Bro.Herb Steiner

Andy Jones · From: Mississippi

I finally got to meet my new friend and mentor,Brother Herb Steiner,at the Dallas show.He answered a lot of questions and helped this ole'dirt road country boy from Mississippi more than he realized.I bought more of his fine instructional material and he even signed my cap!His set at the show was really great!He was definitely confident and in control of that Emmons.I felt like I had known him all of my life.After all,we've both traveled to the East.
Andy !! !

Stu Schulman · From: Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)

The first time that I got to see Herb Play was at the 2nd Willie Nelson Picnic in about 1973 Herb was playing a glowing red Sho-Bud D-10 with Michael Murphy and they were playing "Cosmic Cowboy"And I stood there with my mouth open blown away with the sound of Herb's beautiful Steel guitar shooting across the Texas Sky...Ya' just don't forget a picture like that!
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Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952.

Rodney Garrison · From: Montague County , Texas (deceased)

Herb has ALWAYS been the GO TO GUY for any of us. His efforts to the TSGA and our TSGA SHOW each year are so appreciated. I was fortunate to work with Herb in the early 70's. I regret I did not pick his brain about THE STEEL MONSTER. We all owe a lot to Herb. I believe he will always be the GO TO GUY for a long ,long time.
Rodney N. Garrison
Bowie, Texas
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" Even if you're on the right track , you'll get run over if you just sit there. "

---Will Rogers---

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

I guess everybody knows Herb grew up in L.A. and he and I were friends in high school. We lost touch around'64 or 65, and were reunited in 1979 when I took up the steel.

Much has been written about Herb's incredible musicianship and his encyclopedic knowledge of the steel guitar and it's history and players, so I'm going to talk a little bit about him as a man.

When we were kids, we hung out at a folk music club called the Ash Grove. We were not the only kids to hang out there, and a clique formed that consisted of Herb, me, and a few other guys, including a cousin of one of our other forumites. We formed a bluegrass band. Herb played mandolin and I played bass.

Herb was the clown of the group. He frequently has us in stiches. I remember on one occasion when I was driving (I was 16 and had a license, Herb, being a year younger did not) when Herb yelled something out the window to some pedestrians that good taste prevents me from repeating, (we were after all teenagers) but I nearly cracked up the car from laughing so hard. Quite a contrast from the serious and studious man he is today.

You of course all know that I put out the Chalker DVD, at considerable expense and have not yet recovered all of my investment, (although it looks like I will do so I the near future.) Herb took a box of DVDs to Dallas to sell at his booth, and volunteered to give me ALL the money from the sales to help me recoup my expenses. (I told him to keep some for his trouble.) Now there’s 45 years of friendship behind that gesture, but even so, it’s not one that most people would have made. That’s the kind of man he is.

I feel privileged to have known him for as long as I have, and honored to call him my friend.
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Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin

Joe Goldmark · From: San Francisco, CA 94131

He signed your cap? Big mistake. Now it's only good for bass fishing! It was great seeing and hanging out with Herb. Every time I come to Texas (mostly Austin) we seem to run into each other whether we try or not. I'd always try to see Johnny Bush if he was in town, and Herb was usually on steel. Or he'd be playing with Cornell Hurd, and that was always an experience.

Herb should run for Mayor, although there's probably too many skeletons in the closet, even for Texas.

Joe

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

Andy, it was great meeting you in Dallas and sharing a few moments conversation with a brother. Peace and harmony prevailed throughout the event, don't you agree?

But look who your post shook out of the woods! Just when I thought it was safe to forget the 1970's, I have to start reminiscing again... Wink

Where to begin? Let's see... Stu Schulman I first met, that I recall, at the Austin Opry House around 1973. He was playing with Wild Bill and the Buffalo Yankees, a band that had come down from NY in the first wave of musical immigrants hitting Austin in the great "progressive country scare" of the early 70's. I was an early part of that wave, arriving in Austin in June of 72. Also that period saw the arrival of steelers Danny Hawk, and the great Josh Dubin of Buckdancer's Choice.

"Shooting across the Texas sky..." Well, I don't recall that, but it could have happened. I mean, it was a Willie Nelson picnic. And with Paul English and Jack Fletcher there, any kind of shooting across the sky could have happened and I would have hit the deck at the first sound of gunfire. Wink

Rodney Garrison was considered definitely one of the best bassists around the Texas music scene in 1973 when we worked and toured together with the great B.W. Stevenson. As a matter of fact, the first gigs we did together was just me on steel, RG on bass, and BW on acoustic guitar! (Rod... what was the name of that club in Boulder where we did the first gig?) We did put together a good band and recorded the "My Maria" album with BW, but the group unfortunately only lasted less than a year.

