Steel Guitar Magic Hawaiian Style

[Peter Krebs]

Picked up this CD recently which features Billy Hew Len and Barney Isaacs, Jr on steel(s). The rest of the band are all heavy-hitters. Great record, if you’ve never heard it. It sounds to me like both Barney and Billy are playing on each track and it’s cool to hear how they back each other up, trade/share fills and melodies, etc. Can someone help me identify which steel is Barney and which is Billy? The liner notes are pretty slim. Thanks!

[David Venzke]

Maybe this will give you a start:
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... 2c8d2271e5

[Peter Krebs]

This is perfect. Thanks for reposting the thread!

[Nic Neufeld]

It was a nice reminder of when I was brand new to the forum and to this music . And a great treat to hear from Jeff Au Hoy, who I later got to chat with in HNL.

What I'd really love to know, but I'm not sure anyone still living could say, is how he had his A6 copedent set up on his Fender 400!

[David M Brown]

What I'd really love to know, but I'm not sure anyone still living could say, is how he had his A6 copedent set up on his Fender 400!

Me too.

I also noticed that many of the pictures and rare videos of Billy show him playing non-pedal steels.

[Roger Fletcher]

I had the huge pleasure of sitting right in front of Billy for around 3 hours one evening in the Blue Dolphin room back in 1976. He was playing the Fender 400 standing and rarely used the pedals in those 3 hours.

He later played a Frypan in A6. Interestingly, Herb Remington and Tom Morrell also moved from pedal steel to non-pedal. I'm sure aging was a factor, but probably also an increasing awareness of how much they could do without pedals. When asked if he could do everything on his 10 string non-pedal, Tom Morrell answered "I can do enough".

[Nic Neufeld]

These old timers were gigging and probably a combination of...I won't call it laziness, but a certain desire for physical efficiency, with a "you know what, this is good enough". I've even found myself doing the same where I realize I can play songs I previously needed a different tuning for in my main tuning so that I don't have to haul a doubleneck around.

And a 400 is no joke to haul around (and set up, tear down) compared to a lap steel.

[Nic Neufeld]

These were a couple ideas I thought about tinkering with.

[Joe A. Roberts]

The interesting thing about Tom Morrell is he at one point had one of the most complicated copedents I've ever seen, especially for the time. (12 strings and 4 knees!)
Certainly the largest range, with Eb presumably below the E string of a bass, to high Bb.
Interesting that he decided to ditch the pedals later on. I guess he'd been there, done that!



And Vance Terry too; one of the greatest non-pedal players ever and he had perhaps THE most complicated copedent ever with stacked pedals and all.

It is a shame that Jules Ah See died before the world really got to see what he could do with pedals...

Is this Billy Hew Len on pedal steel? Awesome musicians all around...
Lena Machado - Ho'onanea (1962):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH9hlmI7H0M


Thanks for sharing your copedent Nic some cool ideas there.

I've even found myself doing the same where I realize I can play songs I previously needed a different tuning for in my main tuning so that I don't have to haul a doubleneck around.

I know that feel for sure. Like the realization hits: wait a second, why is this tune I spent so much time working out on x specialty tuning working out so well if not better on C13th?!

[Nic Neufeld]

Is this Billy Hew Len on pedal steel? Awesome musicians all around...
Lena Machado - Ho'onanea (1962):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH9hlmI7H0M

From the liner notes it is indeed BHL:

HO'ONANEA, 1962
Benny Saks worked his magic in this arrangement of Ho'onanea weaving his plaintive piano work within the velvet touch of steel guitarist Billy Hew Len. Lena holds her trademark high notes for all eternity on this second taste of her classic Hawaiian ode to love.

I didn't hear any too obvious pedal "tells"...until his pa'ani, specifically that run at 2:33, that sounded a bit like stuff I've heard Basil Henriques do. Pretty sweet.

[Michael Kiese]

These old timers were gigging and probably a combination of...I won't call it laziness, but a certain desire for physical efficiency, with a "you know what, this is good enough". I've even found myself doing the same where I realize I can play songs I previously needed a different tuning for in my main tuning so that I don't have to haul a doubleneck around.

And a 400 is no joke to haul around (and set up, tear down) compared to a lap steel.

Aloha Nic,

There is a fine line between "laziness" and efficiency. Breaking down complex things into simple relationships...a lot of people would call that "dumbing it down". But what it really is doing is "smartening things up".

All the best musicians I ever met always thought really deeply about minimizing the effort it takes to play music. They find the most efficient fingerings. They find the most pragmatic approaches.

I always joke that there is nothing more Hawaiian than not working any harder than you need to. It's a joke, but it's very real. There is wisdom in that.

If you're working harder than you need to, that's inefficient and a waste of energy. Yet we all do it for one reason or another.

When people see someone apparently not working hard, the first impression is that they're lazy. But you have to ask yourself "is the job getting done?". If so, that person isn't lazy. They're smart and they have it figured out.

Just my 2¢. Thanks for starting this thread!