Whoever it was, he also did the 'Whip Crack' of The legend of Xanado by DDDBMT !!
And probably the intro on 'No Matter how I try' by Gilbert O'Sullivan..
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Steel players do it without fretting

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[This message was edited by basilh on 19 March 2006 at 05:00 AM.]

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The mood of 'Jennifer Eccles' is much lighter and it is modelled on a children's playground game. The song begins:

White chalk written on red brick
our love told in a heart
it's there drawn in the playground
love, kiss, hate or adore.
Again the evocation of a red brick and thus working class school complete with playground is highly accomplished. In American songs, the playground gets transposed into the schoolyard such as Paul Simon's 'Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard' and sometimes in English songs too as in Cat Stevens' '(Remember the Days of the) old School Yard'. Playground or schoolyard, the reference as in the Stevens' song is a point of departure for nostalgic reminiscence of childhood and youth.

In 'Jennifer Eccles' there is no nostalgia as the narrator is a child. Hence the realism of the chorus which is composed of a chant like rendering of, 'I love Jennifer Eccles I know that she loves me' accompanied by the sound of a wolf whistle. Not even that can dispel the air of innocence and infantilism that pervades the song. The chalk message in the playground is the only suggestion that the school is the site of romance. The often used, heavily gendered, figure, 'I used to carry her satchels, she used to walk by side' signifies the space where the romance is conducted. A similar figure is used by Buddy Holly when he sang, 'the walks to school still make me sad' in his 1961 hit, 'What to do'.

The Hollies song ends with the narrator learning, 'one Monday morning' he has made the grade, a reference to the eleven plus examination, and his hope that she has done the same and 'will follow me there' to the grammar school. The transition from primary to secondary school is for many pupils a cause of apprehension and the fear of losing friends by them going to other schools is a common one and to have expressed this so succinctly is a tribute to the writing skills of Clarke and Nash.

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BJ Cole or Gordon Huntley makes total sense.
(I always liked Tony Hicks' guitar playing, and just wondered if steel was a hidden talent of his). =)

"Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch" -- now there's a name I haven't heard in a while!
I believe I had the single of "Legend of Xanadu" in the day!

What next, "Bubble Puppy"? LOL

Thanks again,
Lee
(ex - Borehamwood, Herts)

[This message was edited by Lee Warren on 19 March 2006 at 09:42 AM.]

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Hello Basil,
My name is Rod King . We met at the Castaways in Birmingham about a million years ago. I was appearing at a new club, I think it was in Solihull, and my amplifier had blown up on the opening night. Somebody directed me to you and you ended up very kindly helping me with the loan of an amp.

I was just now browsing through the Steel GuitarForum site and came across a question about a record of the Hollies - Jennifer Eccles, another blast from the past !
Anyhow I couldn't resist emailing you . I played the steel guitar on Jennifer Eccles - complete with wolf whistle! My guitar at the time was a Fender 400 that I played for years in shows all over the world. The record was done at Chappells Studio on Bond Street and there was even an extra drummer Clem Cattini on the session. I just thought that you might like this obscure fact for what seems to be your huge collection of steel guitar information - a sort of British Library archive of the Steel Guitar.
Many thanks for your kindness all those years ago
All the very best Rod King

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Probably the first instance of a Fender-Steel-King !!!

[This message was edited by basilh on 23 March 2006 at 03:13 AM.]

I remember Pete Willsher telling me that he was knocked out with the tone of a pedal steel that Rod had built himself. This must have been in the late 60's, early 70's.

[This message was edited by Ken Byng on 23 March 2006 at 04:39 AM.]

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Whoever it was, he also did the 'Whip Crack' of The legend of Xanado by DDDBMT !!
And probably the intro on 'No Matter how I try' by Gilbert O'Sullivan.

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'No Matter How I try' was Jim Sullivan - I thought it was steel myself back then, but I did a session at Gordon Mills studio and asked the engineer, Pete Rynston; he confirmed it was Big Jim S. on a b-bender guitar.

Most of Tom Jones, Englebert's, and Gilbert's records were originally laid down at that studio in Gordon Mills' house, 'Little Rhonda', on the St Georges Hill Estate near Weybridge. Our band, 'Compass', cut several sides there, but we were Gordon's only failure!!!!

Roger R.

[This message was edited by Roger Rettig on 23 March 2006 at 05:46 PM.]

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I seem to remember he was just down the road in Eaton Socon and I thought playing a "Sierra".

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Rod had a single 10 ZB in the 70's whenever I saw him.

The Jim Sullivan lick was close but I never heard it as a pedal steel at the time. Always sounded like a Tele to me but I have to say it fitted the number perfectly. What a great player he was and still is.

The 70's was a great time for Gordon and Pete Willsher as loads of UK pop records at the time featured pedal steel, and those two guys cleaned up really.

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Steel players do it without fretting

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[This message was edited by basilh on 23 April 2006 at 06:33 AM.]