Brumley's steel on "Buckaroo"???

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 5 Mar 2004 2:57 pm

Just heard the solo on the Rebel Ricky Jeff site and was BLOWN AWAY by the fantastic tone! Never heard the original song before today, just remakes. Anyway that solo sounded like a Fender steel to my ears,but from what I understand,Tom was playing a ZB by 1965 when Buckaroo was released.It sounded very different to me from Tom's later ZB guitars.Does anyone know what that solo was played on??. The sound of that steel knocks my socks off and I'd sell every piece of equipment I own to get a tone like that! bob [This message was edited by Bob Carlucci on 05 March 2004 at 03:00 PM.]

Joerg Hennig · Post by **Joerg Hennig** » 5 Mar 2004 3:39 pm

Well first sell the Peavey if you have one and get a Fender Twin Reverb with 2 x 12"...
An early ZB would be my guess but not quite sure. Anyway, the secret lies in the hands and mind of the great, the incomparable Tom Brumley.

Regards, Joe H.

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 5 Mar 2004 3:52 pm

Joe.. I use ONLY old Fender amps.. but I STILL say that solo sounds like a 60's Fender steel...bob

Joerg Hennig · Post by **Joerg Hennig** » 5 Mar 2004 4:34 pm

Bob, here´s one thing I noticed... The "Buckaroo" solo makes use of the 2nd (chromatic) string, lowered a half step to D, and did the Fender really have those already? Probably not if it was an 8-string.

Joe[This message was edited by Joe Henry on 05 March 2004 at 04:52 PM.]

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 5 Mar 2004 5:02 pm

Joe.. correct. I'm not sure if anyone was using the "chromatic" strings on an 8 string steel as early as 65... but hey,I was 11 years old at the time.... And I STILL don't know!... anyway ,the sound of the early pedal steel guitars from the 60's is my "cup of tea".. Its the bright lightly wound single coil pickups,all wood bodies,and tube amps as well as the way these great players were allowed to shine in the mix... you heard those steels RINGING throughout the song back then... ah well.. progress you know??? bob

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 5 Mar 2004 6:00 pm

For a real treat buy the CD; Buck Owens & His Buckaroos / The Instrumental Hits Of Buck Owens And His Buckaroos, from Sundazed or where-ever you can get it. If you like this steel break you'll like what TB did on all of the tunes from the Instrumental CD, including Faded Love and A Maiden's Prayer. We've had the LP in my family since the mid 60's and I just recently got the CD from Sundazed. Worth every penny.

B. Greg Jones · Post by **B. Greg Jones** » 5 Mar 2004 9:44 pm

Bob, its a ZB Custom alright on that cut. He played through a blackface Fender Twin with JBL D-120's in it. Tom only had 2 knee levers back then. He lowered 4 & 8, E to Eb, and lowered the 2nd string, D# to D. If you listen to Tom's cut of "Steel Guitar Rag" from the Buck days, he plays it on both the E9th and the C6th necks.

Greg

Walter Stettner · Post by **Walter Stettner** » 6 Mar 2004 2:09 am

Tom has that great course "Tom Cattin" out. It has a booklet and a CD with the rhythm tracks on all his fantastic instrumentals tabbed out (not "Buckaroo", though!).

When I bought that course I had that famous "Aha" experience - it cleared up a lot of mysteries for me. Man, there are so many unbelievable ideas in Tom's playing!

Kind Regards, Walter
www.austriansteelguitar.at.tf

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Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 6 Mar 2004 4:40 am

. Well that explains it I guess.I could hear Leo's work in there somewhere!!..The Blackface Twin/D 120 is such a sweet sounding steel amp ... I use a Blackface Showman w/Holy Grail reverb unit[the best reverb I've EVER used.,,!!]}and a Fender/Emminence 15 designed for steel .Its a Vibrosonic Reverb speaker right from Fender. NOTHING on this planet sounds as good [to me]as a D or F series JBL for steel guitar.. The only reason I stopped using them is I can't keep from blowing them!... I blew the last one up with a 40 watt Bassman head at about 3-3 1/2 on the volume.. too unreliable.. They sure make any steel sound great tho'..... bob[This message was edited by Bob Carlucci on 06 March 2004 at 04:42 AM.]

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 6 Mar 2004 8:28 am

It sounds like a ZB on that cut (Buckaroo), to me. Anyhow, to answer one question definitively, yes...there were players using a chromatic D9th/E9th on 8-string guitars in 1965.

Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 6 Mar 2004 8:41 am

The sound of that steel knocks my socks off and I'd sell every piece of equipment I own to get a tone like that!

ZB+Fender=

...the thing besides playing thru the Twin Reverb that others failed to mention is that the ZB has a tapped PU with a three postion selector- "Thin", "Fat" and "Fattest". the trebliest setting thru a Fender Amp can sound fairly "Fenderish" and who knows what the recording engineers did to it in the Captol Studios...

the LIVE sound from Carnegie Hall (1966) is a bit fatter...[This message was edited by Dave Van Allen on 06 March 2004 at 08:43 AM.]

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 6 Mar 2004 9:18 am

Here's an interesting story....
I also love the tone on those records, but to me the ultimate Brumley tone was from the live at Carnagie Hall record. A few years ago I asked him about that recording, and he told me that that record was much closer to his live sound than the Buck Owens recordings. He said he didn't care much for the tone on those records, because the Bakersfield engineers really boosted the highs on steel and electric guitar(on the board) in order to give the proper Bakersfield twang.

