Red Rhodes with Michael Nesmith

Pete Finney · From: Nashville Tn.

There's a great magazine article just out about Michael Nesmith's country-rock days in the early 70's, with a lot of good stuff about Red Rhodes and some great pictures I've never seen(one of Red on stage playing a Fender, and one of the whole band giving the "one finger salute"). It's in the April issue of the British music magazine "Uncut" which has a series on "Pioneers of Country Rock"; they've done one on Bob Dylan and the "Nashville Skyline" era and one on "Sweethearts of the Rodeo" era Byrds (someone posted about one that not too long ago). Well worth reading if you're into that stuff (Borders and Barnes and Noble carry it so it's not TOO hard to find).

I love the stuff Red played on those "First National Band" records (among others) and personally think he deserves more credit and attention than he gets. I know some folks here (Herb Steiner for one) who knew Red have posted great stuff (might have to do a search and read some of it...). He sure had his own "thing" as a player and it sounds like he was quite a character too...

Anybody got some good stories about Red, or have favorite things that he played on? And has "Velvet Hammer in a Cowboy Band" ever been released on CD?

Jerry Hayes · From: Virginia Beach, Va.

Pete, I'd seen Red on TV and on stage at the Palomino Club but had never met him personally until one fateful night in 1970 or 71. I was working six nights a week at a club in Huntington Beach, Calif. called "The Swizzle Stik". Much to my surprise one Sunday evening Red along with a lady and two guys came right in the front door. I recognized him at once and announced his presence over the mike and the audience responded with the usual applause for a local celebrity. I notice that our bass player Bobby Ray AKA Robert G. Shambin seemed a bit uneasy.

We continued the set and at break time Red and one of the guys walked right up to Bobby and said they needed to talk. They walked to a back corner and sat down in a booth but I couldn't hear what was said. They stayed there until it was time to go back on the bandstand and Bobby asked if this other guy who was in the house could sit in on bass for a set. As it was our jam session night we said OK. As the night progressed Bobby and Red talked some more and as Red seemed highly perturbed, the more they talked the better it got and eventually after having the owner of the club involved in the conversation they started laughing a little and by the end of the night they were on good terms.

I eventually found out that Bobby had worked a short while at a club called "the Bright Torch" with Red's band and having no instrument, Red had loaned him a Fender Jazz or Precision bass (I can't remember which) and when Bobby left the band he took the bass with him and sold it. No wonder Red was mad! Anyway when Red was at the club, Bobby introduced him to the owner who loved Bobby's talent and they agreed to hold some of Bobby's pay each week to give to Red to pay off the bass. One year at Scotty's I talked to Red about this event and we had a good laugh......

My favorite work of his would have to be a recording he made with Michael Nesmith called "Her Name Was Joanne" which Bobby Ray did a nice version of. Also there's a CD out by Gib Gilbeau of tunes he recorded through the years which features some nice tasteful steelwork by Red........JH in Va.
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Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!

Olli Haavisto · From: Jarvenpaa,Finland

My favorite:

"The Hits Just Keep On Coming"

Just Red and Nesmith on this one !

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Olli Haavisto
Finland

Chris Schlotzhauer · From: Colleyville, Tx. USA

I don't have a Red story, but once I was playing with Rusty Wier and he did his version of "Texas Morning" (written by Michael Murphy),Rusty complimented me on how I did it just like Red. Made me feel good. Red also played on Willis Alan Ramsey's record too, which was great.
Thanks for bringing this up. I just purchased "Hits" by MN on Amazon.

Jay Hudson · From: Austin, Texas

Hey Chris I thought B.W. Stevenson wrote "Texas Morning" and Rusty Young played on Rusty Wier's recorded version although Murphy is credited as songwriter on Wier's album.

I bet Stu could clear it up.

John Macy · From: Rockport TX/Denver CO

Michael wrote the song with Boomer Castleman...

Thanks for bringing this up, Pete. I play the steel because of a fateful late night listening session at a friends apartment--the two LPs that made me go buy a steel were the first Nesmith solo record and the brown Linda Rondstat with Sneaky on the live side and Emmons on the studio side...

Good memories Smile

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John Macy
Rockport, TX
Engineer/Producer/Steel Guitar

Jim Eaton · From: Santa Susana, Ca

The last time I saw Red before he passed away was at the Palamino in North Hollywood. I thanked him for being such an inspiration with his work on "The Hits Just Keep On Coming".
JE:-)>
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Emmons D10PP 8/4 -75'
Emmons S-10PP 3/4 - 79'
Emmons S-12PP 3/4 -78'
MSA Legend SD12 5/5 -06'
Mullen S-12 4/5 - 1986
Nashville 112 x2 W/Knob Guards - Don't leave home with out one!
Walker SS rack system - 12"BW's
Quilter Steelaire Combo

Stu Schulman · From: Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)

Jay,Macy's right Murphy wrote Texas morning...however B.W. did it like he owned it..like it was his b---h.Ha!We would open our shows with that song Buck on guitar,me on steel talk about the shakes.When our record came out on Warner Bros we did a tour,I invited Red and his wife to the Troubadour they sat in the front row,I should have been nervous but they were both so nice.While we're on the Red Rhodes thang.there's a cut on Willis's record about Woody Guthrie called "Boy From Oklahoma"which is my all time favorite Red song,Red was I good friend with a million jokes,a very loud sinister laugh,and I didn't mind running to the liquor store to buy him Buds at all.
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Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952.

