Steel Guitar Insanity

By Cal Sharp

I've been a Nashville steel guitar player for 30-some years. I’ve toured with Stonewall Jackson, Little Jimmy Dickens, Red Sovine, George Fox, Faron Young and a few others. I’ve also backed up dozens of other artists on package shows and as a sub, most notably Ray Price and Ernest Tubb. This book is a collection of observations, pictures and stories from those years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cal Sharp
• Release date: Nov 6, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311251824

Cal Sharp

I've been a Nashville steel guitar player for over 30 years. I'm retired from the road now, and playing sessions and clubs around Dickson, TN. I've also been writing for many years. I’ve written for The Tennessean, The Banner, Guitar Player Magazine, Country Music Magazine, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. I've also worked in the graphic design field for over 20 years and currently specialize in ebook and print covers at Caligraphics. www.caligraphics.net

Book preview

Faron Young

I was playing steel guitar in Deemen's Den on Lower Broadway in Nashville the first time I saw Faron Young. It was the late 70's, and he was still a celebrity. He'd taken his band out to dinner and they came in to drink a few and to sit in with us. The last time I saw him was in a health food store in Old Hickory a year or so before he died. He was smaller and grayer and it took him a moment to respond to my tap on his shoulder.

In between those two sightings I played in his band, The Deputies, for ten years, and it was Adventures in Country Music riding around the USA with him in his Silver Eagle.

Like the time the band went to his house in the bus to pick him up for a gig in Houston the next day and he was holed up in the bedroom with a bottle and a gun. Said he didn't want to go, so we didn't. We went back to Gabe's and got drunk, and a couple of us woke up the next morning parked by the side of I-24 halfway to St. Louis.

Another time he wanted to play Prisoner Of War, and he lined his band up and marched back and forth doing his Hitler impersonation and waving a machine gun around. Turned out there was one round in the gun, and it even scared Faron when he pointed it up in the air and pulled the trigger and it went off.

In Austin he rammed the side of his own bus with a rental car, trying to get the driver to pull over so he could change his boots.

He passed out on the floor of the bus after a gig, blocking the cooler, and we had to keep stepping over him every time we wanted a beer until a fan dragged him to his room in the back.

Faron loved to go on search and annoy missions on the bus late at night, throwing empty whiskey bottles at the driver while we were going down some dark Interstate at 70 MPH or lighting a string of firecrackers and tossing them next to somebody's bunk.

He played a game called Pick A Card with us, and we'd sit for miles playing card games that he was making up as he went along, trying to guess what the rules were without getting him mad. When he got tired he'd give somebody his money to play with and go to bed.

Another game he liked to play was Put Your Hand in This Vise. He'd grab your hand and squeeze until you surrendered or squirmed away. Didn't matter if you had to play guitar with that hand the next night.

By now you might be wondering how he ever got any musicians to work for him. But he had some great bands over the years, and a lot of the Deputies went on to fame as session players and as singers or instrumentalists who recorded under their own names. Faron was a great talent and he had some great songs that were a pleasure to play. Hello Walls is one fine country tune and I played it with him about 2,000 times and I never got tired of it.

There was never a problem with money with Faron. He always paid us, and if you needed a little more he was glad to give you an advance. If you needed a lot more he'd take you down to Commerce Union and fix you up, like the time I was all on fire to get a Harley and he loaned me the money. It was pretty cool, strolling into the bank with him. All the tellers were, like, whoa, Faron's here! Party time during business hours!

When he was in a good mood (two doubles or less) he could be a lot of fun to be around. He was a very witty guy, very funny, and he knew how to tell a joke and he could tell personal anecdotes about Elvis or Angie Dickenson or President Johnson. Everyone he met was prepared to like him, until the Crown Royale got in the way.

And he was a country music legend, and it's an honor to work with a legend, even if he makes fun of you because you can't smile and play at the same time, or pours beer all over you and your new guitar on stage, or fires you and tries to throw you off the bus at 3:00 am a thousand miles away from home. Faron had a lot of charm, and he loved people. He'd sign autographs until his Sharpie ran dry, and he'd take time at a restaurant or a motel to kibitz with fans.

But he loved to antagonize people, too. He thought nothing of telling racist jokes on his live shows or making fun of fat people in the audience, and the only time he didn't swear like a drunken sailor was when he was on TV. Hell, he called the bass player a precious cocksucker on a live radio broadcast from a club in Florida.

He'd walk into a bar, order a double, and find the biggest, meanest guy in the place and call him a sumbitch, and an ugly one at that. What was amazing was that five minutes later they'd be best buddies, buying each other drinks. We used to call him the luckiest guy in the world because somebody hadn't killed him yet.

