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 Buck Owens Steel Player Chronology (Page 1)
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| Author | Topic: Buck Owens Steel Player Chronology |
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Lawrence Lupkin Member From: Brooklyn, New York, USA |
posted 09 May 2006 06:17 AM
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Can someone provide a rough time line for who played steel with Buck Owens and at what time? Thanks in advance! |
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Terry Wood Member From: Marshfield, MO |
posted 09 May 2006 10:03 AM
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This is the ones I remember and I'm not certain to all the dates, but these people played or recorded with Buck Owens at one time or other: Ralph Mooney, Tom Brumley, Jay Dee Maness, Buddy Emmons, Terry (Last Name? Christopherson or Christianson?) Tom Brumley and Ralph Mooney are the two steelers that really stand out on recordings. There are probably others. I hope this helps. GOD bless! Terry Wood |
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Skip Edwards Member From: LA,CA |
posted 09 May 2006 10:13 AM
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Don't forget Jerry Brightman. He was in there right after Jay Dee, I believe. |
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GaryHoetker Member From: Bakersfield, CA, USA |
posted 09 May 2006 10:16 AM
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Lawrence- I think this a substantially accurate chronology 1958-62-Ralph Mooney session player only Enjoy Buck. He is truly one of the greatest, Regards. |
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Lawrence Lupkin Member From: Brooklyn, New York, USA |
posted 09 May 2006 10:57 AM
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Thanks guys. No Depression magazine has a fairly comprehensive Buck Owens retrospective written my Rich Kienzle in this month's issue. I found it odd that the only mention of pedal steel in the article didn't include Ralph Mooney:
quote: [This message was edited by Lawrence Lupkin on 09 May 2006 at 11:00 AM.] |
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Terry Wood Member From: Marshfield, MO |
posted 09 May 2006 12:37 PM
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Maybe he didn't but I thought Buddy Emmons done a few recording dates with Buck. I only saw Buck once in concert and Don Rich had been killed, and Tom Brumley had left. At first I was a little disappointed, but when I saw the show, he had Terry Christopherson playing an MSA steel and guitar part time. Then he had another lead guitarist, Jana Jae was still with him on fiddle, he had a big 7 piece band. Buck was terrific! The man was Country and AMERICAN MUSIC all the way! GOD bless! Terry Wood Terry Wood |
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Joey Ace Sysop From: Southern Ontario, Canada |
posted 09 May 2006 12:45 PM
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quote: I can't imagine a Buck show w/o Steel! 
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John LeMaster Member From: St. Johns County, FL |
posted 09 May 2006 01:07 PM
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At the 2003 ISGC, here are 3 Buckaroo steelers, Jerry Brightman, Tom Brumley, and Jaydee Maness.  [This message was edited by John LeMaster on 09 May 2006 at 03:09 PM.] |
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Anita Kleinow Member From: San Francisco,California, USA |
posted 09 May 2006 01:43 PM
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Sneaky Pete played with Buck alot. One recording is by the FBB's called "California Jukebox", produced by John Beland, Buck appeared as a guest. |
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Fred Jack Member From: Bay City Texas |
posted 09 May 2006 02:15 PM
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Ralph Mooney was every bit as much a part of the sound Buck had as Buck himself. They were a winning combination! Listen to those old L-P's, if you gottum, and they are as refreshing today as they were in the 50's & 60's.If you were old enuf to listen to music when the Moon was recording with Buck you know what I mean when I say that music moved ya. It got inside you and brought you to life! I can still get a high out of listening to them. Those three charactors pictured above certainly stand on their own reputation. This is not meant to take anything away from them. Its just that I get fired up at Rich Kienzle writings. I read other things and I wonder where he gets his info and what makes him the authority.Uuuuhh , wheres my prozac? Wheres my Makers Mark. |
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Nathan Hernandez Member From: Riverside, California, USA |
posted 09 May 2006 03:08 PM
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Didnt Fuzzy Owens play with Buck at one point? |
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GaryHoetker Member From: Bakersfield, CA, USA |
posted 09 May 2006 08:59 PM
