Tommy White with Lionel Richie Friday Night

Kenny Martin · Post by **Kenny Martin** » 11 Apr 2012 3:20 pm

Tommy White will be on CBS at 8:00pm central time friday night with Lionel Richie for a 2 hour special!
Set the DVR, DVD recorders and for those of us who are poor musicians get the VHS tape ready. I heard from a good source that TW gets to play a lot!
Lionel loves steel guitar so this will be big for the steel guitar and will get even a bigger audience that normally may not see a steel much less in my opinion the best there is playing today!

He is also my best steel buddy ever! He is like a brother to me and I love him the same!

I'll be watching and hopefully I won't sell my steel after hearing him play so awesome!

I'll also get to be on stage June 23rd at the big Opry with him watching me!
Yep, I'll be scared to death knowing he can hear and see me be nervous as I can be!

Love ya TW!.....KM

Kenny Martin · Post by **Kenny Martin** » 12 Apr 2012 5:15 am

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 12 Apr 2012 5:18 am

Thanks for the heads-up, Kenny. I have set my DVR.

John Neff · Post by **John Neff** » 12 Apr 2012 2:24 pm

Ooh, thanks!

Mike Poholsky · Post by **Mike Poholsky** » 13 Apr 2012 7:51 pm

So, Tommy how fun was that gig? Getting to work up steel parts to great hit songs that, I don't think, were intended to have steel guitar on them originally. Thanks for making them that much more enjoyable Tommy. I thought one of the best songs was "Easy". Just Lionel on the piano and the band. Tommy got a little face time and a solo! It was fun. Enjoyed it.

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 13 Apr 2012 8:26 pm

That was the first time I ever heard the steel way up front in the mix doing most all the fills..
Tommy rocked it!
There was more steel in that 2 hours than in a week of county radio ..

Alan Harrison · Post by **Alan Harrison** » 14 Apr 2012 3:49 am

The best music show I have seen on TV for many years. Steel was up front in the mix throughout the show. Tommy's playing and tone was Great. Must have been someone from Nashville running the sound board!

Jay Ganz · Post by **Jay Ganz** » 14 Apr 2012 4:53 am

Did I see a Sho~Bud fretboard on that quick close up?

Sam Edwards · Post by **Sam Edwards** » 14 Apr 2012 5:50 am

I agree with Alan, he hit the nail on the head. It was one of the best orchestrated music shows I have seen in many years. I have been a Lionel Richie fan forever. He is giving country music a shot in the arm that has been long overdue now for the last several years. Tommy was awesome, his steel was out front and his playing very tasty.

Tommy Minniear · Post by **Tommy Minniear** » 14 Apr 2012 6:45 am

Jay, I believe that was a Show Pro fretboard. I was impressed with the mix right from the first song. Tommy and the steel both sounded great!

Mickey Adams · Post by **Mickey Adams** » 14 Apr 2012 7:55 am

WHAT A TREAT!!!>Awesome!

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 14 Apr 2012 8:49 am

tommy white..absolutely great always!!

lionel ritchie..what a buncha crap! bland boring middle of the road old dead muzak!

just a big over-produced add promotion to sell his schmaltz. a huge step backward for the country music industry and a slap in the face to creative country writers...

big money..big orchestra..big lights..big waste.

Gary Lee Gimble · Post by **Gary Lee Gimble** » 14 Apr 2012 9:39 am

tommy white..absolutely great always!!

Without question, an accurate assessment.

bland boring middle of the road old dead muzak!

Certainly not this time as Tommy's expertise garnished as you deemed, old dead muzak.

a huge step backward for the country music industry

You prefer to hear an updated Ackey Breaky or Badonkadonk...

big waste.

Chris, did you notice while Tommy kicked off a tune, the visual acknowledgment of appreciation Lionel rendered to Tommy? I thought that was rather kewl...

bob drawbaugh · Post by **bob drawbaugh** » 14 Apr 2012 11:16 am

Tommy was just great, his tone was to die for. The only thing that could have made the show better was if someone other than Ritchie had been out front. Maybe a real Country Music Legend.

/quote]
Chris, did you notice while Tommy kicked off a tune, the visual acknowledgment of appreciation Lionel rendered to Tommy? I thought that was rather kewl...

I don't know, he looked like he was annoyed to me. Like he was saying, "are you done yet". $:\$ My wife thought the same thing and she's a Ritchie fan.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 14 Apr 2012 11:27 am

c'mon gary lee...you're my buddy!
you know that everything about lionel and the old grooving groupies in the audience is phonier than a three dollar bill.....which is what the whole experience was worth to me!

compare any of it to vern gosdin, gary stewart, merle, conway, alison krausse....anything with depth and feeling...it's a tepid puddle in lionel's wading pool of
emotion.

however, his daughter is shaping up better than ever lately!

Tommy White · Post by **Tommy White** » 14 Apr 2012 12:00 pm

Thank you all so much for speaking kindly of me. I do appreciate that.
Lionel is one of the kindest, most talented persons I've ever met who genuinely loves steel guitar. The adoration and respect Lionel showed me on and off camera will never be forgotten. I'm definately a Lionel Richie fan.

