New Clip of the Week 01/15/12

Walter Stettner · Post by **Walter Stettner** » 14 Jan 2012 11:41 pm

Good Morning,

This week's clip takes us back to the late 1940s - it is my favorite track of this singer, with lots of room for the instrumental breaks:

http://www.lloydgreentribute.com/Austri ... Sounds.htm

Enjoy the music!

Kind Regards, Walter

Paul Graupp · Post by **Paul Graupp** » 15 Jan 2012 4:11 am

Jerry L Miller · Post by **Jerry L Miller** » 15 Jan 2012 5:24 am

I listened to these guys when i was a kid, there still the best....

Roger Kelly · Post by **Roger Kelly** » 15 Jan 2012 6:40 am

Hank and Jerry went together like "Soupbeans and Cornbread".
Great tune!

robert kramer · Post by **robert kramer** » 15 Jan 2012 8:05 am

I'm rereading Colin Escott's "Hank Williams – The Biography." Essential reading.

The session for "I'll Be A Bachelor 'Til I Die" took place on November 7, 1947 at Castle Studios in Nashville. Fred Rose used musicians from several Opry bands including Zeke Turner on guitar and Chubby Wise on fiddle. The steel player was from Red Foley's band. Released on MGM 10171 "I'll Be A Bachelor 'Til I Die" was the flip side of "Honky Tonkin'. "Honky Tonkin' went to #14. "Mansion on the Hill" was also recorded at this session.

Walter Stettner · Post by **Walter Stettner** » 16 Jan 2012 1:58 am

Thanks for the info, Robert!

Kind Regards, Walter

Paul Graupp · Post by **Paul Graupp** » 16 Jan 2012 4:42 am

Paul Graupp · Post by **Paul Graupp** » 17 Jan 2012 11:44 am

So was the steel player from RF's band Don Davis or Bud Issacs ?? Enquiring minds need to know so we can get ready for next week's puzzle. I don't think JB was ever in RF's band and surely not "On The Road" so to speak !!

Walter Stettner · Post by **Walter Stettner** » 17 Jan 2012 12:54 pm

Hi Paul,

The steel player on this one is definitely Jerry Byrd. Jerry recorded with Red Foley ("Tennessee Saturday Night" is one of the best examples) but I don't know if he ever could be called a member of Red Foley's band. Maybe he also appeared on stage with Red more often at the time.

Kind Regards, Walter

robert kramer · Post by **robert kramer** » 17 Jan 2012 3:37 pm

Paul & Walter -

Sorry for my confusing post. Colin Escott - in his biography of "Hank Williams - states that Jerry Byrd was on Red Foley's band at the time of 11/7/47 recording of "I'll Be a Bachelor'Til I Die."

It wouldn't have been fair of me to "guess" Jerry Byrd in this weeks "Clip of the Week" when I had the discography in front of me - so I just replied with some of the session details - leaving out JB's name.

I have been reading Escott's excellent book - and listening to Hank again. Hank "borrowed" a lot of his melodies from other artists' recordings. Escott documents these exact recordings and thanks to YouTube these recordings are easy to find. I think I will post the links to these songs - it's really interesting.

Paul Graupp · Post by **Paul Graupp** » 17 Jan 2012 3:41 pm

Thank You Gentlemen ! Both of you !!

robert kramer · Post by **robert kramer** » 17 Jan 2012 7:29 pm

"Hank Williams: The Biography"(Colin Escott) Page 68:

"Hank got to Nashville, he was paired with a group drawn from several Opry bands. Zeke Turner was there again. The steel guitarist was Jerry Byrd. Both were still with Red Foley. One of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys. Chubby Wise, was on fiddle."

The following is from the Jerry Byrd Fan club website:

http://www.jerrybyrd-fanclub.com/

"The year 1947: This is the date that Jerry Byrd joined Local 257 of the Musician's Union, November 13, 1947, enabling him to play on the Grand Ole Opry.
He next joined Red Foley's Cumberland Valley Boys, featured on the NBC-WSM, Prince Albert Smoking Tobacco part of the Grand Ole Opry weekly radio show."

Roger Kelly · Post by **Roger Kelly** » 17 Jan 2012 7:54 pm

Taken from another Jerry Byrd Bio. that you might find interesting.

To me there was no doubt who was playing and singing
on this Clip.

The year 1947: This is the date that Jerry Byrd joined Local 257 of the Musician's Union, November 13, 1947, enabling him to play on the Grand Ole Opry.

He next joined Red Foley's Cumberland Valley Boys, featured on the NBC-WSM, Prince Albert Smoking Tobacco part of the Grand Ole Opry weekly radio show. He and Red were the best of friends for a number of years, that is, until Jerry discovered the pay package he'd been receiving from Foley was not on the up and up.

In about 1948: Lured from Nashville, TN., to Cincinnati, OH, JERRY BYRD and his highly talented musical friends were soon to become the most 'in-demand' session musicians in country music. This phenominom lasted for the next three years, prior to Nashville even having a Music Row.

Known as the Pleasant Valley Boys, JERRY BYRD (steel guitar), Zeke Turner (whose real names was James Grishaw) on lead guitar, Louis Innis on ryhthm and vocals, along with Tommy Jackson on fiddle, were heard regularly on the weekend WLW radio/television show "Midwestern Hayride" and also 'the Boone County Jamboree'.

As a side note, Tommy Jackson was born in Birmingham, Alabama (3/31/26) and having tired of 'road work' at a very early age, had actually formed Nashville's first Studio A-Team which consisted of the above musicians. During WWII, Tommy earned 4 Bronz Stars and an Air Medal while serving as a tail gunner on a B-29. His passing on 12/09/79, was sadly overlooked by the industry that had been such an important part of his life.

While in Cincinnati during the time 1948-1949, prior to Nashville having a Music Row and prior to King Records making its mark, Jerry had the pleasure of playing on eight of Hank Williams' greatest hits. The biggest of them all was "Lovesick Blues", released in the spring of 1949, and which remained in the #1 spot for 16 weeks earning Hank an invitation to perform on the Grand Ole Opry where he received 6 encores and turned him into a true super-star.

The recording was made on December 22, 1948, on the 2nd floor of the famous H.T. Herzog Studios, 811 Race Street, in downtown Cincinnati. This site is now marked with a 2-sided historical marker, errected on Dec. 1, 2009.