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Topic: Vance Terry |
Rick Batey
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Posted 10 Oct 2006 8:33 am |
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I'm presently bobbing my head to a couple of Billy Jack Wills CDs, 'Crazy Man Crazy' and 'Billy Jack Wills And His Western Swing Band', a much-appreciated gift from forumite Steve Miller (Steve, I tried to email to say 'thanks!' but the messages just kept bouncing back...)
I love the way this band mixed it all up. Most of the time I just don't know whether it's western swing, country boogie, jump blues or jazz. All useless pigeonholes aside, though, it's a whole world away from the work of elder brother Bob Wills - I believe the material is all from around 1952-1954, and you can really hear BJW and the boys moving towards a hotter 1950s approach. It's one of those great 'musical crossroads' moments.
It's also a treat to hear Vance Terry's fine-sounding steel playing... I read somewhere he used both a Fender and a Bigsby, but it mostly sounds like a Bigsby to me. I understand Vance is sadly no longer with us, but if anyone has any stories of him to share, it would be great to hear them.
[This message was edited by Rick Batey on 10 October 2006 at 04:27 PM.] |
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Gene Jones
From:
Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)
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Posted 10 Oct 2006 8:56 am
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Rick, you are correct. By the late 1940's/early 1950's, Billy Jack had left Bob's band in Oklahoma and had his own band in California. Bob, and the other brothers, Luke and Johnnie Lee, were still with the Playboys and touring in the central USA. Billy Jack, as the youngest of the clan, was trying different approaches to the music of his brothers.
I am still trying to remember the name of the young steel player who replaced Herb Remington for awhile after Herb left. He soon left Bob's band to join Billy Jacks band in California to "gain more professional experience"....as Bob said when he left!
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www.genejones.com
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Darryl Hattenhauer
From:
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
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Patrick Newbery
From:
San Francisco, California, USA
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Posted 10 Oct 2006 11:07 am
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You really ought to listen to Jimmy Rivers and The Cherokees "Brisbane Bop" recording to fully appreciate what Vance Terry could do. truly incredible playing.
Link on Amazon.com [This message was edited by Brad Bechtel on 10 October 2006 at 01:06 PM.] |
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Bob Stone
From:
Gainesville, FL, USA
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Posted 10 Oct 2006 11:16 am
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| I'll second that recommendation for Brisbane Bop. Hot stuff!! |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 10 Oct 2006 2:59 pm
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| Absolutely get Brisbane Bop. Vance deserves to be much better known for his fabulous steel playing and his contribution to American music. His life is also unfortunately, like Chet Baker's, a cautionary tale about the dark side of the American musical dream. |
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Rick Batey
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Posted 11 Oct 2006 11:23 am
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Thanks, all. I believe I'll grab a copy of 'Brisbane Bop', and sharpish.
I found the story of Vance's last years by doing a search on 'Our Extended Family'. Jody Carver told me recently that he could think of few late steel players of the era who managed to escape a brush with alcohol, or worse, or who had gone to the grave with much money to their name. Somehow Vance's case seems particularly sad, maybe because he showed such obvious virtuosity at such a young age.
On a lighter note, for anyone who's interested, I just received a couple of pictures of Vance's wonderful 1951 T-8 Bigsby, posted here with the owner's kind permission.
Interestingly, though Vance apparently once told the forum that he never used any pedals before 1955, Paul Bigsby's hand-pencilled note on the underside – 'pedals installed 5-25-54' – shows that his memory might have been a little off...
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chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
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Posted 11 Oct 2006 12:21 pm
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just 'cause he had them installed doesn't mean he used them....but he did on his million pedal sierra with the brad's rack!
i met vance a few years before he died and i really liked him. very humble and shy. quite a character. what a loss for us. |
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David Wright
From:
Pilot Point ,Tx USA.
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 5:47 am
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I knew Vance most of my life, his father in law delivered my sister in Corning ca, in 1960... he was truly a monster played...and a great guy,,, he was on top of the world and the bottom... but hes in peace now...
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 M.S.A.
M.S.A. Millennium
S-12 9 & 6
Bb is where it's at!
Peavey-2000-PX-300
David's Web Page
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Billy Wilson
From:
El Cerrito, California, USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 10:15 am
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| Vance would sometimes say to other musicians. Man, if I played that instrument, I'd wanna play just like you!! Total sweetheart. |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 12:25 pm
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With the help of one or both of the guy's above here, I had the luck of getting in touch with Vance at his motel rm. and had a good talk on the phone which had him saying that "Bob Wills killed that band" refferring to the hot Billy Jack Wills group, as well as him being up for a few lessons on 'standard' steel.
This wasn't meant to be, as Vance was soon gone, but I've always wanted to thank the person/s responsible for getting me the contact info back then to relise part of a dream, and with the SGF it all comes together, THANX GENTLEMEN![This message was edited by Ron Whitfield on 12 October 2006 at 01:29 PM.] |
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Colin Brooks
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 1:11 pm
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I got the Billy Jack Wills and Jimmy Rivers material when it came out on vynil. Do the CD issues have any extra tracks?
No doubt that when Bob Wills moved in on brother Billy's band he derailed the hottest Western Swing band going at the time. |
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David Wright
From:
Pilot Point ,Tx USA.
