Joaquin Murphy

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

I know I'm preaching to the converted with most of you guys, but I had to 'post' after receiving the 'Murph' CD from b0b yesterday.

No steel player has excited me as much since I first heard Buddy Emmons, and the tone he gets is, simply, the best I've ever heard!

This guy was incredibly musical, and there are times when his steel has the timbre of a great arch-top Gibson or D'Angelico, but with the added beauty that only the steel guitar can acheive.

If you're a PSG 'newbie' that, like me, came to the steel in the '70s, you owe it to yourself to expand your horizons and buy this from the Forum.

My thanks to Michael Johnstone, Chas Smith, and all the guys that made this project happen - great work from all concerned!

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Roger Rettig

[This message was edited by Roger Rettig on 10 October 2003 at 03:03 AM.]

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

oooops! Now I've just spotted the earlier thread on 'Murph'!

RR

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

That's OK Roger. I never get tired of reading about Joaquin. The style he used on the CD is nothing like the style he played in the old days. His single-string speed work was phenominal for that era.

C Dixon · From: Duluth, GA USA

Roger,

I agree totally. This is one fantastic CD. I just love his choice of chords and phrasings. And as you say his tone is wow! Somewhere I have the tuning he used on that CD. I am going to have to dig that old album out and mess around with it on my spare PSG.

Thanks for honoring this incredible player.

carl

Bill Hatcher · From: Atlanta Ga. USA

Anyone know where I can get some CD reissues of Murph's vintage work???

John McGann · From: Boston, Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

Carl, if you'd be so kind as to post Joaquin's copedant, we'd all be grateful. Thank you!

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

I gather that his old good stuff was recorded with Spade Cooley as the bandleader. Amazon.com lists 11 releases, I would also be interested in knowing which ones feature the best steel guitar.

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

I love this CD!

Click Here

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Bobby Lee
-b0b- quasar@b0b.com

System Administrator

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

Mr. Hatcher........Some of his greatest work, IMHO, was while with Cooley, who often featured him on songs from beginning to end;
then of course some really great things with Tex Williams and also Smokey Rogers group. One of his best, I believe, was on a Roy Rogers record of "The Kid with the Rip in his Pants".....RCA.
I put together a bunch of this stuff for one of our Forumites some time back but can't recall who. He might be able to make a dub of that item for you.

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

Ray:

It might have been me you sent it to -- I got it from somebody. If any of you guys want a copy (MP3) email me your email address and I'll try to attach it to an email. I also have "Call The Hounds" featuring Joaquin with the Plainsmen. You can reach me at royayres@earthlink.net

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

            1  2   3   4   5    6


1 G (.013)


2 E (.016)                      Eb


3 C (.020)                 C#


4 A (.024)             Bb


5 G (.028)         F#


6 E (.032)     Eb


7 C#(.038)  C


8 C#(.068)  C


9 B (.020)

This is his original setup that was changed to adding the, 2nd string, E ->F on pedal 2 and the, 1st string, G->G# on pedal 3. Mike may have also added the K of both C#'s ->D. Joaquin had lost the dexterity in his legs so Mike fitted the guitar with knee levers and moved the pedals so he could have two for each foot (he didn't use a volume pedal).

[This message was edited by chas smith on 09 October 2003 at 11:27 AM.]

Herb Steiner · From: Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064

If you go to my Cool Sounds webpage, you can hear Murph blowing on Call the Hounds with the Plainsmen, Roy Rogers' Kid With The Rip In His Pants, Jimmy Widener's Jimmie's Jump, Ozie Waters' Throw A Saddle on a Star and Spade's 1954 cut of Yearning, one of Murph's greatest solos, IMHO.

Kid with the Rip was written, incidentally, by Jack Owens, the Methodist minister that also wrote the Hawaiian classic The Hukilau Song..

The Ozie Waters cut is Speedy's favorite Murph solo.

