"From: HitPro (hitpro@aol.com)
Subject: Re: Something to talk about


Newsgroups: uk.music.country
Date: 1999/02/16

Hi Jim, this is Stan Hitchcock.

Curly Chalker was my friend, and I thought youmight enjoy this story, since you just got a new cd featuring him.....here it
is:

A couple of weeks ago one of my musician friends called me and told me that one
of my old compadres had died that morning, namely Curly Chalker, the best damn
steel guitar player that ever slid a bar across strings, and would I come and
sing at the funeral. Many years ago, around 1970, I recorded a song called
“The Shadow Of Your Smile” which is an old pop standard and one of the prettiest melodies I have ever heard. The reason I recorded it was so I could feature Curly playing the steel guitar turnaround, no small feat for a country steel guitar player.....but Curly wasn’t just any steel player....he was Curly Chalker, the best. I met Curly in the late sixties when he moved to Nashville from Las Vegas where he had a legendary show band where other musicians would just come to watch in amazement as they played everything from Western Swing tofar-out Jazz and all the in-between. Curly came to Nashville to get intosession work but the producers in power were so intimidated by his talent, and
his no-bullshit attitude, that they froze him out of most of the big sessions.
My bass player, Buck Evans, would go down to Printer’s Alley and play with
Curly, as part of the Curly Chalker Trio when we weren’t on the road. Curly
had put together the Trio which consisted of Curly, Buck and Jimmy Stuart on
drums. I would come by the club and listen and Curly got to asking me to get
up and sit in on vocals.....then one night he wondered if I knew the song “The
Shadow Of Your Smile” and when I said no he asked me to learn the song so we
could do it on stage. Well, I learned the song and the first night we tried it
on stage, and he went into the jazz-swing turnaround and just played his everlovin’ butt off, I was hooked. A couple of years later when I was putting the material together for a new album, I decided to bring in Curly and feature him on the “Shadow”. Tommy Allsup was my producer, a man who understood music
and musicians and who loved Curly’s playing also. Well, we had cut a couple of
good songs and I felt about in the mood, so I sent most of the extra musicians
out of the studio for a break and kept Jimmy Capps on gut-string guitar, Bob
Moore on the acoustic bass, Buddy Harmon using brushes on the snare and a mixed
quartet of background voices and brought Curly in. We dimmed the lights real
low and Curly touched those strings with his magic hands and we started the
song. I sang a verse and a chorus and then very quietly said,”Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present my very good friend, Mr. Curly Chalker.” What followed was a special moment in our country music......Curly played a classic
turnaround that every steel guitar player who has ever heard it still just
shake their heads in wonder. The record came out in an album and the label
pulled the song for the backside of a single......but the song was there and in
the areas where it got play it was a smash.....because of the steel. Well, the
problem with all of it was....none of the other musicians could play it...so I
never got to perform it on the road, except once.............
I was booked for a concert in St. Louis, Missouri in 1970 when “The Shadow”
reached number one on WIL Radio....the top country station in that whole
region. Well, I was sweating it ‘cause I knew folks would be wanting to hear
the song...and we couldn’t play it without Curly. The auditorium was packed
and we had set up on the front part of the stage, in front of the
curtain...because that is how Buck said the promoter wanted it. I was sorta
skeptical about this set-up....shoot, who every heard of setting up in front of
the curtain? We were introduced and came out to a great welcome from the
crowd, launched into our first song and the show was on. We did about three
songs without stop and then we cooled down and I started talking to the crowd,
and they started hollering for the “Shadow”. I was just into the explanationabout how it was impossible to do our number one record......when from behind the curtain came the sweetest sound.....the steel guitar intro to my song. The curtain parted and there Curly sat, behind that old Sho-Bud guitar, grinningfrom ear to ear. We did “Shadow” three times before the crowd would let us
be....it was a great moment. Buck had told Curly about our problem and he had flown in to do the show with us....just ‘cause he wanted to. It is my fond memory of Curly, and one I will always cherish.
At the funeral I stood off to a room at the side, facing the casket, and sang
the “Shadow” to Curly for the last time. I looked out across the crowd of
pickers and we were all taken back to those special times when the music was
all that mattered, we were all young and the fire was still in our
bellies........and Curly Chalker was the best damn steel guitar player that
ever slid a bar........across a string.

Jim, I just wanted to share this with you.

Stan Hitchcock" UnQuote:

Now if that doesn't knock your hat in the creek, you're a dead end kid.

Can some of you spool me up to speed on Hitchcock? I know I'm gonna' feel like a dumba$$ when I learn who he was and what he did. But I'm entitled to that at a near 71 years of age.

edited to show some old people are losing their sanity. I just received two phone calls to let me know who Stan Hitchcock is so don't bother.

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The spirit be with you!
If it aint got a steel, it aint real

[This message was edited by Fred Shannon on 27 January 2004 at 06:57 PM.]

Anyway, his posts are always as informative and personal as the one Fred shared above. I hope Stan reads this thread and checks in here again.

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HagFan

Thanks for the story though; I really enjoyed reading words from Stan the Man !! He was one of my heros back then and still for that matter. But Clyde said it much better.....

Now that the ball bat has been placed firmly against the side of my head, of course, I remember you. I, too, watched the TV shows eluded to, but the old age bug busted me again. Just a case of alligator mouth and hummingbird butt one more time.. In any case the email you sent to "Jim" certainly touched me, nearly to the point of tears starting to run. Curly was in the Texas Vernacular, "Something Else!!!", and you, sir, are a compassionate gentleman that I would enjoy meeting...Thanks for the article, it was great.

