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Topic: The Everlys on DVD..... |
Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 23 Jan 2006 5:04 am |
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What a nice surprise I got in yesterday's mail! A friend in the UK sent me this compilation DVD of old Everly Brothers TV appearances, but there was a real bonus buried in the middle of it all....
I love Don & Phil, but most of the clips were very poor video transfers of them 'miming to the record' on various TV shows, so I was ready to turn it off half-way through. Suddenly, there they were, complete with their Gibson Everly guitars, singing 'Mama Tried' - live - with none other than Clarence White playing his B-bender Telecaster!!!! Great stuff, and it may be the only film of the boys with Clarence ('though he did play on a number of their tracks).
How great it was to hear that bender-style Tele playing in its earliest form by its first exponent.
Guitar-wise, the whole DVD is a gem! That may be CW's first B-bender Tele (this had to be around 1968), and the Everlys are shown with their sunburst J200s, their all-black ones, their light grey w. black pickguard ones, as well as their black with cream p/guards (Don gave his to Albert Lee years later), while the later clips (post 1962) feature the Gibson 'Everly' guitars. For those of you not quite as obsessed with this subject as I am, these were an adaptation of the old Gibson J185, with a black finish and 'tortoise-style' double guards; they're extremely 'collectable' (whatever that means), but are disappointing instruments.
Anyway - 'Mama Tried' is amazing.....
RR[This message was edited by Roger Rettig on 23 January 2006 at 05:08 AM.] |
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Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
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Posted 23 Jan 2006 5:40 am
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| I love the Everyly Brothers. Early exposure to great melody and harmony is a big plus. |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 23 Jan 2006 6:17 am
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Everlys are cool.
Roger I have repaired instruments for a long time. I always attributed the dull sound of the Gibson Everly guitar to those two huge plastic slab pick guards glued to the top!! That had to have affected the sound a lot. |
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Bill Mayville
From:
Las Vegas Nevada * R.I.P.
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Posted 23 Jan 2006 10:44 am
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Their is a fellow on the forum. Future Steeler who was employed by the Everlys as a
bass player.Name is Earl Hensley.Fine guy.Seems to have Pictures, Cd's and dvd's.And loves to share.
E mail is (HENSLEYEL@earthlink.net)
Sorta plays the steel. Rocks on the Bass.
Bill |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 23 Jan 2006 6:49 pm
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I'm sure you're right about the p/guards hurting the sound of those Everly Gibsons, Bill. Another reason could be that, unlike the J185 from which they were developed, the Everly had the strings anchored through the bridge only (like a classical guitar) and not through the bridge AND top, as is usual for a steel string acoustic. Consequently, there's no 'break angle' at the saddle.
A strange decision, in my view.
I remember a conversation at Mandolin Bros (NYC's premier guitar dealers) after a customer had called the store.
Stan Jay: 'What was he after?'
Salesman: 'A Gibson Everly Bros.'
Stan Jay: 'Why?'
Salesman: 'He didn't say - maybe he wanted to practise without annoying the neighbors...'
There's no doubt that they were very cool, though! I traded my '63 J200 for a new 'Everly' in London in 1964, but let it go soon after. I wish I'd kept BOTH guitars now.....
I need someone to be as excited as I was to see Clarence White playing with Don & Phil on this DVD - anyone?
RR |
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Terry Edwards
From:
Florida... livin' on spongecake...
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Posted 24 Jan 2006 9:43 am
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Seeing CW is way cool. I had a tele modified back in the 70's by Gene Parson. I never got a chance to see Clarence play - even on video.
Clarence was a pioneer of bluegrass flatpicking and tele string bending. His influence in everywhere in bluegrass today.
Terry |
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Kevin Hatton
From:
Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 24 Jan 2006 10:16 am
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| I saw him pay with The Byrds. I'd like to see a clip of him with The Everly's. Historic. |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 6:54 am
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Kevin,
This DVD is called 'The Everly Brothers - Partners In Music'. My friend in Britain got it from a budget-priced bin somewhere, although I don't know if it's surfaced here in the US. If you should see it, grab it - the Clarence track is worth the money on its own!
Strange as it may seem, the first version I ever heard of 'Mama Tried' was Don & Phil's on their superb 'Roots' album in '68; it wasn't until later that became aware of Merle! Blame it on my UK upbringing....
While Clarence White recorded with the Everlys a number of times, he wasn't on this particular album, and it's a delight to hear his classic Telecaster styling on the song, which also fits the Everlys like a glove!!!
Check it out if you can - especially all you 'Tele' afficionados.
RR |
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Per Berner
From:
Skovde, Sweden
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 7:48 am
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It's available from Jersey-based DVD vendor play.com for only 5.99 GBP, including international shipping. Needless to say, I just ordered one.
------------------
´75 Emmons p/p D10 8+4, '96 Emmons Legrande II D10 8+5, ca '72 AWH Custom D10 8+3, Peavey Nashville 1000
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Jason Odd
From:
Stawell, Victoria, Australia
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Posted 29 Jan 2006 6:42 am
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Roger, any sign of their Playboy After Dark performance, Clarence couldn't make that gig, so Bob Warford (bender No#2) filled.
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Jason Odd
From:
Stawell, Victoria, Australia
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Posted 29 Jan 2006 6:45 am
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p.s. Roger
very, very excited about more Clarence footage, I've interviewed a few of the country-rock era Everly sidemen and remain a massive CW fan. |
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Per Berner
From:
Skovde, Sweden
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 3 Feb 2006 10:13 am
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So I gather that you didn't even enjoy the clip of the Everlys with Clarence White?
