanging around idiots like that anymore. Al was a wonderful and inovative steel guitarist and very underated by the Nashville sector I believe. I have a lot of great memories of hearing him play. I remember once at a Sierra show at Blackie Taylor's music store Al had a double 12 with about 16 floor pedals on the thing. He played a version of 12th street Rag in HARMONY. You wouldn't belive it. Double stops all the way at a very fast pace. He also could do "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" with vocals and the steel taking the fiddle parts. He'd change that one line where Charlie Daniels says "Johnny resin up your bow and play that fiddle hard" Al would say something like "Big Al get your picks and bar and play that steel guitar". All that I've said is to maybe help someone else realize that he was an icon of the steel guitar and a very important person in the history of our instrument. I'm very sorry that he shafted those folks in his scheme and I wish somehow they could be reimbursed. What's terrible also is that this man having lived 69 years will probably spend the rest of his life in jail. I'll always remember being able to go out on any night and see him pick. He was always a professional and a great entertainer. He was the first one who I'd ever seen who miked amps. At the Breakers he had only himself, Al Brown on drums, and a blind piano player named Joe Pope who played a Fender key bass with his left hand. There were speakers all over the club and you could go to any of them and a mixed sound came out that sounded like a professional recording and that was almost 40 years ago. It's so damn bad that a guy this late in life ended up this way and he created victims doing it.. What a waste, what a waste.

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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jerry Hayes on 17 January 2003 at 06:44 AM.]</p></FONT>

From what I've heard and read it seems to me that Al really did believe he had found a way to create money. Said in one article that you could not convince him in anyway that his plan wouldn't work. I bet he didn't have any intent to actually hurt anybody. Just ended up that way I guess. Real sad to see anybody in this kind of trouble. Especially if a fellows old enough that he might not outlive it.

Rick Garrett

I agree with everything Jerry Hayes has said. I used to listed to Al's live radio show from Evelyn's Panama Club on KFOX. That was when country radio did live remotes from area clubs with local pickers. Danny Michaels a show also. Later I worked at the Nugget in Vegas when Al was across the street at the Mint with an all-girl band. He was always an amazing picker, technician, and academic about the science and math of music.

When I saw him in March of last year, he told me "Herb, get into this thing with me and you'll make more money than you ever dreamed of making." A week later he went into "seclusion." Thank goodness I didn't make the call.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

How very, very, sad! Such a talented player.

I wish that Al was back in his "room" at the steel shows demonstrating his midi-program rather than his current situation...... www.genejones.com