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 Who is this steel player?-vintage Frenchie Burke
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Dave Potter Member From: Republic of Texas (near San Antonio) |
posted 03 June 2004 04:57 PM
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On an old record album of mine titled "The Best of Fiddlin' Frenchie Burke and the Soundmasters", the steel player is listed as a "Robbie Springfield". Age of this record is unknown to me, but could be 30-40 years old. Anyone have any information on "Robbie Springfield"? I have never seen his name mentioned here as long as I've been participating on the forum - several years. If you want to hear an excerpt from his playing, I've uploaded one to my personal website at http://gvtc.com/~flyboy/Mamousteel2.mp3 My wife says, "maybe they speeded up the tape". Don't know about that, but IMO, he's quite exceptional. |
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Charles Curtis Member From: Bethesda, Maryland, USA |
posted 03 June 2004 05:09 PM
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What is not to like about this? Robbie if you're out there, have you done any instrumental recordings? |
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Larry King Member From: Watts, Oklahoma, USA |
posted 03 June 2004 06:19 PM
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Re: information on Robby Springfield...first off, let me assure there was no speeding of the tape....he is just that capable...that's why we call him Rapid Robby. I TOLD you guys to come to the Tulsa show...you would have seen him live and in person. As far as quick pickin' is concerned, how many guys do you know that start their set with " One Way Rider" ? Robby is in the Mountain Home, Ar area and heavily involved in a studio there. He's hangin' out there in 'forum land'. The crowning touch to his flawless set was his awesome testimony of his personal relationship with Christ. I also saw him and his good buddy Bobby Bowman at the TSGA in March.....so , the moral of the story is " come to the shows ". |
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Ken Lang Member From: Simi Valley, Ca |
posted 03 June 2004 09:05 PM
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Back in the 60's when somebody ripped off a great ride like that, someone in the band would say, "Hey, nobody likes a showoff." He would then turn around to see the whole band grinning from ear to ear which meant of course, great picking. |
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Walter Stettner Member From: Vienna, Austria |
posted 04 June 2004 12:54 AM
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Please also refer to a previous thread: http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum15/HTML/006231.html Kind Regards, Walter ------------------ |
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Dave Potter Member From: Republic of Texas (near San Antonio) |
posted 04 June 2004 04:26 AM
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Everyone, thanks a lot for all the good info on Robbie Springfield. Guess I'm just about the last one to learn about this awesome talent. His playing amazes me. I'm sure going to make it a priority to go see him, if opportunity presents. |
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Gere Mullican Member From: LaVergne, Tennessee, USA |
posted 04 June 2004 06:04 AM
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Dave, I think surely I must be the last to learn of that talent. His name is not familiar to me at all and that little snip of an MP3 of his picking has got to be illegal. If he has an instrumental CD I want it. So quick and clean. Even if the tape was speeded up it would still be great picking. Thanks for enlightening me to some fantastic picking. Gere |
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john buffington Member From: Owasso Ok USA |
posted 04 June 2004 06:05 AM
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Robbie Springfield - one word A W E S O M E !!!!!!!!!! John Buffington |
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Dave Potter Member From: Republic of Texas (near San Antonio) |
posted 04 June 2004 07:57 AM
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The excerpt I referenced at the start of this thread was actually Robbie's second break in this song (Frenchie Burke/Big Mamou). He has two in the song. In case anyone's interested in hearing his first break, I've uploaded it to http://www.gvtc.com/~flyboy/robbiespringfield.mp3 It's 269KB. And, if you're *really* into this guy's playing, as I am, you may want to hear this one slowed down, a technique I use when I want to try to actually learn what some of these fantastic players are doing. Makes learning easier when it's slowed, and it's the *only* way I can pick out some of them - they're just too fast. The slowed version is at http://www.gvtc.com/~flyboy/slowMamou.mp3 but since it's stretched, it's longer, and the file size is 515KB. Took me about 3 and a half minutes to upload it on my 56K dialup connection. This is my favorite kind of steel. Enjoy. |
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Jeff Lampert Member From: queens, new york city |
posted 04 June 2004 10:13 AM
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. [This message was edited by Jeff Lampert on 04 June 2004 at 10:17 AM.] |
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Charlie Moore Member From: Deville, Louisiana, USA |
posted 04 June 2004 09:19 PM
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Well,i was playing across town from spring in Houston and his wife sang with our group Roy Head's band,so we hung out together,and at sound Master's studio,this guy was great late 70's early 80's, Spring if you read this get in touch with me, love to see you and Jamie Lou,...... Charlie Moore 318-442-5735.......... |
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Mike Brinkmeyer Member From: Houston, Texas U.S.A. |
posted 05 June 2004 10:14 AM
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One note of interest about Robbie - when he played and recorded with Frenchie in the early to mid 70's, he was a teenager. What a phenom, then and now! |
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Jody Sanders Member From: Magnolia,Texas |
posted 05 June 2004 12:25 PM
