Who was the first.......

Charles Curtis · Post by **Charles Curtis** » 29 Dec 2003 1:01 pm

Who was the first to offer instruction for the psg? I was told that it might have been Tommy Roots.

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 29 Dec 2003 1:46 pm

How about Mel Bay? Or how about "The Oahu method" out of Cleveland Ohio in the '30s and 40's? This is the first method I ever saw and used as a kid. This was a big time push for steel guitar in the '50s. Music stores all over the U.S.A. were selling and teaching it.
Sho-Bud had the Neal Flanz method out in '69, book and a tape I believe. This was a pedal instruction deal.

Tommy Root did the first Video, possibly, Wish he were still here. A wonderful guy.

BobbeSeymour
P.S., I bet many readers here remember this "Oahu" series of learning steel guitar.
Come on guys, show us how old you are![This message was edited by BobbeSeymour on 29 December 2003 at 01:49 PM.]

C Dixon · Post by **C Dixon** » 29 Dec 2003 2:03 pm

I do not know when or who made the first Pedal Steel Guitar training courses, but I believe the Oahu courses probably were the first wide spread ones available for non pedal steels. I used them in the 40's. If I am not mistaken the Oahu organization was in Ohio.

carl

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 29 Dec 2003 2:12 pm

Must be an echo in here!

Kenny Dail · Post by **Kenny Dail** » 29 Dec 2003 2:47 pm

The first instructional book for pedal steel I recall seeing was put out by Sho~Bud with a picture of Jeff Newman on the cover. I don't know the exact year but I believe it was in the late 50s or early 60s. Jerry Byrd also had an instructional booklet of songs he had recorded published in 1950 or '51 using his C6 tuning.

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kd...and the beat goes on...

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 29 Dec 2003 4:08 pm

Pedal steel? As far as I know, Jeff Newman was one of the first "to have it all together" (books, tapes/records, and tab). For non-pedal steel, I think Nick Manoloff was one of the first to have instructions. I still have his "Hawaiian Guitar Method - Book #1" (circa 1936), and it's the first book I ever saw on Hawaiian guitar.

Terry Wood · Post by **Terry Wood** » 29 Dec 2003 4:24 pm

I agree with Bobby Seymour. And also I will mention that Keith Hilton and Doug Jernigan were doing instruction as early as Jeff Newman. The firsy they done was around 1976 at St. Louis Covention.

Terry J. "Woody" Wood

Roger Edgington · Post by **Roger Edgington** » 29 Dec 2003 4:49 pm

Bobbe,

I'll admit to being 57. I started playing in 4th grade with Oahu tabs. It is copy writed 1941 by Oahu, Pub Co. Cleveland, OH. It's the same music my mother taught my dad to play from in the early 40's. They were later married in 1944. I have pictures from classes mom taught that show maybe 10-15 kids playing Lap Steel Guitars. I still have most of that instructional material. By the way ther are marked .35 cents.

John Floyd · Post by **John Floyd** » 29 Dec 2003 5:01 pm

The first instructional book for pedal steel I recall seeing was put out by Sho~Bud with a picture of Jeff Newman on the cover. I don't know the exact year but I believe it was in the late 50s or early 60s

I think Jeff didn't move to Nashville until late 65 or early 66. When I left Key West Fla in Oct 65, He was Still working in Sloppy Joes Bar in Key West on a sit down gig playing a Fender 1000. He would have been a Teenager in the Late 50's.[This message was edited by John Floyd on 29 December 2003 at 05:06 PM.]

Bill Moore (RIP) · Post by **Bill Moore (RIP)** » 29 Dec 2003 5:55 pm

This book has a very original style to it, so I feel that this may predate the Jeff Newman style of tab we have gotten used to. Here is an example:

Maybe Bobbe can tell us something about this book.

Jerry Roller · Post by **Jerry Roller** » 29 Dec 2003 7:10 pm

My prize Christmas present this year was a 1946 Oahu accoustic 6 string square neck guitar that Jerry Jr. gave me. The label on the headstock reads Oahu Publishing Company, Cleveland, Ohio. I don't know if this was a student model or what put it really has a nice rich loud tone. I am very proud of it.
Jerry[This message was edited by Jerry Roller on 29 December 2003 at 07:12 PM.]

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 29 Dec 2003 7:25 pm

I have the Don Sharp book in my collection. It's gibberish.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

Roger Edgington · Post by **Roger Edgington** » 29 Dec 2003 7:39 pm

Hey Jerry,

Sounds like one I have. A square neck with rounded edge box. It's on my mom taught on in the 40's. I learned to play on it. Not only did I have a plastic thumb pick but I also had a plastic bar and finger picks. Red marble bar and kinda clear finger picks.

