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Topic: Marty Robbins on Town Hall Party, with unknown steel |
John Ed Kelly
From:
Victoria, Australia
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Posted 26 Nov 2011 4:51 pm |
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I rediscovered Marty Robbins the other day. I was a pre-teen when most of his hits were made, so I didn't take too much notice of personnel.
MR's voice is most distinctive and has ''that'' ring of quality, you'd have to say - and also the Glaser brothers were a top back up group.
I particularly liked the SG backing. At first I thought it was pedal, but not so, the pedal on stage appeared to have no owner and in my view was not needed - at least for MR's performance.
I guess someone out there in steel guitar land and apprise me of his name? Many thanks in anticipation.
Here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mKJrM2ThBU |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 26 Nov 2011 6:12 pm About that steel player...................
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Just a wild, wild guess.......but
is it possible it's the same Fender pickin' steel player that Bobbe Seymour recently described in his newsletter....that had a coathanger attached to the second string with a single foot pedal, in order to get the BUD ISSACs 'change' as this guy so aptly did over and over in the last song on this clip?
Was it Jim Farmer or something like that? |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Spicewood TX 78669
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Posted 26 Nov 2011 6:19 pm
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James Farmer was Marty's steel player in the early days, but I've never seen a photo of him. This guy doesn't look like any of the LA guys I'd recognize.
_________________
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? |
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John Ed Kelly
From:
Victoria, Australia
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Posted 26 Nov 2011 6:27 pm
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Ray,
''.......that had a coathanger attached to the second string with a single foot pedal,..........''
This sounds incredibly interesting.
Can you elaborate on the probable setup? How did he attach the coat hanger and not muck up his tone and indeed, eliminate any potential rattling? |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 26 Nov 2011 6:32 pm I would elaborate if I could but..................
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I was never privy to seeing Farmers' FENDER steel guitar and have merely heard rumors down thro' the ages.
Bobbe Seymour, I'm reasonably confident, could enlighten us factually, if'n we could get him to step up to the plate. How 'bout it Bobbe?
How 'bout the rest of the story? |
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Rich Sullivan
From:
Nelson, NH 03457
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Posted 26 Nov 2011 6:43 pm
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It is James Farmer. Here is another clip with a nice break from Farmer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TId2u8DunF0
He was a good non-pedal player, but obviously used the AB pedal as well. |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 26 Nov 2011 7:07 pm
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| Wow, there's a Farmer's load of good steel playing by this seldom heard player on yt, thanx to gatorrock787. Thanx for the linx! |
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Matthew Dawson
From:
Portland Oregon, USA
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Posted 26 Nov 2011 11:53 pm
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| These clips are available on a Marty Robbins DVD from Bear Family. I checked it out from the library here in Portland and have been wondering about this player ever since. |
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Garry Vanderlinde
From:
CA
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Posted 27 Nov 2011 12:33 am
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James Farmer's guitar sold on ebay in 2008.
Nice guitar wt a Shot Jackson pedal.
I saved a few pictures:
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John Ed Kelly
From:
Victoria, Australia
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Posted 27 Nov 2011 1:46 am
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Nice setup Garry.
I notice the single pedal. Perhaps this is where you would attach Ray Montee's coat hanger? 
Seriously though, what is a Shot Jackson pedal? |
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Diane Diekman
From:
South Dakota, USA
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Posted 27 Nov 2011 6:04 am
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When Marty played the Town Hall Party in February 1959, his band consisted of Jack Pruett, Jim Farmer, Hillous Butrum, Louie Dunn, Bobby Sykes, and the Glaser Brothers. Joe Babcock is the third Glaser in the video, as Chuck was in the Army at the time.
_________________
Diane Diekman
Sioux Falls SD
Author of "Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story"
Author of "Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins" |
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Peter den Hartogh
From:
Cape Town, South Africa
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Posted 27 Nov 2011 7:01 am
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| Garry Vanderlinde wrote: |
James Farmer's guitar sold on ebay in 2008.
Nice guitar wt a Shot Jackson pedal. |
Here is another guitar with a similar Shot Jackson set up.
http://www.steelguitar.net/fender.html
. |
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Bruce Terrell
From:
Virginia, USA
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Posted 27 Nov 2011 10:43 am
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| John Ed Kelly wrote: |
Ray,
''.......that had a coathanger attached to the second string with a single foot pedal,..........''
This sounds incredibly interesting.
Can you elaborate on the probable setup? How did he attach the coat hanger and not muck up his tone and indeed, eliminate any potential rattling? |
My c. 1960 Supro Comet has a hole drilled beneath the second string. I talked to an old school bluegrass player who told me that back in the day, steel players would run a coat hanger or a fat guitar string down thru the headstock to a loop that they would put their foot in so that they could get that pedal bend.
I also bought, from George Gruhn, a '59 Gibson C-530 that has a couple of holes drilled in the 2nd neck headstock tuning plate and has a number of screw holes on the underside. The Gruhn folks said it most likely accomodated a knee lever, again, from the era before pedal steels were easily acquired. |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 27 Nov 2011 11:39 am For those who might care....................
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I believe, if one is not too lazy to do the research, it will be found in the earliest days of pedals, James Farmer did have a Fender guitar wherein HE DID drill a hole thro' the body and installed a coat hanger pedal-rod, in order to make the one string tone change to sound like Bud Issacs.
