Steel in movies and TV

Leslie Ehrlich · From: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

I find it quite annoying when movies and TV programs lack historical accuracy when portraying actual or fictitious events that occurred in the past. There are two steel guitar anachronisms that I'd like to share.

The first example is an episode of Magnum PI titled 'Let Me Hear the Music'. Dennis Weaver played the part of a country music sideman by the name of Lacy Fletcher, and Fletcher hires Magnum to find five lost songs written by the late George Lee Jessup. Jessup was supposedly a country music legend who recorded and performed in the early 1950s, and presumably, 78 rpm records were still available at the time. The show begins with a flashback of Jessup singing his hit song 'The Last Word', with Fletcher playing at his side. There is no steel player in view, but I could hear a PSG playing with the E9th A and B pedals mashing away. The scene quickly switches to the present, and the camera focuses on a turntable playing the same song on a crackly old 78. I could still hear the E9th whining. The moment I heard that, I wanted to yell WRONG! I have yet to hear any real country music recordings from the early 1950s that had E9th A and B on them.

The second example is the movie 'Coal Miner's Daughter'. When Doo takes Loretta into the studio to record her first song, on the first two takes she does it with just two or three session musicians. When the engineer hears how well she can sing, he brings in more 'pickers'. The studio gets crowded, and in the corner I see one musician sitting shouched over, much like a steel player. I can't see his steel, but when I hear it, there is that E9th A and B stuff happening again. Also, later in the movie Loretta is performing on the Grand Ole Opry and in Ernest Tubb's record shop, and the steel player is in clear view. He's playing an Emmons D-10, likely a 1970s model.

In both cases, a modern PSG was used. I wonder who played steel on these sessions and why they chose to play E9th pedal guitar?

David L. Donald · From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

Lack of period accuracy is endemic in film and video. I worked in video and film in NYC in the early '90's and we did prop rentals. Sometimes we just had to make the best guess.

There are people who's whole job is to get it correct, but they can't know all generes of physical objects. I have a friend who is an expert on period Greyhound buses!

I imagine PSG is low on their list. So who do you have to call for athoritative advice on what steel to use when? AND where to find it.
I suspect Jody Carver's Tel# ain't listed in prodution houses across the land!
Though It should be.

Larry Miller · From: Dothan AL,USA

Leslie, I'm thinkin' Speedy West had pedals when he recorded "Honky Tonk Girl"

chas smith R.I.P. · From: Encino, CA, USA

Speedy had 4 pedals on his Bigsby in February 1948. The steel player in the backround in coal Miner's Daughter was Hal Rugg. A few years back when they were shooting the Barbara Mandrel Story, there was concern that they wouldn't be able to get her quad-10 Wright so the prop company rented my quad-8 Wright as a close substitute. They did get her Q-10. The prop company was History for Hire and they specialize in having the correct stuff. Every now and then I'll get a call to play on something and if it's a period thing I always ask how accurate it needs to be.

Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

They told me to play more on my steel whenever there was a closeup of the banjo on the screen.

Mike Sweeney · From: Nashville,TN,USA

Chas,

Hal Rugg played on Loretta's records. But in the scenes of the movie that are in question, The Opry and the Midnight Jamboree the steel player on screen is Forum member Lynn Owsley. As they used E.T.'s current band at the time the movie was shot.
Also another Forum member is on screen alot and that is Bob Hempker.
I think it would be nice to have had Lynn playing an old Sho-Bud permanant just for the retro effect.
But most of the folks who went to see that movie couldn't care less about what kind of guitar somebody was playing, they just wanted to see Loretta's life story.

Mike Sweeney

chas smith R.I.P. · From: Encino, CA, USA

Oh that's interesting, Hal told a story about how he took his whole family to see the movie, because he was in it and as it turned out, the scene he was in had been cut so much that he was relegated to a quick blip in the back.

Jesse Harris · From: Ventura, California, USA

I could not imaging people who care less about PSG and coutry music history than the producers of Magnum, But I would think the the TJ Hooker guys would have gotten it spot on!...lol

scott murray · From: Asheville, NC

As I recall, someone is actually listed as playing Speedy West in the credits of Coal Miner's Daughter, presumably at that first session.

And the guy playing at the ET Record Shop appears to be an actor with no clue how to play steel.

I haven't seen it for awhile though.

[This message was edited by scott murray on 29 April 2003 at 05:53 PM.]

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

At the beginning of the 70's movie "NASHVILLE" there's a recording session in progress. Jeff Newman is playing Banjo. Lloyd Green on Steel.

Bill Cunningham · From: Atlanta, Ga. USA

On the other hand, don't you love it when the producers get it right?

