From the 1996 autobiography "Waylon," by Waylon Jennings and Lenny Kaye.
"Mooney was at the heart of it. He was a cult legend in his own right, a steel guitar genius, and he was in his heyday. When I played in England and introduced the band, Mooney got a bigger hand than me. He could be cantankerous, but he had a touch on his instrument that went beyond steel decorations. If you weren’t in the pocket for him when he took his ride, you would be by the time he came out the other side. If it was early in the show, and things hadn’t quite found their groove yet, he had the unique ability to put it there, pumping his pedals and stroking the bar across the strings.
Mooney was a few years older than the average Waylor, but he’d put the time to good use. He’d been born in Oklahoma and caught the steel fever from listening to greats like Leon McAuliffe and Noel Boggs. Moving to California, he grew up on non-pedals steels, shifted to Sho-Bud when they began adding pedals and knee levers, and over the years had backed everybody from Wynn Stewart to Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. He was probably best known for writing Ray Price’s “Crazy Arms,” which he penned after Mrs. “Moon” left him in 1950, while they were living in Las Vegas and he was getting “crawling, falling down” drunk. She came back when she heard the song.
If Ralph was shy when he was sober, he could be a holy terror when he got near the bottle. He knew how much I respected him, though, and I gave him a lot of room around the melody. The whole band had that freedom – Richie [Albright]and Jigger [Jerry Bridges], Rance [Wasson] on rhythm and Gordon [Payne] on lead, Carter and Barney Robertson – and were tight as a drum and loose at the same time."
Right On Waylon, Wish you were still here. Moon was one of a kind. Wish you were still here too Moon. What great music you made and style for all of us to copy are try to. You were their in the beginning to make a new sound that helped change the sound of country music to what we all love today. Thanks, J.R. Rose
That band was tight as a drum but loose at the same time. The Waylon live album is such a great example of that! I have listened to that album over 1000 times and the energy of that group is superb. I consider it to be the best example of a live group period. Of course moon's playing is out of this world
"If Ralph was shy when he was sober, he could be a holy terror when he got near the bottle.He knew how much I respected him, though, and I gave him a lot of room around the melody. The whole band had that freedom – Richie [Albright]and Jigger [Jerry Bridges], Rance [Wasson] on rhythm and Gordon [Payne] on lead, Carter and Barney Robertson – and were tight as a drum and loose at the same time."
That part in bold is how a lot of singers were in the old days. Nowadays, their musicians are faceless and quite restricted, for the most part.
Location: Alabama! Home of the great “Don Helms” & his singer “Hank Williams”!
Postby Mike Holder »
I wish it was all still like that, 30 different artists and their perspective players. Conway with Hughey, Waylon with Mooney, Hag with Hamlett, Paycheck with Big Jim, Buck with Brumley,etc. Seems like Chris Stapleton is one of the few still using his band on all live & recording performances. Everybody had a stake in all aspects of the lifestyle back then. Those were great times!
I thought Nashville was the roughest, but I know I’ve said the same about them all.
I received my education, drivin through the Nation listenin to Paul!.. ( Franklin that is! )
I had always heard that when Waylon heard Moon he fold Lloyd Green that he loved his playing but Moon was a better fit...Lloyd said ..yep .hes a great player.. And the rest is history...true or not.. I dont know ...I think Ill believe it.. God Bless Moon,Mrs Moon And Peppers too.
I had always heard that when Waylon heard Moon he fold Lloyd Green that he loved his playing but Moon was a better fit...Lloyd said ..yep .hes a great player.. And the rest is history...true or not.. I dont know ...I think Ill believe it.. God Bless Moon,Mrs Moon And Peppers too.
Waylon made country music *funky*. No telling how much percussion overdubbing there was on those bed tracks. I've had drummers look at 'em in sheer terror.
Ralph could be like... an artillery barrage of ... angels.
Back in the late '50s, when Moon played with Wynn Stewart, Wynn said that they needed to come up with something that set them apart from all the other bands. Ralph came up with the "bouncing" steel guitar sound and that's where the "Bakersfield sound" came from, oh, and he was playing a Fender. Buddy told a story of when the Nashville players heard what he was doing, they were trying to figure out how he did it.
