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Topic: steel in Japan |
c c johnson
From:
killeen,tx usa * R.I.P.
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Posted 1 Sep 2004 3:28 am |
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| I have had quite a few emails from people wanting to know if I was the steel player at the Union Jack Club in Tokyo between 1946 and 50. The Union Jack was the BCOF (British Commonwealth Occupation Forces) club in Tokyo or the equivalent to our Rocker Four Club Bankers Club etc. I was one of several. The Aussies loved hawaiian music and would pack the place. The japanese would listen from the bridge that was next to the club. I was 17, 18, 19 at the time. To "quote" Roy Ayers when speaking of Don Davis, etc; If the steel was fantastic it was and old japanese guy, must have been 30, playing a prewar Gibson thru a Gibson amp. He had taken this rig to a brother out on the farm as the Kempi Tai were confiscating all steels as too american during the war. If the playing was Great, it was probly another old japanese guy, must have been 25, playing a prewar Oahu Tonemaster thru a Oahu amp. He got to keep his rig as his uncle was a secret police major and loved haw music so he would play for him at his home. If the playing was "adequate" it was me playing my 6strg Nat New Yorker thru my epiphone amp; the blond wood one with the big E in wood on the front over the grill. Hope this wasn't too boring. CC |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 1 Sep 2004 4:40 am
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Must have been some great times, musically anyway.
Do those old Epiphone Zephyr amps have the best tone you've ever heard or what? I think so--I've got 2 of them and I think they're simply the best I've heard yet. |
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c c johnson
From:
killeen,tx usa * R.I.P.
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Posted 1 Sep 2004 5:54 am
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| Mike, the tone on those amps was great especially for haw and pop standards. When it came time for me to come stateside in dec 49 I gave my rig to a japanese kid who used to listen to me play and thought I was the greatest thing going. Obviously he had not heard too many steel players. Hang on to those amps. They are priceless. CC |
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Gene Jones
From:
Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)
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George Keoki Lake
From:
Edmonton, AB., Canada
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Posted 1 Sep 2004 7:31 am
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Japan experiences sound very fascinating. I would really like to hear from anyone who lived and preferrably played steel in Waikiki when there were only the Moana and Royal Hawaiian Hotels on the beach, (maybe a few smaller ones also). To me, even though I've been there 22 times to date, Waikiki was pure "hawaiian music" in those days...No rock, no country, no jazz....just the real stuff. I doubt there are many, if any still around who could first-hand recall those pre-Pearl Harbor days. But if anyone is out there who can, it would sure be interesting to read about what it was like back then.  |
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Gerald Ross
From:
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
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Posted 1 Sep 2004 7:59 am
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Funny you should mention it Keoki...
My fantasy vacation is to go to Waikiki... but in 1939.
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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'
Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
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George Keoki Lake
From:
Edmonton, AB., Canada
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Posted 1 Sep 2004 9:37 am
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...."My fantasy vacation is to go to Waikiki... but in 1939".....
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Exactly ! Whenever I look at those (ancient) brown pictures of old Waikiki, I long to return to that era. It was a time before they ruined it by allowing hotels on the oceanside of Kalakaua Av. The Moana and RHH were both there to begin with, however all the later development was poorly planned. A better example of proper planning can be found at Surfer's Paradise in Australia...there you will find a beautiful sandy shore unobstructed by a proliferation of hotels. The hotels were not built on the ocean side of the avenue.
But can you just imagine the music in Waikiki during that era ? Of course, HAWAI'I CALLS was still in its infancy during the latter thirties, however it did serve as a good example of what could be heard in that era. I guess I'm a sentimental olde dreamer. You know, if you have been to Waikiki during the past 5 years, though Kalakaua Av has been spruced up very beautifully, you will not find many, (if any) Hawaiian entertainers, craftsmen, or music along the avenue. But what you will find is a Jamaican steel band group ! .. Go figure !!! [This message was edited by George Keoki Lake on 01 September 2004 at 10:15 PM.] |
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Gene Jones
From:
Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)
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c c johnson
From:
killeen,tx usa * R.I.P.
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Posted 1 Sep 2004 1:44 pm
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| Gene on my 2nd korea tour I was on RandR in tokyo in septof 54 . I stayed at the Finance bldg. Wish I could have heard you. My old boss, Jess Willard was there also and I did a couple of sets with him at the Bankers Club. I played a fender that his regular steelplayer had, afine lookin gal. CC |
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Blake Hawkins
From:
Florida
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Posted 2 Sep 2004 5:28 am
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CC,
I was in Yokohama from July of 1952 to July of 1954.
At the time, I was an army brat, in high school and just learning steel guitar.
I noticed your mention of a gal steel guitar player.
In 1953 there was an all girl trio who played western swing in one of the Japanese night clubs near the Yokosuka naval base.
I dont remember their names, just that they were very good, blond, had matching Fender instruments. One of them played a Fender steel guitar.
The club owner said they were from Las Vegas.
Wonder if the steel player could be the same gal?
Blake |
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c c johnson
From:
killeen,tx usa * R.I.P.
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Posted 2 Sep 2004 6:31 am
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| Blake the gal came to Korea via USO with Jess Willard and his group. It encluded a fiddler that fronted the band, a doghouse bass player, a drummer, a comedian, a piano player that the gal steeler called brother Bob, however I believe when I saw them in Tokyo afew months later she introduced him as her husband, and Jimmy Widener(sp)? played rhythem guitar and sang. He was also a part of a trio including Jess and a girl singer that I can't recall the name. Jess was one of the first to hire me in the 40s in california. I was too young to join the union and Jess would always reach in his pocket and pull out something?, hand it to the union rep when he came by and we never had troublr with the union. I wonder what that was Jess gave to the rep and if the union ever saw it????? Jess and his band did play Reno,Carson City, Tonapa and others. I don't know about Vegas. CC |
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Blake Hawkins
From:
Florida
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Posted 2 Sep 2004 7:54 pm
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CC, Thanks for the info. You've answered so many of my questions in the past, if you ever write a book about your career, I'll be first in line to buy one.
Do you remember "The Soba Song"?
It was recorded around '52 or '53, you weren't by any chance playing steel on it were you?
Blake |
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