I have others which I will put up from time to time. It's time consuming, but I think I'm gonna change the webpage to a Murph dedication page, with selected great cuts that are kind of obscure except for collectors.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

Herb Steiner · From: Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064

Well, I just listened to some of those cuts on my webpage and they sound like crap!! Played them on AOL Media Player, Quicktime, and Windows Media Player. Does anyone out there hear them okay?

The files sounded fine when I first put them up on the website. Sheeesh!

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

John McGann · From: Boston, Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

Considering the vintage and the fact that they are mp3's they sound fine to me- thanks so much, Herb, for making them available; it is wonderful to hear such a refined touch and taste!

Thanks to Chas for the copedant as well!

[This message was edited by John McGann on 09 October 2003 at 12:58 PM.]

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Roy

Now I'm keen to hear his early stuff.

While he may well have been more formidable when he was younger, the simple fact is that he swings.

That's a quality that remains, even when someone's chops have partially deserted them.

I'm much obliged for all the response and the information in this thread.

RR

C Dixon · From: Duluth, GA USA

John,

Charles has listed the copedent that I recall. I hope it helps. It is basically what we have on our C6 necks on the standard D-10 PSG's after closer looking at it more closely.

carl

Michael Johnstone · From: Sylmar,Ca. USA

A little more about Murph's guitar.The guitar was originally built to Joaquin's specs w/6 pedals and no knee levers. But as Winnie mentioned,Murphey had ANOTHER custom built guitar in the late 60s-early 70s made for him by a fellow out of Burbank named "Woody". It was a single 8 w/a 22" scale and 6 pedals,Sierra styled folding legs and had a copedant just like the setup in Chas' post except w/out the low octave C# string.BTW,he had been playing the same tuning w/out pedals on his Bigsby and other guitars since the late 40s. Murph played Woody's guitar for a number of years around L.A. as well as at Scotty's convention in 1976 and on the Scotty produced LP that he cut in Nashville on his way back from the convention.Incidently,that was the only time Murph played Scotty's event.
When Woody died,his children repossesed the guitar from Murph by force - even though Woody had plainly meant it to be a gift by all accounts.Heartbroken,out of work and broke,Murph started drinking heavily and washed cars for a living till 1995 when I met him and we started hanging out together.After that,I introduced him to Chas and at that point Chas and I decided to get him a good guitar and get him back on his feet and playing again.
And that's how Chas came to build the guitar that Joaquin played for the rest of his life. Murph had his own ideas about steel guitar design.He wanted 9 strings spaced 3/8" at the changer AND the nut - so the strings were totally parallel all the way down their length.He wanted 6 pedals just like the "Woody" guitar and he had specific ohms and windings specs for the pickup which I can't recall just now but I'm not sure Chas stuck with them anyway because he ended up having Dan Sheilds wind basically a replica Bigsby pickup in a 9 string configuration.And of course he had the now famous high B string as his 9th string - a sort of Maj7th chromatic string on the wrong end of the guitar.
After Murph played the new guitar for a while,he expressed to me that due to his advanced age,he was having difficulty getting around on the 6 pedals.He said he envied E9 players whose foot seemed to hover over the same 2 or 3 pedals. I told him he should try knee levers and at first he thought it would be too complicated for him but after much urging he decided to try it. So I took pedals 5 & 6 off and put them on LKR and RKL respectively.Then I moved pedals 3 & 4 to positions 5 & 6 leaving a gap of two pedal spaces in the middle of the pedal rack.At the same time,I added a 3rd lever(LKL which pulled the 3rd string up to D)which he came to use quite a bit.Not long after that,I asked him if he wanted to try pulling the 2nd string(E)up to F on the 2nd pedal to go with lowering string 6(E)to Eb so as to have what all of us have come to consider a standard C6 pedal.When he tried it he slapped his head and said "That's so obvious - why the hell didn't I think of that!" I wanted to add a 4th lever but neither of us could think of what else to add that he couldn't already get.Let me add that this man KNEW the C6 tuning backwards,forwards and sideways and could get so much going on without pedals that it staggered my imagination.Also - and I've said this before,his left hand bar manipulation and right hand picking finesse bordered on prestidigitation.He seemed to be drawing circles around the strings with the tip of the bar and twiddling his picks while smooth,deep bebop lines were pouring out of his hands.
Since he didn't use a volume pedal,he was able to play a pair of pedals with each foot without jumping around or having to look at his feet - and he came to love the concept of knee levers.I must add that like a lot of C6 players he did not use pedals much when soloing single string but exploited them heavily for chord work and often said that he wished he had had a guitar of this capability when was in his prime. -MJ-