A few years ago, I was watching a PBS special on growth and sprawl in LA. When they starting discussing post WWII growth up the San Fernando Valley, suddenly, Noel Boggs was playing Steelin' Home in the background! It made me wonder what percentage of the audience had a clue what the music was or cared for that matter.

BTW, Did Jeff Newman have a part in Coal Miner's Daughter or was that the movie Nashville with that famous country singer Henry Gibson?

------------------
"Gimme a steel guitar, 2 or 3 fiddles and a Texas rhythm section that can swing"..W. Nelson

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Henry Gibson was the actor playing a country star whose name I don't recall in the "NASHVILLE" scene I mentioned above.

Later in the movie we see a cameo of Doug Jerrinigan jammin with Vassar Clements.

Alvin Blaine · From: Picture Rocks, Arizona, USA

Billy Strange is listed as playing the part of Speedy West.

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

I can remember seeing a WWII movie ("Kelly's Heroes", I think), and they had lotsa nice PSG in the song "All For The Love Of Sunshine", which was being played on the tank's loudspeaker. I never knew them old Multi-Kords sounded so good!

But seriously, I doubt that any continuity specialist/film historian ever got everything right in any movie.

Bill Moore · From: Manchester, Michigan

I recall seeing Jeff Newman in that really bad movie about Hank Williams Jr. starring Richad, "John Boy", Thomas. I think Jeff played on the Opry stage behind him. I think it was called "The Living Proof".

Ken Williams · From: Arkansas

Donny, I notice that in Kelly's heros too. It struck me as odd because I don't think that they had pedal steel of that type in the early 40's. It sounds like Hank Jr. singing. He wasn't even around then. Another point was "how did they play it"? I don't think portable tape machines were available at that time. I may be wrong. But it's just a movie.

Ken

Bill Fall · From: Richmond, NH, USA

Bill, I think that Hank Jr. movie was shot in '83. I was one of the "extras" in front of the stage brought along by ol' Jeff, not to play but to act like a crazed groupie!

Red Kilby · From: Pueblo, CO, USA * R.I.P.

In the movie "LIVING PROOF" look for "Big Jim Vest" he is in the movie.

Also JayDee Maness emailed me one time and told me that it was him playing steel on "The Dukes of Hazzard", you know the car chase scenes and such.

Gino Iorfida · From: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

I see this all the time with the 'wrong guitar' being used... remember in Back to the Future where Michael J. Fox is in the early '50's playing a 60's Gibson 335?, or countless other movies that are SUPPOSED to be in the '50's with guys playing rosewood fretboard stratocasters (or worse yet, the late 60's/70's big headstock strats?)... lets not forget the cheezy chickflick grease, where ShaNaNa is there (wasn't that supposed to be in the late 50's?), with good old 70's silverface fender amps.... ACK!

Roy Ayres · From: Riverview, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

Interesting thread. Here’s one from “olden times.” In 1949 the band I was with, Pee Wee King’s Golden West Cowboys, made a western “shoot-em-up” movie named “Riding The Outlaw Trail” where Charles Starrett played the Durango Kid and Smiley Burnett was his sidekick. We were the band in the hotel bar where a big wedding party took place for the marriage of the handsome young sheriff. We cut the sound track in a recording studio where I played a Fender triple neck and Chuck Wiggins, guitarist, played his custom Stromberg. When we filmed the scenes of the band playing, the director said our instruments were too modern and not authentic. They gave Chuck an old inexpensive flat-top, round-sound-hole Hawaiian guitar with a square neck and a raised nut. Chuck almost destroyed his left hand trying to mimic the actual chords. They gave me a thing to play that looked like something from Mars. It was obviously an electric instrument, as it had no sound chamber. The neck was at least 5 inches wide, and (if I recall correctly) it had 32 strings. I suppose those substitute instruments were supposed to authentically represent the instruments of the old west.

David L. Donald · From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

Dave Ristrim · From: Whites Creek, TN

I remember this one time at Steel Guitar camp...

Lynn Owsley · From: Hendersonville, Tennessee

I was the guy that appears to have no clue as to steel at the ET Record shop scenes...
but they hired me for an actor on this scene Scott...one good memory of this is carrying equiptment out of the building AFM contract called for cartage for the steel player...14 dollars...and the director took 9 shots so I carried an empty case each time and just collected...we wanted to get that one right...and for the ones that knew him, Big Jim Webb is down front in the audience near Tommy Lee while Sissy sings in these scenes which were cut to maybe 2 minutes.
Larry Emmons, Big E's son is playing an upright bass in this scene, one they rented for effect, the steel was not deemed to too far out of date...but the movie makers were aware of more than we ever thought they would be

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