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Topic: Steeler for Eddie Miller's Ghost Town -- Bob Hines ? |
Jeff Keyton
From: Texas, USA
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Posted 15 Mar 2011 12:58 pm
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Could the steeler on this track be Bob Hines, who was referenced on the West Coast Steelers thread on the forum ? Does anybody have any other info on this recording, it was originally (I think) released on 4 Star records about 1960.
Thanks
Last edited by Jeff Keyton on 15 Mar 2011 2:39 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Jeff Keyton
From: Texas, USA
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Mitch Drumm
From: Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
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Posted 15 Mar 2011 4:01 pm
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Can you post the flip side (Honey Baby) where he might sing rather than talk??
I'm not sure that is the same Eddie Miller. I've got some ideas who it is, but a listen to the flip would help.
Hines was with Miller circa 1950, but not sure about 1960.
Miller had a terrible voice. Listen to the original version of "Release Me", below.
Someone takes a steel ride on "Bus Station Stomp", but it sounds to me like Eddie calls in someone named "Tiny", not "Bobby".
http://picosong.com/LDd
http://picosong.com/LDW
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Jeff Keyton
From: Texas, USA
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Posted 15 Mar 2011 5:36 pm
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I believe that is the same Eddie Miller-- same record label. Maybe ten years on he figured his talking was better than singing. |
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Mitch Drumm
From: Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
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Posted 15 Mar 2011 5:59 pm
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They don’t sound similar to me, but that’s why I wanted to hear a singing example.
I assume you cannot post the flip side.
I have read about the 1960 Eddie Miller 4 Star recordings, but can’t recall the details of the connection with the songwriter Miller. So I can’t say outright if it’s the same guy.
The bona fide Eddie Miller recordings may have ended in 1950. None sold, but Release Me became a monster hit for other artists--beginning with Jimmy Heap around 1953.
Several years go by. Meanwhile, The Miller Brothers (Wichita Falls western swing band, largely unrelated to Eddie) begins recording for 4 Star and has some success. The Miller Brothers band had some good vocalists--notably Jimmy McGraw, Billy Thompson, Lee Miller, and Bill Taylor.
I think the later 4 Star "Eddie Miller" recordings may be an incarnation of The Miller Brothers band, renamed as by Eddie Miller--probably a brainstorm by the label owner in an attempt to cash in on the real Eddie Miller's name--which was quite well known by that time as the composer of “Release Me”. None of the Miller Brothers were named Eddie.
Who was that shifty label owner??
The notorious Bill McCall aka "W. S. Stevenson"--who weaseled his way onto many 4 Star records as supposed co-writer, including "Ghost Train".
He was shifty, but smart: in the late 50s, he bought half of "Release Me" from its co-composer Bobby Gene (Yount). See the pictures above. When Englebert Humperdink sold millions of "Release Me" in the 60s, Yount got nothing.
Adding to the confusion is that fact that The Miller Brothers band actually did record a song or two written by the real Eddie Miller.
I’m not sure how many of The Miller Brothers band were in fact brothers. Not many, perhaps only 2? I think one band member (Jimmy McGraw) was sometimes billed as Jimmy Miller.
The steeler on Ghost Train may be Bill Jourdan, who was with The Miller Brothers in the 50s. That’s Bill and Billy Thompson on the left in the picture below, mid 50s. But the band had other steelers.
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Billy Tonnesen
From: R.I.P., Buena Park, California
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Posted 15 Mar 2011 8:49 pm Bob Hines AKA: Bobby
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Bob Hines is well and lives outside of Denver Colorado. I keep in touch with hime 3 or 4 times a year. I will give hime a call about the Eddy Miller record. Eddy also had a pretty big hit song called "There She Goes". Bobby had an extended career in So. Calif. playing with Billy Armstrong at the "Corral" in Long Beach, Ca., The Bostonia Ballroom with Smokey Rogers near San Diego, Ca. also played Steel and Saxaphone in Curly Chalkers band in Las Vegas, Nv. for a couple of years. (Curly played mostly lead Guitar). Bobby does not play Gigs anymore but keeps up on his Steel with a Band-in-a Box in his basement. However, Bobby works part time as a Piano Tuner. Bobby as a teenager went to work for Leo Fender and contributed to the growth of the Fender Company. He became a close friend of Leo. If anyone would like his phone no., E-Mail me. He does not have an Internet. |
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Jeff Keyton
From: Texas, USA
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Mitch Drumm
From: Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
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Posted 16 Mar 2011 12:07 pm
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Jeff:
Thanks for the flip side.
On that tune (Honey Baby), the vocalist is reminiscent of Eddie Miller as heard on his 1950 era recordings.
I just can't be sure.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I do think there is a Miller Brothers connection. The vocalist could be Eddie out in front of the Miller Brothers band. Or the vocalist could be a member of the Miller Brothers band with no connection to Eddie Miller.
I would not put anything past Bill McCall.
I have no idea if there is a Bobby Hines connection on either side of the record. |
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Stu Schulman
From: Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
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Posted 16 Mar 2011 12:45 pm
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I worked for Bill Jourdan a number of times up here in Anchorage,Unfortunately I had no idea that he was a steel player until after his passing.  _________________ Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
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