Joe Goldmark, OTOH, I don't recall where I met him, but we knew of each other and he was my landtsmann immediately. Smile

The great steel playing on his recordings has always been immaculate, tasty non-traditional song choices, and album concepts consistently out of the box. And as a historian of steel recordings, he's the man. He knows more about vinyl than the chief chemist at DuPont! And Joe has generously turned me on to some of the best music I've ever heard. And I copped his arrangement of "Harlem Nocturne." So I'm definitely deep in his pocket.

Joe did lovingly bust my chops one night at a SXSW gig for playing a C6 solo on "Truck Driving Man" during a Cornell Hurd set. I believe Joe felt that the Jay McDonald E9 solo on Buck Owens recording of the tune would have been the more appropriate choice. Wink

"Interesting position," I thought, "for a man who so consistently pushes the envelope with his musical outpourings. Hmmm. Something to consider."

Mike Perlowin... I'll just let Mike discuss the embarassing episodes of adolescent days gone bye. Suffice to say, we could each destroy the other's reputations we spent our adult lives creating. Wink

So I'll talk about the music Mike makes. While others push the envelope and think outside the box, Mike is creating new envelopes and has never been INSIDE the box. He's one of the players of this instrument who meticulously creates music not just for other steel players, but for listeners who've never heard the instrument or else have preconceived notions about PSG that Mike is determined to shatter. Another of this type is the awesome Susan Alcorn, a player I wasn't aware of until MP told me about "this great player in Houston doing incredible things and playing 'real jazz.'"

What is great to me is that after all these decades, I stil have the privilege of calling these guys my pals and enjoying their company at these steel shows. Makes my day.
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My rig: Infinity and Telonics.

Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg?

HowardR · From: N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville

Good to see you Herb, as brief as it was and thanks to you Mike.....I've heard a lot on the forum about Curly and picked up the DVD at Herb's in Dallas.....I watched it on the flight home...

I'm sure I cannot say anything more or different about this master musician on steel, than what everyone else has said for years here.....but I appreciate your great effort in producing this. Thank you...

As I was watching, I wondered if Curly Chaulker & Joaquin Murphy ever crossed paths?

Joe Goldmark · From: San Francisco, CA 94131

Herb, I had forgotten the TDM episode, however, it sounds like something I would have said! Speaking of Truck Driving Man, I think the two defining versions are Buck Owens, and it actually has Tom Brumley on it, and a killer Commander Cody version where Bobby Black plays a hellacious solo. I got to record a version myself with the Twangbangers. The last time I was in Austin, for last years SXSW, I sat in with Heybale (Redd Volkaert & Gary Claxton, etc.) at Ginnys. Redd played TDM so fast, that I felt like I had gloves on. There was no way I could keep up.

I didn't realize that you were with B.W. Stevenson. I first met Stu when he came through town with B.W. I guess that was after your stint.

Joe

Stu Schulman · From: Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)

Joe,Herb was supposed to join the B.W. band again after his stint with Murphy,but they told me that he was going to stay with Murphy.They approached me one night while I was playing at the Texas Opry House Annex to the join the band .I told them to find me during the day when they hadn't been drinking....And they did!I was so glad that Herb passed on the gig,It was my start.They played a great song "Lucky Touch" that Herb recorded with them and I learned his solo Note Per Note.Good times,These days I just stare at the crowd and wonder what the hell happened,someone give me a remote.Herb as for shooting across the Texas sky what I meant was..melting across the sky in sparkling rainbows that would turn into big elephant shaped clouds that would morph into 7 million shrouds of shiny glass beads and then explode into waterfalls of lightning!
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Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952.

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

Stu... you rock, dude. Smile

And I totally love the album you sent me. More later.

John Macy · From: Rockport TX/Denver CO

Hey Stu,

Thanks for clarifying that--once you got to the shiny bead thing, I knew exactly what you were talking about... Smile

I have played my fair share of Herb Steiner licks, following him in the the Michael Murphey band in '76 (the Colorado version). Because I was in the Colorado version, it was many years later before I actually met Herb. When I was weighing becoming one of Jerry's kids, my first call was to Herb cause I knew he had a Fessy, and I could count on him for a straight answer, at least in between the humour:).

