Buddy Emmons’ Influence

Casey Saulpaugh · From: Asheville, NC

Hope everyone’s doing well…

Here’s an article about Buddy, and how he can be influential to playing:
https://playpedalsteel.com/buddy-emmons-characteristics-how-they-can-improve-your-playing/

How has Buddy and his playing influenced you? What’s the most important thing you’ve learned from him as a player?
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Larry Dering · From: Missouri, USA

Buddy Emmons could play with taste not just speed. His ability to add the right tone and phrases made him one of the most popular musicians. He is 100% worthy of the praise we dish out. I can't play anything like Buddy but it's a goal for most serious steel players.

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

Bob Watson · From: Champaign, Illinois, U.S.

I noticed how Buddy would sit up straight with really good posture when he played and found that when I did the same thing I played better. I'm sure quite a few of the licks I use all of the time originated from Buddy Emmons too.

Dale Rottacker · From: Walla Walla Washington, USA

Fred Treece · From: California, USA

Casey, your article mentions Buddy’s multi-faceted nature. He was a true Renaissance Man with a wide variety of interests and talents. He actively sought knowledge and integrated it into his main pursuit in life, playing music and developing the instrument he had a hand in creating.

Jackie Gleason used to say, “The world is my oyster”. Obviously the people who knew him personally have the only real insight on it, but I think maybe that’s how Buddy also lived, and his music is a reflection of that.

As far as his musical influence on all of us, how about analyzing his influences first? I think it is worthwhile to note that he didn’t just dabble in jazz or country or funky rock music, he got inside the heads of the great players of the genre until he could nail it. Sometimes you can hear all those influences in one 15-second solo, and they never sound forced or out of place.

One thing you can’t do, at least in my case, is go back in time to when you were a hotshot 20-year-old and decide you love jazz music - while playing in a 3-chord band featuring one of the most popular country singers of all time! That’s what Buddy did, and it still boggles my mind.

Brett Day · From: Pickens, SC

One thing I noticed when I watched Buddy play is how he smiled when playing-he smiled because he loved playing the steel, and he wanted everybody to know he loved it. When he was playing steel behind Johnny Bush in '02 at the Midnite Jamboree, I noticed him smiling during every song they played! What I've learned from Buddy as a steel guitarist is to be the best steel guitarist you can be. I don't play as fast or with a lot of speed like Buddy, and I don't sound like Buddy, but I'm content with how I sound. Another thing I learned from him is that it's okay if you play a wrong note on steel-I've played a lot of wrong notes, but I smile and just go on playing after it happens. He also taught me as a steel guitarist, that when playing, you have to play from the heart and with feeling!

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Fred wrote:

"One thing you can’t do, at least in my case, is go back in time to when you were a hotshot 20-year-old and decide you love jazz music - while playing in a 3-chord band featuring one of the most popular country singers of all time! That’s what Buddy did, and it still boggles my mind."

Mine too, Fred. On the one hand, he must have been thrilled at the opportunity Dickens gave him at such a young age yet how did that simplistic music satisfy the aspirations of young Emmons?

Maybe he saw it as a means to an end? I doubt that, somehow. He must have been full of confidence arriving in Nashville with his chops already honed.

As for his influence, it's incalculable. I was lucky enough to play alongside him a few times and I was struck by the consummate authority with which he played everything and anything. Even if we just take into account his changes to the tuning and the pulls (still the accepted standard almost everywhere), then his mark is indelible.

As Dale said, his sheer good taste and innate musicality made him a giant amongst all musicians regardless of genre.

What have I learned from Buddy Emmons? Play with commitment and authority. I don't always pull that off but that's my objective. It set him apart from the rest.
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Herb Steiner · From: Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064

What Buddy told me was "play it like you mean it."

I don't know if he coined that phrase or not, but I interpret the statement means to play with conviction and confidence, every note sounding intentionally played. If "winging it," playing kinetically but not sure where you're heading, believe it will all turn out great at the end of your solo and go for it.

Just volunteering another observation from another of our masters, perhaps Off Topic but still worthy, IMHO...

Jimmy Day played ballads instrumentally as though he were phrasing the lyrics as a vocalist would. He wanted to be a singer, in fact. If the listener knew the song, he'd silently hear the lyrics when Jimmy rendered his interpretation. That, IMHO, is non-verbal communication; and communication with my listeners is what I'm trying to achieve, especially on the E9th tuning.
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Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

"What Buddy told me was "play it like you mean it." "

That, Herb, is a more succinct way of expressing what I was trying to say.

