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Blake Hawkins


From:
Florida
Post  Posted 11 Mar 2006 8:04 am    
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In a previous thread it was mentioned that Speedy Haworth still playing.
I remember him from "The Bill Ring Show."
He is a fantastic musician.
Also on the shows was Doc Martin playing steel guitar.
Does anyone know if Doc is still pickin"?
He, too, is an outstanding talent.

Blake
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Les Green


From:
Jefferson City, MO, R.I.P.
Post  Posted 11 Mar 2006 8:55 am    
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I'm amazed that anyone would remember Speedy. I got to do a show one time with him and the Springfield bunch way back in the early 50's. Slim Wilson, Goo Goo Rutledge, etc. I remember Speedy from the Slim Wilson show on radio KWTO (keep watching the Ozarks). The last I heard of him several years ago was he was getting up in the years and was playing mostly religious material. What ever happened to Doc Martin I don't know. Both of these guys were excellent players. Speedy always reminded me a lot of Jimmy Bryant.
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Jack Stoner


From:
Kansas City, MO
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2006 6:40 am    
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I was talking to Bill Box (Bluegrass Singer from Nixa, Mo) last night about KWTO and he remembers Speedy. He also mentioned a comic duo that had one heavy (fat) guy that wore a diaper but I don't remember his name.
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David L. Donald


From:
Koh Samui Island, Thailand
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2006 8:50 am    
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Oops... for minute I thought this was about shoes... ???
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Terry Wood


From:
Lebanon, MO
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2006 6:18 am    
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I never knew Doc Martin as he moved from this area years ago. I have heard he moved years ago to Nebraska or Iowa. Old Timers/Pickers here said he was a real good steel player.

Speedy Jr. Halworth is still alive and pickin' here in the Ozarks. However, like the rest of us, time is catching up with him. He has slowed down the number of playing dates. Still plays really well!

I have a friend who does alot of CD and tape duplications for Speedy and his trio group. Speedy sounds as great as ever. That's about all I know of these guys.

GOD bless!

Terry Wood
14 strings + 14 pedals = Steel Fun!
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Blake Hawkins


From:
Florida
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2006 7:04 am    
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Thanks for all the replies.
The group on "The Bill Ring Show" did an outstanding program which was syndicated.
I used to listen to them on AFRTS around 1953
I think.
Still have a promotional LP with a sample of the program on one side and "The Red Foley
Show" on the other.
Blake
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Les Green


From:
Jefferson City, MO, R.I.P.
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2006 7:49 am    
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Jack,
If I remember correctly, the guy who did the comedy routine in a diaper was Goo Goo Rutledge. Been to many years to recall for sure.
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Jack Stoner


From:
Kansas City, MO
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2006 8:21 am    
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Les, I think you're right. I lived in KC and wasn't as familar with the Springfield pickers, except for the ones like Bill Owens and Lonnie Harper that moved to the KC area.
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Terry Wood


From:
Lebanon, MO
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2006 9:47 am    
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Anybody know where Lonnie Hoppers is at these days? I think he is still around KC area?

He was a real unique guitarist too!

Terry Wood
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Jack Stoner


From:
Kansas City, MO
Post  Posted 13 Mar 2006 10:24 am    
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As mentioned, Lonnie Harper lives in the KC area. For those that don't know, Lonnie frets "upside down" with his hand on top of the neck rather than the conventional from the bottom up.

[This message was edited by Jack Stoner on 13 March 2006 at 01:28 PM.]

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Dick Hitchcock


From:
Wayne, Nebraska
Post  Posted 14 Mar 2013 12:12 pm     Doc Martin
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Doc is doing well and lives in Carter Lake IA..I saw him a couple of years ago and he was the same old Doc..Heck of a steel player....i've known him since the mid 60s....I don't think he plays any more.
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jay thompson

 

From:
east peoria, il USA
Post  Posted 14 Mar 2013 12:45 pm     Doc Martin
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Goo Goo Rutledge's sidekick was Lenny Aylshire(sp).
Should you recall, Goo Goo had a string on a push broom handle and would play it using a block of wood as a bar.
I believe it was amplified through a mic.
Regards, Jay Thompson
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Jussi Huhtakangas

 

From:
Helsinki, Finland
Post  Posted 14 Mar 2013 11:40 pm    
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Here's a cool clip of Doc playing an instrumental. He has pedals converted on his Fender. Speedy is on the Strat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q4JRvO_UUI

Later on Doc had a D8 Bigsby with pedals:


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Ben Rubright

 

From:
Punta Gorda, Florida, USA
Post  Posted 15 Mar 2013 5:58 am    
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Wasn't Speedy 1/3 of the Porter Wagoner trio in the 50's? (Porter, Don Warden, and Speedy). I believe that after he went to the Ozark Jubilee he was succeeded in the trio by Red Gale.
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Ron Brown