Terry Sneed · Post by **Terry Sneed** » 6 Mar 2004 10:20 am

Walter, or anybody, can you tell me where to get that course "Tom-Cattin" by Tom Brumley? I love that guys single and doubble note licks, and slides. where would i order that course? thanks[This message was edited by Terry Sneed on 06 March 2004 at 10:22 AM.]

C Dixon · Post by **C Dixon** » 6 Mar 2004 4:16 pm

Bit of Trivia,

When I was asked to do the Altanta show by Hal Rugg and Larry Sasser I was perplexed as to whether it was a good idea. Then to make matters worse, a very very unfortunate series of events took place; and I decided NOT to do the show.

Only to have non stop ringing of my telephone; begging me to go forward with it. So distraught and torn as to what to do, I did as I have often done. I prayed sincerely for Jesus to give me a sign as to what to do.

Within moments of that prayer the phone rang and it was Tom Brumley. Here is what he said,

"carl, I am sooooo sorry I have not gotten back to you sooner. I have been out of the country and just got home and saw your letter. I would be honored to perform at the Atlanta show".

Well my wife was there and saw my emotion. And we both said, "thank you Lord"

To make a very long story short, after Tom's incdredibly good performance, the fans went wild and were begging for an encore. At about that time, the great Bobby Caldwell kicked off (impromptu), Don Rich's part to "Buckaroo".

Tom was between a rock and a hard place. I do not really believe he was prepared to do it. But the fans were screaming; so as the gentleman he is, he sat down and did a "bravo" performance when it came to his part in the song.

I was standing next to his shoulder as Bobby Caldwell was performing Don Rich and Tom was performing Tom Brumley on that awesome tune. Now folks it does not get any better than that. (Incidently, would it not have been great to have had a video of that once in a life time event?)

oh well.

May Jesus continue to bless TB, BC and all of you always,

carl

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 7 Mar 2004 8:24 am

Terry, I sent you an e-mail of TB's e-mail, and more. Let me know if you do not get it.

Terry Sneed · Post by **Terry Sneed** » 7 Mar 2004 10:58 am

Thanks a lot Ray. I got your e-mail.
Terry

Nicholas Dedring · Post by **Nicholas Dedring** » 9 Mar 2004 5:11 am

I don't remember who mentioned this to me, or where I heard or whatever, but I recall that the studio eq'ed the steel parts really high and dry on the vintage buck owens stuff.

If you listen to the Little Darlin' Sessions Johnny Paycheck record that Lloyd Green did, they did the same things there: record an already trebly steel track, and just crank it up even more on the mixdown.

Both performances are incredible, but they also have a virtually impossible amount of high end, no matter what your rig is... the fact that live album is "fatter" makes me think that this was actually the case. If anyone knows TB to ask, or if he checks in on this, I'd be curious to hear his memory of it.

Roger Edgington · Post by **Roger Edgington** » 9 Mar 2004 6:14 am

I'm not positive but, I think Tom's Fender was also a 10 string Fender 2000, not an 8 string.

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 9 Mar 2004 7:03 am

Are any of you guys sure that it was a ZB ? I have been under the impression that Tom played a brand new Fender on that cut.

Another thing is I don't hear where Tom used a second string lower. I do hear a cool half step down with the B pedal lick though.

Bob

Marco Schouten · Post by **Marco Schouten** » 9 Mar 2004 7:18 am

I'm probably completely wrong, But I thought I read sometime that it was Buddy Emmons on Buckaroo. ??????????

------------------
Steelin' Greetings
Marco Schouten
Sho-Bud LLG; Guyatone 6 string lap steel; John Pearse bar; Emmons bar; Evans SE200 amp

Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 9 Mar 2004 8:25 am

the famous solo on "Together Again" was indeed a Fender (and not in too good repair) according to the liner notes of the Steel Guitar Record Club release of Tom Cattin'- hence the confusion...

but Buckaroo was a ZB- I believe B.Greg Jones has personally verified this with Maestro Brumley, re: his equipment listed above. Greg , please correct me if I am wrong about that...

the knee lever lower a half step is used in the opening phrase over the I and repeated on the IV:
<pre>E9th in D-

1_______________________________________________________________
2_______________________________________2L(-.5)_____2L(-.5)
3_______________________________________________________________
4_______________________________________________________________
5_________________5---5A _____5---5A __________ 5A______5A---5
6_______5__5-5B__________5B ________5B___________________________5B
7____5__________________________________________________________________5
8__5
9
10
11
</pre>

and is used throughout the solo in various ways...

Marco- I believe you are "completely wrong"...

Maestro Emmons did some sessions for Owens but several years later than "Buckaroo".[This message was edited by Dave Van Allen on 09 March 2004 at 08:56 AM.][This message was edited by Dave Van Allen on 12 March 2004 at 12:40 PM.]

Chris Forbes · Post by **Chris Forbes** » 9 Mar 2004 10:13 am

Can someone put up a link to his web-site? I know it was around here earlier, but I can't find it now. I want to get the tab for Tom Cattin', thanks.

Chris Forbes · Post by **Chris Forbes** » 9 Mar 2004 11:03 am

A couple of people were kind enough to e-mail me. You know who you are, thank you, it's much appreciated.

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 9 Mar 2004 2:54 pm

Dave,
You caught my brain fart. I were thinking together again.

Bob

Jerry Brightman · Post by **Jerry Brightman** » 9 Mar 2004 2:59 pm

Tom was definatly on "Buckaroo". A fact not well known was the accoustic guitar intro was done by Dash Crofts, who went on much later to form "Seals and Crofts" in the mid 70's.

Jerry
http://www.slidestation.com