Who's played Steel w: Pee Wee King ?

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 2 Mar 2003 7:23 am

Considering i'm steel in need of an Education
some buddy lent me a Pee Wee King + Golden Cowboys Cd (Bear family)1947/8)
Since there are no credits about who's playin could someone tell me who was the Steeler w: Pee Wee ?
Thanks

------------------
Steel what?

Dr. Hugh Jeffreys · Post by **Dr. Hugh Jeffreys** » 2 Mar 2003 8:09 am

Roy Ayres was King's steel man. We're good buddies and from the same neck of the woods. Roy and wife are on a Caribbean cruise, but will return to Fla. tomorrow--3/3....Best, Hugh

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 2 Mar 2003 10:05 am

Thanks Doc

goes to show i have'nt been payin attention

Ray Montee (RIP) · Post by **Ray Montee (RIP)** » 2 Mar 2003 10:29 am

Wasn't there a fellow named "Koefer" who used a thumb pick to strum his melodies?

Smiley Roberts · Post by **Smiley Roberts** » 2 Mar 2003 10:37 am

It was Bobby Koefer. Don't know why HE ain't in the S.G.H.O.F.!

c c johnson · Post by **c c johnson** » 2 Mar 2003 11:14 am

don't forget the forerunner. Roy Wiggins before he and Eddy Arnold left Pee Wee

Roy Ayres · Post by **Roy Ayres** » 3 Mar 2003 8:09 am

CrowBear:

I missed your original post, as I was on the cruise Hugh mentioned.

I was Pee Wee's steel man from 1946 through 1954. I was preceeded by Clel Summey and Don Davis and followed by Bob Koefer. I have heard that Roy Wiggins also played with Pee Wee while Eddie Arnold was his vocalist, but I can't personally attest to that. You can find more info in the following thread:
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum15/HTML/002959.html

Regards,

Roy Ayres[This message was edited by Roy Ayres on 03 March 2003 at 08:10 AM.]

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 3 Mar 2003 8:31 am

Hi Roy

Thanx for your reply
i've been enjoyin' these tunes by Pee Wee
New York to New Orleans
Say Good Mornin' Nellie
Tennessee Waltz
I'm satisfied w: you
49 women
Ten Gallon Boogie
these tunes seem to have been recorded round 48[This message was edited by CrowBear Schmitt on 03 March 2003 at 08:31 AM.]

Roy Ayres · Post by **Roy Ayres** » 3 Mar 2003 10:23 am

CrowBear:

I was on everything Pee Wee recorded between '46 and '54 except during '51 and '52 while I was in Korea. The first session I did with him was the "Tennessee Waltz" session and the last was the "Swing West" album -- both at RCA in Chicago. He also did a number of sessions after my tenure. I don't recall some of the songs you mentioned, so they may have been recorded during my absence or after my tenure.

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 3 Mar 2003 10:38 am

Roy....as a matter of historical interest, did you ever know of a steel player by the name of Billy (Bobby) Bowman who played with PeeWee in about the 1949 era? www.genejones.com [This message was edited by Gene Jones on 03 March 2003 at 10:42 AM.]

Doug Seymour · Post by **Doug Seymour** » 3 Mar 2003 3:01 pm

Gene, wasn't there a B. Bowman Hop that Wills recorded?? Same guy??

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 3 Mar 2003 3:11 pm

Doug, I think it's the same guy...when I first met him I was playing in his brothers band and he came through visiting.....and if I remember correctly, he said he was playing with Pee Wee King at the time. I remember it being about 1950 more or less, so maybe he was there while Roy was in the Army.

Roy???? Can you shed any light on this?

[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 03 March 2003 at 03:17 PM.]

Dr. Hugh Jeffreys · Post by **Dr. Hugh Jeffreys** » 3 Mar 2003 3:46 pm

To Gene Jones: I knew Billy Bowman well. Here in the Memphis area (1949?) He was with Eddie Hill on WMPS; I replaced him on that gig. He went with Paul Howard and the Arkansas Cotton Pickers, later with Bob Wills. We both got our D-8stg Nationals about the same time. Paul Howard called me often to replace Billy when he went with Wills, but I declined mainly because of their long hops across country. I believe Billy left Wills and went back to Knoxville, later passed away. Best to you....Hugh

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 3 Mar 2003 5:05 pm

Thanks Hugh.... since this thread started I found that I still remember how to play "B. Bowman Hop", which is surprising after all those years!
Gene

Roy Ayres · Post by **Roy Ayres** » 3 Mar 2003 7:08 pm

Gene:
I never met B. Bowman -- but, of course, everyone from that era knows the name, and what steel player hasn't played his famous B. Bowman Hop? Perhaps he played with Pee Wee while I was off doing my patriotic duty -- which, BTW, was in the USMC. I know that Pee Wee used several guys for short periods of time while I was away.

Incidentally, I thought it interesting that Pee Wee recorded Steel Guitar Rag four times and, although I played steel with him longer than any other one person, I never played steel on one of his records of that tune.[This message was edited by Roy Ayres on 03 March 2003 at 07:10 PM.]

R. L. Jones · Post by **R. L. Jones** » 3 Mar 2003 7:10 pm

Crowbear, how did you like the vocals on the Tenneesee Waltz. That is Redd Stewart, rhe guy who wrote the song. He was driving down the road listening to the Kentucky Waltz. He turned to Pee Wee and said , We need a Tennesee Waltz. He pulled over to the road side , jumped in back seat, found a pencil an a match box cover and wrote the song. I find that amazing.

