winnie winston

Victor Eaton · Post by **Victor Eaton** » 22 Dec 2007 6:06 am

HELLO ALL AND HAPPY CHRISTMAS
Can any one shed any light on WINNIE WINSTON im learning from his book but never seem to hear anything about him on this forum.
many thanks vic uk.
ps still waiting for photos of the cable SHO BUD .Athough they are beginning to sound like wires rather than cables to me .as they are very thin unlike rods i have seen.more like cycle spokes.

Jack Stanton · Post by **Jack Stanton** » 22 Dec 2007 6:27 am

Victor,
Winnie was a champion banjo player, college professor, engineer, pedal steel player, teacher and builder. He lived and taught in the Philadelphia, PA area for many years, before relocating to New Zealand.

He had an inquisitive mind, and a wickedly dry sense of humor.

Sadly, he passed away several years ago.

I believe if you Google him there’s a website that has lots if info, including a great remembrance of Jimmy Day. You may have to Google Julian Winston.

The book he wrote with Ben Keith remains the benchmark by which all pedal steel instructional material is judged.

Rick Nicklas · Post by **Rick Nicklas** » 22 Dec 2007 6:47 am

Here you go brother... http://www.julianwinston.com/

Victor Eaton · Post by **Victor Eaton** » 22 Dec 2007 9:03 am

MANY THANKS BOYS
ILL find that interesting he looks young on the cover of the book ,Sorry to hear you are spending christmas in a swamp in NEW JERSEY JACK.

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 22 Dec 2007 9:43 am

Victor Eaton wrote:he looks young on the cover of the book

He was. Published 1975. I got my copy in '83 ($9.95). I don't know his age then or his age when he passed but he died too young, for sure.
Sadly I never met Winnie but we had an odd number of life convergences via mutual friends, family and shared experiences and we had a warm email relationship.

I think "well worn" would describe it.

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 22 Dec 2007 10:03 am

That's the Steel Guitar Bible that every "newbie" should start out with. I got one back when it first came out. It was well-worn, like the one in the photo. I let a local newbie borrow it and never got it back. There is a huge amount of information in that book that is still as relevant today as it was 30 years ago.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 22 Dec 2007 11:23 am

Winnie was my closest friend within the steel guitar community. We met in '84 at the convention, and immediately hit it off.

I was the last person in America (aside from airport personnel) to see him alive. He spent his last day in America with me I took him to a Mexican restaurant which he thoroughly enjoyed. We were planning for my wife and I to visit him in New Zealand when he get sick.

When Winnie was first diagnosed with prostrate cancer, he made the decision not to seek medical treatment. He knew he had a few years left, and he wanted to spend then traveling around the world, rather than being a full time cancer patient.

One thing he really wanted to see was the Egyptian Pyramids. He told me Egypt had the worst roads he had ever driven on.

He might have had a few more years had he sought treatment for the cancer. I'm not sure he made the right decision, but he got to do what he wanted.

He lived for about 6 years after he was diagnosed, and died at the age of 64.

I miss him.

Victor Eaton · Post by **Victor Eaton** » 22 Dec 2007 11:58 am

That is such a shame to pass away so young im struggling through STREETS OF LARADO i love his playing he packs so much into the tab i nearly died when i first saw it i thought how the devil am i going to play that so i took it to my friend david hartly who played it straight away Oh yes he said i learned that some years back. I thought OH my god i have left this too late im 68 now but will have a go and hope WINNIE IS NOT DESPARING up there.
regards vic uk.

Fooch Fischetti · Post by **Fooch Fischetti** » 22 Dec 2007 12:04 pm

I agree that the "Pedal Steel Guitar" book is a great resource that I still recommend to new players and students. I had the opportunity to buy Winnie's Sho Bud amp and extra speaker (two JBL D-130's!) when he was moving to New Zealand. I still have the Sho Bud amp, but put one of the speakers I got from Winnie in my Webb that is my main amp for steel and fiddle these days.

Winnie was a wonderful guy that loved steel guitar and was both innovative and respectful of it's history.

One correction on the authorship of the book. Winnie wrote it with Bill Keith, not Ben Keith. Bill (the world class banjo player) doesn't play steel much anymore but did around the time that the book was published (early 1970's).

I owe a lot of my steel playing foundation to the book that Winnie and Bill wrote and will have the pleasure of playing fiddle on a bluegrass gig tonight with Bill Keith in Woodstock.

Fooch Fischetti

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 22 Dec 2007 12:04 pm

Nashville To Bakersfield is a great little tune to learn. We used to use that as an opening number for our second set.

Victor Eaton · Post by **Victor Eaton** » 22 Dec 2007 12:16 pm

Well i feel im talking to the GODS of country music here and im greatly honoured gentlemen my interest in country started with a record my dad had by JIMMY RODGERS it was on REGAL ZONAPHONE and got played to death in the fifties i still have that record and of course all of them as they were re released my brother and i used to get up at five am and listen to AFN (AMERICAN FORCES NETWORK ) IN GERMANY it was great and all country
vic uk
ps tune was called AWAY OUT ON THE MOUNTAIN.

