can anyone identify this steeler?

Orville Johnson · Post by **Orville Johnson** » 8 Oct 2002 1:38 pm

i was talking with dan tyack about a steel player i saw when i first moved to the northwest in 1977. he remembered him but we couldn't recall the name. i heard him play in moxee city outside of yakima wa and the distinctive thing about him was that besides being an excellent steel player, he had a telecaster neck mounted on his steel and would alternate leads with the steel and tele, playing the tele with his left hand fingers coming down on the fretboard ala thumbs carlyle. he had a trio w/ bass and drums and had dark hair and a mustache. any ideas?

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 8 Oct 2002 2:00 pm

I did a post on the Forum awhile back about the fantastic two-man band (that sounded like five) that I accidently heard in a Holiday Inn Club in Farmington, New Mexico a few years ago. At that time he was working with a vocalist that also played bass, in addition to operating a "bank" of electronics and lights. I visited with him briefly but his name has long ago escaped my memory. He sure sounds like the same player! www.genejones.com <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 08 October 2002 at 03:03 PM.]</p></FONT>

Rob Parker · Post by **Rob Parker** » 12 Oct 2002 4:20 am

Sounds like Gene Fields..or at least his style..a great picker that plays a fretted top neck and a regular steel bottom neck...he is a builder and an inovator...and a super picker...he also plays 'Look At Us ' on a non-pedal guitar that is awesome...
Gene now lives it the Dallas,Tx., area where he runs his steel guitar factory...

RP...'come on in'...

Roy Ayres · Post by **Roy Ayres** » 12 Oct 2002 7:09 am

Great that you should mention Gene Fields. I worked for a year or two at Fender as Head of String Instrument Development. Gene was one of our technicians, and a fantastic steel man as well as a great guy. I don't know if the guy you are talking about is Gene, but it very well could be. He was a great idea man for Fender. We used to select strings from the string rack randomly, hand them to Gene, and say, "What gage is this one?" He would roll it between his thumb and forefinger for a few seconds and tell us the gage. He never missed. The last time I saw him was in Dallas years ago. He was travelling for Fender on some kind of promotional tour. He called me, and my wife and I met him at Sherwood Forest where Maurice Anderson was playing. That was my first exposure to Maurice. WOW! Some of those licks are still running through my mind.

If anyone runs into Gene, tell him "Hi" for me.

Roy

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 12 Oct 2002 7:47 am

In case you don't know, Gene lives in Arlington, TX where he builds his own fantastic GFI pedal steel. Check out his website which has his address, phone number, and email address listed: http://www.gfimusicalproducts.com/

Paul Graupp · Post by **Paul Graupp** » 12 Oct 2002 9:23 am

Roy: There is a thread in Events and Announcements about Ralph Mooney and Gene Fields playing a date togeather this weekend.

I was pleasantly surprized to see that you were a Fender Man is the bussiness sense of the word as well as the musical one. I just sent a friend a copy of all my Fretts things and we are having a fantastic dicussion on theory and harmony. This is still a learning thing for me and I always like to quote an old Don Gibson line: When I've learned enough to really live I'll be old enough to die.......and I'm no where near finished with this music thing !! I'm trying to reconstruct your C#m tuning as you described it so that is another lesson I'm into.

Regards, Paul

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 12 Oct 2002 10:47 am

It wasn't Gene Fields. As an additional factoid, he used to play the road with Wynn Stewart. Could his hame be Jimmy Collings?

BDBassett · Post by **BDBassett** » 12 Oct 2002 7:38 pm

Hey Orville,

I never got back in touch to say thanks for your great picking at the Issaquah gig with Kevin Juma...so...THANKS.

I remember them too. Rick Dunn was one of the
steel/tele players and I'll be damned if I can remember the other's name. Moxee City,
what a hoot...got so lost trying to get back to Yakima driving through the hops fields. I finally honed in on the radio towers and I knew where I was from there.
Forum member Dave Burton may know who you're
talking about bein' as he's from Yakima and all.

BD