I thought I'd made it clear about the general quality of this offering, but maybe I failed (no - I've just re-read my original post, and I think it's plain enough..). My point was that 'Mama Tried' was worth the price of the DVD; I'm sorry you disagree.
RR |
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Jason Odd
From:
Stawell, Victoria, Australia
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Posted 4 Feb 2006 11:50 pm
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Mama Tried will be enough for me, guess time will tell as it's available locally here.
I think there's a bunch of Everly's outtake material from '69 from the same session where CW cut 'Cuckoo Bird' their '69 single, I don't know if he's on it, or indeed whether this material appeared in the Everly's box set.
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 5 Feb 2006 2:24 pm
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Hi, Jason - thanks for the e-mail. I'll write soon...
Regarding that new Everlys box-set: it's 1960-1965, so won't include the CW stuff. There is to be a second set in due course!
RR |
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Per Berner
From:
Skovde, Sweden
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 6 Feb 2006 3:57 am
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Per
The same company has done DVDs on Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent and Lonnie Donegan, and my UK pal sent me these, too.
The Cochran one is just as poor as the Everlys disc, and the Gene Vincent is much worse (!!!). The Lonnie Donegan DVD is a straight transfer from a 1990 compilation VHS tape named after his 1960 TV series, 'Putting On The Donegan' (issued by the TV Company that owns the originals). I KNOW that this one has been challenged by the owners, so I wouldn't be surprised if all these discs were 'pirate' releases.
I have to remind myself that TV wasn't as sharp back then as we've come to expect today, and a careless transfer only makes things worse, but I'm still delighted to see performances that are (apparently) unavailable elsewhere. The Eddie Cochran DVD has a number of live TV performances with Eddie playing his Gretsch (pretty well, too!); I saw Cochran live at Finsbury Park in North London in 1960, so that's a nostalgia trip for me!
In summary, I find I'm able to accept these DVDs for what they are and revel in their historical content. Their visual/audio quality simply highlights just how far TV technology has come since those days.
It also helps that I didn't have to pay for them... 
RR |
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Per Berner
From:
Skovde, Sweden
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Posted 6 Feb 2006 4:57 am
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...just remembered I have two more from the same source: A Dolly Parton compilation that is absolutely brilliant (compared to the other ones, not in relation to anything else) and an Asleep at the Wheel show from the eighties with the lovely Chris O'Connell on vocals. This one is color – way too much and all the wrong ones, but still, color! But the performance is actually OK, so it's bearable. I just turn off the plasma screen and listen to it.
BTW, that piracy thing sounds quite plausible... |
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Jason Odd
From:
Stawell, Victoria, Australia
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Posted 7 Feb 2006 1:21 am
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I'm too hardcore a collector to let a little thing like washed out pics and old tenth generation video transfers deter me.
Actually I did get it new, for eight bucks.
The footage is for the most part way washed out, did you notice the Everly Brothers in their regimental unfiforms and cropped haircuts from '62 or so.
The two numbers circa 1969 are 'Mama Tried' and 'Kentucky Sunshine' and are live performances from the same show.
It's not Clarence White, but the other great stringbender player Bob Warford doing all those great guitar parts.
It's a white B-bender Telecaster, no#2 stringbender in fact, Clarence's electric prior to Bob and if I'm not mistaken utilised on the Byrds Sweetheart of the Rodeo by CW in it's pre-bender form.
This is probably the Ed Sullivan appearence, so alongside Phil, Don and Bob, there's drummer Gene Parsons of the Byrds, while on bass, I think it's either Terry Slater or Bobby Knigge.
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 7 Feb 2006 3:09 am
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Oooops! Now I feel silly - I'd only previously seen pictures of CW with a beard, so assumed this was him before he wore one.
The style of playing was what led me to assert that this was Clarence. B-benders do sometimes lead us down a particular path, musically, but it was more than that; Mr Warford has a very similar touch to Clarence, so I didn't question his identity.
I offer my humble apologies for misleading anyone - it was, obviously, unintentional, and it's a lesson to me to not jump to conclusions!!!
Many thanks for the correction, Jason - as always, you're a mine of information! This subject is very dear to me (I'll NEVER forget first hearing 'I'm On My Way Home Again' on the radio - WOW!), and I'm dismayed that I didn't know of Bob Warford before now.
'Embarrassed in Naples'.....
PS: It's still a great clip, though [This message was edited by Roger Rettig on 07 February 2006 at 03:12 AM.] |
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Jason Odd
From:
Stawell, Victoria, Australia
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Posted 8 Feb 2006 12:51 pm
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I'm going to send a copy to Bob to try and confirm a date.
It's probably not Gene Parsons on drums, Bob tells me that Tiny the Everly's drummer also had similar facial hair as Gene.
It's definately Bob Knigge on bass, if you look him up you'll see that he makes a living as a magician these days.
How good is that guitar work though, Bob and Clarence are just so far beyond all the other guys at that point, don't get me wrong, Phil Baugh, Albert Lee and James Burton were both killer players and cutting some awesome stuff at the time, but Clarence and Bob.. wow.
There's not a lot of recordings available featuring Mr. Warford, he's on Red's '73 solo album, uncredited on a Everly's album, Ian Mathew's '73 album, Michael Nesmith's '73 album and if you see pics he was a dual lead with James Burton as part of Emmylou Harris' Hot Band on their first major tour in '75.
Fantastic stuff all 'round, basically a chance to discuss two bender greats on one forum.
cheers
Jason |
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This is the worst piece of cr@p I've ever, ever seen! Looks and sounds like 10th generation videocopies shot with a camcorder off a TV-screen... Asking money for this sort of garbage should be illegal. 