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Topic: Lap Steel Blues Players - Suggested Listening |
Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Posted 30 Jun 2020 8:58 pm |
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I thought it would be nice to have a reference list thread of blues and rock musicians that play lap steel. Please add to it.
There’s a half dozen to get the party started.
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Current Tunings:
6 String | G – G B D G B D
7 String | G6 – e G B D G B D (re-entrant)
https://papadafoe.com/lap-steel-tuning-database
Last edited by Allan Revich on 30 Jun 2020 10:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Mitch Drumm
From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
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Posted 30 Jun 2020 10:12 pm
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"Blues/Rock".
Sounds like a term that would not have been heard of until the mid 60s or later, so Gene Phillips, L.C. Robinson, and Hop Wilson may be off-limits.
And a bunch of other guys that are closer to rock and roll, pop, or rockabilly. |
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Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Posted 30 Jun 2020 10:27 pm
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| Mitch Drumm wrote: |
"Blues/Rock".
Sounds like a term that would not have been heard of until the mid 60s or later, so Gene Phillips, L.C. Robinson, and Hop Wilson may be off-limits.
And a bunch of other guys that are closer to rock and roll, pop, or rockabilly. |
Early blues references would also be great!
EDIT: original post changed from blues/rock to “blues and rock“ |
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Joel Bloom
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K Maul
From:
Hadley, NY/Hobe Sound, FL
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Posted 1 Jul 2020 6:31 am
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Hop Wilson! He only made about 25 sides. From the sound of the records they were mostly first takes, not all rehearsed and pretty rough. However, he had great feel, even when a bit out of tune! Perfectionists probably would turn up their noses but I found him to be inspirational.
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KEVIN MAUL: Airline, Beard, Clinesmith, Donner, Evans, Excel, Fender, Fluger, GFI, Gibson, Hilton, Ibanez, Justice, K+K, Live Strings, MOYO, National, Oahu, Peterson, Quilter, Rickenbacher, Sho~Bud, Supro, TC, Ultimate, VHT, Williams, X-otic, Yamaha, ZKing. |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 1 Jul 2020 10:43 am
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Glenn Ross Campbell (e.g., The Misunderstood, Juicy Lucy, and more) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrRImjZlD38, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJIXBmYQSms, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEp4P1fEPyo. There are some threads about him on the forum.
Gib Wharton (Holmes Brothers and more) - e.g., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncvf98Belvs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m9J13gS8ss. Gib hasn't come up in a while, but there are some threads about him here. Some of his work with them was pedal and some nonpedal.
Definitely check out Hop Wilson! E.g., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwufnpPilMU, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ_CwqBGUkU. There have been some threads here about him too.
And lots of what is termed Sacred Steel fits, musically speaking, with blues, although it definitely is on the gospel side. Some of these folks post pretty routinely here on the forum. Check 'em out.
I know most people here don't consider it steel, but there are some slide guitar players who can do pretty much anything a nonpedal steel player can in the blues and rock dept. Sonny Landreth especially comes to mind. IMO, very useful to listen to for ideas on both slide guitar and steel. |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 1 Jul 2020 11:40 am
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If you’re playing lap steel and you’re not playing blues, what are you doing? (That is a rhetorical question)
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Glenn Wilde
From:
California, USA
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Posted 1 Jul 2020 1:50 pm
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| Sol Hoopii, he's like the Robert Johnson of the steel......to me anyways |
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Peter Jacobs
From:
Northern Virginia
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 1 Jul 2020 3:47 pm
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And the elephant in the room - Blind Willie Johnson.
It is generally agreed by people who know anything about him that he played this with a knife on his lap, as a lap steel. But surviving pictures generally show him playing in Spanish position. And so, people here generally relegate him to "not a steel guitar player". 
I'll let y'all decide. To me it makes no difference. It's all "steel guitar" to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNj2BXW852g or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsvuoHQyloY - I think one was remixed for a bit better sound (you tell me which).
If I could ever get half of the soul he expressed while playing, I'd die a happy man. |
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Jeff Highland
From:
New South Wales, Australia
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Posted 1 Jul 2020 4:58 pm
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Harry Manx
_________________
Duesenberg Fairytale
1949 Supro Supreme
1950 National New Yorker
2008 Highland Baritone Weissenborn
2020 Highland New Yorker.
2020 Highland Mohan Veena
2021 Highland Weissencone |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 1 Jul 2020 5:44 pm
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The closest I usually come to playing blues on steel is when I turn on a backing track of Coltrane's Equinox. Turn the gain up a bit to get some frizzy sax-like hair...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m2HN2y0yV8
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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Scott Thomas
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Brian Saulsman
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 1 Jul 2020 7:10 pm
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Following Dave Mudgett’s lead, I once heard David Lindley mention Earl Hooker as an inspiration.
All the best
Brian Saulsman
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All the best
Brian Saulsman |
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Joe Burke
From:
Toronto, Canada
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Posted 2 Jul 2020 9:55 am
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What do all of you use to get a nice blues sound on a dobro or resonator? I think blues player often use glass bottleneck slides.
Anyone have a glass bulges slide? |
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Glenn Wilde
From:
California, USA
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Posted 3 Jul 2020 3:43 pm
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| Joe Burke wrote: |
What do all of you use to get a nice blues sound on a dobro or resonator? I think blues player often use glass bottleneck slides.
Anyone have a glass bulges slide? |
Proper blues tunings like E/D or low bass A/G and lots of practice. |
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Vladimir Sorokin
From:
Russia
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Vladimir Sorokin
From:
Russia
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Posted 4 Jul 2020 3:43 am
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Also Mike Dowling plays some of his songs on lap steel.
And of course, Cindy Cashdollar! |
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Dennis Conklin
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 4 Jul 2020 9:19 am
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| My wife and I have really been enjoying Megan Lovell of Larkin Poe on their "Peach" album - for something pretty recent! |
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Brooks Montgomery
From:
Idaho, USA
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