History of Pedal Steel Guitar book.

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

We now have a new e-mail address for you to send information, stories, pictures, testimonials and anything you feel may be important to the people in generations to come about the history of the pedal steel guitar. This will be the true story of the beginning of steel up to this time.
We are looking for facts on the subjects of: players, promoters, manufacturers, designers and anyone or anything that has had an impact on the history of this great instrument.

We are starting to lose some of the original great pioneers that have made this very young, exciting and beautiful musical instrument what it is today. I feel it should be documented while the facts are at hand, this means NOW!
This instrument seems to have a great future and is obviously still growing faster than any other instrument at this time. The tonal qualities, and beauty of sound will insure it's future until the end of time.
What we need to do is document these first days while we can for the generations coming in the next hundreds of years.
Pedal steel guitar, let's not have great players standing around in fifty years saying, "now where did this thing come from"? "I think a guy named Jerry Garcia invented it"! , "Yea, A guy named Freddy Fender made the first one in 2001." or, "Maybe it was Leo Gipson?" .
HELP me guys, lets get this thing down correctly, it's already starting to be lost and some folks are trying to change history to suit themselves.
E-mail anything you feel may contribute to this project to this special e-mail address.

history@steelguitar.net

Anyone living in this day and time could have very important information for this project, not only the obvious ones like Buddy, Hal, Weldon, Scotty, Tom, Stoney, Bill, Sonny, Bud, Bruce, Ron Jr., Gene, John ETC, This is for ALL of us. Every part of the world, let us know what your part of the globe has contributed. Be part of history yourself. Steel guitar is immortal, so is it's beginning, but only if we get this project done.

Yes,: history@steelguitar.net

bobbe seymour

[This message was edited by BobbeSeymour on 25 July 2004 at 02:59 PM.]

[This message was edited by BobbeSeymour on 26 July 2004 at 01:28 PM.]

Ryan Giese · From: Spokane, Washington, USA

Sounds like a pretty good idea to me.

RON PRESTON · From: Dodson, Louisiana, USA

HOME RUN, with the bases LOADED

OUTTA the PARK, Dr. Bobbe

Danny James · From: Summerfield Florida USA

Hi Bobby,
You may already have seen a book by Lorene Ruymar Titled "The Hawaiian Steel Guitar", Published by Centerstream Publishing P.O. Box 17878-Annaheim Hills, Ca. 92807 It has a lot of Steel History in it. It has a couple of articles about Alvino Rey and the Gibson Electra Harp & also Jay Harlin and his Multi-Kord. There was a lot of controversy as to who the inventor of the pedal steel actually was, even threats of lawsuites.
Danny James

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

I feel it may come out that "Pedal Steel Guitar" was invented by several different folks at different parts of the world at near the same time without anyone knowing that they were "re-inventing the wheel".
Anyone that has ever picked up a regular guitar has dreamed of playing it with a slide and mechanically changing the tension on the strings to save wear and tear on the fingers. No telling how many "inventors" this instrument really has over the past hundred years. Of course some did a better job than others. The Harlin brothers, the Fender engineers, and Paul Bigsby, along with the Jackson sons, not to ignore Bud Carter, all did a good job of perfecting the mechanism and helping to make it what it is today, but, remember there were crude pedal steel guitars around long before these sophisticated developments. Who invented this instrument? Many folks did.
bobbe

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

Danny, no , I have not seen this book you speak of, but this is not what I wish to get into in my history book. All I want to document is pedal steel guitar only. This really seriously only starts bigtime about 1950. This is when western swing bands started looking into reshaping their music with this new instrument.(might this be called the Bud Isaacs era?) This is the era that I will concentrate on, 1950 to present. Pedal steel guitar, although being around in the first part of the century, didn't really start happening until the Harlin brothers and Paul Bigsby made their contributions. The Gibson and Rickenbacher guitar companies made efforts, but, not guitars that were professionally accepable by the great players. Paul Bigsby set that standard in 1949.
But thank you Danny.
bobbe

Charles Curtis · Posted 26 Jul 2004 4:10 pm

I sure hope that all the guys that were there way back will contact Bobbe and contribute to this anthology. Ever think about the family questions that one regrets not asking grandparents etc. and when you want it they're gone. This could be a major source of information as to the major contributors of the psg that we all love. Who developed etc. The difficulties encountered along the way developing the psg.

