I urge everyone to pick up a copy of this book. It's an important piece of history that's worth supporting. It's also a really wonderful book. If you're fortunate enough to have a locally owned bookstore near you, please buy it from them. Everyone else can buy it from this link. amzn.to/4biyaaU If you buy anything from this link, I'll get a tiny cut that I'll use to buy cat food.
I worked for Amos Arthur of Arthur's Music Store back in 1979 and later for his daughters when they bought the old Ace Crafts building in 1980. After we cleared out and cleaned up the old 3rd floor Ballroom where many of the best big bands played in their heyday we started holding events there. Amos was a pedal steel player and enthusiast so in the summer of 1981 Amos held a Buddy Emmons showcase. I had the honor of picking up Buddy and his wife from their hotel and bringing them to the event. They were both incredibly charming, funny, and very kind to me. Being a hard core rocker at the time I honestly was not expecting to blown away by a pedal steel player but I was wrong. He was amazing! I've been a fan ever since.
Long time viewers of this channel might remember videos featuring an old cassette recorder. That cassette recorder originally belonged to Buddy Emmons. I bought it from his estate sale after he passed away. I was told he used it for demos. I have no idea if it's true or not, but I love a good story. Here's a video that features that tape recorder and more importantly, it features mine and Steve's old dear friend Peter Cooper telling a great story about old Nashville. ruclips.net/video/0WudutXsJxw/видео.html You might also remember the videos I made on my front porch during the pandemic. I was sitting in Buddy Emmon's rocking chair during those videos. I bought it from that same estate sale. A little trivia for anyone who gives a damn. Ways to support this channel. www.patreon.com/otisgibbs ruclips.net/channel/UCYX2MTovE0vYjD8touqRH7Qjoin Tip jar for anyone who wants to help support this channel. paypal.me/otisgibbs?locale.x=... www.venmo.com/OtisGibbs Paypal: @otisgibbs Venmo: @OtisGibbs
Thanks Otis. Wonderful interview. I could listen to Steve's stories all day long and of course stories about the legendary Buddy Emmons are fascinating. Another steel player David Hartley, who was local gent in England, made a number of RUclips recordings with his friend John Stannard who played electric guitar. While maybe unknown in the wider world of music their playing was always full of life, top notch, and a joy to listen to. The pedal steel guitar is one of those instruments that can take me on the magical winding roads in music and convey a larger-than-life range of emotions. There's a special place in heaven for those pedal steel players.
Thanks for another great interview, Otis. I love the gag about Buddy’s card that said “I really dig what you’re trying to play.” A friend showed me the card that Buddy told him he always gave to the sound man on live gigs. It looked like a folded $20 bill. When opened it said “Turn up the f***ing steel guitar!” but without the asterisks.
Fantastic video for all pedal steel fans! I will be buying the book. I've seen Steve a couple of times with Emmylou Harris and her Hot Band. He's a great steel player in his own right. One name he left off his excellent list of his favorite steel players that needs to be added ---- Speedy West! Speedy's playing is still jaw-dropping fantastic to this very day.
My father, Frankie Hardcastle, got Steve started on steel playing. I remember Steve coming to our house in Oxnard, CA, as a pimply-faced kid.😁 My dad has also played with and knew Buddy and would sit in Merle Haggard's band sometimes. He worked in Bakersfield and Porterville a lot. My dad sadly passed in January 2018, still loving the craft...his arthritis made it so he couldn't play anymore and that simply destroyed him. 😢..RIP, Daddy Frank...Now, you are playing with the greats of yesteryear.~~Love you, Daddy~~XOXOXOX❤❤
Thanks very much Otis! This was great, Im a steel player from Massachusetts, and Buddy was/is my favorite of all time, Im lucky enough to have gotten to see Buddy live with the Everly Brothers. as a side note: I remember reading a Quote from Buddy Emmons, "No one did it better than Jimmy Day" Looking forward to getting the book!