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Nathan- Man you have a good memory. Fuzzy sure did. In fact, he appeared with Buck and the rest of the Buckaroos on the Jimmy Dean show in 1964 or thereabout. Could have been during Buck's transition from Jay McDonald to Tom Brumley or perhaps Fuzzy was just filling in for Brumley. Fuzzy was a fine player and also had a stint with Hag when the he and the Strangers first formed. I got to meet Fuzzy for the first time at the memorial service for Bonnie Owens a couple of weeks ago. He's a real gentleman. |
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Al Johnson Member From: Sturgeon Bay, WI USA |
posted 10 May 2006 04:52 AM
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I am 72 with a good memory-I have read many articles by Rich Kienzle and have often wondered---where did he get that???? But his writings are interesting. Al |
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Randy Reeves Member From: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA |
posted 10 May 2006 05:39 AM
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Im listening to a Best of Buck Owens right now. Mooney is a real standout. Im curious. how did Don Rich pass away; what a talent. there was a brief spell when Don played a fuzztone effect on some era o recordings. [This message was edited by Randy Reeves on 10 May 2006 at 05:39 AM.] |
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Brint Hannay Member From: Maryland, USA |
posted 10 May 2006 05:49 AM
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Don Rich died in a motorcycle accident. |
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Ray Minich Member From: Limestone, New York, USA |
posted 10 May 2006 06:33 AM
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"Under your spell again"... What a great steel break. Thank you Mr. Mooney. |
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Bill Simmons Member From: Keller, Texas, USA |
posted 10 May 2006 11:58 AM
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Wow...this post brought back a lot of great memories. As a kid growing up in Winnipeg, Canada, my dad got me playing steel guitar through listening to Buck Owens records with Ralph Mooney. Man, I'd sit in my room with a beat up turntable and my Fender 1000 trying my best to be like my new hero -- Ralph Mooney! Great style that to this day you can immediately say, "That's Mooney!" Come to think of it, it was a couple of other Buckaroo's that greatly impacted my playing -- Tom Brumley's playing on the 'Live at Carnegie Hall' blew me away. To this day, this is my all-time favorite recording along with his time with Ricky Nelson etc. About 1977 or so, the gospel group I was travelling full time with recorded in LA. The producer had another well known steel player set but I insisted Jay Dee Maness be the session player...man, his tone and approach was soooo inspiring...one of my all-time steel hero's...great memories!! |
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Gary Spaeth Member From: Wisconsin, USA |
posted 11 May 2006 05:50 AM
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this thread has the info about buddy emmons' recordings with buck, straight from the sources mouth-or keyboard in this case. http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum15/HTML/011389.html [This message was edited by Gary Spaeth on 11 May 2006 at 05:51 AM.] |
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Keith Hilton Member From: 248 Laurel Road Ozark, Missouri 65721 |
posted 11 May 2006 03:09 PM
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I used to play steel guitar for Bob Morris, the guy who wrote the song Buckaroo for Buck Owens. Bob was from Hardy, Arkansas. Bob wrote many number one hits including, "Play Boy". |
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Gary Spaeth Member From: Wisconsin, USA |
posted 11 May 2006 09:38 PM
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according to the buck owens box set, bob morris played bass on all the sessions not doyle holly,who played rhythm. funny he was never credited as a buckaroo on the albums. |
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Gary Walker Member From: Morro Bay, CA |
posted 11 May 2006 11:09 PM
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Randy, Don was on his way to join his family in the town we now live in on his motorcycle in '74. I think it was at night and he was hurrying to be with them. What a shame. It forever changed Buck and his career was never the same. |
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Kevin Hatton Member From: Amherst, N.Y. |
posted 12 May 2006 07:49 AM
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Keith, thats interesting. There is a performance clip of Morris on the Buck Owens Ranch Shows. I has know idea he wrote those songs. Sounds like he was part of the Owens team. |
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Scott Wehmeyer Member From: Texas, USA |
posted 12 May 2006 06:37 PM
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 In addition to writing great stuff like Playboy, Helpless, Don't Take Advantage of Me, Buckaroo, Rattle Traps, Fishing on the Mississippi, It Takes a Lot Of Money, etc, etc, Bob put out some great stuff on the Challenge, Tower, and Capitol labels in the sixties. "Don't Underestimate Me" goes as hard as anything Buck ever put out. Maybe because Buck is singing harmony on it (I think that's him). [This message was edited by Scott Wehmeyer on 12 May 2006 at 06:38 PM.] |