Paul Warnik · From: Illinois,USA

Quote-Seymour"Paul Bigsby set that standard in 1949"

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

Charles and Paul, both your posts are greatly appreciated and I agree.
Charles, you have hit a nerve with your comment and Paul, I think you could add a lot since you are involved in the present Bigsby history.
bobbe

Rick Collins · From: Claremont , CA USA

Bobbe,

History of steel guitar is a great idea. It's a task that should be done; for the reasons that many have stated.

I'd like to see it done as a coffee table book. And, I think it should be produced as both a case bound book (hard cover) and perfect bound (soft cover).

If it could be done for about $40 per copy for the perfect bound and about $60 for the case bound, I believe the sales would cover the production cost, allow a profit, and might even allow a small contribution to the SGHOF.

If it is produced too cheaply it won't sell. Pre-production sales could help finance some of the initial expenses. Advanced case bound sales (before production), could help pay costs of the perfect bound version.

All steel players out there have $60 in their wallet; all you must do is pry it out.

I'd buy a couple of copies of this book in a nanosecond. The key is making it appealing enough. It has to be "special". This would be an easier sale; than if it is done as just more printed matter.

Rick Collins
Claremont, CA

David Doggett · Posted 27 Jul 2004 7:49 am

I hope it has lots of pictures of guitars and players.

C Dixon · From: Duluth, GA USA

Bobby,

I could not agree more. It is true the PSG existed long before Bud Isaacs had Paul Bigsby put two pedals on his guitar. However, there is litle semblance to the way the earlier PSG's were played and what Bud did.

So to me, the real beginning was "Slowly" and what Bud did on this recording. For those of you who were not there, nothing could begin to tell you what it was like hearing "that moving tone", for the first time. We were all (with few exceptions) playing lap steels.

But what BI did "Slowly", it was soooooooo incredibly awesome, we simply were blown away. Thus, a unique era began that has not stopped since. The E9th neck as spelled today, did NOT exist. Rather it evolved. As did sooooo much.

So again I agree, the exact evolution NEEDS to be documented. NOT hearsay. Not supposed. Not tales. But the facts of what happened and when it happened, by whom.

For if it is not done soon, as Bobby says, it may be next to impossible for future generations to ever really know the facts.

Several examples: was the first recording using the F lever done by Lloyd or was it done by Ralph Mooney. Did Buddy Emmons split Bud Isaacs pedal into A and B and then tell it to JD where Jimmy split it into B and A? Or, was it the other way around?

I too am proud Bobby has taken on this awesome task. May Jesus nurture Bobby's awesome talents into bringing a true history of the PSG as we now know it.

carl

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

Rick, yes, the plan is to make it a coffee table book. It will be expensively done,$60 seems to be the overall target price. And there are no plans to make money with this book,(in my lifetime) this is not the reason for it's inception. Just my (and others) contribution to the instrument we love.
Carl, you seem to have the gist of the idea and seem to see what we are doing and why.
If any more time slips by, this history will become more clouded and less accurate to the future generations. It needs to be done now.
Dave Doggett, most definitely there will be many pictures, what better way to preserve history than to have it documented by great pictures. Thank you for this comment David, remember the old addage, "A picture is worth a thousand words"? Pictures could save me a lot of spelling errors! Ha!
Bobbe

[This message was edited by BobbeSeymour on 27 July 2004 at 09:13 AM.]

[This message was edited by BobbeSeymour on 27 July 2004 at 09:14 AM.]

Gere Mullican · From: LaVergne, Tennessee, USA (deceased)

Bobbe, i will give you a disertation on how I got my first pedal installed on my Gibson 7 string in Charleston SC in 1954. Cost this poor old sailor boy $35 and I was only making 60 bucks a month. That shows how bad I want one of them "things".
Gere

Sam White R.I.P. · From: Coventry, RI 02816

Bobbe get a hold of The guy that runs Warwick Music in West Warwick Rhode Island and he will tell you about this Guy who is still living in R.I. that put the first pedals on a Steel Guitar. His name is Buck Franchetti. I just can't remember his first name.This has been known to the R.i. Steel players for years.This is true as evryone talks about it all the time.I will try to find out more on it and let you know.
Sam White

[This message was edited by Samuel E. White on 12 August 2004 at 03:42 PM.]

Peter · Posted 31 Jul 2004 12:20 am

It would be nice if this book included a reference CD, allowing you to hear the songs mentioned in the book. After all, a Pedal Steel is musical instrument, intended to be heard.

And my first contribution is a free spellchecker for Bobbe.