What a great interview and what a nice person Steve is. You can't go back to 1960 steelguitar without the great Jimmy Day. So much emotion in his playing. Buddy and Jimmy second to none.
Ok, just fed your cat. Checked out Brent Mason around 10 yrs ago which led me to Big E. My wife and younger son said yes and we moved NY to Tn. Never looked back. We got to play with Vince and Paul Franklin, the journey continues. Listening to Buddy has taught me so much on guitar. Thank you Otis for an awesome channel!
the solo he peels off on the live version of drivin nails in my coffin from 1961 is killer. its loud, distorted, & has some great licks. you can tell by the look on his face that hes stretchin the volume limit but he just keeps standin on the gas.. i watch it just to watch that solo. leon's guitar playing is pretty tight as well.
There’s some decent live videos of the Redneck Jazz Explosion with Mr Gatton and Mr Emmons. Totally beyond next level players who could improvise meaningfully until the cows came home and went back out again.
There is only one person I can think of that is the arcirecht of a music tuning that is used by so many and affects the genre so much. A player I knew said that Buddy never forgot you once he met you.
The 1960’s steel players in Nashville were as important to the songs as the vocalists. Each with their own style. Two that come to mind are Pete Drake and Weldon Myrick. Drake’s style was ambient. He was the string section for country singers. Myrick could kick off a tune like no one else. Just listen to Connie Smith’s “Once a Day”. I remember hearing that song in my father’s 1963 Ford Falcon and I still love it.
Love Pedal Steel Guitar Works, never knew who started Sho-Bud Steel Guitar’s! Congratulations Otis, for Hitting 100,000 Subscribers, Sir! Ohio Boy in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for 35 Years now! Sorry I missed your two nights in Key West in April. This Artist Producer knows Music and His Love explaining the famous Pedal Steel Players! I own Three Poco Albums, too! Still playing vinyl.
When Emmons was in living in Downey (LA), he played a promo for Sho-Bud guitars at Blackie Taylor's shop in Hawaiian Gardens. I offered to tear down his axe after the show . . . and he CONSENTED! 🤩(It's probably just because it was a demo model, and he HATED Sho-Bud at that time🤔.) Then, as folks asked him questions, I interjected a couple times before he had a chance to answer. And he gave me a funny look! 👺That was it! He didn't curse me, or call me a name, he just gave me a sort of exasperated LOOK! (But that could just have been because of the 'firewater' he was drinking out back in his motorhome between sets.🥴)That is one of my most cherished memories!!!! 🤩
You know how one can get obsessed by an Emmons steel guitar lick(kind of a rolling inside outside sound). In the early eighties i had a Jo Stampley record with the song "She's Long Legged" with Emmons playing the steel. I went at it for years with minimal success and then in 1997 I went to the Steel guitar convention in St Louis; I was too scared to bug Buddy but early one Sunday morning at 7:00 I heard this great steel coming out of one of the demo rooms. there was Emmons alone lighting the stars on fire. I asked him how he played it and i was amazed when he said he lowered his second string down to open C#. He then said Jimmy Crawford had shown it to him..Thus my musical journey had come to an infinitely satisfying conclusion
Hey, how bout Jimmy Day--Ray Price's steel player and also Willie's in the late 60s. He was fantastic! Nobody tops Buddy Emmons though. I would also put Lloyd Green way up near the top too.
Congratulations on 100K subscribers. Seems like cause for celebration like a livestream or something fun. I think there are an additional 100K subscribers lurking out there.
Fun fact 1. The most famous pedal steel song in history is Teach your children by CSN. Jerry Garcia on Pedal Steel. Fact 2. The biggest selling bluegrass album of all time “was” Old and in the Way self titled debut album. Jerry Garcia on banjo. The album to replace O&ITW is the soundtrack to Brother Where art thou?
Anyone passing through their twilight years at any age on a life’s journey will better understand why Bob Dylan’s 1967 film was titled ‘Don’t Look Back’. Until you reach this passage on a life’s journey few will understand; Buddy Emmons did.