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It is hard to believe that Robbie is 47 years old. I've known hin since his "Frenchy Burke" days and he was a "mere child' then. It does'nt seem possible, but he is playing better,cleaner, and faster than he was then. He is one fine picker and a Christian gentleman. His performance in Tulsa was incredible. I am proud to have a friend like Robbie. Jody. |
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Mark Metdker Member From: North Central Texas, USA |
posted 07 June 2004 11:04 AM
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I remember hearing those old Frenchy Burk records way back when, and I always wondered who the steel player was. Robbie is THE MAN! His playing blew me away on those records. I had no idea how young he was when he cut those tracks. Amazing! |
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Bobby Bowman Member From: Cypress, Texas, USA |
posted 07 June 2004 11:28 AM
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Robby is like one of my own kids to me. His playing is about as good as it gets and his personal demeanor is just about beyond reproach. Maybe Mike Brinkmeyer will know this for sure, but I think that maybe a guy named Fred Heinie(sp?) may have been the steel player on the very first couple of Frenchie's recordings. Then, I think Robby did most of the rest of Frenchie's stuff. Ring in here for me Mike. BB ------------------ |
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Jody Cameron Member From: Angleton, TX,, USA |
posted 07 June 2004 01:10 PM
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Bobby You're right about Fred Heinie. At least I know for sure he played on "Colinda" because Frenchie told me that not too long ago. |
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Dave Potter Member From: Republic of Texas (near San Antonio) |
posted 07 June 2004 01:51 PM
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<< Bobby You're right about Fred Heinie. At least I know for sure he played on "Colinda" because Frenchie told me that not too long ago. Hmmm. That's an interesting aside. Now, don't get me going on Fred Heinie. Now, I've gotta' hear him and admire his playing The album I have is a "Best of" album of Frenchie's. "Colinda" is one of the cuts, and Robbie is the only steel player listed in the credits, but, there's always the possibility of oversights, especially on a "Best of" album. Hey Bobby, remember me? You brought Randy's LeGrande II back to me. How's everything? |
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Bobby Bowman Member From: Cypress, Texas, USA |
posted 07 June 2004 03:24 PM
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Hi Dave, I sure do remember,,,BTW,,,I'm working on a D10 LaGrande III now for John Buffington up in Oklahoma. John Hughey is suspossed to be sending me his to rebuild too,,,LeGrande III also. BB ------------------ |
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Bobby Bowman Member From: Cypress, Texas, USA |
posted 07 June 2004 03:35 PM
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About Fred, Some years ago Fred had an accident, while working in his garage on a shop light I believe, and due to some hospital staff goof-up's, has left Fred pretty much non functional as a steel player. As well as I remember, he also did the steel work on a big hit for the late Donny King, "Matilda". Fred, in his day, played on a lot of Houston sessions. And guess what,,,it was all done on an Emmons push pull which I think Mike Brinkmeyer still has. Later, BB PS: I also believe he did the steel work on a pretty big song called "Big Blue Diamond" by Jackie Ward. ------------------ If you play 'em, play 'em good! If you build 'em, build 'em good! [This message was edited by Bobby Bowman on 07 June 2004 at 03:38 PM.] |
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Donny Hinson Member From: Balto., Md. U.S.A. |
posted 07 June 2004 05:21 PM
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Robbie's a hot picker...always was. Somewhere, in my vast archives of miscellany, I've got a tape of Robbie doing that very song live w/Frenchie, probably a couple of years before they did that album. Being old does have advantages. |
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Dave Potter Member From: Republic of Texas (near San Antonio) |
posted 07 June 2004 05:36 PM
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<< Being old does have advantages I'd like to sign on to that, but they're becoming harder to identify as time progresses, Donny |
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Jody Sanders Member From: Magnolia,Texas |
posted 07 June 2004 09:43 PM
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Fred Heine was a super player and a super person. When I was producing a few local artists in the early70's, I used Fred a lot. he could make that Emmons sing.Jody.PS I also used Bobby Bowman on an album by Lonnie Roberts. Bobby did a super job for me.Jody. |
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Mike Brinkmeyer Member From: Houston, Texas U.S.A. |
posted 11 June 2004 07:19 PM
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Well I just returned this evening from 5 days in the beautiful Texas hill country so I've been somewhat removed from the Forum and this post in particular - I wasn't ignoring you Bobby  . Here's things as I remember them, right or wrong - I do feel pretty comfortable with it:In 1974, Frenchie recorded "Big Mamou" on a local Houston label (A.V. Mittelstedt, producer) with Robbie on steel. At the time, Robbie was playing with Frenchie several nights a week. Shortly after, in 1975, Frenchie had an album released on the 20th Century label "Fiddlin' Frenchie Burke & The Outlaws" that contained this same recording of Big Mamou. The steel work on this 20th Century LP was split between Robbie and fine Houston steeler, Fred Heine. This is where Fred did the steel work on "Colinda". Incidently, Fred played two awesome rides on this song, the first on C6th, the second on E9th. In 1981, another album was released on the Delta label "The Best of Fiddlin' Frenchie Burke and the Soundmasters" using Robbie exclusively on steel. This album had several re-recordings of songs off the 1975 album, including Big Mamou and Colinda. The links that Dave posted are off this 1981 release. O.K. - I'm gonna go unpack. P.S. I do still have Fred Heine's '74 Emmons D-10 P/P. Oh yeah, and it's black  . [This message was edited by Mike Brinkmeyer on 11 June 2004 at 07:24 PM.] |
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