[This message was edited by Peter on 31 July 2004 at 01:32 AM.]

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

Whut due yew meen Peter?

bhobie

Peter · Posted 3 Aug 2004 1:47 pm

Hey, I emailed you one last week!
Use it!

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

It blew up, think I over taxed it!

Ray Minich · From: Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra

Gibson Strings, tuning pegs swiped from old guitar, oak board body, frets made from brass strips, roller nut made from 1/4 cross section of stainless valve stem w/acme threaded shaft, pickup from another old guitar w/RCA jack connection, bridge made from electrical terminal block. Necessity is the mother of invention.

[This message was edited by Ray Minich on 05 August 2004 at 02:03 PM.]

Farris Currie · From: Ona, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

wow,looking back to 1965,taking lessons from
maurice yagel, cost 3.00 a week.lots of money
using home made guitars,from pine boards,6
strings of course.Yes those were the good old
days.pick strum strumm tuned in A. Then we
went to multichords.wow, what a jump.
Good luck BOBBE love you farris

Lonnie Portwood · From: Jacksonville, fl. USA

Great Idea, Bobbe, and you've hit the nail already by recognizing that "many" people have contributed to the evolution of psg. Any discussion of the history of PSG must include input from the pioneers who are still with us whom you've mentioned, the folks who "came of age" or grew up with PSG, and that includes you, my brother! In 1962 at the tender age of 21, I got hold of the address of The Shobud Guitar Co, in Madison, Tenn. I owned a multi-cord, which was a crude early pedal steel. I put it in my trunk and drove from Wash., D.C. and searched up and down the street, only to find some guys working in a garage behind Shot's house. Cousin Jody walked out and introduced himself and gave me a tour. I was so intimidated, I did'nt even mention my guitar, which I had thoughts of trading, and left. In 1991, I started attending Scotty's convention in St. Louis, and conducted interviews with Billy Robinson, Harold Flynn, Ed Fulawka, and Charlie Stepp (Derby) I can contribute copies of these which contain historical information directly related to the PSG. Billy was the designer of the Sho-Bud logo as well as the "christmas tree amp", among other things. I remember Harold Flynn, who had high praise for Shot's creative ability, later built his "Flynn" because he thought he could "build a better railroad". Harold mentioned that Shot "tuned" some of his amps to a point of resonance, and that he used that principle in his "Flynn" guitar cabinets. He did'nt tell me the secret but I surmised that it involved taking or adding material to obtain a degree of resonance. Fred Layman wrote some article dealing with "cabinet drop" and mentioned the Flynn and others as measuring among the lowest in "drop" at the time. Fred is another person quite knowledgeable. One of the most interesting interviews was with Ed Fulawka of Ontario. Ed began tinkering with steel guitars in the late 40's / early 50"s and has a picture of a double neck built in 5o / 51. He designed his own system and when seeing a Shobud in early 50's, he was shocked to learn that the two were almost identical!!He re-designed his to avoid any infringement immediately! This fact of history amazes me, that these two men working two nations apart came up with the same idea!!!So, who knows if any one individual can ever be credited with being the first with PSG. There could be others out there who will never be discovered. Finally, I'm reminded on my first trip to St. Louis, I met an elderly man, not to well dressed, who showed me an old crumpled blueprint of a mechanism(pulling system) which he had designed many years ago. He seemed upset that all the PSG's at the show were "children of his design, and seemed to feel cheated out of any recognition. I never saw him again and regret not paying more attention! Bobbe, if you can glean these and other stories which I'm sure are out there, you will have done a great service to us all and to the historical significance of this great instrument. Your friend, Lonnie P.

John Borchard · From: Athens, OH 45701

What a great idea, Bobbe! You're right -- this information needs to be collected while there are first generation players still alive.

I would also suggest including a CD. This might be difficult (copyrights, royalties, etc.), but how many younger players have actually heard Bud Isaacs' "Slowly" or any number of tunes by the other heavy-weight pioneers? Just a thought. Good luck and please reserve a copy for me!

John Borchard

Brett Day · From: Pickens, SC

Bobbe, I think it is a great idea to have a book about the history of the pedal steel guitar. I love learning about the history of the steel guitar and how it became an important part of country music. Brett, Emmons S-10, Morrell lapsteel

Henry Nagle · From: Santa Rosa, California

That sounds like a great book. And cd. May I suggest, if there is a cd that entire songs are included, as opposed to just intros and solos.

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