Ditto to all the above. Always look forward to seeing him, 'cause he always makes me smile, in person or from his forum posts (though Fred Amendola is a fair rival in the joke department Smile

).

Glad to see the shout out for him here...

PS--Thanks for mentioning Josh Dubin, Herb. I played a bit with him on the East Coast before he headed to Texas and I went to Colorado--fine, fine player and another great guy--wish he would hang around here some...

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

It’s true that most of the Herb and my teen adventures are best forgotten about, but there is one thing about our lives back then that is worth mentioning. That is the music we experienced at the folk music club I mentioned earlier, the Ash Grove. Here is a link to their site,

http://www.ashgrovemusic.com/

I can’t speak for Herb in this, but I’m sure he feels the same as I do. This place was not just my home away from home, it was my school away from school. Among the artists Herb and I both saw were folksingers like rambling Jack Elliot, Arlo Guthrie, and Buffy St Marie, older country artists like Clarence Ashley (who brought along his guitar player, a young and then unknown blind picker named Doc Watson,) Mother Maybelle Carter, Merle Travis, and the New Lost City Ramblers, bluegrassers Flatt and Scruggs and Bill Monroe, and bluesmen Lighning Hopkins, Skip James, Son House, Bukka White, Fred McDowell and Reverend Gary Davis.

I remember once when Herb and I were visiting Bill Monroe backstage, and Monroe gave Herb a Mandolin lesson. I copped guitar lessons from Bukka White and Fred McDowell, and an autoharp lesson from Mother Maybelle. I also took lessons from the guitar school the club ran. My teacher was a kid only a few years older than myself named Clarence White.

At a time when the words “folk music” meant groups like Peter Paul and Mary and the Kingston trio to most people, this club sought out and presented authentic folk musicians, and exposed us city kids to Americas’s musical heritage in a way that we could not have been exposed to any other way. It was the best education possible, and I know that in my case, and I believe in Herb’s too, the experience laid down a rock solid foundation on which we were able to build our musical houses.

Even at the time I knew I was privileged to be part of something very rare and special. In retrospect, I’m amazed that such a place could even have existed, and grateful that I was able to see and learn from all the wonderful artists who played there.

Herb, Would you like to add your comments?
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Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin

Stu Schulman · From: Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)

Herb,My CD is mastered now and as soon as it comes back I will send some out,You too John,and Mike...and Joe ya' can't get just one kid something without giving the others ice cream!I was gonna bring Josh Dubin to Mesa but he punked out at the last second...all he had to do was get there I had everything else covered.Anyway Josh's son Jake will turn 11? on April 3rd.I think he lurks every now ,and then.I am working on a steel CD now,I'm in lockdown.Stu
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Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952.

Bobby Caldwell · From: St. Louis, Missouri, USA * R.I.P.

Herb is not only a great musician and knowledgeable historian about steel guitars and music in general but he is the best friend a guy could have. I know because I call him my friend. Loveya pal, Bobby HEY LOOK I did this with one finger. I am getting better.

Bobbe Seymour · From: Hendersonville TN USA, R.I.P.

Not only all that good stuff Mr. Caldwell, but my secretary says he's cute and cuddly!(my ex-wife even liked him and she didn't like anybody! Ha!)

Herb is a great thinker and wonderful politition, (stated in the most complimentary way) and I feel anyone can count on him with any steel guitar problem or question.
Yes, his historical knowledge is respected by all, as is his playing, attitude and his great up-beat humor.
I'm just proud to say I know him, Herbie id da' man!

Bobbe the
Bobbster

Jon Jaffe · From: Austin, Texas

I moved to Austin in ’86, where I found Herb working in a music store in South Austin. After telling me there were no gigs, he was kind enough to put me to work with Danny Barnes. I also remember a gig or 2 with his ex-housemate/partner. That was fun too! Thanks for all of you help over the years.

Bob Ritter · From: pacfic, wa

Well that does it for me. I never met Herb But I have a couple of his instruction materials. I can remember him online back in the days or the america online steel guitar forum he was a joy back then as was Mike P. I nominate both you guys to sghof.
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Let's go catch a steelhead

Billy Carr · From: Seminary, Mississippi, USA (deceased)

Hey Andy, looks like you've officially joined the PSG community! Ha! Lots of good folks being mentioned here and I really like your cap in the pic! See ya!

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