R. L.

Buddy Buddy · Post by **Buddy Buddy** » 3 Mar 2003 10:58 pm

Might as well add another feller, to the list of steel pickers, with Pee Wee. They call him "Big Jim Vest", fer short.

"Little" Buddy.

Blake Hawkins · Post by **Blake Hawkins** » 5 Mar 2003 7:11 pm

Roy,
I have a Pee Wee King album "Pee Wee King's Western Hits", issued in 1952 which contains
"Steel Guitar Rag" with vocal by Redd Stewart.
Until reading your post, I thought that you did the steel guitar part.
Now that I listen to it again, may be it is
Billy Bowman?
The liner notes on the album (RCA Victor LPM 3071) don't name the musicians.
However, an earlier album, LPM 3028, did list the band, including you on steel guitar.
Blake

Kenny Dail · Post by **Kenny Dail** » 5 Mar 2003 7:58 pm

Speaking of Billy Bowman and his "B BOwman Hop", He also wrote another fav of mine called "Midnight In Amarillo".

------------------
kd...and the beat goes on...

Ray Montee (RIP) · Post by **Ray Montee (RIP)** » 5 Mar 2003 9:33 pm

To R.L. Jones: What's the REAL STORY on Tennessee Waltz? Yours is definitely interesting but I read somewhere that Cowboy Copas was one of the three that actually wrote that song but somehow, Copas' name was lost in the shuffle by way of Pee Wee King. What say you?

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 5 Mar 2003 11:08 pm

Yeah Tennessee Waltz is a Dead Ringer !

Jody Carver · Post by **Jody Carver** » 6 Mar 2003 8:45 am

There are many people who call themselves
Roy Ayres.

Will the REAL ROY AYRES Please Stand UP.

Lew Ayres

Jody Carver · Post by **Jody Carver** » 6 Mar 2003 8:48 am

Did you guys ever hear about the first time
a young gal (before Laurie and Roy were Married) asked Roy to kiss her???

She said to Roy,,,,Roy,,kiss me Ayres

edited I mis spelled Roy,,Oh I forgot,,the girl spoke with an Irish brogue

[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 08 March 2003 at 09:19 PM.]

Roy Ayres · Post by **Roy Ayres** » 6 Mar 2003 10:27 am

Jody:

I AM standing. (I'm just short.)

The real story on Tennessee Waltz:
To the best of my knowledge, Redd Stewart wrote it sitting at the piano in his living room in Nashville. I don't remember the address, but it was across the street from the rooming house run by Ma and Pa Upchurch, where a lot of the Opry pickers -- including myself -- called home. (As an aside, Redd played good piano, but only played the black keys, so everything he wrote at the piano was in the key of F#. But, although he was playing in F#, he wrote the lead sheets in C.)

Pee Wee told the "match book" story at every concert we ever played. It used to be a standard joke among the band members, including Pee Wee. Laurie and I spent a few days with Pee Wee and Lydia a couple of years before Pee Wee passed on. I mentioned the match book story in a half joking way, and Pee Wee picked up the conversation and told it again in detail. Sadly, his dementia had progressed to the point where he had told the story for so many years that he now believed it himself. That incident really touched me and saddened me. He finally reached the point where he didn't even recognize his own family before he finally gave up the spirit.

That's the way I remember the Tennessee Waltz story, although I guess it's possible that I, too, have reached the age where it is hard to separate fact from fiction. I think I'm still OK -- I just wish I could say as much for Jody. (Incidentally, Jody's spelling is so bad, he once paid $50 to spend the night in a WAREHOUSE!)

==============================
Edited to add this note for Blake:
I'm quite sure that was Don Davis on the SGR record you mentioned. It was recorded before I joined Pee Wee in 1946 and re-released later on the album you referred to.

==============================
Edited again to add a note for Ray Montee:
Copas did not have any part in writing Tennessee Waltz. He was the first to record it, however, on King Records just a few weeks before I came along. Redd signed an exclusive contract with Ernest Tub Publishing shortly after that to turn out two songs a week for E.T. for a flat weekly amount. In 1950 or '51, E.T. sued Redd and Pee Wee claiming that Redd had written the song while under the exclusive contract to E.T. Publishing. Pee Wee and Redd kept quiet avout the Copas recording until the case went to court in about October or November of 1951, where they produced a King Records executive (I think it was Bernie Pearlman) and the company records showing that the song was recorded prior to the E.T. contract. So, Pee Wee and Redd prevailed in the lawsuit.

If anyone is interested, The "big" royalty payoff for Pee Wee and Redd amounted to $35,000 to each of them for writer's royalties. The "big one" was Patti Page, with our record number two. but there were 14 or 15 other "cover" records released by various artists. Doesn't sound like a lot now-a-days, but remember that this was over 50 years ago.
[This message was edited by Roy Ayres on 06 March 2003 at 10:32 AM.][This message was edited by Roy Ayres on 06 March 2003 at 10:52 AM.]

Jody Carver · Post by **Jody Carver** » 6 Mar 2003 5:09 pm

edited for updated information. Roy Smeck was in Grammar school when Roy Ayres was recording with Pee Wee King.

Thia information came from a Roy Smeck historian. Roy Smeck was known as "The Wizard Of The Strings.

Just how old are you Roy Ayres?? Roy Ayres is the Wizard of Hiding His Age.

[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 06 March 2003 at 09:31 PM.]