 

From:
Florida, USA
Post  Posted 15 Mar 2013 8:59 am     Doc Martin
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I was a big fan of Doc Martin. Back in 59 and early 60's every time I was in Springfield, Mo. I would head straight to the old Jewell theater to visit with him. He would take me in for their Saturday rehearsals for that Sat. nights telecast of the Jubilee U.S.A. I last spoke with Doc about a year ago and at that time he and his wife
Dee were doing well. On one of those visits he drew a diagram for me on how to put pedals on a Fender stringmaster. I also have reel to reel tapes of the old Red Foley radio shows some of which I had CD's made. I still listen to Doc's playing. I ask him whatever happened to that old Bigsby and he said he gave it to his son who lives down around Springfield.
By the way, Doc's tuning was F 6th.
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Jack Stoner


From:
Kansas City, MO
Post  Posted 15 Mar 2013 9:19 am    
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The guy in the back row, right, in that picture looks like Bill Owens. Bill had some type of Opry show in the Springfield area, before he moved to Kansas City.

I worked some with Bill in Kansas City and he would talk about pickers in the Springfield area. I know he mentioned Speedy.
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Ron Brown

 

From:
Florida, USA
Post  Posted 15 Mar 2013 9:33 am    
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The guys in the picture are as follows:
Front row L-R Speedy Haworth guitar, Doc Martin steel Bob White bass & Slim Wilson band leader
Back row L-R Johnny Gailey drummer Zed Tennis fiddle Paul Mitchel Piano
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Jack Bowman

 

From:
Washington, USA
Post  Posted 16 Mar 2013 8:30 pm    
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Jack Stoner wrote:
The guy in the back row, right, in that picture looks like Bill Owens. Bill had some type of Opry show in the Springfield area, before he moved to Kansas City.

I worked some with Bill in Kansas City and he would talk about pickers in the Springfield area. I know he mentioned Speedy.


I saw that you worked the KC scene. Did you every meet Billy Charles? He was in KC around 1970 or so. was a "chet" picker on lead guitar.
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Jack Wilson

 

From:
Marshfield, MO
Post  Posted 17 Mar 2013 9:32 am     Doc Martin
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Doc visits Springfield,MO a few times a year to see his son Mickey. When he does, he attends a dinner and jam in a private home with some of the local players. He doesn't play, but last time he did talk to me about getting a S-10. The guitar he gave his son is not a real Bigsby. He told me the story that Bud Isaac was playing a Bigsby on the Jubilee and took some time off. Doc borrowed the Bigsby and took it completely apart, had a local foundry and a machine shop copy the parts, and he bought some birdseye maple. He built an exact copy of Bud's guitar and put Bud's guitar back together before Bud returned to play on the Jubilee. So if you see Doc playing a Bigsby on the old Jubilee videos, that is the guitar he built and later gave his son.
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Blake Hawkins


From:
Florida
Post  Posted 17 Mar 2013 4:59 pm    
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Dick and others, Thanks very much for the current information on Doc. This thread is 7 years old but the info is timeless.
I'm very glad to know that Doc is still around.
Nice to see some of his work on U Tube.
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Eric Stumpf


From:
Newbury, NH 03255
Post  Posted 18 Mar 2013 3:46 am    
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There are two transcriptions of the Bill Ring Show available on this blogspot: http://allensarchiveofearlyoldcountrymusic.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2013-01-29T09:19:00-06:00&max-results=10
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Jack Stoner


From:
Kansas City, MO
Post  Posted 18 Mar 2013 6:09 am    
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Quote:
I saw that you worked the KC scene. Did you every meet Billy Charles? He was in KC around 1970 or so. was a "chet" picker on lead guitar


I worked several jobs, including a NYE gig, with Billy Charles in the 80's. He never did any "Chet" on the jobs I worked with him. He went to Branson, but because of his "devils" never had much success. Last I heard and that's been 16 years ago, he was working in a diner (not music) in Branson.

When he was tuning up, he would ask me to give him an A chord and he would tune his E string from that.
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Dick Hitchcock


From:
Wayne, Nebraska
Post  Posted 18 Mar 2013 6:23 am    
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I just found this on you tube...Classic Doc Martin...This is the steel I remember him playing in Omaha in the 60s.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG-IBWbSpu8
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Dick Hitchcock


From:
Wayne, Nebraska
Post  Posted 18 Mar 2013 6:28 am    
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG-IBWbSpu8
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Barry Blackwood


Post  Posted 18 Mar 2013 7:17 am    
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With a name like "Goo Goo," I just had to look him up..
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11727110
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