If I remember anywhere near accurately, it was a FENDER guitar on which Shot later installed a bonafied pedal to do the change.
Just some recollection going on here. YOU don't have to rely on it nor put any faith in my comments. This is for informational purposes only. |
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Garry Vanderlinde
From:
CA
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Posted 27 Nov 2011 1:43 pm
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| John Ed Kelly wrote: |
| Seriously though, what is a Shot Jackson pedal? |
This is from one of Bobbe Seymour’s “Bobbe’s Tips” newsletters and explains it better than I could:
"Shot Jackson pedal installations from '52 to '57.
Mr. Shot Jackson, before the Sho-Bud guitar was ever built and before the store on Broadway was ever thought of, was putting what they called the E to A pedal on E necks of Fender and Rickenbacker steel guitars. Shot actually made a lot of money installing pedals that pushed the strings up at the keyhead to get the famous Bud Isaacs style pull.
Bud Isaacs used this on Webb Pierce's smash hit "Slowly" in the early fifties. Bud did it on a Bigsby guitar, but there were many people around the world that wanted the pedal so they could duplicate this exciting new style. Many songs were being recorded in Nashville using this pedal. As a matter of fact, they started using this pedal in '53 and of course, it is still being used today on the E9th tuning.
Some very early songs that were recorded with this pedal were songs like Jimmy Dickens "Conscience" and "We Could" and several more by Webb Pierce like "In The Jailhouse Now" and "More and More", Faron Young's "Sweet Dreams" and "I Miss You Already" and hundreds of other tunes done by players such as Buddy Emmons, Walter Haynes, Joe Vincent, Howard White and Sonny Burnett." |
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Billy Tonnesen
From:
R.I.P., Buena Park, California
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Posted 27 Nov 2011 2:06 pm
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| Here in Southern Calif. we thought that Ralph Mooney, playing at the Band Box on So. Vermont Ave., was the original coat hanger Steel player. evidently not ! |
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John Ed Kelly
From:
Victoria, Australia
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Posted 27 Nov 2011 4:09 pm
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''When Marty played the Town Hall Party in February 1959, his band consisted of Jack Pruett, Jim Farmer, Hillous Butrum, Louie Dunn, Bobby Sykes, and the Glaser Brothers. Joe Babcock is the third Glaser in the video, as Chuck was in the Army at the time.''
Thanks Dianne,
Do you know where I can source a discography, including personnel, for his other recordings? There's a lot of nice steel on other recordings and it would be interesting to know who these musos are.
thanks.
.......and thanks to those folks for explaining the ''coat hanger''. |
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John Ed Kelly
From:
Victoria, Australia
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Posted 27 Nov 2011 4:16 pm
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Dianne,
I saw your author credentials when I first looked at this thread (I knew someone had written some books), but they seem not to come up when in the process of previewing or writing a reply - hence my second post here - I had to go back to the beginning of the post to check!
So I guess your Marty Robbins book would be a source. Would it be available in Australia, otherwise can I find the info on line possibly? |
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Stephen Baker
From:
Lancashire, UK
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Posted 27 Nov 2011 4:49 pm
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| Quote: |
| Do you know where I can source a discography, including personnel, for his other recordings? |
If you check out any of Marty’s fine CD releases on Bear Family records they always include extensive liner notes and full personnel details where known. Just a quick look at “ Rockin’ Rollin’ Robbins “ (BCD 15566AH) reveals Joe M Vincent played steel on “It’s a long long ride” on the 19th of September 1953 & “Pain and misery” on May 23rd 1954. From May 24th 1954 through to May 13th 1958 (as far as this album goes) it’s James E Farmer all the way.
Steve |
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Diane Diekman
From:
South Dakota, USA
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Posted 27 Nov 2011 5:22 pm
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I agree that the Bear Family box sets provide the best discography. I used those in my research for Marty's biography; I didn't prepare a discography.
The book should be available worldwide (in English, at least) in February.
_________________
Diane Diekman
Sioux Falls SD
Author of "Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story"
Author of "Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins" |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 27 Nov 2011 6:03 pm
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| The Fender Stringmaster that I restored for Basil Henriques had a hole drilled where a makeshift pedal had once been attached. I filled in the hole when I refinished it. |
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Jeff Strouse
From:
Jacksonville, Florida, USA
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Posted 3 Dec 2011 5:34 am
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Definitely James Farmer. He played on Marty's Hawaiian LP "Song of the Islands."
Cool clips! |
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Rick Collins
From:
Claremont , CA USA
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Posted 3 Dec 2011 9:10 am
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Watching the old b&w clip, that looks to be an akward position of the steel guitarist standing to reach the pedal with his left foot.
Standing or sitting, I like to center myself at about the fifteenth fret. |
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Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Posted 3 Dec 2011 9:33 am
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Jeff, I've always thought that Jerry Byrd did the steel work on Marty's "Song of the Islands" LP....JH in Va.
_________________
Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!! |
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Jeff Strouse
From:
Jacksonville, Florida, USA
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Posted 3 Dec 2011 2:16 pm
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Marty did two Hawaiian LPs. Song of the Islands came first in 1958, and Jerry played for Marty on the second LP, "Hawaii's Calling Me." I think it was relased around 1963.
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