How sad and ironic, but not surprising, that he took his own life.

2010

Steel Guitar Insanity

Mar 7, 2010

My thoughts about the wonderful world of steel guitar.

Fills and taste

Mar 8, 2010

Your job as a steel player, or a guitar player, or any other lead instrument, is to make the singer and the song sound good. You complement the performance of the song, you don't detract. I've worked with so many pickers who don't understand this basic concept. It's astounding, really. You play your fills between the lines the singer is singing, mostly. You don't play walk-ups and walk-downs and big loud chords over the vocals. Listen to a record once in a while, and hear how it's supposed to go.

And, by all means, don't play a bunch of garbage when the steel player is doing a solo. If you can't play something that enhances what he's doing, then just lay out. Don't play. Light a cigarette, take a drink of your beer, smile at the audience. But don't fuck with the steel player. He won't like it.

Can you say taste? Do you even know what it is? Do you understand this concept? If you don't know, then just lay out.

Tuning

Mar 8, 2010

I'm still working on getting my steel guitar in tune. I've tried all kinds of ways to tune over the last 30+ years, and I'm still not happy with it. But the good news is that I'm getting closer and closer closer to A-440, and that seems to be a good thing. The B to C# pull is the bugaboo.

New Gig

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Started at a new club this past weekend with the band I’ve been with for 10 years. Had a real good crowd and it looks promising. Weldon Myrick came out and sang with us.

I’m using 2 amps again, because there’s plenty of room, and because I can leave them there. What a fat sound I get with 2 amps. It probably doesn’t sound any different out front, but where I’m sitting, it’s great. Well, maybe it does sound better out front – maybe I can play a little better when I’m liking the sound so much.

Dickey Overbey

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

This guy is one of the best. The stuff he’s been doing the last few years with Jake Hooker and Amber Digby is just awesome. I was driving down 16th St. in Indianapolis in about 1970 when I’ll Be There (Johnny Bush) came on the radio, and his solo totally knocked me out. When I heard that I knew I had to get me a steel guitar. He played with Faron before I did, and according to band stories, he’d get right and stay up all night on the bus on long trips and work on his guitar, changing knee levers around or whatever, and have parts left over, but would be ready for the gig that night.

Strings

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

I’ve got 2 guitars, and I play each one once or twice a week on gigs. I haven’t changed the strings on either one in well over a year. But I still get good tone, just like it always was – maybe not quite as brilliant, but the highs are still there –and I don’t have any problem staying in tune. I s’pose I’m just lazy; it’s a lot of work changing strings, and new strings never seem to stay in tune until I play a couple gigs.

When I do put on a new set, the third always breaks after about 3 gigs, but when I replace it, it never breaks again. This one’s been on over a year. Weird.

Talent is overrated

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

You have to be able to pick a little to get an artist gig, but you don’t have to play your ass off. You generally have to be young, look good on stage, and be easy to get along with. There’s a ton of steel guitar players who play great, but a lot of them don’t have gigs. It’s show business and social networking, folks.

The New Steel Guitar Forum

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

The 1996 announcement by Bobby Lee of the new Steel Guitar Forum

Play with taste, damnit, Beavis

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

When you’re backing up a singer, wait for the holes, then play a tasty little fill. You know, like they do on records. Singers appreciate this. Makes them sound good, doesn’t distract them. When it’s not your turn to fill or solo, don’t play, just pad a little and smile like you’re having a great time. The other lead instruments will appreciate this. Go nuts with your favorite be-bop Steel Guitar Jazz licks only when it seems appropriate, which may be never on some gigs, and just every once in a while on looser gigs. And keep an eye on the singer – you’re following him, and sometimes the song may come to a fork in the road. Be ready for it.

Maybe you just can't play

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

Why does your playing suck, you might wonder? If you’ve really worked hard at it for a few years and you still suck it’s probably because you don’t have the requisite talent. If you’ve been playing as long as I have, then you’ve logged a lot more hours at it than Buddy Emmons had when he was 18, and he was killer then. So… unless you find the steel guitar just endlessly addictive and fascinating it might be time to redirect your energies elsewhere.

Monday gig

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Played the Crossroads on Broadway with the Music City Playboys. Saw a lot of old friends on the street. A good night.

Don’t play all the time

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Listeners’ ears become inured to the sound of the steel guitar, and playing fewer notes at a live gig can sometimes be more effective than playing all the way through every song. If you’re in a 3-4 piece group you may need to pad when you’re not filling or playing your solo or intro, but if you have at least a piano and a guitar you can lay out on some verses and choruses, like good fiddle players do. It makes the steel stand out more when you do play something.