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Don Barnhardt Member From: North Carolina, USA |
posted 15 May 2006 08:21 PM
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If my memory serves me right Buck started out as a steel player himself or did I just dream that up? |
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Jason Odd Member From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
posted 16 May 2006 01:05 AM
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Gary, that's real good, although I might make a couple of suggestions, totally sidestepping any temp steelers as well. 1958-62-Ralph Mooney session player only 1962-1964-Jay McDonald Buckaroo 1964-1969 Tom Brumley Buckaroo 1969-JD Maness Buckaroo (I'd say more like early 1969 to about March of '70. I'm fairly sure there's no 1970 recordings with Buck) 1970-72 Void of Steel, I'd say 1971 was when Jerry Brightman joined, Jerry might confirm if he's around, although I don't think he got into the studio with Buck until '72. 1972-1974-Jerry Brightman Buckaroo 1974-2006-Terry Christofferson Buckaroo. |
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Jerry Brightman Member From: |
posted 16 May 2006 09:20 AM
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Hello, I was made aware of this thread, and until now decided not to post. However, several emails and phone calls have encouraged me to come forward with this information. As I landed at the Bakersfield airport for Buck's funeral, I realized that it had been 31 years since I left Bakersfield in 1975. Heck, that's half a lifetime, and I can't imagine how anyone would remember that far back...especially being absent from the steel community for almost 30 years and not being very visiable. The following links will explain in detail answers to many of these questions:
Jerry Brightman [This message was edited by Jerry Brightman on 16 May 2006 at 09:38 AM.] |
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Lawrence Lupkin Member From: Brooklyn, New York, USA |
posted 16 May 2006 11:02 AM
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My thanks to Jerry and everyone else who took the time to reply. |
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Charles Curtis Member From: Bethesda, Maryland, USA |
posted 16 May 2006 03:12 PM
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I was told that Ralph did live shows with Buck; is there someone that can contact Ralph and ask him. A friend of mine in the military was talking to me about Ralph over 40 years ago. The first time I heard Ralph play, I was hooked. At that time I didn't know what a psg was, I had only played with a laptop. I'll bet Ralph got a lot of guys hooked on "that sound". |
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Fred Shannon Member From: Rocking "S" Ranch, Comancheria, Texas |
posted 16 May 2006 11:45 PM
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Charles, the info I have is that Moon played session only. I could certainly stand to be corrected. I know the Manness and Brightman era very well. While Jerry was with the band from early 1972 to 1975 I don't believe anyone but Jerry recorded with the band. That is how I understand it. Jerry has spent many hours going back and verifying what he has on his website. I guess one could certainly ask Moon about his time spent with the Budkaroos and he can straighten out the confusion if there is any. I know the Brightman info is correct, however. Phred ------------------ |
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Charles Curtis Member From: Bethesda, Maryland, USA |
posted 17 May 2006 07:37 AM
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Fred, if I remember correctly, my friend had been to one of Buck's shows and he may have met Ralph because he was describing him to me. He knew I was overwhelmed by Ralph's "sound". I wasn't aware of psg's and had never thought of mechanically changing the tension of the strings; hence I tried to change the tuning on my six-string lapsteel to no avail. The first psg I saw was when I went to an ET show and saw Buddy Emmons play one. |
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Charles Curtis Member From: Bethesda, Maryland, USA |
posted 17 May 2006 03:06 PM
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Sorry guys, I had looked past Terry's post and focused on the "session player" thing; got to pay closer attention. I'll bet there are some good stories that Ralph could tell when it took off. |
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Jason Odd Member From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
posted 21 May 2006 07:41 AM
