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 The Steel Guitar Forum
 Music
 Last Date
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| Author | Topic: Last Date |
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John Lockney Member From: New Market, Maryland, USA |
posted 17 September 2005 04:29 PM
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I thought "Last Date" was originally an instrumental by Floyd Cramer. Did Conway Twitty add the lyrics, sort of like the addition of "Danny Boy" lyrics to the "Londonderry Air" melody ? It looks like the pedal steel on the Conway Twitty version was played by Paul Franklin. Searching for +"Last Date" +"Twitty" +"pedal steel" I found this Amazon review.. "Conway was so secure in his insecurities he didn't even mind when the extraordinary John Hughey, who played pedal steel like a man laying a shroud over his best friend, stole the song, as on '(Lost Her Love) On Our Last Date.'" Sounds like Conway Twitty had a lot of memorable last dates. |
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George Rozak Member From: Braidwood, Illinois USA |
posted 17 September 2005 09:47 PM
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Seems the words to the Conway version were different than an older version I remember by Skeeter Davis. BTW, I can remember the DJs always talking during the intro to Conway's version. Used to really burn me up. George ------------------ |
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Walter Stettner Member From: Vienna, Austria |
posted 18 September 2005 12:50 AM
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John Hughey played on the Conway Twitty version. Great long intro!  Kind Regards, Walter |
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John Lockney Member From: New Market, Maryland, USA |
posted 18 September 2005 05:45 AM
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Thanks for the clarification on the steel player for Conway Twitty's version. |
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Donny Hinson Member From: Balto., Md. U.S.A. |
posted 18 September 2005 06:21 AM
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Yes, Cramer wrote the song as an instrumental. The Amazon review discloses the fact that just as many people bought the record to hear John's extensive steelwork as they did to hear Conway's singing. The same was true later, with Conway's "Lost In The Feeling". Conway realized that a good intro and ride could really help sell a song...a fact that apparently escapes most song producers today. |
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Bob Leaman unregistered |
posted 18 September 2005 09:26 AM
The Correct name for the song "Danny Boy" is "Londonderry Air. No one in United States wrote words for this song. This song is commonly called the Irish National Anthem and the town of Londonderry is in Ireland. Londonderry Air was first published by The Society for the Preservation and Publication of the Melodies of Ireland, which was founded in Dublin, in 1851. The society advertised its intention to collect, classify and publish appropriate Irish music and songs and invited people to send copies of any such material to a central depot in Dublin. It seems likely that the air was acquired by the society in response to this invitation. George Petrie was its president and was solely responsible for the preparation and editing of the society's first and only book, The Ancient Music of Ireland (1855), which was mostly part of Petrie's own collection. In his book Petrie lists the air as a 'song' in a category of 'Anonymous Airs'. It wasn't called Londonderry Air in print until 1894 when this was the name given it as the tune accompanying Irish Love Song, written by Katherine Hinkson, in a book edited by Alfred Perceval Graves called Irish Song Book. Graves and Hinkson wrote three sets of words to the air between the late 1870s and 1894 but it became a popular success only after Fred Weatherly wedded his verses of Danny Boy to it in 1912 and published it in 1913. Besides the perceived beauty of the music, factors which probably contributed to its popularity at this time are the sentiment of verses, its availability as sheet music and distribution in both America and Europe of an American recording made by the internationally respected opera singer Ernestine Schumann-Heink in 1915. |
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Jim Cohen Member From: Philadelphia, PA |
posted 18 September 2005 09:35 AM
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quote:When I play it, it sounds more like "London Derriere"  |
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Donny Hinson Member From: Balto., Md. U.S.A. |
posted 18 September 2005 11:31 AM
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The melody of "Danny Boy" (Londonderry Air) goes back farther than can be traced. A very similar melody and chord pattern was introduced in Edward Bunting's 1796 publication "A General Collection Of The Ancient Irish Music". That song, "Aislean An Oigfear" ("A Young Man's Dream") is likely to be the inspiration of the more familiar melody, though the original idea may go back yet another hundred years. |
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Butch Foster Member From: Pisgah, Alabama, USA |
posted 18 September 2005 11:51 AM
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The songs Conway made with John, Big Joe E. Lewis,& L.E. White were, IMO, fine country music. |
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David Doggett Member From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
