Gene Watson's Steel Player?

Bob Snelgrove · Post by **Bob Snelgrove** » 19 May 2002 3:13 pm

Wow!

Caught the Opry last night and was blown away by the touch and tone of the steel player. Who is he and what was he playing through? Looked like a Franklin fretboard but had old Kluson tuners and sounded like a classic Emmons to me!

thx

bob

Al Udeen · Post by **Al Udeen** » 19 May 2002 5:25 pm

I thought he sounded great on Farewell Party too! I believe his name is Corky Owens! hard to beat that Franklin tone! au

Bob Snelgrove · Post by **Bob Snelgrove** » 19 May 2002 6:05 pm

That was Corky?! I met him when he was with Perfect Stranger.

Sounded awesome

thx

bob

Tiny Olson · Post by **Tiny Olson** » 21 May 2002 8:01 am

Yup... That was Corky. He really did sound great and as Gene Watson's former steel player, I know Gene is proud to have Corky with him again. Gene's a steel fan to say the least.

To my knowledge, this is Corky's 2nd stint with Gene.

Corky, if you're out there reading, you really sounded fantastic on the Opry the other night. Not to mention Gene and the rest of the band who also sounded great.
Was that Johnny Yates playing fiddle/acoustic ??? I didn't see Joe Eddie either, to my surprise.

Tiny Olson

Bob Snelgrove · Post by **Bob Snelgrove** » 21 May 2002 9:34 am

Tiny

Do you know what the rest of Corky's rig is?

The E9 pickup didn't look like the 705 Lawrence that was on the C neck?

thx

bob

Tiny Olson · Post by **Tiny Olson** » 21 May 2002 2:18 pm

Bob:

Sorry, but other than the fact that he plays a Franklin I can't give you much help. And it did look like a 705 on C6. Maybe a 710 on E9 but I couldn't tell.

Maybe he'll check in and let us know.

I know when we used to play the Opry, I'd plug into the "Opry Boxes" which were stacks of LTD 400 heads. It was done like that to allow rapid changing of the stage between acts and commercials. I don't know if they still use a setup like that but I do see Tommy White's Webb Amps sitting on the floor behind his guitar.

As for amps, I really do not know what Corky was playing through.

Boy... I'm some fountain of information (or misinformation) aren't I .?.?

Tiny O.

Bob Snelgrove · Post by **Bob Snelgrove** » 21 May 2002 2:24 pm

Thanks, Tiny

I didn't know Corky frequented this joint

bob

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 21 May 2002 10:57 pm

Tiny; the Opry stage now has a rack of about 5 or 6 Webb amp heads.......and then a 15" speaker in box, on wheels to roll between players between sets.
Ricky

Bob Snelgrove · Post by **Bob Snelgrove** » 22 May 2002 5:41 am

Ricky

Do players get to use their own effects? That tone Corky was getting that night was incredible.

bob

Jody Cameron · Post by **Jody Cameron** » 22 May 2002 6:05 am

Tiny,

FYI - That was Jeff Chance on fiddle and acoustic, and a guy named Jim Blackstock on piano. Joe Eddy quit, so did Travis Smith.
Bill Middleton replaced Travis. This all went down in the last couple of months. Just thought you'd like to know.

JC

Tiny Olson · Post by **Tiny Olson** » 22 May 2002 8:30 am

Hey Guys:

Thanks for the info. That's interesting, how they replaced the PVs with Webbs but given the fact that Tommy's the staff guy, it stands to reason.

I hadn't spoken to Gene in awhile so I called him last night and we talked for about 45 mins. He's doing quite well which is a great thing. The guy is still my favorite singer.

Gene was telling me that Corky had used Tommy's own amps on the Opry the other night.
I had to get to low-down on the other band members too. They really sounded good but it was weird to see Joe Eddie gone as he joined Gene in early 1978 (about 6 months after me) and he had been there ever since up until just recently.

It was cool talking with Gene about some of the crazy stuff that we went through back in the "old" days. We had some laughs.

Thanks again for the info guys.

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 22 May 2002 11:25 pm

HI Bob; yes you can use your own effects. Some of the steel players come out with stomp boxes and/or even a rack. But I prefer to just plug right into the Webb head with the reverb that is in that unit.
You really don't have much time to set up anything(about 1 min.) but if you come in earlier to mess around with the Webbs; you can dial you up a real nice sound; and before the section where you would be playing; set your steel out on stage in the steel guitar line....and your good to go.
I didn't get to hear Corky that night(any night for that matter) but the sound there and presented on TV is very very good.....they do a super job......cause I've heard guys come on there(not particularly steel players) and get an awful sound outta what ever they are playing with and/or through......and the sound guys out front make it sound dang good......and playback on TV is also good.
Ricky

Henry Matthews · Post by **Henry Matthews** » 23 May 2002 1:20 pm

I had Gene Watson on my show here in Texarkana May the 1st. They did one show and were just fantastic. Corky was playing his Franklin thu a profexs II and an older Session 400 that he said had had some special work done on it. His tone was just great with clear lows and highs. My band played a warmup show before Gene came on and I just playde through Corky's rig to save time and loved the tone while I was playing. He does have a georgel PF 1 on his e-9th and didn't notice the c-6th pickup but was not a georgel. Corky really has a great touch and technique and is a monster picker and one hech of a nice guy. Gene was great too.
Henry

Larry Jamieson · Post by **Larry Jamieson** » 25 May 2002 7:47 pm

Hello Tiny Olson, Please send me an e-mail with your current e-mail address. Mine is waltonmusic@yahoo.com. Thanks, Larry Jamieson, Walton, NY