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Topic: Early Don Gibson-Steeler |
Egil Skjelnes
From:
Meland,Frekhaug
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Posted 8 May 2007 3:41 am |
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Hi
Got an old LP today-Songs by Don Gibson-Lion label,a division of MGM.This must be Don`s first LP-before RCA and all the hits he had,mainly without steel.
On this LP however,is alot of steel,sounds like only with an A & B pedal ,very early and a touch of Hawaiian in places.Remainds me of the old Starday records with early Jimmy Day,Walter Haynes,or can it be Bud Isaacs?? Anyone know who played steel on this old record?
Best from Egil. |
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Steve Hinson
From:
Hendersonville Tn USA
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Posted 8 May 2007 5:14 am
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Egil,that would be Summy(Eagle-Eye)Hendricks,according to Richard Bennett...he gave me a tape of that stuff about ten years ago and told me it was Eagle-Eye...this was confirmed by Stoney Stonecipher,who actually knew Mr.Hendricks...great playing,ain't it?
_________________
http://www.myspace.com/stevehinsonnashville |
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Egil Skjelnes
From:
Meland,Frekhaug
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Posted 8 May 2007 5:33 am
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Hi Steve.
Thanks for the reply.I was having him in my mind too,he recorded an instrumental that appears on a much later Camden LP,OHH-just came to think about it,he even recorded with Don Gibson on the earliest RCA records,when they still made both 45`s and 78`s,so it might well be him.Yes,the playing are nice,probably from around mid 50`s judging by the sound,and style,but no year was listed on the cover.
Thanks,Egil. |
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Mitch Drumm
From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
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Posted 8 May 2007 8:58 am
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Egil:
The following is taken from the booklet with the first Don Gibson Bear Family box set. I can't vouch for any of it:
Summie L. Hendrick is on the first 8 RCA sides, recorded Oct 50 and Oct 51 in Charlotte, NC. All but Dark Future are on Camden LP 852.
Columbia, 12 sides, July 52 through Feb 54, Castle Studios, Nashville: all personnel unknown.
MGM, 12 sides, Sept 55 through July 56, RCA studios, Nashville: all personnel unknown.
Don then resigned with RCA. The first 4 sides cut in Nashville in Feb 57 had Hendrick: I Love You Still, Everything Turns Out For The Best, I Can't Leave, and Sittin' Here Cryin'.
Steel then disappeared until a Jan 1960 session with Jimmy Day: Lonely Street, On The Banks Of The Old Ponchartrain, Why Don't You Love Me, If I Can Stay Away, and Never Love Again.
No more steel until May 1965 with Lloyd Green on 12 sides. |
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Egil Skjelnes
From:
Meland,Frekhaug
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Posted 8 May 2007 9:37 am
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Hi Mitch
Nice to hear from you.Been a long time since I bought any records from you.If you got anything interesting,let me know.I assume you read the other answers,and saw that Hendricks said it was him also on the MGM/Lion record.I guess you are right that he started with RCA,then took a round with other labels,and then back to RCA.I have the 45/78 with his "Wiggle Waggle" instrumental.Also the Camden LP that I guess was a sample of these first sessions.
If nobody else know for sure,I guess Hendricks was Don`s steel player at that time,and played with him on both these earliest RCA AND MGM sides.
Thanks alot.
Egil. |
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Gordon Sharp
From:
Kingston, Tennessee
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Posted 9 May 2007 11:41 am Don Gibson early steeler
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| No A nd B pedals for that guy did it all with left hand behind the bar pulling strings. Gordon Sharp Kingston Tenn. |
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Stoney Stonecipher
From:
Knoxville, TN (deceased)
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Posted 9 May 2007 6:45 pm
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| Eagle-Eye was a very close friend of mine and could have been one of the great steel players of our time if he had stayed with it. He started having bad health, diabetes and other things, so he put his steel in the closet for many, many years. In the meantime the diabetes took his left leg so myself and a lot of his fans here in Knoxville bought him a guitar that had the equivalent of A and B pedals on knee levers. As he got used to that he played on the Smoky Mountain Steel Guitar Jamboree five years or more and also Scotty had him on the ISGC Show. Shortly after that he had a massive stroke and never recovered. Of all the good things he did on Don's records that particularly struck me as great was his playing on Sweet Dreams. I'm not sure who played steel on Faron Young's version of Sweet Dreams, but it was almost note for note like Eagle-Eye did it for Don. As far as his pedals were concerned, he had a dual-8 Fender which Shot Jackson added the one foot pedal that changed the 5th and 6th string. Eagle-Eye did some great things with that 1-pedal on his guitar. He was good enough that he didn't need anymore. |
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Herby Wallace
From:
Sevierville, TN, R.I.P.
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Posted 9 May 2007 8:53 pm Eagle Eye
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I just need to add a few things here. I had heard of Eagle Eye when I was a kid just learning to play, but never got to hear him play until one of Stoney's shows in the eighties. As Stoney said, he quit playing for many years and then got back into it. He actually became one of my favorite players and I got to know him fairly well. He even came to a session I was doing in Kingsport, TN one time just to hang out. Anyhow, he was a master at Western Swing. He played some of the best single string I have heard which was real similar to the Joaquin Murphy style. As Stoney said, he would have probably become one of the top players of all time if he has stayed with it all those years.
Herby Wallace |
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Ben Rubright
From:
Punta Gorda, Florida, USA
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Posted 10 May 2007 4:50 am
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| Sweet Dreams by Faron.......The Big "E". |
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Gordon Sharp
From:
Kingston, Tennessee
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Posted 10 May 2007 7:20 am Don Gibson early steel player
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| Sorry Stoney forgot about the knee levers. Gordon Sharp Kingston Tenn. |
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Egil Skjelnes
From:
Meland,Frekhaug
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Posted 10 May 2007 9:34 am
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Hello
What a great forum this is!Thanks alot for the input guys,I hear that he is a great player,but all the other details are very interesting,so I learn something every day,and it all makes records like this even better and more interesting!
Thanks again.See you again in St.Louis sometime!
Egil. |
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