Love everything I learn on this channel. So much great history lessons and a whole lot of music to listen to. I'd urge any pedal steel fans to check out Robert Randolph and Roosevelt Collier if you're not familiar with them.
My grandfather grew up in Whittier, California and was friends with Leo Fender from Fullerton… He used to play in the country swing band in the late 40s or 50s… And Leo used to give him stuff stuff to try out… I remember going through his garage when he passed awayand he had an old fender Coronado… And a fender bass with the serial numbers 003
Buddy played with both Lenny Breau and Danny Gatton…there’s a great bootleg cd of the three of them playing together…and of course he was part of Danny’s Red Neck Jazz Explosion…
Tom Brumley played steel for ‘Buck Owens' Buckaroos from 1964-1969. After leaving The Buckaroos, Tom became the steel guitarist for Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band and plays on their biggest hit, “Garden Party.” In the early '90s, he played with Chris Hillman in the Desert Rose Band.’
@@artemisXsidecross Of course. What I’m saying is that I consider Tom Brumley to be the greatest steel guitarist among several outstanding steel guitarists.
@@artemisXsidecross Shazam. I consider Tom Brumley‘s performance on “Together Again” with Buck and the other Buckaroos to be the greatest steel guitar break in the history of country music.
I guess Buddy Charleton isn't considered one of the greats.. I love his playing and I guess a big part of that is that he played with Tubb in that prime area from the early 60s to the mid 60s when they had the best road band in country music and to me him and Leon Rhodes seem like magic,,, but I'm curious as to why Charleton never gets mentioned with the greats...
I urge everyone to pick up a copy of this book. It's an important piece of history that's worth supporting. It's also a really wonderful book. If you're fortunate enough to have a locally owned bookstore near you, please buy it from them. Everyone else can buy it from this link.
amzn.to/4biyaaU
If you buy anything from this link, I'll get a tiny cut that I'll use to buy cat food.
I worked for Amos Arthur of Arthur's Music Store back in 1979 and later for his daughters when they bought the old Ace Crafts building in 1980. After we cleared out and cleaned up the old 3rd floor Ballroom where many of the best big bands played in their heyday we started holding events there. Amos was a pedal steel player and enthusiast so in the summer of 1981 Amos held a Buddy Emmons showcase. I had the honor of picking up Buddy and his wife from their hotel and bringing them to the event. They were both incredibly charming, funny, and very kind to me. Being a hard core rocker at the time I honestly was not expecting to blown away by a pedal steel player but I was wrong. He was amazing! I've been a fan ever since.
Arthur’s is one of my favorite music stores in the world; awesome story.
Long time viewers of this channel might remember videos featuring an old cassette recorder. That cassette recorder originally belonged to Buddy Emmons. I bought it from his estate sale after he passed away. I was told he used it for demos. I have no idea if it's true or not, but I love a good story. Here's a video that features that tape recorder and more importantly, it features mine and Steve's old dear friend Peter Cooper telling a great story about old Nashville.
ruclips.net/video/0WudutXsJxw/видео.html
You might also remember the videos I made on my front porch during the pandemic. I was sitting in Buddy Emmon's rocking chair during those videos. I bought it from that same estate sale. A little trivia for anyone who gives a damn.
Ways to support this channel.
www.patreon.com/otisgibbs
ruclips.net/channel/UCYX2MTovE0vYjD8touqRH7Qjoin
Tip jar for anyone who wants to help support this channel.
paypal.me/otisgibbs?locale.x=...
www.venmo.com/OtisGibbs
Paypal: @otisgibbs
Venmo: @OtisGibbs
❤I remember!
Well, where are the demo tapes? Steel cats would be hanging on every note.