Every fill he played came across as a statement. I can't say the same for everything I play! Sad

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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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J D Sauser · From: Wellington, Florida

I got into steel growing up in Europe in the 80’s.
Rockabilly had a big resurgence in that time and bands formed. One to stand out was Brian Setzer’s Stray Cats.
I played a little rhythm guitar inna little Hillbilly/Rockabilly band and waa suggested to play steel. There was no Youtube, no internet, no books. NoBuddy to show me even only how to tune!

A friend walked in and tossed over two long plays. One was by Speedy West “Steel Guitar”’and the other by Jerry Byrd with a similar title. I lived by these records and they both became my heroes. Never had I imagined then that one day I would meet Speedy or get letters from Jerry Byrd.
It would be long until I’d learn about Buddy Emmons.
So BE was not an early influence to my, and even later after knowing of him, I never felt the call to try to play “I Destroyed The World (Again)” or “A Way To Survive”.

I discovered BE a good Decade later after having moved to the US. Yet, while I was taken by his many styles, smoothness, general musicality, and specially his mastery of the C6th neck, Speedy & JB still was who remained in the back of my head. They hab been my first influences after all.

Yet, I can now say that I have only fairly recently gained a major influence which stems from reading Buddy Emmons’ Biography. It is what influenced HIM… his early and deep digging into Jazz Blues and early Bebop!
Not so much “steel guitar this” or “steel guitar that”, for listening to John Coltrane, Charlie Parker etc. (in my case also BB King).
Also his practice routine in the dark which I took on immediately after reading that chapter of his Biography. It works.
The fact that he learned single note playing in the above genre without pedals early on in his quest to learn the instrument too, I believe shaped his playing and has become a major influence on how I am re-approaching the instrument, after almost 20 years of “doing other things”.

I don’t aim to play like BE, although I would fork over a handsom sum to be able to, but learning like he describes to have done has been a gratifying experience to me for which I will forever credit him and who made this book happen.

… JD
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Was it JFK who said: Ask Not What TAB Can Do For You - Rather Ask Yourself "What Would B.B. King Do?"

A Little Mental Health Warning:

Tablature KILLS SKILLS.
The uses of Tablature is addictive and has been linked to reduced musical fertility.
Those who produce Tablature did never use it.

I say it humorously, but I mean it.

Dave Campbell · From: Nova Scotia, Canada

i've been on a huge buddy kick for the last 6 months (since reading his biography). as much as he could play lots of anything, his economy and authority are my big takeaways lately. like a lot of great musicians, buddy had an impeccable rhythmic sense. i feel like this allowed him to make each fill a real statement on his e9 playing, with nothing wasted or superfluous.

i too often think of his posture. i really tried to keep it front of mind on a gig last night and it really helps in keeping the hands relaxed.

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

The feature of his playing that I particularly aspire to is his voicing - the ability to attack the strings with differing intensity, so that sometimes it sounds like two or three separate instruments. Routine on the piano, not so easy on the steel!
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Casey Saulpaugh · From: Asheville, NC

Emmons’ sense of “playing like he meant it” has definitely been an influence on me. Hearing some audio clips of him practicing without any amplification had an impact on my playing, and made me realize that the challenges of right hand blocking/technique doesn’t need to be a hindrance to playing notes with full dynamics and expression on steel.

Also, viewing and studying pictures & videos of his right hand (and how vertical and relaxed it is when picking) was also very helpful in developing right hand technique!
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https://playpedalsteel.com - An online resource for steel guitar. Download a FREE Pedal Steel Practice Book!

Dick Wood · From: Springtown Texas, USA

Buddy played a seminar very close to my house around 1982 here in D/FW so I went to see him. I had only ben playing steel a short time in local bands and what I heard and saw him do was pretty much impossible. I felt there was no way I could ever in 3 lifetimes play even 10 percent to his level and I almost pulled behind the club and threw my ZB custom in the dumpster. Luckily I kept on and got good enough to not get fired from any band I was hired to play with.

Buddy's touch,tone,taste,and phrasing is in my opinion without equal. His intro's, fills,rides and outro's are perfect for every song he's played on.

I miss him, his smile and his style deeply but am glad I lived in the same time he did.
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