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Oh, Mooney did play with Buck, but very infrequently. In 1960 he worked with Wynn Stewart and Buck on a run of shows, he was Wynn's steel player at the time and they were sharing the band on the same billing. This happened some, but not much. Wynn toured with Buck's show in 1968-69, Wynn's band backed everyone (at least on some of the '69 tours) except Buck Owens and The Buckaroos. Just went over a bunch of old emails, found Terry Christofferson mentioning his first starting with Buck in 1975, and to replace Jerry. After '72, until he left in '75 I don't think anyone recorded with the Buckaroos aside from Jerry, on some other projects I believe Jerry and Jay Dee popped up on the Tony Booth Capitol LPs, I'm assuming that these were cut at Buck's studio and he licensed them to Capitol, which is what he was doing with his own, the Buckaroos, Susan Raye and Buddy Alan's material. Of course Jerry is the man, this is his era I'm talking about, so he has final say and I'm just a spectator on anything he has to add. |
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Joe Shelby Member From: Walnut Creek, California, USA |
posted 21 May 2006 05:36 PM
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I haven't heard all the '70's stuff, but would lean to saying that "In the Palm of Your Hand" is up towards the top of the list of "in need of" a Sundazed reissue. Jerry (Brightman) plays on the title cut, a more up tempo revamp of the original with an added chorus. The rest of the album has Ralph Mooney on most everything else, and includes some early Buck tunes ("There Goes My Love," "Sweethearts in Heaven") redone very nicely. Ralph's playing is consistently great throughout. You don't get the feeling that they're pushing to recreate the '50's-'60's feel--it just works really well the way it is. "Arms Full of Empty" was the single release from the album (I think it charted) and Ralph gets down 'n means it. I haven't heard the live '70's releases. I think there's two of them (one, "Live in Melbourne," has Jerry Brightman, and he may be on the second, as well). I know Jason could educate us about these... Joe. |
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Jason Odd Member From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
posted 25 May 2006 09:30 AM
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Hi Joe, yes there were actually a series of live albums from around 1974 that were only issued in the country where they were recorded. I believe the Australian one was recorded at the Sydney Opera House, I've never seen or heard the album, although I have seen it listed. It may very well be live in my hometown, it has been a while since I checked that list. |
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Jerry Brightman Member From: |
posted 27 May 2006 07:49 AM
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Jason and Joe, These are the albums you speak of above: ECP 93135 B Buck Owens Show In Japan 1974 Jason, You are correct about an earlier email to you, it was a type o', and the correct dates are 1972-1975. I have provided a link for more information about this below:
Jerry http://www.slidestation.com [This message was edited by Jerry Brightman on 27 May 2006 at 08:07 AM.] |
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Joe Shelby Member From: Walnut Creek, California, USA |
posted 28 May 2006 12:43 AM
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Jerry- After going on your website, it's cleared up a lot of confusion as to "who?" played with who and on what. As many know, Buck had a large stable of artists, and I assumed that it was Jay Dee on a lot of that stuff. It's interesting how you were able to alter your playing style according to the artist's trademark steel sound... Seeing you on Hee Haw in the early '70's, I felt like you did carve out an original playing style, that was still very West Coast sounding at the same time. I asked other players "who is that guy?" and nobody could tell me. Finally, I read an interview with Jay Dee some years ago where he mentioned that you had worked with Buck. At that point things finally clicked. Just wanna say hearing you back then was really inspiring. Joe. |
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Charles Curtis Member From: Bethesda, Maryland, USA |
posted 29 May 2006 06:42 AM
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I believe that Jay Dee Maness did an LP with Buck, titled, "Buck Owens In London". Anyone else remember that one? |
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Jason Odd Member From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
posted 29 May 2006 06:54 AM
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Charles, "Buck Owens In London" has recently been reissued on CD by Sundazed Records. Hey Jerry, good to see you on the forum, all the best. Jase |
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Charles Curtis Member From: Bethesda, Maryland, USA |
posted 29 May 2006 07:57 AM
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Thanks Jason; I gotta have that one to listen to long time friend. That LP just won't fit in my CD player. |
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Jerry Brightman Member From: |
posted 11 June 2006 07:36 AM
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Hello Joe, Jason, and others, Thank you for your comments and I have added even more info and sound samples on my website. It was also nice to see a picture of Bob Morris. He produced most of the recordings with Susan Raye and we had a great friendship. Jerry [This message was edited by Jerry Brightman on 11 June 2006 at 08:54 AM.] |
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