Stephen Silver · From: Asheville, NC

I used to take my Fneder amps to Red in the early 70's when ever they needed anything. He was always great to talk with.

one of the things I remember was how almost inevitably the first thing he would do when he turned on the amp and it buzzed or cackled was give it a swift thump with his fist.

Ever since, whenever I bang something that's not working like it should, I refer to the technique as the Red Rhodes School of Fixit.

I seem to recall that I had a Princeton Reverb that once he thumped it, it worked fine and never had problems again.

SS
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Life is mostly Attitude and Timing

Joel Meredith · From: Portland,Oregon, USA

I like Red's work on John Phillip's first album "The Wolf King of LA". It's a nice, lesser know album from 1969 or 1970

Pete Finney · From: Nashville Tn.

It just occurred to me that Red's playing on the James Taylor "Sweet Baby James" album might have exposed the steel to a lot of my generation as much as any one single album, it seems like everybody I knew at the time (69-70) had that album even if they were mostly into hard rock. Along with "Lay Lady Lay" and "Teach Your Children" (oh oh!) it was probably heard by as many "non country" listeners as anything at the time... Like it or not what we now think of as the "classic country" of that era had much less visibility and a much smaller audience (though I personally think that was a true "golden age" for Nashville pedal steel). And the Byrds, Burrito Brothers,Poco and even Linda Ronstadt (at THAT time) had a more specialized audience for the most part and less airplay... Sneaky Pete was certainly heard a lot because he played on so many different things but I can't think of any ONE album or track that would have been quite as widely heard as that James Taylor album.

While "Sweet Baby James" from that album might have had much more radio airplay, to me "Anywhere like Heaven" is the real gem for steel playing, and maybe my favorite Red Rhodes playing anywhere (of the stuff I've heard). I'll have to check out "And the Hits Just Keep on Coming", sounds like a good one! Thanks for the tip...

(I also just realized that everybody I knew back then seemed to have the "Easy Rider" soundtrack, with Red's very prominent playing on "Don't Bogart that Joint". That song hasn't exactly worn well (!) IMHO and most folks probably couldn't have told you what the main instrument was, but they sure knew the words to the song and it sure got sung a lot at parties!)

All by way of trying to give some credit to one of the greats we don't hear that much about, and all just my humble opinions of course...

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Most of my early "guitar tech" knowledge came from hanging out at "Red's Royal Amplifier Service" with Red and some guy who worked the counter and did guitar setups named Skunk Baxter Winking

I worked with them on my '68 Tele and learned a ton; also heard heaps of stories; Red was a great story-teller and would have you rolling on the floor laughing.

His Fender 1000 (there are pictures somewhere on the forum; if not, I might try to post them tonight if I can find them) was one inspiration for Gene Parson's Stringbender on Clarence White's Tele - it has gate-hinge knee levers wrapped in cloth and tape, extra springs, pulleys and gadgets all over the place and looks like it's ready to fall apart. It makes Sneaky's wacky 400 look tame. He was the only one who seemed to be able to play it in tune - in addition to his odd copedent, you had to (as I recall - I wasn't a steel player in those days but DID try it) use just the right amount or pressure on some pedals and knees as the stops didn't always work right - it was like flying a plane on instruments in a thunderstorm.

He rarely gets enough credit when the country-rock steelers are mentioned, but probably played more live gigs than any of them.

He was just an absolute sweetheart of a guy and always willing to share information and help young players "learn the ropes".

Man, I wish I knew where his old Fender was!
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No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional

Skip Edwards · From: LA,CA

I was also a regular at Red's shop in the '70's. It was a great place to hang, as well as get your stuff fixed. Or, where you would get it "royally"...
Red's Fender - I think it was a doubleneck? - he had a Eb6 tuning, and another tuning that was diatonic....each string went up a note in a major scale. I never could make any sense of either of them. I do remember that he had Fender pedals (the black kind)as knee levers, hanging down everywhere under the thing.
One of the wackier projects he did was a stereo pickup. It was wired so that every other string came out the alternating side (L,R)....even numbered strings to the left amp, odd numbered strings to the right amp. Very bizarre sound.
He did have his own way of fixing stuff, though. For example, if your on/off switch went bad - like mine did to my Roland Boss Chorus -he would just bypass it and wire the thing to always be on. And usually at no charge.
One time he lent me his LTD when my Twin was in his shop. I got to the gig and went to plug the thing in and the AC cable was a frayed lamp cord that he had jerry-rigged in there with a plug that was held on by spit & scotch tape. When I returned the amp and asked him about it he said, "Well, the auto mechanic's car never works right either, does it?"
That was Red. He was one of a kind, and I sure miss him.