Now to you guys that ate my socks off, just wait, you'll lose some of it too with age. It's inevitable.

Fred

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The spirit be with you!
If it aint got a steel, it aint real

I fist saw Curley playing an 11 string (yes 11 string) Fender 1000 using two Fender Bassman amps during a Hank Thompson show in the early 60's in Miami. He used a volume pedal but had no knee levers. As I watched him dance across those 11 pedals from one end to the other, I felt then and now, he was and is one of the most unique players of all time.

He is truly the "chord King" of the steel guitar. Add to this, his awesome tone and volume swells; along with his unusual bass string dexterity; and you have what Stan said come true.

May he rest in peace,

I have a CD of Johnny Cox great playing of that song,and when I play it, it reminds me of Curly.....................al

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My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/

""hey Fred......not to worry, I don't remember me very often either.
I'm older than dirt, and worth bout as much. We had some good times
with music and I got to play with the greats. I am blessed.

Thanks,

Stan Hitchcock
hitpro@comcast.net""

fred

------------------
The spirit be with you!
If it aint got a steel, it aint real

He came pretty close to giving me a heart attack in Saluda, last November.

He comes about as close to capturing Curly's style as anyone I've ever heard.

Clyde plays the living snot out of "Georgia".

That Old ShoBud Baldwin Crossover in the bottom picture sat in my living room in Hermitage Tn. for about two months in 1977 and Curly would come over, when he had time, to teach me some things.

Like a fool, I took a job in a shipyard in Mississippi and never graduated from the course, so to speak.

Another missed opportunity! I'm famous for not recognizing a opportunity when it hits me right in the face.

This post has caused me some tears in the past few days, everytime I go back and read what Stan wrote. Simply Beautiful. I have had the same thing stored on a CD for quite a while now. I even tried putting a Curly Chalker Memorial Website on a Tripod Website, and never got to finish it. It may still be there.

John

[This message was edited by John Floyd on 29 January 2004 at 04:58 AM.]

That's how you got "busted", Fred.

Here's Stan's reply:

quote:

---

Hey thanks Ron, gosh I wrote that about Curly about three years ago. I'm just an old steel guitar fan that was fortunate enough to work with the greats, Curly, Hal Rugg, Buddy Emmons, etc and I have never forgot who created this music they call Country.....the pickers and the songwriters, not the singers....we just carried the melody, the pickers made the music.

You are welcome to let folks know where to reach me.....I don't even know how to get back on the forum and thank those folks for remembering. And thank you for taking the time to let me know.

You were right, I headed up the group that started CMT in 1983-84, and I ran the network until it sold to Gaylord in 1991. I am currently starting up a new cable network called "BlueHighways TV", which will launch sometime this summer. My offices are in Hendersonville, TN and I welcome all pickers, singers, roadrunners, down and outers, heroes, songwriters, hitchhikers, carnival workers, circus freaks and other folks that have a lot in common with us pore ol music folks.

Thanks Ron,

Stan Hitchcock

---

I told Stan how to go about getting back in the mix here should he chose to do so. As indicated in Fred's original post, Stan can be reached via e-mail at hitpro@aol.com

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HagFan

[This message was edited by Ron Page on 29 January 2004 at 05:39 AM.]

It is always such a treat to hear Curly, he was a deep deep musician who happened to be amazing on steel guitar. I wish there was more of his playing available!

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http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, transcribers, technique tips and fun stuff.

[This message was edited by John McGann on 29 January 2004 at 02:03 PM.]

I had the good fortune of playing steel for Stan from 1977-80. He's a super person, and a true fan of steel guitar.

mm

[This message was edited by Michael McGee on 29 January 2004 at 07:53 PM.]

Stan Hitchcock is COUNTRY. No bitchin', bellyachin', or alternative crap, just PLAIN COUNTRY. I'm orderin' the entire audio collection from Stan's place. I think I'm in for a treat. Thanks you guys.

fred

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The spirit be with you!
If it aint got a steel, it aint real

I had the opportunity to take six hours of instruction from Curly about six months before he passed away. That has been the high light of my pickn' career.

D.G.

quote:

---

That Old ShoBud Baldwin Crossover in the bottom picture . . .

---

Roger

[This message was edited by Roger Shackelton on 31 January 2004 at 01:49 AM.]

As a side note

When Curly brought that ShoBud down to my house and set it up. He played more music tuning the thing up than I have heard out of most steel players in my 63 years on this earth and apologized for it. He told me he wasn't showing off, that was his way of tuning. Have to remember that this was 1977 and the tuners we know weren't around yet. I'm not so sure that he would have used one.

That was pretty much the extent of my steel guitar career, it sat there for about a month or two and he came down a couple of times and tried to show mw a couple of things.

I got a job in a shipyard in Mississippi and I didn't see him again until the convention in 1978 or 79 and that was the last time I saw him alive.

I still have his Bar and I take it to every gig I play as a good luck piece. It may not help my guitar playing, but it helps to put me in the right frame of mind.

I'm not making any claims about being a steel player, I let my best opportunity slide right by. But for a few years I was a close friend of the best damn steel player who ever lived and I'm very proud of that friendship.

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HagFan