"From: HitPro (hitpro@aol.com)
Subject: Re: Something to talk about
Newsgroups: uk.music.country
Date: 1999/02/16
Hi Jim, this is Stan Hitchcock.
Curly Chalker was my friend, and I thought youmight enjoy this story, since you just got a new cd featuring him.....here it
is:
A couple of weeks ago one of my musician friends called me and told me that one
of my old compadres had died that morning, namely Curly Chalker, the best damn
steel guitar player that ever slid a bar across strings, and would I come and
sing at the funeral. Many years ago, around 1970, I recorded a song called
“The Shadow Of Your Smile” which is an old pop standard and one of the prettiest melodies I have ever heard. The reason I recorded it was so I could feature Curly playing the steel guitar turnaround, no small feat for a country steel guitar player.....but Curly wasn’t just any steel player....he was Curly Chalker, the best. I met Curly in the late sixties when he moved to Nashville from Las Vegas where he had a legendary show band where other musicians would just come to watch in amazement as they played everything from Western Swing tofar-out Jazz and all the in-between. Curly came to Nashville to get intosession work but the producers in power were so intimidated by his talent, and
his no-bullshit attitude, that they froze him out of most of the big sessions.
My bass player, Buck Evans, would go down to Printer’s Alley and play with
Curly, as part of the Curly Chalker Trio when we weren’t on the road. Curly
had put together the Trio which consisted of Curly, Buck and Jimmy Stuart on
drums. I would come by the club and listen and Curly got to asking me to get
up and sit in on vocals.....then one night he wondered if I knew the song “The
Shadow Of Your Smile” and when I said no he asked me to learn the song so we
could do it on stage. Well, I learned the song and the first night we tried it
on stage, and he went into the jazz-swing turnaround and just played his everlovin’ butt off, I was hooked. A couple of years later when I was putting the material together for a new album, I decided to bring in Curly and feature him on the “Shadow”. Tommy Allsup was my producer, a man who understood music
and musicians and who loved Curly’s playing also. Well, we had cut a couple of
good songs and I felt about in the mood, so I sent most of the extra musicians
out of the studio for a break and kept Jimmy Capps on gut-string guitar, Bob
Moore on the acoustic bass, Buddy Harmon using brushes on the snare and a mixed
quartet of background voices and brought Curly in. We dimmed the lights real
low and Curly touched those strings with his magic hands and we started the
song. I sang a verse and a chorus and then very quietly said,”Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present my very good friend, Mr. Curly Chalker.” What followed was a special moment in our country music......Curly played a classic
turnaround that every steel guitar player who has ever heard it still just
shake their heads in wonder. The record came out in an album and the label
pulled the song for the backside of a single......but the song was there and in
the areas where it got play it was a smash.....because of the steel. Well, the
problem with all of it was....none of the other musicians could play it...so I
never got to perform it on the road, except once.............
I was booked for a concert in St. Louis, Missouri in 1970 when “The Shadow”
reached number one on WIL Radio....the top country station in that whole
region. Well, I was sweating it ‘cause I knew folks would be wanting to hear
the song...and we couldn’t play it without Curly. The auditorium was packed
and we had set up on the front part of the stage, in front of the
curtain...because that is how Buck said the promoter wanted it. I was sorta
skeptical about this set-up....shoot, who every heard of setting up in front of
the curtain? We were introduced and came out to a great welcome from the
crowd, launched into our first song and the show was on. We did about three
songs without stop and then we cooled down and I started talking to the crowd,
and they started hollering for the “Shadow”. I was just into the explanationabout how it was impossible to do our number one record......when from behind the curtain came the sweetest sound.....the steel guitar intro to my song. The curtain parted and there Curly sat, behind that old Sho-Bud guitar, grinningfrom ear to ear. We did “Shadow” three times before the crowd would let us
be....it was a great moment. Buck had told Curly about our problem and he had flown in to do the show with us....just ‘cause he wanted to. It is my fond memory of Curly, and one I will always cherish.
At the funeral I stood off to a room at the side, facing the casket, and sang
the “Shadow” to Curly for the last time. I looked out across the crowd of
pickers and we were all taken back to those special times when the music was
all that mattered, we were all young and the fire was still in our
bellies........and Curly Chalker was the best damn steel guitar player that
ever slid a bar........across a string.
Jim, I just wanted to share this with you.
Stan Hitchcock" UnQuote:
Now if that doesn't knock your hat in the creek, you're a dead end kid.
Can some of you spool me up to speed on Hitchcock? I know I'm gonna' feel like a dumba$$ when I learn who he was and what he did. But I'm entitled to that at a near 71 years of age.
edited to show some old people are losing their sanity. I just received two phone calls to let me know who Stan Hitchcock is so don't bother.
------------------
The spirit be with you!
If it aint got a steel, it aint real
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Fred Shannon on 27 January 2004 at 06:57 PM.]</p></FONT>