Bobby Bowman · Post by **Bobby Bowman** » 14 Apr 2012 12:17 pm

TW,
I'll keep my personal feelings about some folks on the back burner,,,I guess they are entitled to their opinions too.
With that said, done and over, may I say that I thought it was an absolute treasure and masterpiece of entertainment.
Some times a little "humping the leg" is the right thing to do. And baby, I'm humping your leg.
The whole show was a "WOW" moment and your part of it was a triple "WOW".
Thanks Tommy for who you are and what you stand for.
BB

Eli Hall · Post by **Eli Hall** » 14 Apr 2012 12:23 pm

Tommy, your words are spoken as a true professional of the instrument and wonderful compliment to Mr. Richie. Pay no attention to these nabobs of negativity. The show was great and you sounded great. Any day we get treated to a taste of Tommy's playing on national TV is a great day.

Gary Lee Gimble · Post by **Gary Lee Gimble** » 14 Apr 2012 12:25 pm

Chris, indeed, we are buddies but this particular topic we should agree to disagree. Regarding ole dead muZac, I play with a swing band sporting some really really ole dead muZac. Tunes like, Sway, Do You Know What it Means to Means to Miss Orleans, Serenedade In Blue, Nagasaki, Singapore, Skylark, Moonglow, Nuages, Savoy, I'll See You in My Dreams, and some obscure ditties such as Goofus, Hallye's Waitress, Big Bucks, Trocadero Ballroom, Shaker Song, THat Cat Is High, Count Bassie's "Lil Darlin, Tears, Confide in Me, Kites Are Fun, Jumpin Into Spring and so many more that gets our following to continue to pay a hefty cover charge to see us play err...dead muZax, really dead..... And BTW, my steel playing really sucks and to add insult to injury, I get applause after cheesy solos, go figure....The point here, if folks are willing to fill up seats at a venue and pedal steel is a small part of the overall pic, then so be it. I'd rather play cheesy solos at a live venue then staying at home entertaining my wife...who is really fed up with hearing the same sequence of notes over and over again. Such is life....and no disrespect intended toward Chris

TW, words are spoken as we have that privilege to do so. Lets put it this way. Parker awarded 95 points to a full bodied Italian red, it sucked...his word is supposedly gold...in this case, he was spot off....

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 14 Apr 2012 5:27 pm

I'm watching this show now from my DVR, and I agree it is the best music show I've seen on TV in a long time. I have been a Lionel Ritchie fan for a long time, about as long as I've been a Tommy White fan.

It's almost unbelievable some of the comments I'm reading here. I think some of these guys want the steel guitar to die, they sure don't support the artists who are trying to keep it alive.

Great job Tommy.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 14 Apr 2012 5:57 pm

The smaller your definition of "perfect" is, the less you'll find of it. The same holds true for "great", "O.K.", and "sucked less than 20 p.s.i." Hard to please 'em all.

I have been TV-free for four fine years, I'll have to root around online to see if it pops up. I'm not one to say that any steel music is automatically great, but yeah - I can see how some modern hits could be really, really improved with it.

Kenny Martin · Post by **Kenny Martin** » 14 Apr 2012 7:40 pm

Guys,

Let me say this first, Tommy White absolutely played this show so awesome and my kids were excited to hear steel played on Lionel's songs. I didn't see Lionel irritated at all! I saw someone truly amazed with an appreciation for the talent Tommy has!

I didn't start this post for everyone to critique Lionel Richie and by the way I feel he is one of best song writers and entertainers around even today.

I started this post to inform everyone that one of the best steel players in the world was going to be on TV for all of us to enjoy.

If you guys want to complain about Lionel Richie how bout ya start a thread and whine all you want.
I amazed that a steel guitar with TW playing in a great show with Lionel Richie is being bashed instead of being thankful that Lionel had Tommy on the show that made it that much better.

Tommy, it was off the chain man and like the Keb Mo clip with Vince, only you could do it with the class you have! Thx for letting me know it was coming on and thx for playing so awesome!
Love ya brother!.......Kenny

Dean Holman · Post by **Dean Holman** » 14 Apr 2012 11:35 pm

Here's another prime example of someone not looking at the big picture of how steel guitar can change the face of any style of music. I guess I'm biased cause I too am a fan of Lionel Richie. What a shining moment for Tommy and steel guitar. Guys, I know we have opinions on music we like and don't like. But I love steel guitar and embrace any opportunity to hear it on any style of Muzak. On a personal note, I love Tommy White and my dad (God rest his soul) did as well. Your a hero to all Tommy.

Tim Tyner · Post by **Tim Tyner** » 15 Apr 2012 4:25 am

I would just like to support what Kenny and Dean said.There's no bigger fan of traditional country music around than I am but I am also a Lionel fan.He is and always has been a great writer and performer of his genre of music.Tommy is certainly a pedal steel icon and rightfully so.I feel sure He will look back at this concert as a high point in his career.He certainly lived up to his reputation as a master player.I think the over the shoulder look back at Tommy was one of total respect and appreciation from one great artist to another.I never once thought otherwise

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 15 Apr 2012 4:47 am

I was trying to find some video, and came across this comment instead on Zap2it:

The program opened with Richie himself doing his chart-topper "All Night Long." The only difference between the original and Richie's "country" version was the addition of a mildly-audible slide guitar. Other than that, it sounded like the calypso-inspired song it always has.

They pretty much went on to demonstrate more of their musical "wisdom."

http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox ... while.html

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Tommy White with Lionel Richie Friday Night

Tommy White with Lionel Richie Friday Night

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Tommy White with Lionel Richie

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