Rick
Thank you for posting this photo taken by Forumite Walter Stettner at the ISGC. That is my long time friend Bob Maickel standing next to me. Bob is President of the very first ever Pedal Steel Guitar Club which he and a few others formed way back in 78 I beleive.
I have known Bob all of my adult life and we have become good friends over those years.
Bob plays pedal steel and non pedal steel,I am partial to his non pedal playing because thats where his roots are. His pedal playing if fine but excels in non pedal guitar of which he played a Fender Custom for years.
Bob would often come to the local clubs I was working and ask to sit in..of course I let him and he played his $ss off and many times I asked him "how'd you do that? He was an upcoming steel player and then decided to pursue a career in broadcasting and was a head enginneer at CBS for many years until his retirement a few years ago.
Bob was the driving force that gave me the honor of being inducted into the SGHOF,he and Scotty were the two who felt I deserved that honor and for that I can never thank them enough.
Bob and John DeMaille another fine steel player and VP of the PSGA make up a fine organization of a great group of people. John's wife Darlene is a fine country singer as well and they do a great job as a duo.
Jeff DeMaio a great steel player is bob's co-ordinator and does all the planning and sound
work at the shows. There are many others in the PSGA who are decicated to it's leader Bob Maickle. It is a team effort and the fact that is is the only steel club that has sustained itself over the years while many have not. The teamwork and love for steel guitar and those who play steel guitar are what makes the PSGA what it is today.
Bob is the last remaining person who saw my appearances of the Godfrey show and others over the years. I remember him telling me that when I was doing the morning show with Godfrey and his friends that he (Bob) asked his mom if he could stay home from school to watch me perform on the show.
The only other person who was with me the night I was on the Talent Scouts was my best friend..My wife Marilyn. One other was Leonard Stadlers wife who watched the show that night and when Len came home,his wife told him what he missed. From that time on Leonard "rest his soul" became good friends.
Bob Maickle and his wife Cathy are both hard working dedicated people who never gave up the ship even when things were looking bleak
when the internet started promoting steel guitar clubs,,but it is the PSGA that has proven itself over the most difficult times and the effort of dedicated people make this come true. Mike Gross who handles the MC work and is an expert of his knowledge of western swing and those past and present who keep it alive.
The staff band is about the best there is.
My friend Bruce Chappell,,Van Manakass, Larry
Eagle. and of course a great lead guitarist Don Cerce Jr, a whiz on lead guitar.
I know this is a long story but those people at the PSGA deserve my praise.
I will always remember Bob for his friendship to me and Marilyn and all the support he has offered over the years.
Bob and Scotty and Winnie Winston were the only people who were familiar with my playing
as most people remember me as a Fender Salesman. Those mentioned have made wife's final days the happiest and proudest she has ever been and it was after that ISGC she started to go downhill.
I am proud to call Bob my friend and for all he has done for me and to Scotty and Herb Steiner and all of you for making Marilyn so very happy. I will never ever forget any of you. I have saved this photo of Bob and myself and I can see the years that were once two young fellows just starting out and here,Bob stands proudly next to me and this photo is on my wall and I am proud to call Bob Maickel my friend. I have saved this photo of Bob and myself and I will never forget all of you who have honored myself and Marilyn..If it were not for Marilyn in all her pain and discomfort encouraging me to do the ISGC I would have never been there.
She had her last wish and it was Bob Maickle
who fulfilled her dream. And to Scotty I cant thank you enough. I am proud to be among the greats and idols of mine on the wall of the Steel Guitar Hall Of Fame, thanks to those of you who made that possible
They say One picture is worth a thousand words..I didnt want to take that chance so I posted a thousand words to go along with this photo..
Thanks to Gene Jones for all he has done and to Kenny Foy and to Smiley and Tony Davis for making Marilyns final days the proudest of her life. I will say this for myself and most of all Marilyn,,,we will never ever forget anyone one of you..sorry I didnt perform as well as I could have. Maybe someday I will play again and when and if I do it will be for the PSGA.
Thank You Rick, you are a "Gem"
edited to acknowledge a wonderful friend who knew me
when I was a young pup and would allow me to sit in with his fine western band "The Melody
Riders, my friend JIM HAND who has celebrated his 97th birthday this past November and resides in Louisville Kentucky
Jim is a gentleman and a fine steel player.
And most of all to my friends Roy and Laurie
Ayres who started this thread. You my friend
deserve to be nailed next to me on the wall of the SGHOF.
Thanks for being so kind to myself and Marilyn, and like that old tune that Blake Hawkins sent the lyrics to me...
"I miss her most of all "When Day is Done"
Thanks.
Jody I edited this as I remebered that Herb Steiner told me that when he was three years old he saw me on the Godfrey Show, and that he wouldnt finish his cereal until I did my bar crashes. Thank you Herb, You make me feel so young.
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 16 January 2005 at 09:31 AM.]</p></FONT>
E mail me when you can....this man is something special to me and the story is how my book starts off. 