Thanks Otis. Wonderful interview. I could listen to Steve's stories all day long and of course stories about the legendary Buddy Emmons are fascinating. Another steel player David Hartley, who was local gent in England, made a number of RUclips recordings with his friend John Stannard who played electric guitar. While maybe unknown in the wider world of music their playing was always full of life, top notch, and a joy to listen to. The pedal steel guitar is one of those instruments that can take me on the magical winding roads in music and convey a larger-than-life range of emotions. There's a special place in heaven for those pedal steel players.
Thanks for another great interview, Otis. I love the gag about Buddy’s card that said “I really dig what you’re trying to play.” A friend showed me the card that Buddy told him he always gave to the sound man on live gigs. It looked like a folded $20 bill. When opened it said “Turn up the f***ing steel guitar!” but without the asterisks.
His playing on Someday Soon motivated another generation to take-up the pedal steel guitar.
Fantastic video for all pedal steel fans! I will be buying the book. I've seen Steve a couple of times with Emmylou Harris and her Hot Band. He's a great steel player in his own right. One name he left off his excellent list of his favorite steel players that needs to be added ---- Speedy West! Speedy's playing is still jaw-dropping fantastic to this very day.
It's a great book/read! Back in the early 70's Steve Fishell helped get me started on pedal steel guitar. Thanks buddy!!
My father, Frankie Hardcastle, got Steve started on steel playing. I remember Steve coming to our house in Oxnard, CA, as a pimply-faced kid.😁 My dad has also played with and knew Buddy and would sit in Merle Haggard's band sometimes. He worked in Bakersfield and Porterville a lot. My dad sadly passed in January 2018, still loving the craft...his arthritis made it so he couldn't play anymore and that simply destroyed him. 😢..RIP, Daddy Frank...Now, you are playing with the greats of yesteryear.~~Love you, Daddy~~XOXOXOX❤❤
Thanks very much Otis! This was great, Im a steel player from Massachusetts, and Buddy was/is my favorite of all time, Im lucky enough to have gotten to see Buddy live with the Everly Brothers. as a side note: I remember reading a Quote from Buddy Emmons, "No one did it better than Jimmy Day" Looking forward to getting the book!
What year did you see Buddy Emmons and the Everly Brothers? I would have loved to have been there. 👍
What a great interview and what a nice person Steve is. You can't go back to 1960 steelguitar without the great Jimmy Day. So much emotion in his playing. Buddy and Jimmy second to none.
Ok, just fed your cat. Checked out Brent Mason around 10 yrs ago which led me to Big E. My wife and younger son said yes and we moved NY to Tn. Never looked back. We got to play with Vince and Paul Franklin, the journey continues. Listening to Buddy has taught me so much on guitar. Thank you Otis for an awesome channel!
I saw Buddy Emmons twice in Norway, with The Everly Brothers and Tompall Glazer. Great sound.
the solo he peels off on the live version of drivin nails in my coffin from 1961 is killer. its loud, distorted, & has some great licks. you can tell by the look on his face that hes stretchin the volume limit but he just keeps standin on the gas.. i watch it just to watch that solo. leon's guitar playing is pretty tight as well.
I first became aware of the fantastic steel guitar playing of Buddy Emmons on the 1963 “Twang” a Country Song album by Duane Eddy.
Oh I own that album by Duane Eddy. Great.
Great stories. Thank you to both for this gift.
Very cool. And I love the story about the cassette recorder.
That was a great story. Thanks for sharing that with us.
he played with Danny Gaton Thats where i discovered him, CV.
There’s some decent live videos of the Redneck Jazz Explosion with Mr Gatton and Mr Emmons. Totally beyond next level players who could improvise meaningfully until the cows came home and went back out again.
Buddy was "Exactly" what Steve said he was. Emmons Pedal Steels are some of the best ever made. Steve is also "A Legend" in my book!
"Thanks Otis"
There is only one person I can think of that is the arcirecht of a music tuning that is used by so many and affects the genre so much.
A player I knew said that Buddy never forgot you once he met you.
