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Topic: Who is this steeler with Merle Travis |
Frederic Mabrut
From:
Olloix, France
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Posted 6 Aug 2006 12:07 am |
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Youtube again!
I've found this video of Merle Travis singing silver purs. There's a steeler with a bizarre huge 3 necks steel guitar.
Anybody knows something 'bout him? |
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Billy Wilson
From:
El Cerrito, California, USA
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Posted 6 Aug 2006 12:09 am
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| I'm gonna guess Speedy West on that. [This message was edited by Billy Wilson on 06 August 2006 at 01:18 AM.] |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 6 Aug 2006 12:16 am
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Good ol' Dick Roberts!
[This message was edited by Ron Whitfield on 06 August 2006 at 05:01 PM.] |
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Frederic Mabrut
From:
Olloix, France
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Billy Wilson
From:
El Cerrito, California, USA
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Posted 6 Aug 2006 4:02 am
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| Not Speedy enough for Speedy. That's not Joaquin is it? |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 6 Aug 2006 6:11 am
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It doesn't look like Speedy from pictures I've seen. And there's a name on the sront of the guitar - not readable, but the tail-end does not look like "West" to me.
What weird looking guitar! Almost like someone mounted necks on a Hammond Organ! |
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Jussi Huhtakangas
From:
Helsinki, Finland
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Posted 6 Aug 2006 8:55 am
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| It's not Speedy nor Joaquin but Dick Roberts who was in Merle's band at that time. And that has to be the most art decoish steel guitar ever, not sure but he might have made it himself or at least it was custom built for him. It was discussed here once, Herb Steiner might know more about it. [This message was edited by Jussi Huhtakangas on 06 August 2006 at 09:55 AM.] |
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Bobbe Seymour
From:
Hendersonville TN USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 6 Aug 2006 10:09 am
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| Yes Jussi, thank you! Correct |
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TonyL
From:
Seattle. WA
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Posted 6 Aug 2006 10:44 am
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It looks a bit like an 40's Gibson Electroharp console- I remember there was one on Ebay a while back.
This thread mentions one:
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/006264.html [This message was edited by TonyL on 06 August 2006 at 11:47 AM.] |
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Frederic Mabrut
From:
Olloix, France
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Posted 6 Aug 2006 1:53 pm
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This forum is really A GOLD MINE!!!
Thanks, guys, for your expertise.
In France too, we also have wondered about who was this steeler .
BTW, does somebody have pics of the steel? |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 6 Aug 2006 4:19 pm
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Roberts sounds fine on this #. What's his history?
Where else can we find him playing steel?
Was that Merle's Martin before it got the Bigsby neck? |
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Jussi Huhtakangas
From:
Helsinki, Finland
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Posted 6 Aug 2006 9:49 pm
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At least Roberts was never on any of Merle's commercial recordings, he might be on some of the many transcriptions Merle recorded around that time. This clip with a few more is included on volume 2 DVD that Stefan Grossman has put out. Both volumes are a must as far as I'm conserned.
And that Martin probably is the one that got the Bigsby treatment a couple of years later, I think it was a -38 D28. |
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Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Posted 7 Aug 2006 2:02 pm
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Hey, that's a pretty good video, most of 'em I've seen on YouTube have the music out of sync with the video but this one's pretty much on......JH in Va.
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Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!
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Smiley Roberts
From:
Hendersonville,Tn. 37075
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Posted 7 Aug 2006 10:45 pm
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At times,the steeler reminds me (appearance-wise) a little of Russ Wever.
I've got an old album,on Capitol,by Merle,titled "Travis",where Curly Chalker absolutely explodes on it.
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©¿© It don't mean a thang,
mm if it ain't got that twang.
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Keith Poteat
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 8 Aug 2006 7:33 am
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| Also impressive to me was Merle playing in the key of F without a capo and never looking down! |
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Jussi Huhtakangas
From:
Helsinki, Finland
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Posted 8 Aug 2006 9:19 am
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Merle didn't need a capo for frettin', only if he needed open string sounds he would use one( and that was rare ). The trick to play his style in weird keys ( from a guitar players view ) is to fret the two bass strings with your thumb, and that's why he never really used barre chords either. But this is getting too far from "steel players" so I'll leave it at that.  [This message was edited by Jussi Huhtakangas on 08 August 2006 at 10:20 AM.] |
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Bob Wood
From:
Madera, California, USA
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Posted 8 Aug 2006 5:07 pm
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Did anyone other than me notice that the name listed above the video is: "Silver Purs"? It says at the very beginning of the video..., "Silver Spurs"! Oops! Tee hee!
Bob[This message was edited by Bob Wood on 08 August 2006 at 06:11 PM.] |
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