A quick listen to "Jerry's Music" at the jerrybyrdfanclub.com site might help you to see if this was the steel man you heard.

In the movie Mars Attacks (Jack Nicholson etc) The hostile Martians are taking over and us earthlings need a defensive weapon, its discovered the Martians are greatly effected (their heads explode spectacularly) when they hear Slim Whitman records.

I'll have to re-screen the movie to see if JB made it on the soundtrack.

When Slim Whitman first started playing on the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, I got to know him as Slim Whitman was my grandmothere's mailman!!

I was also a young (about 13 or 14 as I recall) and was learning steel guitar from Shot Jackson. I "hung out" backstage at the Hayride as much I could and often got to visit in Slim's rehearsal room. That's where I got to see some of Hoot's playing up close.

As I recall, Hoot was pretty much stuck to single string (mostly) melody stuff in C6th and or A6th. But he did have an amazing knack for playing beautifully clear palm harmonics and getting fantastic sustain out of that old Gibson. That's what you hear a lot of on things like Indian Love Call. Indian Love Call (as very few probably remember) by Slim Whitman was the first country artist song to reach and stay at No.1 on the POP chrts for many weeks.

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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

One of the things that I liked about listening to him was that his style was very clean and simple. I think that's why he got a lot of attention from "non-steel" type folks.

I never could get it down on my Fender, with my old DeArmond pedal to sound like his.

quote:

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"At any rate, his steel fit perfectly with Slim's clear tenor voice.
"

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I believe Bill is 100% correct. It is not unusual for a given player's style to latch up with a unique singer's voice:

Little Roy Wiggins--Eddy Arnold

Don Helms--Hank Williams

Ralph Mooney--Buck Owens

Bashful Brother Oswald--Roy Acuff

Josh Graves--Flat & Scruggs

Hoot Raines--Slim Whitman

Jimmy Day--Ray Price

Buddy Emmons--Ray Price

Kayton Roberts--Hank Snow

Weldon Myrick--Connie Smith

Johnny Siebert--Carl Smith

Bud Isaacs--Webb Pierce

Buddy Charleton--Ernest Tubb

Hal Rugg--Lorretta Lynn

Noel Boggs--Jimmy Wakely

Norm Hamlett--Merle Haggard

Cousin' Jody--Homer & Jethro

Tom Brumley--Buck Owens

Ralph Mooney--Wynn Stewart

???????--Gene Autry (I forgot his name )

I am sure there are others, but that is all I can think of now. I purposely excluded "one time" classics such as Dan Dugmore--Linda Ronsdadt. Also, those that played for a host of singers such as Jerry Byrd . Also, did not include the incredible session players like Pete Drake, Lloyd Green and Paul Franklin, etc.

If you know of any I have missed who were players who "made" the sound of a singer, please add to the list.

???????--Gene Autry (I forgot his name

Frankie Marvin.

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kd...and the beat goes on...

Thank you for that correction. As I think back now I do believe you are right. I make no excuses for my blunder. Lonzo and Oscar & Homer and Jethro were both great duos of their day.

I can still see Cousin Jody and those pants and that double length guitar strap around his neck. Boy! ole Jody must have had long arms. The singers are a bit vague in my cranium. Do ya suppose that is because "I almost always tune the singers out?

Again thanks and I apologize.

And thanks to you Jody for giving the name of Gene Autry's steel player. And even though he rarely played an intro, break or ending, he was in fact a signature lick to Gene's voice that fit perfectly, IMO.

I would like to add that there were indeed many great steel players that played for many different singers such as Sonny Garrish. Oops I just thought of another "pair"

Juaquin Murphy--Spade Cooley

and I do not know how long Curly played for Lefty, but I will include it as an "honorable mention", since Curly too played with soooo many singers.

Curly Chalker--Lefty Frizel

Thanks again fellows,

carl

[This message was edited by C Dixon on 08 July 2004 at 07:19 AM.]