Anybody ever hear of Dave Knight?

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 11 Jul 2004 10:52 pm

This man Dave Knight is one of the finest players I've ever heard. I met him at a jam, and he just blew me away. He was so good I became totally intimidated and forgot how to play.

Has anybody ever heard of him? And if not, why not? This man is a world class player who deserves the same respect and admiration we give our more well known heros.

Roger Shackelton · Post by **Roger Shackelton** » 12 Jul 2004 12:35 am

Hi Mike , I met Dave Knight in Minneapolis in 1971. He lived there between 1971 to about 1982. Dave owned a D-10 Sho-Bud, Baldwin Guitar then. Later he switched over to a D-10 Williams Guitar. Dave played with a few local bands during this time in the "Twin Cities" and did some recording sessions at local studios. Dave has played steel guitar since he was a young kid and of course Jerry Byrd was his first steel guitar hero.

Roger

Al Udeen · Post by **Al Udeen** » 12 Jul 2004 7:32 am

The first time I heard Dave Knight, he was playing at the Mermaid Club in Minneapolis in about1968 & his E9 playing reminded me of Emmons & his C6 was close to Chalkers, This guy could play anything, includiding the fast rendition of Orange Blossom Special, he played the Jernigan version incredibly, Dave & I became good friends & later were involved in a Minnesota Steel Guitar club in 1980, Dave has a CD that was recently cut with Fiddle player, Harley Morris, Dave is presently living in Riverside, Ca. au [This message was edited by Al Udeen on 12 July 2004 at 08:35 AM.]

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 12 Jul 2004 8:56 am

Was his father LEE KNIGHT.........formerly of Portland-Seattle?

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 12 Jul 2004 9:20 am

I first heard of Dave in the middle 60's when he was playing at the old Shamrock Club on Pacific Coast Highway in Lomita, Calif. He was playing an Endicott steel then. Later on he was at the Pioneer room in Norwalk, Calif. I never really knew him well or got to work with him but I've heard him a lot and I'll have to agree with you, Mike.......He's one helluva player and is a top notch talent on steel. He should have been better known than he ever was. I don't know why some big star didn't offer him a contract 'cause he's as good as any of 'em. Jim Bob Sedgwick of the Forum is a good friend of Dave's and maybe he'll come on here and shed some light on Dave. The last time I saw Dave was at a steel seminar at Blackie Taylor's place in Riverside and Herby Wallace was the headliner. Dave was shooting some questions at Herby that he was havin' a hard time answering. I always thought the reason I didn't make it was 'cause I was ugly, ol' Dave's ugly too but at least he had the chops to do big things.........Have a good 'un..JH

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

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 12 Jul 2004 9:32 am

Wasn't he a Wide Receiver for the New York Jets in the early 80's or so ?

t

Perry Hansen · Post by **Perry Hansen** » 12 Jul 2004 1:06 pm

Al. If you're talking about the Dave Knight that played with Jimmy Jensen, he is definatly worth mentioning. I knew him in Hawaii in the late 50s under the name of Dave Forehand. I think he said he was from South Caralina. I sold him my Fender 1000 when I left Hawaii. The next I heard from him, he was at the Clowd Nine In Tacoma,Sash.
The next time was in North Dakota in the early 70s when I was with Orville Hieb and the Musicmakers. We played at the same school Auditorium with Jimmy Jensen. He is definately a fantastic steel player. I have also been wondering what became of him.

Perry Hansen · Post by **Perry Hansen** » 12 Jul 2004 1:08 pm

Ray. As far as I know Dave Knight is no relation to Lee Knight. I couod be wrong, tho.

Steve Schmidt · Post by **Steve Schmidt** » 12 Jul 2004 2:21 pm

I first met Dave back in 1978 when I got my first Emmons guitar. He is an unbelieveable player. If you get an opportunity to see him, you won't regret it. Al summed it up well, E9th like Emmons, C6th like Chalker. BTW, he plays a Williams.
Steve

Roger Shackelton · Post by **Roger Shackelton** » 14 Jul 2004 12:07 am

Dave recorded a 45 RPM record in Tacoma, Wa. in the early 1960s. On one side was Rocky Caple's "Sawed Off Shotgun." It's listed in Joe Goldmark's Discography Booklet.

