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Author
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Topic: Steel player on Hank Williams Live at the Opry?
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Travis Bernhardt
Member From: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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posted 08 January 2004 12:32 PM
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I just got this CD. It's a two CD package, one CD being songs taken from a variety of AFRS shows, the other being a complete AFRS show. There are no musicians' credits, though, so I was wondering if anybody knew who the steel player would be. The selection of songs ranges from 1949 through '52, so there may be different steel players, I'm not sure. I like the CD a lot. Hank has a great stage presence and the songs sound great. -Travis |
Jeff Strouse
Member From: Jacksonville, Florida, USA
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posted 08 January 2004 12:48 PM
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I haven't heard the AFRS shows, but if you have a typical greatest hits album of Hank Williams, Sn, you'll hear the steel work of Don Helms (songs like Your Cheatin' Heart and I Can't Help It if I'm Still in Love With You). The earlier years featured Jerry Byrd...songs like Move It On Over, Mansion On the Hill, and I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry. After listening to those cuts a few times, you'll be able to hear the two different styles in the steel playing, and at least know if it's either one of them playing on your live ARFS shows CD. I'm sure other steel players probably played with Hank, but DH and JB are the only ones I'm familiar with.[This message was edited by Jeff Strouse on 08 January 2004 at 12:51 PM.]
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Ray Montee
Member From: Portland, OR, USA
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posted 08 January 2004 01:00 PM
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Bob Foster and a number of others DID play on records/shows with H.Williams Sr., back in those days, but what they played, in no way came close to the distinctive styles of D.Helms and JERRY BYRD. There is NO ONE whose styling resembled JB, with the exception of Billy Robinson, when he replaced Jerry on Red Foley's Grand Ole Opry
appearances. His rich BIGSBY tone was quite noticeably different. Good, with lots of Jerry's signature licks thrown in here and there, but a fine style and tone all his very own. Can you imagine the fun that Billy must've had getting to play with Grady Martin and Hank Garland and CHet Atkins??? |
Tim Whitlock
Member From: Arvada, CO, USA
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posted 08 January 2004 01:57 PM
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I have the 2-CD Hank Live at the Opy set. It really has a nice live spark that the studio stuff doesn't have. I was wondering who the steel players were, also. To my ears it did not sound like Don Helms and I don't think Jerry Byrd did any sideman work at the Opry, did he? It sounds kind of workman like and I believe it must have been one of the Opry regular steel men. Anybody know who that might be for '49 - '53?------------------
Tim Whitlock
'58 Fender 1000, '56 Fender Stringmaster, '65 Twin Reissue, Niomi lap steel, old Magnatone tube amp. |
Ron Whitfield
Member From: Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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posted 08 January 2004 03:46 PM
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Tim, if your 'sideman' question was to whether Jerry was ever in the GOO backing band, he was. In fact he had(at least) 2 seperate stints as such, 1st in the late 40s, and again in the mid 50s. Exact dates elude me at the moment, but Ray(or someone else as knowledgeable) can fill in the blanx. His playing on these shows has to be heard to be believed, simply the work of a genius, who got to that status thru dedication and hard work. And to think, that he only played country because "that's were the money was", yet did it better than anyone I've heard. As a side note, his pay for those earliest shows was $16 per.[This message was edited by Ron Whitfield on 08 January 2004 at 03:49 PM.] |
Ray Montee
Member From: Portland, OR, USA
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posted 08 January 2004 06:59 PM
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Tim......please give me the complete title and or CDnumber for the set your talking about and if I have access to it, I'll let you know IF and/or what cuts JB is on. The CD my wife has, he's on a number of them. YES, Jerry Byrd did play the GOO for a number of years and you can purchase tapes of those old shows from a guy down in Texas.
Some of the finest playing you'll EVER HEAR.
Trust me on that one. |
Tim Whitlock
Member From: Arvada, CO, USA
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posted 09 January 2004 07:09 AM
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Thanks Ray and Ron. Sorry Travis, didn't mean to hijack your thread. Here's a link to the Hank at the Opry set. Is this the same one you were asking about?
http://music.mainseek.com/10956R253P178K2_Hank-Williams-Live-At-The-Grand-Ole-Opry-Live-Albums-Traditional-Country.html Ray, do you have any info on how I could obtain the Jerry Bryd stuff? Thanks - Tim |
Ray Montee
Member From: Portland, OR, USA
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posted 09 January 2004 09:15 AM
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MY MEMORY did completely fail me. Jerry Byrd is not on that Hank Williams CD, as others have stated herein.
------------------
 Ray Montee-email: pi007flyer@msn.com [This message was edited by Ray Montee on 10 January 2004 at 01:06 PM.]
