"Western Swing-a-tonk-a-billy"

Asleep at the Wheel, Cousin Harley, Wayne Hancock, JD Mcpherson, Redd Volkeart, Big Sandy, Brian Setzer ('Cats and Orchestra)... I have found my new passion & calling.

I already have downloaded a bunch of stuff, and am downloading more. Lay it on me... what else should I be listening to?

I already have the Ray Benson DVD and all 3 of the Paul Pigat DVDs, and the Redd DVD... what other learning materials do you recommend? Lay it on me!!

I'm ready to dive in head first... LAY IT ON ME BROTHERS!!

Are you interested more in modern interpretations or the source material?

oh- and FWIW, I have been steeped in big band since birth... Miller, Dorsey, Goodman, Nat King Cole Trio, Louis Jordan... all thanks to my parents, my father was the WWII generation. So all my life, I have always "swung", always loved that stuff, and know all the tunes by heart already. So while I'm just starting to LEARN to play that way, it's been in my blood since birth.

Both.. altho I'll admit not being the biggest Bob Wills fan. The playboys were cool, but Wills got on my nerves with his "aw shucks hillbilly ad-libs" all over the music.

You got your Dale Watson right? "one more, once more" is a real nice texas swingin'tonkabilly

(even though the little darlin' session are my favorite, a redo of old Johnny Paycheck)

here's a live vid, just so's you can see this good ol boy!

http://youtu.be/FS2qQpBM0yE

http://youtu.be/oC4qxQotEQ0

For the original stuff, the Tiffany Transcription series of the Bob Wills band is the gold standard. Billy Jack Wills and Jimmy Rivers and the Cherokees are the other "guitar-centric" bands I would seek out. Roy Lanham and the Whipporwills is mighty fine listening.

You already have listened to a lot of the moderns, and probably have the Smith's Ranch Boys record, which is quite good indeed. I would add to that list Joel Paterson, although perhaps a bit too jazzy to fall into the western swing category, certainly draws heavily from that vocabulary. And on the flip side, Riders in the Sky are more western, but wonderful. The Time Jumpers are a great pick as well.

A bob wills tiffany track - don't know if US folks can see it - this is what it's all about.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Both.. altho I'll admit not being the biggest Bob Wills fan. The playboys were cool, but Wills got on my nerves with his "aw shucks hillbilly ad-libs" all over the music.

ha!! I thought I was the only one.. I too get miffed hearing that hi-pitched nonsense and wondered why no one would punch him in the teeth. Big Sandy apes some of that shtick but he does it right, it works.

Check out Junior's solo at 1:02. A rare filmed performance of a titanic badass at work.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

I wonder what amp he was rockin.. thats a sound I'm chasing

Whit Smith and Matt Munisteri tearing up the Wills classic Mission to Moscow

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Junior played an EH-150 amp, I believe.

You're not alone, I find that "MC ing" irritating, it's always over a really good bit. This makes you want to give up; http://www.youtube.com/watc... And no talking over it.

Barnard was a loud guitarist who had an overdriven tube sound decades before it became widely popular with rock guitarists. His main guitar, a blond Epiphone Emperor arch-top (occasionally Junior used a Gibson ES-150), was dubbed "*my young radio station," because it had so many wires and controls added on. Although Barnard first electrified his instrument with a DeArmond pickup, he later added another unit from a steel guitar. The two pickups were wired out of phase, and each was amplified through a separate channel. (Junior used both a Fender Pro with a 15" speaker and an Epiphone amplifier.) In addition, Barnard employed a volume pedal, for which he probably got the idea from steel guitarists such as McAuliffe and Boggs. "In those days in the Wills band," Shamblin remembers, "you never knew when you'd get a solo. Bob would just point his fiddle bow at you and say, 'Take it away.' Junior didn't have time to turn the volume up, so you can see that the pedal was a time-saving device."

from Link...

aaaa-haaaa (and i don't mean alan partridge)

cheers

ps-

there's a great interview with leo fender where they ask if he ever met iconic strat user- jimi hendrix..and leo says no, but he knows eldon shamblin!

Spade Cooley, Tex Wiiliams etc.

Spike's list is pretty great. I love the Jimmie Rivers and the Cherokees disc in particular.

If you're into Wayne Hancock, and Honky Tonk, get every Johnny Horton tune Grady Martin played on (Bear Family records is a safe bet for that), he pretty much set the standard for twangy Honky Tonk bass string stuff, and is such a beautiful guitar player to listen to.

Get everything Charlie Christian ever recorded (it's not thàt much, sadly), after all, he's who a lot of Western Swing players were trying to emulate.

Hey Neotone, you get Alan Partridge in California?

Oh and I forgot Hank Thompson! but it sort of moves away from the swingo-billy-tonk feel.

http://youtu.be/-XibTFvTLPo

Thanks for that link neatone - since the Pro debuted in '48 (Junior died in ['51), and Junior was doing radio in '35, it stands to reason the Epiphone amp mentioned was one of the Electar line - a field coil 6L6 powered rig that is a close cousin to the Gibsons of the day. Eldon mentioned in several interviews that Wills made him buy a matching ES-150 guitar and EH-150 amp in the late 30's.

Don't own any Dale Watson, but have been a big fan hearing him on Sirius.

I forgot "Junior Brown" on my current list as well.

Great thread! Keep it coming... I've got some reading and listening to do...

spike- was thinking same thing as far as dates..that pro came late...sure he was influenced by oklahoman charlie christians gear, so a gibson would not be out of the question

tonyb- where there's a will there's a way

"to the regiment...i wish we were there"!

some good pickin was goin on by the farr brothers..america's "western" answer to django and stephane

cheers

Oh and Wynn Stewart , on the bakersfield-ish honky tonk side and not soo smooth..that I love when I'm drinking beer and sanding pedal boxes.

here he is with Don Rich http://youtu.be/sU9Mjw2k55o

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

@Ruger..not sure if this link will work from my iPhone...my pasting skills suck of late.This near drunk guy in my avatar and good friend is Lucky Tubb,nephew of Ernest Tubb.One of the few keeping honky-tonk swing alive.Anyway you can see a host of vids online and a tour he did with Hank lll which was really cool considering those two last names hadn't toured together in decades.

wow.. I've been keepin my eye on Lucky's music for a while and youre buddy's eh? very cool. I really see his grandfather in him and its awesome that he carries the torch.

ahh and perhaps pushing the envelope but still real real good feeling music is James Intveld I love this brothers singin more than anything and play his "have faith album" more than I do my George Jones and Buck Owens.

this is just feel good music

http://youtu.be/yYyyeff_J0U

http://youtu.be/AiAZItBCcps