Tunes Of The Week #14 - Bob Dunn

Joe Goldmark · Post by **Joe Goldmark** » 21 Apr 2011 4:07 pm

Steeler: Bob Dunn
Artist: Cliff Bruner's Texas Wanderers
Tune: When You're Smiling
Artist: Modern Mountaineers
Tune: Takin' Off
CD Title: Bob Dunn - Master Of The Electric Steel Guitar 1935-1950
Label: Origin Jazz Library OJL-1004
Year: This release 2010, "When You're Smiling" recorded 1938, San Antonio, TX, (Decca 5660), and "Takin' Off" was from 1941, Dallas, TX (Bluebird 8960).

Bob Dunn was the original hot steel guitarist. He owed his sound more to Charlie Christian & Sol Hoopii, than to Leon McAuliffe. He played with many of the Texas swing bands of the '30s and '40s, but apparently never with Bob Wills. It is said that he tried to emulate horn players, and I think he definitely applied their phrasing and attack to the steel.

This is a pretty cool double CD with amazing packaging and includes a 42 page booklet.

Joe

When You're Smiling
http://www.vinylbeat.com/forum/4-23WhenYoureSmiling.m4a

Takin' Off
http://www.vinylbeat.com/forum/2-23TakinOff.mp3

Twayn Williams · Post by **Twayn Williams** » 22 Apr 2011 12:17 pm

Thanks for the links, I love Bob Dunn's playing and tone.

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 24 Apr 2011 10:27 am

Joe, thanks for posting that. Do you have any idea what tuning Bob D. used on these tunes? Thanks....JH in Va.

Emmett Roch · Post by **Emmett Roch** » 26 Apr 2011 6:40 pm

I heard - I think here on the forum - that Bob Dunn came up with Hank Thompson's signature steel lick when he played with him, and Hank kept it in his music the rest of his career.

Jim Robbins · Post by **Jim Robbins** » 26 Apr 2011 7:40 pm

Thanks for posting. I'm not sure whether Bob Dunn owed his sound to Charlie Christian or the other way around -- Dunn is (I think) generally held to be the first person to record on electric guitar when he was with Milton Brown and his Musical Brownies (whatever happened to the good band names ...). Here's a couple of youtubes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxq2WmrE ... re=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3NhWKDNMgM

On the other hand, no one could (can) touch Charlie Christian's phrasing, time, swing, structure, rhythmic displacement of stock formulae & resulting harmonic tension etc etc etc.

I read or heard somewhere Barney Kessel talking about people telling him to "play like a horn" -- he played his chord melody solos more aggressively and then eventually figured out they meant to play single note lines ...

Joe Goldmark · Post by **Joe Goldmark** » 28 Apr 2011 12:58 pm

Hey Jim,

That "Takin' Off" is even cooler than the one I posted. He was certainly brilliant early in his career. I think the whiskey eventually got to him, as you don't hear the sparks flying in his later work.

Joe

Andrew Brown · Post by **Andrew Brown** » 2 May 2011 2:16 pm

Emmett Roch wrote:I heard - I think here on the forum - that Bob Dunn came up with Hank Thompson's signature steel lick when he played with him, and Hank kept it in his music the rest of his career.

That was Ralph "Lefty" Nason. Dunn never played with Thompson.