Roger [This message was edited by Roger Shackelton on 15 July 2004 at 02:58 AM.]

Perry Hansen · Post by **Perry Hansen** » 14 Jul 2004 5:42 am

Roger. Was the recording done at Bill Wiley's studio?

Mike Cass · Post by **Mike Cass** » 14 Jul 2004 7:30 am

Mike,
so you locked horns with my 1st mentor..

that Dave is a playin' man for sure! Al is right on in his summation of Dave's abilities and influences. All of us from Mpls hold Dave in very high esteem and took every opprotunity to go hear him play.Very unselfish guy too; he'd show you anything he knew, anytime.
Roger, that band was "Billy Dark and the Night Riders" and Dave spells his stage last name "Night" not Knight. I found that out when I bought his old Baldwin and made the check out wrong

MP, If you see DN anytime soon again, please give him my warmest regards.
MC

Harley Morris · Post by **Harley Morris** » 14 Jul 2004 5:48 pm

Mike... You are incorrect about how Dave Knight spells his last name.... It is indeed KNIGHT.Although Knight is not his real last name.. I have known Dave for over 40 years, and have played countless gigs with him over the years..Al Udeen mentioned that he cut a CD with me, and that's true, and I must say that it is pretty good....He was over here to my house a few days ago, as I am recovering from a heart attack, so I'm at home alot it seems. As always, he brought his picks & bar, and we both shared playing my keyless Sho~Bud... Why is it that he can play MY guitar better than I can??? He did in fact, play with Billy Dark along time ago, in fact, used to live with Billy in Compton, California in the early 60s.. It was shortly after Billy left the Hank Thompson show..I still have several of Billy's old 45s with Dave on steel..I agree with Mike that Dave is a world class steel guitarist. Dave lives in Mira Loma, California (near Riverside), and he gets out to our Sunday jam session nearly every week..I also have a copy of the record he cut many moons ago called "Sawed off Shotgun", which is a great tune...Dave is a dear friend... Regards, Harley

Harley Morris · Post by **Harley Morris** » 14 Jul 2004 5:59 pm

Tony Prior: Surely you jest!! Dave has never seen a football, but has seen many steel guitar strings, etc, etc, etc....Shame on you.... Regards, Harley

Roger Shackelton · Post by **Roger Shackelton** » 14 Jul 2004 6:21 pm

Perry: Yes, Bill Wiley's studio is where Dave cut the 45 RPM record. I believe the guitar he was playing then was the D-10 Endicott, made by Rex Endicott in the L.A. area. Perhaps Harley can confirm this with Dave. Dave was born and raised in the state of Virginia.

Mike Cass: You are correct about Dave playing with Billy Dark. I am glad your memory is better than mine and Harley just re-affirmed that info.

Roger

Pat Coyne · Post by **Pat Coyne** » 15 Jul 2004 8:08 am

I remember watching Dave jam with the late Jeff Newman...they were "locking horns"- Jeff taking the 1st turn, Dave only got into a few bars and Jeff said "wow, this guy is REALLY good!" And that compliment being from Jeff to me meant a lot...BTW I believe he was playing on a ShoBud crossover at that time? Great memory of a great player.

Paul Wade · Post by **Paul Wade** » 15 Jul 2004 9:10 am

al, where can we get that c.d of dave knight?

paul wade

Harley Morris · Post by **Harley Morris** » 15 Jul 2004 9:54 am

Paul: You can order the CD directly from the fiddle player (me)..... send $12.00 to:

Harley Morris
6560 Sandy Ln.
Riverside, California 92505

We will be happy to sign it for you....