Another great interview. I really enjoy your tastes, choices, knowledge and connections. 😀
The 1960’s steel players in Nashville were as important to the songs as the vocalists. Each with their own style. Two that come to mind are Pete Drake and Weldon Myrick. Drake’s style was ambient. He was the string section for country singers. Myrick could kick off a tune like no one else. Just listen to Connie Smith’s “Once a Day”. I remember hearing that song in my father’s 1963 Ford Falcon and I still love it.
Paul Drake was Jim Reeves go to steel player.
@@VidarLund-k5q Who's Paul Drake?!?!?
great piece as ever....nice hat and glasses too...and words sentiments stories thanks yall - SJOCR
Love Pedal Steel Guitar Works, never knew who started Sho-Bud Steel Guitar’s! Congratulations Otis, for Hitting 100,000 Subscribers, Sir! Ohio Boy in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for 35 Years now! Sorry I missed your two nights in Key West in April. This Artist Producer knows Music and His Love explaining the famous Pedal Steel Players! I own Three Poco Albums, too! Still playing vinyl.
When Emmons was in living in Downey (LA), he played a promo for Sho-Bud guitars at Blackie Taylor's shop in Hawaiian Gardens. I offered to tear down his axe after the show . . . and he CONSENTED! 🤩(It's probably just because it was a demo model, and he HATED Sho-Bud at that time🤔.) Then, as folks asked him questions, I interjected a couple times before he had a chance to answer. And he gave me a funny look! 👺That was it! He didn't curse me, or call me a name, he just gave me a sort of exasperated LOOK! (But that could just have been because of the 'firewater' he was drinking out back in his motorhome between sets.🥴)That is one of my most cherished memories!!!! 🤩
I just finished that book a few weeks ago,, good read !
That is a great book- highly recommended! Great job again Otis!
You know how one can get obsessed by an Emmons steel guitar lick(kind of a rolling inside outside sound). In the early eighties i had a Jo Stampley record with the song "She's Long Legged" with Emmons playing the steel. I went at it for years with minimal success and then in 1997 I went to the Steel guitar convention in St Louis; I was too scared to bug Buddy but early one Sunday morning at 7:00 I heard this great steel coming out of one of the demo rooms. there was Emmons alone lighting the stars on fire. I asked him how he played it and i was amazed when he said he lowered his second string down to open C#. He then said Jimmy Crawford had shown it to him..Thus my musical journey had come to an infinitely satisfying conclusion
Without changing the subject which I am doing I love Junior Brown, having a steel and telecaster at the same time
The gitsteel!
I heard “The Humbler” and was blown away by Buddy and Danny. I’m a new fan. Such a treasure. I’m sorry he’s not here.
I gotta hear more. I’ll be ordering my paperback copy soon.
another great one Otis...all you had to do was say "go", and Sreve took off...well done!
Another great interview. Wanted to congratulate you on reaching 100000 followers 😊
Omg… this guys memory is jaw dropping
On Willie Nelson's album "You Don't Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker" Buddy Emmons' playing just is wonderful, just like the whole record.
❤as a Cindy I sweetly approve this post pill!
very articulate ,really drew me in
Love Buddys steel playing, started listening to his music after getting Grams GP album
Wow! Very interesting!
Check out the album Buddy's, its Buddy Emmons and Buddy Spicher great stuff!
Hey, how bout Jimmy Day--Ray Price's steel player and also Willie's in the late 60s. He was fantastic! Nobody tops Buddy Emmons though. I would also put Lloyd Green way up near the top too.
Congratulations on 100K subscribers. Seems like cause for celebration like a livestream or something fun. I think there are an additional 100K subscribers lurking out there.
Fun fact 1. The most famous pedal steel song in history is Teach your children by CSN. Jerry Garcia on Pedal Steel.
Fact 2.
The biggest selling bluegrass album of all time “was” Old and in the Way self titled debut album. Jerry Garcia on banjo. The album to replace O&ITW is the soundtrack to Brother Where art thou?