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C Dixon
Member From: Duluth, GA USA
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posted 09 January 2004 01:51 PM
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It seems to me that DH told me either his first recording with HW was on "moanin the blues" or it was the NEXT recording HW made after this classic.Not sure. I have all the recordings Hank made with both players but they are packed away under tons of stuff now; or I would go dig them out and take a listen. carl |
Travis Bernhardt
Member From: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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posted 09 January 2004 04:32 PM
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Hey, no worries, Tim, you're asking the same question I am. Here's the track listing from the CD with show numbers and dates:1. Lovesick Blues 6/18/49 Show #80
2. Wedding Bells 6/18/49 Show #80
3. You're Gonna Change (or I'm Gonna Leave) 11/12/49 Show #103
4. Why Don't You Love Me 8/12/50 Show #139
6. They'll Never Take Her From Me 8/12/50 Show #139
7. Moanin' The Blues 1/06/51 Show #158
8. Nobody's Lonesome For Me 1/06/51 Show #158
9. Dear John 5/05/51 Show #175
10. Cold, Cold Heart 1/06/51 Show #197
11. Hey Good Lookin' 1/06/51 Show #197
12. Honky Tonk Blues 3/22/52 Show #221
13. Let The Spirit Descend 3/22/52 Show #221
14. Baby We're Really In Love 4/05/52 Show #223
16. The Old Country Church 4/05/52 Show #223
17. I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You) 4/05/52 Show #223
18. Jambalaya (On The Bayou) 7/05/52 Show #236
19. Half As Much 7/05/52 Show #236 Then two from a non-AFRS show: 20. Window Shopping 7/05/52
21. Long Gone Lonesome Blues 7/05/52 Then a couple of songs from show #116 on 2/18/50. I'm afraid that although I think I can usually hear the difference between different steel players, I doubt I could tell who's who more than 60% of the time or so. JB is pretty distinctive, but it's still hard. -Travis P.S. The only thing I don't like about the CD is it doesn't have "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," which I'd LOVE to hear live. Also, the "comedy" by a blackface act called "Jamup & Honey" hasn't aged terribly well, you could say (although it's not as racist as I had feared it might be when I first saw the track listing...). |
Ray Montee
Member From: Portland, OR, USA
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posted 09 January 2004 09:18 PM
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Travis & Tim........I just got flamed really bad in another section while merely trying to help so, I'll send you emails with what I find during the play back of the CD you're discussing. I don't need any more of that crap. |
Walter Stettner
Member From: Vienna, Austria
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posted 10 January 2004 01:55 AM
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Hi Guys!I have been doing some research and found a lot of steel players that can be heard on Hank's recordings (although some of these recordings are hard to find, because the songs were later re-recorded). Here are the names in chronological order, plus some of the songs they were on: Dale "Smokey" Lohman (April 1947), songs include "Honky Tonkin", "Pan American", "Move It On Over" and "I Saw The Light" Herman Herron (August 4, 1947), "Fly Trouble", "I'm Satisfied With You" Jerry Byrd (November 1947 - December 1948), songs include "I'm A Long Gone Daddy", "My Sweet Love Ain't Around", "Mansion On The Hill", "Lovesick Blues" Don Davis (March 1949), songs include "Mind Your Own Business", "Wedding Bells", "You're Gonna Change" Jerry Byrd (August 30, 1949) "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", "My Bucket's Got A Hole In It" Don Helms (all remaining records starting January 9, 1950) songs include "Cold, Cold Heart", "Hey Good Looking", "I Can't Help It" Many songs were originally recorded for the Sterling Label and were later rerecorded for MGM, that means many of Hank's records don't have the original version, they used the second or third recording - I mention this just for historical reasons, not to diminish anybody's participation in those sessions, talk about Don Helms, Jerry Byrd, Don Davis,...they all played marvelous!!! For the live reordings: Hank's debut on the "Prince Albert Show" at the GOO on June 18, 1949 ("Lovesick Blues") had the following musicians: Billy Robinson (Steel Guitar), Grady Martin, Jimmy Selph and Zeb Turner (guitars) and Ernie Newton (Bass) The later GOO live recordings were originally transcribed for AFRS, the 1950 recordings have Jerry Byrd playing ("You're Gonna Change", "They'll Never Take Her Love From Me", "I Just Don't Like This Kind Of Living"), all the recordings from 1951/1952 (incl. "Hey Good Looking", "Honky Tonk Blues", "Cold, Cold Heart") feature Don Helms. It was pure pleasure to do this post, because I had to listen to all these great records again, and, friends, that is pure pleasure!!!  PS.: If anybody is interested, Mercury has a 10 CD Box, called "The Complete Hank Williams" which has all of Hank's recordings (regular studio recordings, early demos, live records and even some very rare radio performances) great photos and a very informative booklet. I know it's expensive, but it is worth the money! Walter ------------------
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Travis Bernhardt
Member From: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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posted 10 January 2004 01:34 PM
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Wow, thanks Walter! That pretty much answers my question. Final score:Forum: 1
Ignorance: 0 Incidentally, where did you find this info? -Travis |
Walter Stettner
Member From: Vienna, Austria
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posted 10 January 2004 01:57 PM
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Travis,It's mostly taken from the 10 CD box I have mentioned in my post! beautiful compilation! Regards, Walter ------------------
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