Tony Dingus · Post by **Tony Dingus** » 23 Dec 2007 12:52 pm

Winnie and Bill's book got me on the right track and Winnie recorded a album titled Stee Wool which a tab book that had great examples plus the tab to the tunes on the album. He sure did alot for us steelers. He also had a hand in the Manual of Styles book.

Tony

Victor Eaton · Post by **Victor Eaton** » 23 Dec 2007 3:03 pm

HI TONY
Has the album ever been re releast on CD
regards vic uk.

A. J. Schobert · Post by **A. J. Schobert** » 23 Dec 2007 3:12 pm

Victor yes it is out on CD I have it.

I like the course, and I look to it at times, but I think it is a little outdated, there are alot of course that are alot better. MO.

Victor Eaton · Post by **Victor Eaton** » 24 Dec 2007 3:07 am

HELLO MR SCHOBERT
Yes the book is perhaps out of date a little but then im out of date as well so it should suit me im glad i didnt start with that book i think i would have given up if i had it seems quite hard to master i play five string banjo ive had trouble understanding steel tab there seems to be twice as much of it .
I had a friend from OHIO he lived in a place called TUSCRARWAS but sadly came to grief over there
of his own doing.
regards vic uk.

Victor Eaton · Post by **Victor Eaton** » 24 Dec 2007 3:08 am

HELLO MR SCHOBERT
Yes the book is perhaps out of date a little but then im out of date as well so it should suit me im glad i didnt start with that book i think i would have given up if i had it seems quite hard to master i play five string banjo ive had trouble understanding steel tab there seems to be twice as much of it .
I had a friend from OHIO he lived in a place called TUSCRARWAS but sadly came to grief over there
of his own doing.
regards vic uk.

Rick Nicklas · Post by **Rick Nicklas** » 24 Dec 2007 3:41 am

Victor, If you click on Search above and then enter Winnie Winston in the author categorie, you can read many of Winnie's posts here. He was quite active on this forum.

Dan Beller-McKenna · Post by **Dan Beller-McKenna** » 24 Dec 2007 4:04 am

Back in the spring of 1980 I was living in west Phildaelphia and bought Winnie's album. I read on the back that there was an accompanying book of tablature, but couldn't find anywhere to buy it. One day I had the bright idea of calling Winnie to ask him where I could buy the book (his number was in the phone book), and he told me to come on over: turns out he lived a few blocks away. He spent a couple of hours showing me his steel and talking music with me. Very nice guy. He also gave lots of advice to my luthier friend, John Zeidler, who was building his first steel. I later bought the steel (and much later sold it to forumite John McGann).

Needless to say, Winnie's well-known book was my introdcution into playing steel.

Dan

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 24 Dec 2007 4:46 pm

i didn't realize winnie had died! his pedal steel book was my early bible...the tab is still valid to this day! there is a picture in there somewhere of john hughey looking so 'bad' as a twitty bird, i always wanted to be that cool! but it's not possible.

Jim Park · Post by **Jim Park** » 24 Dec 2007 5:28 pm

Hey Chris,
You're cooler than you think....I spent alot of time listening to the Joel Darren stuff you did..and you sounded killer that time I heard you at the PepperMill, plus ya looked cool too.......I was envious......

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 24 Dec 2007 9:10 pm

ha! thank you jim, you're very kind....now your name sounds very familiar to me...forgive me if i'm wrong, but were you playing with johnny and joanie at gold country casino in oroville...black emmons sounding just great with 'no effects' into your amp...impressive!

Jim Park · Post by **Jim Park** » 24 Dec 2007 10:09 pm

Yep that was me indeed!! that was a rough gig....... i got there with about 10 mins to set up.I had gotten stopped by a cop on the way to the casino plus it being the first gig with those guys..by the way what are they up to these days?.and you too..... what are you up to these days?

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 25 Dec 2007 3:17 am

I was clearing out my emails the other day, and came across several from Winnie---The last from Winnie's wife, as Winnie was to ill to get to the keyboard, and I think he died a day or two later.
Winnie was very much into homeopathic medicine, and he DID seek treatment along those lines. After his passing, I was asked to write a short piece on Winnie for a homeopathic magazine. I did so, as Winnie and I had gotten to be great friends via email, even though we never met.
I'll never forget one of thousands of quotes I got from Winnie. I started with "You probably don't remember me, but..."
Winnie's reply---"Of COURSE (Winnie's emphasis) I remember you. I've got cancer, not Alzheimers!"
We need a lot more Winnie Winstons these days...

Jim Palenscar · Post by **Jim Palenscar** » 25 Dec 2007 8:22 am

Besides being the author of the steel guitar bible, Winnie also authored a tome- "The History of Homeopathy"- which is an amazing book.

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