[This message was edited by Michael Johnstone on 09 October 2003 at 03:01 PM.]

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

Herb Steiner:

Your post above jogged my memory: it was you who sent me "Kid" and "Hounds"

Thanks again for them.

Roy

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

Jody Carver · From: KNIGHT OF FENDER TWEED

To Herb,Chas,Roy,Mike Johnstone, this is only
my opinion and accept it in the manner intended.

Joaquin was a virtuoso and not just a great steel player,his original style of playing back then was just as good if not better than
most pedal players of today. I am not by any means diminishing the pedal guitar with all its advantages,but Joaquin did it like no one
else on his Bigsby guitar.

His phrasing and imagination was the best and
there is not a pedal guitar that could replace the orginal talent of Joaquin in my
book.

Who does obligattos today as he did? who plays with the sweetness and then tasteful hot swinging style which was typically Joaquin.

Again,,what Joaquin had, many today and tomorrow will not have.And all without pedals

My ears hear what others dont,personally I liked his playing best with the Cooley and Williams band. But I guess time marches on and pedals are necessary,but give me the Murphey of back when and he will never be equalled.

I hope you accept my opinion in a repectful manner and I am NOT by any means taking anything away from the great talent of Joaquin.

We all remember him as what he was before pedals and that was good enough for me.

There will NEVER be another quite like him.
I remember seeing him at the Santa Monica Ballroom years ago and just before he would take a chorus he would take a deep breath as he swept across those strings with taste and speed and feeling..never have I heard anything like it before and I doubt I will live to hear anyone do what JM did.

This is my opinion and I am entitled to it.

And thanks to Chas and Mike,they were friends of Joaquin's and did him proud till the day he passed and still they continue their love and crusade for the "Greatest Steel Player Of His Time and ALL TIME..

A Virtuoso who inspired many of todays fine players.

[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 09 October 2003 at 06:56 PM.]

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

I can't get those clips to play at all. are they from a CD which can be purchased somewhere?

Jussi Huhtakangas · From: Helsinki, Finland

Roger, try to find the twp cd's on Country Routes-label; Tex Williams On the Air and Spade Cooley & The Western Dance Gang/Radio Transcriptions. Those have Joaquin all over them, lengthy, hot solos on nearly every track. I think those are the best cd releases to showcase Murphey's virtuosity. If "Murph" is like listening to George Van Eps on a steel guitar, then this old stuff is like Django on a Bigsby steel.

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Thanks, Jussi - I'll do that.

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

Jody:

Thanks for the great write-up about Joaquin. The sentimentsa you expressed are exactly the same as mine. I had the distinct honor of being able to hang out with him for 4 months back in 1951. He was playing with Smokey Rogers at the Bostonia Ball room in San Diego 4 nights each week. I attended all of their afternoon rehersals at the club and never stopped being amazed with his playing. He would sit at a table in the club talking and sipping wine with me while the band worked up a new arangement, then when Smokey was satisfied with the other parts, Joaquin would walk up on the bandstand and blow them all away -- without rehearsing. To me, he was a true phenomenon.

Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

Like Django, Murph is simple in a league of his own. Even 50+ years later his playing is untouchable. Question for Chas & Mike: did Joaquin lay the bar flat and palm or pick block for his single note playing or did he tilt the bar like many of the Hawaiian steelers?

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