posted 18 September 2005 07:05 PM
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Bob L. and Donny H., thanks for that history of Londonderry air/Danny Boy. That is such a popular steel instrumental that I think it would be great if you would post it under its own topic (Danny Boy, the most common American title) in music, so that someone searching for it in the future would find your valuable history. Coincidentally, Last Date and Londonderry Air were the first two instrumentals I learned on pedal steel years ago. I can't do either one of them justice, but I have amused myself over the years playing them to myself, usually accompanied by a bourbon and branch the last thing before going to bed. [This message was edited by David Doggett on 18 September 2005 at 07:12 PM.] |
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Billy Carr Member From: Seminary, Mississippi USA |
posted 24 September 2005 02:29 AM
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John's intro on "Last Date" and BE's "Danny Boy" on the black album are classics that will forever be on my list of favorite PSG songs. |
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Charles Davidson Member From: Alabama, USA |
posted 24 September 2005 08:05 AM
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I read an interesting story years ago about Floyd Cramer.There was a piano player named Don Robertson that was playing the Cramer style long before Floyd .[I have one of his old 45's]Anyway Chet Atkins told Floyd to get Don's records and learn his style.He did and released Last Date,from then on the Don Rorbertson style has been known as the Cramer style. Sometimes credit is not given to the right person.I guess most pickers steal a little bit here and there from our peers, I know I do. |
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Charles Davidson Member From: Alabama, USA |
posted 24 September 2005 08:21 AM
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P.S. I'm not putting Floyd down in anyway.I've always loved his music,and think Last Date is a beautiful song,one of my favorites to play on steel.You should check out Bobbe's version.There was also a parody version,maybe Ben Colder,I'm not sure who it was that had the line [I can tell by your smell,this will be my Last Date with you.] |
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Darvin Willhoite Member From: Leander, Tx. USA |
posted 24 September 2005 08:50 AM
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Jim Cohen, you crack me up. Don't you have anything better to do than come up with these great one-liners?  ------------------ [This message was edited by Darvin Willhoite on 24 September 2005 at 08:50 AM.] |
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Charles Davidson Member From: Alabama, USA |
posted 24 September 2005 04:41 PM
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Jim,your not fooling anyone.I have Four to the Bar.Not a derriere tune on it.from a c6th nut. |
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Gary Walker Member From: Morro Bay, CA |
posted 24 September 2005 10:13 PM
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Charles D, you are correct about Don Robertson being the father of the bent-note style that Cramer made millions with. Robertson did an album with Chet in the late 50s or early 60s that I wish I had bought for my collection. He should've gotten more credit for the style that thousands of piano players have mimicked in the last 45 years. You can do a search on him and you'll find out he has written some songs we'll all recognize. He is still alive and in his 80s the last time I checked. |
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Charles Davidson Member From: Alabama, USA |
posted 24 September 2005 10:45 PM
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Gary, I'm glad to hear Don is still with us.hope he's doing well.Just wish more people knew about him,and he could get the recognition he deserves. |
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Gary Walker Member From: Morro Bay, CA |
posted 25 September 2005 09:09 PM
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Charles, you can got to http://www.donrobertson.com and see a list of songs he wrote and co-wrote that were monster hits, including "Please Help Me I'm Falling" and a host of Elvis hits. Click on his Bio and it credits him as being the father of the slip-note style piano. Yes, it's too bad he doesn't get the public recognition for his piano style but I'd say he gets along well with his income from his songwriting. |
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Leslie Ehrlich Member From: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada |
posted 26 September 2005 12:58 AM
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I remember reading somewhere that the 'slip note' style of piano playing in country music is a pianist's way of imitating pedal steel sounds. That got me to thinking... what would 'Last Date' sound like played on pedal steel? Are there any recordings out there? |
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Charles Davidson Member From: Alabama, USA |
posted 26 September 2005 09:50 AM
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Hello Leslie, I have played Last Date countless times over the years,one of my favorite tunes to play on steel.There is only a few of the famous steelers that have'nt recorded this song in their time.Check around and you will find them. |
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