Nokie Edwards

Dave Harmonson · From: Seattle, Wa

I know Nokie has been mentioned here a few times. Just wondering how many more of you are familiar with his playing. Everybody's heard him playing with The Ventures, but how many have heard some of the other incredible things he plays. He lived up here in the Northwest for many years and I had the fornuate oppurtunity to play with him many times. He loves to play and is about the nicest guy you could meet. I know for me personally I learned more about playing music from him than anyone else I can think of. Not only trying to learn some of the stuff he plays, but also from his relaxed attitude. Always cool and smooth. I remember a jam he was hosting many years back and a less than great chick singer was singing Your Cheating Heart and when Nokie plays a lick leading into the chorus the singer misses it and comes in late and Nokie just rolls with it and leads it in again with a little grin.
I remember when I first met him I was 21 and playing with a God Awful band 6 nights a week and Nokie was coming into the same club and playing with another band on Sunday nights. I came down to see him play and he was playing through my amp so I went to talk to him and was so awestruck that I could barely speak. It didn't take long for me to figure out that my angst did not come from him. He never put on airs and would rather sit around and tell corny jokes than boast or blow steam.
He's been down in Oregon the last several years so I don't see too often anymore and I sure miss it. A big hats off to good old Nokie.
Here's couple of cool videos I found of Nokie with a Japanese band.
[/url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjr6Ey1oDAo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cg8sYHlnjc

Howard Tate · From: Leesville, Louisiana, USA, R.I.P.

I played my Les Paul on one job with him in Montana. The club owner hired me. Lord knows he didn't need another guitar player but I'm glad it happened. He was very friendly and down to earth, never tried to show anyone up but he could have very easily. Nice guy, great picker.

Jerry Hayes · From: Virginia Beach, Va.

Nokie was/is a totally different player than what you hear on the Ventures recordings! For those he used a flatpick and played a lot of that low string stuff. Away from them he's a world class thumb and fingerpicker who can hold his own with the best of 'em!

In the middle seventies I was working part time afternoons at a music store in L.A. doing repairs and some sales. Our guitar teacher was the legendary Al Bruno. One day Al came to work bringing Nokie with him. He'd seen Al's Bigsby Palm Pedal string bending device and wanted one for himself. As we were a dealer for them, we had several in stock. He said he'd like to have a unit with four levers instead of the usual two. I took the levers off of another unit and put them all on one frame to bend the first four strings. The B and G strings were left as normal but I shortened the high E string lever and the D string lever so they wouldn't get in the way when using the standard two. I also raised the outside levers so they could be depressed without activating the others. This way he could just lift his hand a little and slide farther back to activate either of the "extra" levers. He seemed to like the way it worked and way playing some cool stuff in no time at all. I later saw a video of him using a BPP but it was the standard two lever unit. What I didn't think was too cool at the time was, he had me install it on an old vintage Telecaster he brought with him.

It was nice to spend the afternoon with him and I'll have to admit, he is a very nice person and one helluva picker to boot.........JH in Va.
_________________
Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!

Dave Harmonson · From: Seattle, Wa

Jerry, I remember when Nokie got the 4 string palm benders on his Tele. It was shortly after I'd gotten my Parsons/White bender on mine in '76. There was a club outside of Tacoma that was having a Mon-Fri afternoon jam from 2-6 and Nokie was coming in almost everyday when he was in town. He tried my bender out and I still remember the first lick he tried on it he hit a pretty good clam where he had the 3rd of the chord and pulled it up to a #4. He was off of it in no time and I'm sure I was the only person there that heard what he did. He looked over at me and kind of gave me a sly grin and shook his head a bit. It one of the only mistakes I ever heard from him.
Nokie is another player who could sound the same on whatever guitar he'd play. He'd pick up my guitar and make it sound like Nokie and never change any settings.

Michael Johnstone · From: Sylmar,Ca. USA

When I was working as an actor on the HBO show "Deadwood" out at Melody Ranch movie studio in Newhall I noticed Nokie in the lunchroom one day and told him how much he changed my life when the Ventures came out and he laughed and said he was sorry to hear that. I asked him what the hell he was doing there. He told me he knew the owners of the ranch and they were letting him live at the ranch in his huge motor home with his wife Judy,so we started hanging around the set and he started dressing up as an extra and was in a few episodes. Dressed in turn-of-the-century top hat and tails he looked like a cowboy undertaker. He and Thom Bresh would sit around the set and pick for the cast and crew and that was really a nice interlude during the daily grind of cranking out that show.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

Nokie is probably as influential to many of us as Elvis, Buddy or Loyd ! For those of us here under 50, the over 50 club grew up with the the Ventures and Nokie ! First it was the LP covers with all the Fenders, then ..WOW..Mosrites ! Then LIVE from Japan !

Although I did not attend , not long ago Nokie was in NC at the Statesville Thumbpickers convention, I heard he was a knock out !

tp

Dave Harmonson · From: Seattle, Wa

Here's an interesting story on Nokie. When he says "I love music, that's why I do it" kinda says it all.[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g-H2RVff5M[/url]

Nice pic of Nokie, Michael. Thanks for posting.

Joe Casey · From: Weeki Wachee .Springs FL (population.9)

I first met Nokie years back at of all places Gabes off trinity lane. Bo Roberts brought him in one night. We got to talk a while and he invited Smiley and I to a Ventures reunion party at the old Cajuns Wharf. They played a show and afterwards some of us went upstairs to a food spread out of this world. I happened to be the only one with a camera so most that were present wanted a picture with Nokie mostly and then the Ventures. Before I had run out of Film I had someone snap one of Nokie and myself...I mailed out about 15 pics to the others and the Wharf owner.I found Nokie to be a down to earth gentleman.Heres an 8X10 that has hung in my music room since then.

Bo Borland · From: South Jersey -

MJ, I wish I knew you were working the Deadwood gig, we really liked that show.

LJ Eiffert · From: California, USA

When Al Bruno ran the after Hours Jam Session at the Imperial Inn here is southern California,all kinds of great Musicians would come out and sit in like Nokie Edwards.LJ

Bill Bassett · From: Papamoa New Zealand

Hi Dave and all the rest,

One of my favorite memories was an unusual session that took place in the heart of downtown Seattle in a little tavern called The Bitter End. (Long since been torn down to make way for another highrise.)
Jerry Jack Adams had befriended the owner of the place who really wanted to make a record of the songs he had written. So, Jerry got his band, including me on steel and asked his buddy Nokie Edwards to help out. We met up right there at the tavern during off hours and set up a TEAC 4 channel recorder and went to work making this guy his record. Nokie was great, played so smooth and clean.
The fact that he was willing to do a little gig like that was impressive in itself but that he took it so seriously. I learned a lot that day about professionalism and attitude. Not to mention that it was a thrill to swap licks and working out twin leads with guy. I'd like to think that I was challanged to play UP to his level but I suspect he was simply playing DOWN to mine. Either way it was a ball and a cherished memory.

Bill Bassett
Rimrock AZ

LJ Eiffert · From: California, USA

I was just thinking and remembered when Nokie Edwards & Al Bruno with the late Bill Hoffman were chicken pickin at the Imperial Inn one night with Bobby Lee on Piano,Archie Francis on Drums and Larry Booth on Bass Guitar. Man,if we could have recorded that night,how great would that be to have on CD now. LJ

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