Billy Hew Len - Hal Smith Archive -Download link

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 10 Apr 2018 5:49 am

Okay, here's a link to download all the .mp3 files from the Billy Hew Len Archive DVD. Because I need bandwidth for my professional projects, I'm only going to leave these up for about 2 weeks. So, if you want these, download them now. Please note that this is the only way I can share these files. Enjoy these wonderful conversations and performances.

Lastly, thanks especially to Billy Hew Len who truly represented the spirit of Aloha.

https://spaces.hightail.com/space/O1YSwQTz0U

Mike A Holland · Post by **Mike A Holland** » 10 Apr 2018 9:07 am

Thanks for these Andy. Will look forward to listening to these later. Quick listen to the first mp3.......just love the tone!

Jean-Sebastien Gauthier · Post by **Jean-Sebastien Gauthier** » 10 Apr 2018 9:16 am

That’s great!!! Thanks a lot Andy!

Ralph Czitrom · Post by **Ralph Czitrom** » 10 Apr 2018 9:43 am

Thanks Andy. Looking forward to spending some time with Billy.

David M Brown · Post by **David M Brown** » 10 Apr 2018 12:03 pm

Ralph Czitrom wrote:Thanks Andy. Looking forward to spending some time with Billy.

As am I thanks!

Chuck Wilson · Post by **Chuck Wilson** » 10 Apr 2018 12:46 pm

Thank you Andy for hosting these files for two weeks. I have not had any copies left for years and the digital files are somewhere in storage 1000 miles away that I may get to hopefully in the future.

Hal was so great to share this treasure trove of conversations, examples and true heartfelt sounds of the amazing and talented Billy Hew Len.

Bravo to Andy!

Einar Baldursson · Post by **Einar Baldursson** » 10 Apr 2018 1:00 pm

Wonderful! Looking forward to diving in.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 10 Apr 2018 1:29 pm

Hey there, Chuck! You did all the heavy lifting to archive and prep these files. I had some private messages asking about the DVD so I dug up the only copy I had and it still played enough to grab the files. I never got around to listening to it all 12 years ago. Maybe I will now.

Good to see you chime in here.

Chuck Wilson · Post by **Chuck Wilson** » 10 Apr 2018 1:51 pm

It is so wonderful to see Billy's magic continue to fill the ears and hearts of others and inspire us all to his tone, big heart and generous spirit.

I learned so much by careful listening to his music and words that Hal Smith recorded.

I have been recently absorbed by producing and mastering music for the therapeutic uses of sound and personal growth world as well as building and playing 1951 thru 53 style Telecasters that my own skillset in nonpedal has suffered.

But to continue to see the interest in Billy Hew Len Hal Smith archives just absolutely is a wonderful thing.

Maybe HSGA could put up and host the archive for others after your link expires Andy.

Nic Neufeld · Post by **Nic Neufeld** » 10 Apr 2018 1:55 pm

Thanks so much! I just realized I had Billy and Barney's parts mixed up on Steel Guitar Magic, and the playing I loved so much (although both are great) is actually Billy Hew Len. Looking forward to learning/listening...

Steve Atwood · Post by **Steve Atwood** » 10 Apr 2018 2:07 pm

Thanks Andy!

Levi Gemmell · Post by **Levi Gemmell** » 10 Apr 2018 4:52 pm

Astounding work, gentlemen, and I am profoundly happy to see this made available. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We have had a terrible storm here in Auckland, New Zealand: resulting in a power outage which leaves me with a whole day off work to soak it up. Aloha!

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 10 Apr 2018 5:55 pm

I believe that I have those around here someplace ! Some years ago, I had a chance to play the Rick frypan that Hal has, which was one of the instruments that Dick MacIntire (sp) had. Best sounding frypan ever !!

Steffen Gunter · Post by **Steffen Gunter** » 11 Apr 2018 2:36 am

Thank you very much, Andy, for this excellent material.

Tod Johnson · Post by **Tod Johnson** » 11 Apr 2018 10:33 am

Fantastic. Downloaded and backed up. Mahalo!!!

David M Brown · Post by **David M Brown** » 11 Apr 2018 12:28 pm

Wonderful!

I truly appreciate the work and thanks so much for sharing what I consider a seriously important part of steel guitar teaching history.

David M Brown · Post by **David M Brown** » 11 Apr 2018 12:29 pm

Nic Neufeld wrote:Thanks so much! I just realized I had Billy and Barney's parts mixed up on Steel Guitar Magic, and the playing I loved so much (although both are great) is actually Billy Hew Len. Looking forward to learning/listening...

Did Billy play the Fender pedal steel on that recording?

Tom Snook · Post by **Tom Snook** » 11 Apr 2018 1:21 pm

Great STUFF! Of course when I saw DVD in Andy's post I thought there was a video,still wonderful to hear any Billy Hew Len with a little Barney thrown in for good measure.MAHALO NUI
It's like the Tampa Room Tapes,only different

Todd Clinesmith · Post by **Todd Clinesmith** » 11 Apr 2018 3:58 pm

Thank you Andy. I downloaded the lot. I look forward to combing through them.

Nic Neufeld · Post by **Nic Neufeld** » 11 Apr 2018 5:40 pm

David M Brown wrote: Did Billy play the Fender pedal steel on that recording?

I think that's what I read from Jeff Au Hoy in the other thread, but I don't have any special knowledge. I know he was a Fender pedaller, and really, given his left "hand" rig, that's about as good a reason as any to use one! I'm sure he was good at slants but lacking digits, he had to do them the hard way. But it is kind of funny, he ended up being one of my favorite players recently and I didn't realize it was him, the whole time.

