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Post new topic G.I. Steel - vintage pic.
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Author Topic:  G.I. Steel - vintage pic.
Andy Volk


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 21 Sep 2020 2:28 am    
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Love this pic posted on FB by Bill Purcell's son, Bill.



Quote:
my Dad, Bill Purcell, during the korean war around 1953...his unit had just come off the battle lines and a USO show was entertaining the camp...he was invited to sit in with the band...prior to this he had been a member of Clyde Moody's and then Jimmy Dicken's band ..He also recorded extensively with Clyde Moody at King Records in Cincinnati ...


Per Dan Dugmore, the steel Bill played belonged to ....
Quote:
Wanda Kennedy I believe was her name.

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Nic Neufeld


From:
Kansas City, Missouri
Post  Posted 21 Sep 2020 6:08 am    
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Love it!
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Doug Beaumier


From:
Northampton, MA
Post  Posted 21 Sep 2020 8:17 am    
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Wow, what a wonderful picture... patriotism, classic Country, Bigsby steel guitar and volume/tone pedal, Fender "TV front" amp. It's all there and it doesn't get much better! Very Happy
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Bill Groner


From:
QUAKERTOWN, PA
Post  Posted 21 Sep 2020 8:55 am    
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Probably the one and only time that pedal saw a Combat boot!
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Andy Volk


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 21 Sep 2020 9:11 am    
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Exactly, Doug. This pic is getting widely shared in community since Bill posted it. One of my all time favorite steel pics - so many levels.
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Doug Beaumier


From:
Northampton, MA
Post  Posted 21 Sep 2020 9:19 am    
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+1 Andy. I'm gonna post it on my Instagram page. Smile
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Mitch Drumm

 

From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
Post  Posted 21 Sep 2020 9:22 am    
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Here's another pic of Bill---before this Korea pic.

With Glen Thompson's Dixie Playboys band, probably late 40s.

You can hear Bill if you can run down Thompson's "Dixie Playboy Swing". Haven't looked, but it might be on Youtube.


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Doug Beaumier


From:
Northampton, MA
Post  Posted 21 Sep 2020 9:27 am    
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with Chubby Wise...


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Jouni Karvonen


From:
Helsinki, Finland
Post  Posted 21 Sep 2020 10:02 am    
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M-SC87eNc0
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Scott Thomas

 

Post  Posted 21 Sep 2020 2:49 pm    
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Great pictures. Nice to hear about some of the less known Western Swing and Country players. I didn't know about Wanda either. That is a great in-period pic of her Bigsby rig and Fender amp.
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Jim Pitman

 

From:
Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA
Post  Posted 21 Sep 2020 5:05 pm    
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Common guys, no mention of the cowgirl on the left?
I know we're old but jeesh.
Is that Wanda?
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Mitch Drumm

 

From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
Post  Posted 21 Sep 2020 7:33 pm    
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Could be Wanda; hard to say for sure. Here she is with Dave Stogner's great band out of Fresno/Madera area in 1952:






The Korea pic is likely from July-November of 1953, per this Billboard notice from 8-8-53. Could be Aileen McNeely or Barbara Thompson in the Korea pic, if not Wanda.







Here's another Billboard notice from 11-27-54 about Bob and Wanda Kennedy's band. Bud Duncan on fiddle and bass..........is that the same Bud Duncan who was with the Maddox Brothers and Rose previously?


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Mitch Drumm

 

From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
Post  Posted 28 Sep 2020 2:34 pm     Re: G.I. Steel - vintage pic.
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Andy Volk wrote:
Love this pic posted on FB by Bill Purcell's son, Bill.



Quote:
my Dad, Bill Purcell, during the korean war around 1953...his unit had just come off the battle lines and a USO show was entertaining the camp...he was invited to sit in with the band...prior to this he had been a member of Clyde Moody's and then Jimmy Dicken's band ..He also recorded extensively with Clyde Moody at King Records in Cincinnati ...


Per Dan Dugmore, the steel Bill played belonged to ....
Quote:
Wanda Kennedy I believe was her name.



Confirmed.

That is steeler Wanda Kennedy standing next to Bill Purcell in the above pic.

Here's another pic of her in Korea; same boots, same skirt, same hair style, highly likely the same USO tour from late 1953:



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Landon Jarrel

 

From:
Space
Post  Posted 6 Oct 2020 7:54 pm    
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This thread just about made my day!
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David Matzenik


From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
Post  Posted 6 Oct 2020 10:53 pm    
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They are all wonderful photos, but the spontaneity of the first one is just fabulous. The Dale Evans style outfit, the rumpled soldier, fresh from the field, the equipment. It should be in the National Archive Collection.
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Joe Burke

 

From:
Toronto, Canada
Post  Posted 7 Oct 2020 3:56 am    
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I just love his smile. He’s so happy to be playing steel again. And playing it with a band.

Great thread!
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