PS... Don't forget to send your mailing address, like a few have done..Regards, Harley

Al Udeen · Post by **Al Udeen** » 15 Jul 2004 1:00 pm

Hi Pat Coyne! The Jeff Newman/Dave Knight playing you mention, had to be at the Sheraton-Northwest in Brooklyn Park, Mn. in 76, Jeff asked me to find a location for one of his teaching seminars, & I combined it with a Sho-Bud promotion at that location, as I was with Gretsch at the time, doing the Sho-Bud seminars, I had to play quite far out of town the first night, & missed Jeff & Dave playing, but remember the next day, Jeff telling me that Dave could play! Sure miss those "Good ole days of Steel Guitar" au

Harley Morris · Post by **Harley Morris** » 15 Jul 2004 2:24 pm

I remember a steel guitar show put on by Jack Laux at his club in Ontario, California where the major attraction was Doug Jernigan. Doug had Al Bruno on guitar, who many of you may know is a great player, Jim-Bob Sedgwick on bass, who is a really good lead player as well as a fine steel player, and a drummer who I don't remember his name. Dave was also on that program, and he had Johnny Davis on guitar, yet another really awesome lead man, also great steel player by the way, with Jim-Bob on bass, with the same drummer....I got a copy of that whole show on video, so I took the video to a friend to have him make me an extra copy. This friend knows NOTHING about music, and less than that about steel playing, or steel players. I asked him to evaluate the guy with the blond guitar and the guy with the black guitar (Doug's Sho-Bud....) When I went back to get the copy he made for me, he told me that he thought the guy with the blond guitar did more for him than the guy with the black one...Three guesses who was playing that blond guitar....Regards, Harley

Jim Bob Sedgwick · Post by **Jim Bob Sedgwick** » 15 Jul 2004 4:56 pm

Dave has been a close friend of mine ( say brother), since 1962. I have stolen every lick I can from Dave. Now we swap licks. This guy is unbeleivable in every way. I don't remember who I asked about taking a Black Widow speaker apart, but the instructions were right on the money. I took Daves old Black Widow apart the other day and sure enough, that little round piece of foam had turned to dust. I then did my speaker, this stuff had melted in one place. I cleaned it as best as I could, and it definitely improved the sound of the speaker. Back to Dave: We went to St. Louis last year together for the convention. Had a ball. He's been a mentor for me as well as Mike Cass. Ain't it great to be able to steal licks from great players?
With Dave, you don't have to steal. He'll show you anything you want to know. As he says: Why not show another player. Some guys you could show a thousand times and they still wouldn't be able to duplicate the lick, phrase, whatever. Anyway, enough rambling for now.

Ernie Renn · Post by **Ernie Renn** » 16 Jul 2004 1:21 am

I remember Dave from an outside show at Nashwood Music, (I think it was in Anoka, MN,) in the mid 70's. The Dave can out-right pick! I believe it was the first time I ever met you too, Al. That was many moons ago...

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My best,
Ernie

www.buddyemmons.com

Gary Goodman · Post by **Gary Goodman** » 20 Jul 2004 7:57 pm

Mike, you are sure right in your feeling about Dave Knight, I was there when you came in. and Dave is still coming by almost every Sunday. He is definitly a generous man he keeps showing me stuff and giving me tips and advice all the time. He even wrote up a harmonic tunning chart for me for the E9 neck. I am going to print this thread out and take it to him. unless anyone has any objections. Maybe he will answer some questions or perhaps want to ask some.

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Sho-Bud LDG, Evans Fet 500, Nashvill 400, Hilton volume pedal

Rick Schmidt · Post by **Rick Schmidt** » 21 Jul 2004 10:09 am

Gary....where is this place that Dave is jamming on Sundays?

Bill Simmons · Post by **Bill Simmons** » 21 Jul 2004 7:31 pm

Ah....bringing back great memories of my MPLS days hanging out a Pedal Steel Emporium with old Clem Schmidt -- I agree, MN has certainly birthed many a great steel player...many new young players already mentioned...and some of us go back to the old days in MPLS -- Al Udeen; Mike Cass ; Russ Pahl; Dave Knight (great player indeed!)