I downloaded the recordings onto my phone to listen to at work today but only a couple worked in my phone's blasted media player due to lack of tags (I can easily resolve it with my desktop computer, so not a problem), so I could only listen to a couple today (that had metadata tags) and both were fascinating and amusing. Highlights were a lady (not sure who she was) talking about Jerry Byrd's very serious, brusque manner

and then maybe in a different recording, Billy talking about people calling it "slide guitar" and his and Jerry's annoyed response. As a lot of people have said, he seemed to exude aloha and it is nice to start to get to know him via these recordings.

David M Brown · Post by **David M Brown** » 12 Apr 2018 8:26 am

Nic Neufeld wrote:
David M Brown wrote: Did Billy play the Fender pedal steel on that recording?
I think that's what I read from Jeff Au Hoy in the other thread, but I don't have any special knowledge. I know he was a Fender pedaller, and really, given his left "hand" rig, that's about as good a reason as any to use one! I'm sure he was good at slants but lacking digits, he had to do them the hard way. But it is kind of funny, he ended up being one of my favorite players recently and I didn't realize it was him, the whole time.

.

Thanks for the info. I always wished that Billy's work was better known and studied.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 12 Apr 2018 10:16 am

To all, you're welcome. I can't give back all this forum has given me over the last 20+ years.

Here's Billy with his Fender pedal guitar - strange to see it raised up high, like a double-8:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP2SK7zc3wc

Billy on his frypan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IrSq1rOoL4

Levi Gemmell · Post by **Levi Gemmell** » 12 Apr 2018 9:04 pm

I'd love to see some in-depth discussion of the interviews over the next few weeks if any would care to share their observations.

Although we know A6 is great for Hawaiian from all of the players around the world who use it (Herb Remington comes up first), Billy has really demonstrated it's versatility to me. My teacher uses C6 with G on top, and I never enjoyed the tinny sound of that string so I changed over to Jerry's C6/A7 tuning.

Billy's A6th iteration with the Bb and G on the bottom two strings is the perfect conversion of Jerry's tuning down - with the obvious benefit of more range. I saw Mike Neer commented about this in another thread. Combine this factor with easy re-tunes to B11th, C6/Fmaj, and C#m (on the top three to play Paradise Isle, as Billy shows) and I see A6th as even more of a Swiss Army Knife than the C6th. One can easily understand why he used a pedal steel as he did.

Billy's demonstration of the Feet Rogers tuning is interesting. There's some credence to his point about not using F# on the top because it doesn't relate enough to other tunings. In his extended conversation on A6th, there seem to be so many possibilities in comparison. It also reinforces to me that it is the styling, and not different tunings - the syncopation, phrasing, Avon door-bell harmonics, and so on - that distinguish the whole Rogers Ohana.

Bobby Ingano, who learned from Feet, told me two weeks ago that one should not chop and change tunings to sound like other people, but find the music in your tuning of choice. Billy seems to exemplify that by sticking with his one, and only retuning in small ways.

Roger Fletcher · Post by **Roger Fletcher** » 13 Apr 2018 1:10 am

It is great to see those videos of the Blue Dolphin Room. It looks as though Billy might have been half sitting on a tall stool, which would make sense with pedals.

However, when I saw him there 2 years later, he was standing unsupported but only used pedals a couple of times in 3 hours.

At that time, Myra English was performing at the Royal Hawaiian Luau with JB on steel, while Billy was accompanied in the BDR by his brother Buddy on guitar. Alas, I don't remember the name of the bass player, who turned up later in the week with Benny Kalama and Walter Mo'okini on steel.

Billy had just recorded the Steel Guitar Magic album and told me that he wished he and Barney had been given more time to rehearse by Jack de Mello, because they would have liked to produce more tightly integrated duets like those of Jules Ah See and Joe Custino.

While he played his Fender 400 in public, he said he used a Fender 1000, which he bought from JB, for recording.

David M Brown · Post by **David M Brown** » 13 Apr 2018 6:36 am

Levi Gemmell wrote: Although we know A6 is great for Hawaiian from all of the players around the world who use it (Herb Remington comes up first), Billy has really demonstrated it's versatility to me. My teacher uses C6 with G on top, and I never enjoyed the tinny sound of that string so I changed over to Jerry's C6/A7 tuning.

Billy's A6th iteration with the Bb and G on the bottom two strings is the perfect conversion of Jerry's tuning down - with the obvious benefit of more range. I saw Mike Neer commented about this in another thread. Combine this factor with easy re-tunes to B11th, C6/Fmaj, and C#m (on the top three to play Paradise Isle, as Billy shows) and I see A6th as even more of a Swiss Army Knife than the C6th. One can easily understand why he used a pedal steel as he did.

Billy's demonstration of the Feet Rogers tuning is interesting. There's some credence to his point about not using F# on the top because it doesn't relate enough to other tunings. In his extended conversation on A6th, there seem to be so many possibilities in comparison. It also reinforces to me that it is the styling, and not different tunings - the syncopation, phrasing, Avon door-bell harmonics, and so on - that distinguish the whole Rogers Ohana.

Bobby Ingano, who learned from Feet, told me two weeks ago that one should not chop and change tunings to sound like other people, but find the music in your tuning of choice. Billy seems to exemplify that by sticking with his one, and only retuning in small ways.

I tend to agree on all points - which is why my home tuning is A6.

The Feets tuning is very unique, but as Billy shows, it is not for modern chords nor fast bop licks.

I did find it interesting that Barney Isaacs used the high-G C6.

It's interesting that Billy seems to know everyone else's tunings and style.