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 2:00 pm
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Heres a 1963 that My Dad built for Vance...what a Monster!!!!!!
thanks to Nathan for the pic..
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 3:35 pm
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Whoa...Mr. Wright built that one to last!
Very Sherman tank-like...
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Mark
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Dr. Richard Buffington
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 4:00 pm
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| Hey Rick, My wife and I was at the dance the night Bob Wills hired away Vance Terry and Tiny Moore from Billy Jack's band. They were playing at the Westfir community hall in Westfir,OR. The band had Vance on his double neck Bigsby with two pedals, Tiny Moore on Mandolin and fiddle, Billy Jack on bass, Cotton Roberts on fiddle and Kenny Lawry on guitar. Bob was outside and Made the deal in the bus. I worked with Cotton and Roy Roberts at a later date in Albany OR. and they confirmed the story. Man could that band play swing like Woodchoppers Ball Ect. Sorry but i don't remember the drummer's name. Dick. |
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Billy Wilson
From:
El Cerrito, California, USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 5:21 pm
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| The drummer was probably Tommy Perkins |
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Darryl Hattenhauer
From:
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 6:23 pm
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I have a cassette made about 1980 of Tiny at a music school in which he mentions being discovered by Bob. At 3:00 am in some all-night one-lightbulb cafe in Sweatstains, Oklahoma, Tiny happened to see Bob's band bus, so he went in, played, and Bob signed him on the spot.
I'd make a copy of the tape for anybody who wants it. It's a mando instruction tape.
I didn't know that Tiny went back to Bob's after leaving Billy Jack's.
In the 50's, I took lessons from Tiny, but on banjo. If it had strings, he could play it. And a nicer, happier guy there never was. I think the term "pickin' and grinnin'" was invented to describe him.
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"Time flies like an arrow. Fruitflies like a banana." -- Groucho
[This message was edited by Darryl Hattenhauer on 12 October 2006 at 07:27 PM.] |
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Chris Cummings
From:
England
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Posted 14 Oct 2006 7:48 am
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Hi Rick
Just to say I think the Sacramento recordings between 52-54 can't be beat. These recordings were never intended for commercial release they were for radio broadcast only. This may be the reason that these particular recordings are so amazing - no real pressure on the band.
Commercial recordings sometimes lack the fire and passion of live performances. you know the feeling - easy guitar licks at home become increasingly more difficult to perform in relation to the significance of the gig /recording ! The Billy Jack commercial recordings are good but can't beat the Sacremento material.Also agree on the Brisbane recordings superb stuff !!! |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 14 Oct 2006 8:06 am
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Amazon has all three of the recordings mentioned for sale on their site. I have them on order.  |
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Mylos Sonka
From:
Larkspur CA USA
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Posted 18 Oct 2006 10:34 am
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Vance was a close friend of mine. He taught Billy Wilson and me how to voice the 4-part guitar/steel harmony he and Tiny Moore played. We spent many hours woodshedding that stuff and now that I am playing steel I am showing the guitar player how to voice the parts I used to play with Vance and Billy.
I agree that the Billy Jack band was the hottest thing going in western swing in the early fifties.
If someone can email me about how to post pictures, I can post some pictures Vance's first wife gave me. They lived together in a bungalow at Wills Point, next door to Betty and Bob Wills. Until Vance and I visited her I thought there was only one photo of Vance playing with Bob-- the one in the Townsend book-- but she came up with a couple others.
I think additional pedals on the Bigsby were added after Vance left the Wills band in January of 1955. I was surprised to see a third and fourth pedal installed because the photos I am familiar with show two pedals. I have a "living room" tape of Vance playing the Bigsby in the late fifties, in a style halfway between his 50s Billy Jack and 60s Rivers-Brisbane approaches to the steel. I can't tell if the additional pedals were installed by then or not.
When he laid his bar on the strings, the stage levitated off the ground-- it's the only way I know how to describe how it felt to play with him.
Mylos[This message was edited by Mylos Sonka on 19 October 2006 at 09:36 AM.] |
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Lee Jeffriess
From:
Vallejo California
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Posted 19 Oct 2006 7:09 pm
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Mylos, I beleive that the guitar ended up with two more pedals by the end of the 50s and they were Wright custom.
When Paul Warnick owned the guitar he replaced them with deadstock Bigsby parts.
There is something very special about that guitar, its the best sounding Bigsby I have ever heard.
Someone help Mylos get those pics up, its well worth it.
Lee |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 20 Oct 2006 9:27 am
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 20 Oct 2006 9:47 am
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These pix just made my day @ 7:45am.
Gotta love that nearly everybody on stage is wathing him, and the shot with good ol' Mom is particularly priceless.
Awesome contributions, Chas and Mylos![This message was edited by Ron Whitfield on 20 October 2006 at 10:48 AM.] |
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Rick Batey
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Posted 20 Oct 2006 9:57 am
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| Fabulous pictures and great stories. Thanks so much! |
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Darryl Hattenhauer
From:
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
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Posted 20 Oct 2006 6:34 pm
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Chas,
Holy cow! May I ask when and where those pics were taken? I was under the impression that Vance didn't play after he was about 40. How long did he keep playing?
A thousand thanls for these pics.
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"I drink to make other people more interesting." -- Jack Nicholson |
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