Insane

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

I really was insane about steel guitar when I first started playing. I didn’t have a wife or kids or a real job or any responsibilities, so I sat in a room with a record player and learned everything I could. I’d wake up in the middle of the night with something running through my head and get up and sit down at my guitar and play it. It was like heroin or something. I didn’t watch much TV or develop any serious relationships with girls – no time for that irrelevant stuff. It only took a few months of this and I was playing full time and making a living.

I continued in this same vein for about 10 years and then calmed down a little and looked around at the world to see what else was out there.

First steel guitar

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

I drove down to Nashville and bought this Professional at the Sho~Bud store on Broadway in 1972. 25 years later Sho~Bud  was Robert’s and I was playing there. Odd.

How to hang on to an artist gig (you’re not the star)

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

You all know that to keep a job you have to play what the star wants. But what does he or she want? A high-profile showman? A comedian? A hot instrumentalist or just an unobtrusive musician to provide fills and pads and who blends into the background and doesn’t attract too much attention? Hang out with the band members, and with the star if possible. Watch some of their videos. Do they all think Buddy Emmons is a god, or have they never even heard of him? Whip some of your hot licks on them and check the reaction. Find out what they want in a steel player. When I started with Faron Young I got a few compliments on my playing from band members and fans, but Faron seemed vaguely unimpressed. Come to find out, what he wanted me to play was the melody – not those Buddy Emmons jazz licks I’d been staying up all night practicing. So I played the melody, and kept the gig for 10 years.

Overheard at the gig tonight

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

That Cal does purty good on that steel guitar, he knows when to play and when not to play. I wish my wife was like that.

Tone vs Licks

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Your tone and execution are more important than licks. You’ve heard guys sound a little out of tune because they’re all over the neck playing things that don’t quite come off. Your tone is going to suck if you’re a little out of tune and if your notes are running together, and hot licks don’t mean a thing then. Play things that you are capable of playing, and go for the sound instead of the lick. Once in a while, instead of a flurry of disjointed, sloppy notes, try playing just one note and let it sustain and make it sound as good as you can. Stretch out and go for the gold once in a while, if you’re having a good night, but don’t make a habit of it until you get your technical ability up to par with the stuff you’re trying to play. Knowing how to play a lick is one thing, but playing it so it sounds good in a live situation can be an Emmons of a different color.

Volume and Dynamics

Friday, March 19th, 2010

One of the problems with live music is getting the correct mix. Many times somebody’s too loud or too soft. You want to be heard, right? Some drummers have an unfortunate tendency to make everyone play too loud, and it’s a pain in the ear to play at rock star volume all night. Eric Clapton’s just about deaf now, y’know. On one gig where I was the band leader I told the drummer that if he couldn’t hear the steel guitar he was too fucking loud. Not picking on drummers, that’s just an example, and anyone in the band can be the miscreant. Especially the guy who’s been doing shots with beer chasers all night, and who plays  a little louder on each set.

It takes some experience to be able to play at the correct volume. Dynamics is a term many musicians aren’t familiar with, but don’t let that deter you from your quest to improve your ability to perform in a manner that will keep the job offers rolling it. Fills are soft, solos are loud, get it? Ask for some opinions from musically knowledgeable people in the crowd (not a wife or a girl friend; they will always tell you’re not loud enough, honey), record the show, watch for people bending an ear or heading for the end of the bar when you play the break on A Way To Survive.

Yeah, sometimes you’re at the mercy of the sound man, if you’re all miked, but the stage volume can still be a bitch. Not much you can do about that. Some of them know what they’re doing and some don’t, so good luck with that.

When in doubt

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

When in doubt, take a tip from Buddy Emmons – hit a chime.

Showmanship

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Steel guitar players are often perceived as boring to watch. Why don’t you smile? You look bored. Why are you so serious? What is that damn thing, anyway?"

It’s hard to be entertaining when you have to keep your eyes on your hands, and when your arms and legs are locked into the playing position, and so you might appear somber and preoccupied.

Classical musicians often come across the same way, but, hey, they’re playing serious music, and patrons of the arts don’t expect them to cavort around and grin while rendering La Valse de l’Adieu. I guess The Bottle Let Me Down isn’t considered quite that profound, and the audience expects a little showmanship, huh?

You’ve probably noticed that nobody on the dance floor ever plays air steel, but patrons of the arts don’t play air cello, either.

Sign at a gig

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010