Buddy Cage

Dave Hepworth · From: West Yorkshire, UK

Hi Folks,
Apart from tabs of Hello Mary Lou has anyone studied and got an in depth analysis with examples/ tab etc on Buddies style of playing .He is so difficult to pin down on some of his stuff .His sound and tone is also amazing.I do know he used an Emmons into a twin with maple woodwork which I'm sure contributed.
Not sure which forum page this should be on .Thanks for looking Dave.

Al Evans · From: Austin, Texas, USA

Bobby Nelson · From: North Carolina, USA

Love Buddy. We used to see him with the New Riders when they'd come though the area. Here's a couple good ones if you haven't heard them. The second one (be better To Your Baby) Kinda gives me the idea that Buddy Charleton may have been an influence on him - I'll put Ernest's version of it on here too, so you can see the similarity.

https://youtu.be/_u2H1oTU8OM?list=PLDIG6OVJm7ZBTM1ljseRPcRY72EPflsAz

https://youtu.be/nJrhFdTZ0-s?list=PLDIG6OVJm7ZAD_6hThrUWDm8s6McJ9Kkv

https://youtu.be/pLztDeRjL00?list=PLDIG6OVJm7ZAD_6hThrUWDm8s6McJ9Kkv

Pete McAvity · From: St. Louis, Missouri USA

That's right. If you want to study Cage, start with Charleton.
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Steve Hinson · From: Hendersonville Tn USA

I always thought Buddy Cage sounded like he loved Charlton's playing...I've been on a Cage kick recently after not really listening to him since"Gypsy Cowboy"...in my opinion he was the best of the"hippie"steel players.

Al Evans · From: Austin, Texas, USA

I just realized I forgot to say anything useful....

Beyond just playing along, if I really want to learn what a particular person plays, I find I learn it a lot more thoroughly if I make my own transcription.

For doing this. the best tool I've got is AnyTune Pro+ on my iPad. It was inexpensive, and lets me set loops, alter tempos, and match pitches to my heart's desire.

Beats the heck out of 16 2/3 rpm and trying to hit the right spot with a needle! Very Happy

--Al Evans
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Dave Hepworth · From: West Yorkshire, UK

Hi All,
Thanks for the replies .......please keep em coming !
Looking at my initial post I think I implied his tone was an Emmons and a Fender twin .........the Fender twin cabinet was made of maple NOT the Emmons ...sorry if I caused ambiguity here.Dave

Bobby Nelson · From: North Carolina, USA

Tucker Jackson · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

As far as I'm concerned, the two things that are Cage's trademark are:

1) His very hard palm blocking on those machine-gun fast staccato runs.

2) His lock-step timing with the drummer, his complete clean control when doing those faster parts. I think this is harder to achieve at tempo than is #1 above, at least it is for me.

In short, his raw chops were top notch on those 70's records, and if you listen to the live recordings you can tell what he really has. You can hear him execute with blazing speed with no degradation from, say, a studio track where he could maybe punch-in to fix mistakes.

For example, check out the timing of the triplet licks at 2:08 and 2:14 in this live recording of She's No Angel:
https://youtu.be/PYnDPM3tZlc?t=2m6s

J R Rose · From: Keota, Oklahoma, USA

I thought Buddy's early days and New Riders hits were played on a Z.B? J.R.
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Michael Johnstone · From: Sylmar,Ca. USA

I always saw him play an Emmons PP D-10. Later he played a Dekely D-12 which I thought didn't have the mojo of his earlier Emmons tone. He and Sneaky Pete were the artistic ideals I strived for when I first started out on steel. I never did approximate Pete's tone and style despite years of attempts but i got pretty close to Cage's style and chops but it involved years of 5 night a week gigs and copious amounts of little white pills. But then people told me I overplayed so.......

I hate to think of him struggling and ill.

Rick Abbott · From: Indiana, USA

Bobby Nelson · From: North Carolina, USA

I think Buddy and Big Jim Murphy had some of the hottest chops out there.

James Leaman · From: Wisconsin, USA

Buddy was definitely one of my biggest early influences. I think Tucker described his style and talent very well. It was fairly recently that I ran across Sheâ€™s No Angel, and his playing is amazing in the whole song, especially his solo the way he makes it swing! Wow!

Pete Burak · From: Portland, OR USA

If you want to practice your Buddy Cage chops, Mike Headrick has a good Rhythm Track for She's No Angel, and Henry and I Don't Need No Dr. are on there too (with several other Country Rock songs).
https://www.mikeheadrick.com/product-page/heart-of-the-night-1

James Leaman · From: Wisconsin, USA

Buddy was definitely one of my biggest early influences. I think Tucker described his style and talent very well. It was fairly recently that I ran across Sheâ€™s No Angel, and his playing is amazing in the whole song, especially his solo the way he makes it swing! Wow!

James Leaman · From: Wisconsin, USA

Bobby Nelson · From: North Carolina, USA

I did like the New Riders, and they did have some great songwriting. However, Buddy Cage was their ringer - without him, they were kind of run of the mill (except for the songwriting).