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 29 Dec 2003 8:42 pm

Bobbe Seymour has it right on. I was there in Cleveland, Ohio, where the Oahu Publishing company was located. That was in 1936.

I was playing cornet in the school band When a guy came to the house with a wooden Hawaiian guitar and played "Nearer My God to thee" .
When he went from the E chord to A chord , he had me hooked. They had class lessons, $1.00 a week and after 60 weeks you owned the $5.00 guitar. I think they had the whole country signed up.......al

(I'd like to add that I quit after 4 lessons and learned notes using the" Alvino Rey Singing guitar Method" on a supro electric in around 1937, I still have that book. ,for $1.50 a week private lessons and after 60 weeks got the supro and supro amp free. I played that little guitar in a lot of Bars.)
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My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/

[This message was edited by Al Marcus on 29 December 2003 at 08:50 PM.]

Mike Weirauch · Post by **Mike Weirauch** » 29 Dec 2003 10:21 pm

Who was the first to offer instruction for the psg

Buddy Emmons and black guitars always get named more in any and all discussions so I say it's a tie between the two!

Ernest Cawby · Post by **Ernest Cawby** » 29 Dec 2003 10:36 pm

I have lessons from 1945 from the American guitar studio in Montgomery Al., some of the lessons were dated 1934, the pages are brown now from age.
We also had the Ohua course when we started in E tuning. Non pedals.

ernie

Winnie Winston · Post by **Winnie Winston** » 30 Dec 2003 2:08 am

When I started playing in 1971, there were a few things on the market.
Neil Flanz's Sho-Bud record was what I started with.
I then got Jeff Newman's "Music to E9th By."
I got the book that Herb refers to as "crap."
I got the DeWitt Scott Sho-Bud book (the one with Jeff playing a fingertip on the cover).
I got some books by Maurice Anderson, and a set of books called "Hey Reece I did It!" by Tom Bradshaw.
The Emmons company was offering some tab by Emmons and by Jernigan.
I think the Rusty Young book was out then too.
As far as I know, that was it.
I did my book in 1975 to fill the gap.

Winnie

Jason Odd · Post by **Jason Odd** » 31 Dec 2003 3:13 pm

Wiinie, Herbster called it gibberish, not crap, they may be pretty much the same, but I like gibberish as a descriptive word.

I think Jeff Newman had something out around 1968, I think Kenny Dail might be a decade out on his recollections.

The 'Hey Reece' set was kicked off in 1969, or at least the first vinyl version by Tom Bradshaw. I think Tom was tabbing stuff for pedal steel in around 1963-65 and selling them through the steel newsletter network, Reece and Tom did a lot of letter writing to each other in those days as they lived so far apart, but kept swapping info and tips.

The Neil Flanz LP was from 1969, the sleeve was like a booklet, and his full instructional book came out in 1972, I think. Neil, .... a little help on this one if you're out there?[This message was edited by Jason Odd on 31 December 2003 at 03:15 PM.]

Franklin · Post by **Franklin** » 1 Jan 2004 5:53 am

The Sho-Bud book/course came out in 1970. It was the first to ID string groups. My mistake, Jeff first used the Alphabet to ID pedals....Paul

[This message was edited by Franklin on 02 January 2004 at 05:49 AM.]

Stan Steinberg · Post by **Stan Steinberg** » 1 Jan 2004 1:24 pm

Kenny, I too have instructions from Jerry Byrd...mine is called ..."The Jerry Byrd correspondence course for the Hawaiian steel guitar"...which was published in 1952..by J.B. The instructions in this set included many different tunings ..such as A major, E major, E 7th, C#minor. C# minor 7th etc. Of course this was for the lap steel, not pedal steel. Happy New Year to one and all.

Jim McGinnis · Post by **Jim McGinnis** » 5 Jan 2004 4:29 pm

Bobbe, I agree that the Oahu was probably the first tab instructiuon for Steel. I started on the Oahu courses. Then I took some Eddie Alkire E-Harp instruction. Neal's course and Jeff's are the first I remember for Pedal steel.

Jody Carver · Post by **Jody Carver** » 5 Jan 2004 4:59 pm

Does anyone remember Nick Manoloff?

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 5 Jan 2004 5:54 pm

I do!

Jody Carver · Post by **Jody Carver** » 5 Jan 2004 6:01 pm

Yeah I guess us old guys remember everybody.

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 5 Jan 2004 10:08 pm

I do too! Jody and Gene, we ought to start a old pro club...lol......

I still have quite a few oahu sheet music, they were 35 cents then. Who wants them?....al

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My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/