Well, Jerry had a BIG advantage!!! Kudos to Albert Hofmann!!!
Buddy was amazing!
this is a awesome vid. Thanks
Good interview
Anyone passing through their twilight years at any age on a life’s journey will better understand why Bob Dylan’s 1967 film was titled ‘Don’t Look Back’. Until you reach this passage on a life’s journey few will understand; Buddy Emmons did.
My fave pedal steel player was Red Rhodes.
Love everything I learn on this channel. So much great history lessons and a whole lot of music to listen to. I'd urge any pedal steel fans to check out Robert Randolph and Roosevelt Collier if you're not familiar with them.
Great job , on this interview . OTIS YOURE THE BEST LOVE YA..
My grandfather grew up in Whittier, California and was friends with Leo Fender from Fullerton… He used to play in the country swing band in the late 40s or 50s… And Leo used to give him stuff stuff to try out… I remember going through his garage when he passed awayand he had an old fender Coronado… And a fender bass with the serial numbers 003
Whittier: the birthplace of Richard Nixon.
Thank you for telling the story of Fender serial number 003. 👍
I am so glad Steve made a book about Buddy. I wish there could have been a film but it seems that wasn't Buddy's style.
There was a guy named Dwight White from Milford NH who played steel guitar like a champ.
So many great players. Doug Jernigan is on my list along with the other greats!
More please
Buddy played with both Lenny Breau and Danny Gatton…there’s a great bootleg cd of the three of them playing together…and of course he was part of Danny’s Red Neck Jazz Explosion…
Nice list of steel pickers, I’d just add Jimmy Day.
Buddy was my Dad's favorite
Did some albums with Ray Pennington too.
Emmons, Chalker, and Hughey were the best. Listen to the cut of Home in SanAntone by Johnny Bush, it ha Emmons and Chalker!
Sittin' and thinkin'
Kim Deschamps is one of my favourites
" Nails In My Coffin " by Ernest Tubb , You Tube video with guess who .
If you aren't first...you're last
Man im begging you to do a Lloyd Green video
So guarded & respectful/censored, I have a feeling this bio is very PG.. but i will definitely check it out (& probly come back & delete this)
This is great. In my eyes Buddy Emmons and Leon Rhodes is as good as it gets.
This is weird, but does anybody here think Steve Howe the guitarist Yes.. was influenced by him… I’m sure he was
Now that you mention it, yes. I hear that in his playing.
Howe played steel.
Long Island ice teas. Yes 😮😂
❤
Back in Lincoln if you knew what they was thinking
Tom Brumley Buckaroo?
Tom Brumley played steel for ‘Buck Owens' Buckaroos from 1964-1969. After leaving The Buckaroos, Tom became the steel guitarist for Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band and plays on their biggest hit, “Garden Party.” In the early '90s, he played with Chris Hillman in the Desert Rose Band.’
@@artemisXsidecross Of course. What I’m saying is that I consider Tom Brumley to be the greatest steel guitarist among several outstanding steel guitarists.
@@jeffclark7888 You fooled me with the '?' 😉
@@artemisXsidecross Shazam. I consider Tom Brumley‘s performance on “Together Again” with Buck and the other Buckaroos to be the greatest steel guitar break in the history of country music.
@@jeffclark7888hearing Together Again is supposedly what inspired Jerry Garcia to learn pedal steel.
Hell of a claim, especially since your video isn't about Speedy West.
I guess Buddy Charleton isn't considered one of the greats..
I love his playing and I guess a big part of that is that he played with Tubb in that prime area from the early 60s to the mid 60s when they had the best road band in country music and to me him and Leon Rhodes seem like magic,,, but I'm curious as to why Charleton never gets mentioned with the greats...
He does at my house.
@@fsheller5869 Me too !!
Julian tharpe was one of the greatest
Jan Brown…striking me as not a stage name
Better than don helms? 🤔
Helms never played pedal steel. Stuck to console his whole career.