Here's some good shot of his early years.

https://youtu.be/MZWw87UgrwI

Chris Templeton · From: The Green Mountain State

I was in Mill Valley, CA in the early 90's and NRPS was playing at the old Sweetwater club (Not the Sweetwater Music Hall). It was just before Buddy Cage returned to the band, and they invited me to sit in. That was when John "Marmaduke" Dawson was still living. What a thrill.
That was a great club run by Jeannie Patterson.
Buddy has had that blood cancer thing for a while and I trust he is comfortable and continues to beat it back.
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Bob Carlucci · From: Candor, New York, USA

To best get the feel of buddy cage style, listen to all his stuff, then listen to Charleton, because thats the closest match.. Very similar, but of course Charleton was the master and Cage was the student.. Also, many might disagree, but a lot of Buddy cage's playing was similar to some of Brumley;s early stuff as well, and it would be a benefit to copy some of his signature licks...

The main thing about Cage was his palm blocking.. If you try to copy it using "modern" close to the strings palm or pick blocking, you'll never get it.. His right hand technique would be frowned upon by most modern day steel teachers.. He lifted it a mile off the strings very often, and slammed down hard, and looked "stiff" doing it.. Lots of movement. Hard fast locked wrist hand action. It works great for a certain sound and feel, but today most players will lose speed using his right hand technique..
His timing was great, great tone too, but he could also be "choppy" sounding on a few songs if you listened close. Thats due to his extreme "up and down" hand movement..
It worked great for him, no doubt, and gave him that great distinctive style we all love.
However, not sure its the right way to learn from the get go, as it might interfere with being a smooth all around modern player.. I emulated buddy 150% in my early days of steel playing- well over 40 years ago, but later on had to drop some of the rigid hand, high lift and drop, and extreme palm blocking to smooth out my playing style.. its still there, but its tempered, and thats how I think most players should proceed,,, Study his playing, incorporate it, but don't get so immersed in in it that it becomes your main style.

Buddy Cage was my first love on the steel. His sound was the one that made me burn to play, learn to play and love to play,.. Other major influences came shortly after, but NONE made me fall in love with the instrument more than Buddy Cage... bob
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Dave Hepworth · From: West Yorkshire, UK

Hi Bob.
Thanks for your reply .I seem to be the other way round .......150% Buddy now after 40 years of playing ....after being inspired 40 years ago by Buddy !!! My playing is way too smooth even playing fast ,so want to introduce some edginess to my playing ....I essentially pick block by default and just fell into it when I started.
He uses a very bright sound too which would help I'm sure .Im on a Mullen RP sd10 3x5 ......not an Emmons .......but still a great instrument .
Regards Dave

Dave Campbell · From: Nova Scotia, Canada

i'm finding that the buddy cage style of picking works really well in situations where the stage volume is really loud, as i assume it would have been for the new riders. i always seem to gravitate towards this when i'm playing in bands that are givin 'er.

Michael Castellana · From: Massachusetts, USA

around 25 years ago i bought a beautiful old twin from tommy cass (still have it) ... he suggested i talk w/ cage as he was still using twins ... i called cage and left a message ... around 15 min later i got a call and it was him ... calling from virgin islands! he talked my ears off about twins, keeping 12s in there etc etc. turned out he was going to be in town w/ the brooklyn cowboys and we arranged to meet early and have dinner. he was super generous w/ his knowledge, funny, irreverent and really loved talking steel and players. that custom steel of his had just been stolen, basically told me he didn't give a s*#t it was just an instrument and played his ass off on a legrand (?). i wish i could write all he told me when i asked how do you deal with loud guitar players? was hilarious ; )

i think the ian and sylvia great speckled bird record w/ cage and amos garrett (produced by todd rundgren!) is up there w/ first burrito brothers record and sweetheart of the rodeo as one of THE great country rock records ... just beautiful all the way around.

btw buddy told me amos garrett was his mentor and one of his biggest inspirations. (amos !!!! another personality there ; )

Dave Hepworth · From: West Yorkshire, UK

This thread is great and let's try and keep it going as long as we can.Buddies style certainly needs discussion / talking about. It is unique and sounds totally correct in the NRPS setting of country / rock/ folk fusion .
With regard to his blocking right hand technique I would like to try and get this on board as an alternative to pick blocking when required.Does anyone use this now ? If so any advice ?

Tucker Jackson · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

Yes. First, "palm blocking" is a serious misnomer. It's actually done with the back edge of the hand (think karate chop). Some people add in curled-under fingers to that.

There are several variations. Some use only that back edge to do the actual blocking, and no fingers are involved. These folks usually play with a hand position where their pinkie and middle finger are not curled under their palm. The pinkie can be pointed out straight -- or not. One or both fingers can be resting on the neck or body as a picking anchor -- or not.

Others curl one or both of those fingers under their palm and they can be used to do the blocking of the higher strings in the grip, while the meat of the back of the hand gets the lower strings.

Either way, whether you tuck fingers or not, the subtle up-and-down move is the same.

So... you know which of the above positions is most comfortable for you in your normal playing. Go with that. You shouldn't need to change your normal hand position to become a palm blocker unless you have a very flat-handed picking style

The default is to have your hand comfortably sitting on the strings. When you're ready to play, you lift your hand, catching the string with your pick on the way up all in one easy move. Then just set it back down to block the string. You don't need to think about what part of your hand is hitting or change positions to achieve this. Just set it down on the strings; palm blocking isn't something you have to try to do. It just happens on it's own when you set your hand back down. You don't need to lift your hand high, and don't need to slam it down hard. Finesse it. But if you want to play that Buddy Cage or Charleton style, you will bring the hand down fast to get the note to do that short 'Pop!' thing. You end up bouncing your hand up and down on faster runs.

And since you're trying to get to Buddy Cages's style, look at how he bounces his hand on the strings in this video; there are some good shots toward the last part of this song.
https://youtu.be/MZWw87UgrwI?t=3m27s

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