And now that I've had time to think about it, I believe his Fender was a sgl 10, with the Eb6 tuning. I think the diatonic tuning showed up when he started playing a Sierra D10, in the mid-70's.

Dave Van Allen · From: Souderton, PA , US , Earth

I second the vote (or third it) for The Hits Just Keep On Coming

It's available from Nesmith's "video ranch" site or iTunes as downloads, and maybe from Amazon or elsewhere on a 2 LP CD "And the Hits Just Keep on Comin'/Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash"

I did the download several years back... I love it- it's just Red on Steel and Mike on Acoustic and Singin' for the most part.

Greg Simmons · From: where the buffalo (used to) roam AND the Mojave

I recall reading somewehere that Red also had a hand in designing some of the Groove Tubes amps.

If you need to stock up on some Red with Nez here's the link to Michael Nesmith's Videoranch
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<i>�Head full of this kaleidoscope of brain-freight, Heart full of something simple and slow�</i>
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Stu Schulman · From: Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)

Letz not forget those "Velvet Hammer" guitar pickups. Winking

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Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952.

Dick Wood · From: Springtown Texas, USA

I've told this story before but since we're on Red here it is again.

Around 1984 or 5 I was playing a club in Denton TX that wasn't at all well known around the area and one night I was playing and I noticed this guy sitting over in the corner who seemed to really be watching me intently.

He was sitting at a table with a small dim light over it and the more I watched him the more I thought how he reminded me of the picture of Red in Winnie's book.

We took a break and as I walked towards him he stood up and asked him if his name was Red and got this big grin on his face and he said yes it was.

He asked how long had I been playing steel and that he liked what I was doing for such a short time on it.

Red said he was just passing through town and was headed back to California and happened to find that club and thought he'd stop in.

I asked him if he'd like to sit in and he declined.

Needless to say I was freaked out. Red stayed for about half a set more and left.

I remember him being bigger than life and very easy to talk too.

Pete Finney · From: Nashville Tn.

FWIW

Here's a Mike Nesmith quote about Red and the short lived "First National Band" (from the "Uncut" article mentioned above):

"Red wasn't avant-garde, but his attitude was willing, open-minded. He developed extraordinary approaches. It sounded country but if you listened closer, you realised, 'Wait; this guys doing something... different'. That whole attitude worked great for us, because the music we were doing, it was just off-beat. We couldn't call it country, it wasn't rock and roll, there was no marketing peg, no record store bin, no radio."

Too bad they hadn't invented "Americana" yet... then they could have had a "marketing peg" and a "record store bin" and STILL not sell any records! Cool

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

I found pics of the bottom of Red's 1000 with the gate hinge knee levers. Remembering his "find a way to make it work" philosophy" helped me quite a bit with my own Fenders; there is SO much you can do to these things, and they are just perfect modification platforms. Besides being able to make workable, accurate knee levers out of just about anything the cable arrangement lets you change copedents in minutes. Once you learn mods to overcome the single raise/lower limitation (and it's easy) the door is wide open:

_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional

Herb Steiner · From: Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064

I remember that guitar so well... (insert audible sigh of reminiscence)

I also dug Red's Fender 800 that he turned into a keyless. His keyhead design was patented, and I recall Red's outburst of joy when he told me that the Sho~Bud keyless model that David Jackson developed infringed on Red's patent. So Sho~Bud killed the keyless idea! Laughing

He was a great friend and my first professional mentor. I miss him dearly, but I still stay in contact with Diana from time to time.
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My rig: Infinity and Telonics.

Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg?

Dick Wood · From: Springtown Texas, USA

Ya know,it does have a certain Rube Goldburg touch about it but I also see splashes of Richard Burton coming through.

Alan Coldiron · From: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

I still go crazy when I hear the work he did on Freddie Weller's "Games People Play" and "These are not my People". To me its just classic steel work. I'm on my second copy of the album since I wore out the first. Gotta love it.

Mike Poholsky · From: Kansas, USA

I just burned my copy of "Velevt Hammer in a Cowboy Band" to CD. One of my all time favorite steel records. Red was a true innovator of the instrument. Its funny I never knew him, but Jim your desciption of him is exactly the kind of guy I figured he'd be. Did he use any effects or was it mostly stuff he invented? I do a version of Dana's Waltz. A beautiful tune with interesting chord changes. I love the fact that Reds music, along with the Michael Nesmith stuff didn't have a record bin. There are so many possibilities for Steel!

Jay Ganz · From: Out Behind The Barn

Yeah, I bought alot of those Nesmith albums when they originally came out in the early 70's. I transferred a bunch of tunes from each one onto a CD a few years ago. I still have a letter from Red written to me back then. I'd asked him about his "organ" effect. He explained it was simply his left hand bar technique...not an effect unit!

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