Gordon on "Mississippi "

[Mcneilwaeasteel]

Back in the early 80's I had the privilege of meeting Gordon at Glasgow's Grand old Opry with my friend Jimmy McGregor, we had a good chat with him and he confirmed he played steel on Pussycat's version of "Mississippi" and we told him it was his steel sound that made the record such a big success.
He told us he was invited to Holland to record the song in a weekend and as far as I can make out this has never been mentioned and this tune is not reported anywhere on his recording credits, can anyone confirm this information as he must have told others of this recording session?
Cheers
Robert

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

At that time Gordon was very much in demand he was always flying off somewhere for a session, it could be Germany or Iceland, if it was London I quite often went with him and you never knew what to expect, sometimes just him and the sound engineer and sometimes a full orchestra.... great times for me

[Mcneilwaeasteel]

John
Did he ever mention recording Mississipi?
No one seems to know officially as it's not on record as far as I'm aware and he told us he was flown out, done the recording session and paid, all the royalties went to the recording company and we were kidding him he would have been a rich man if he had been paid the royalties!

[Danny Mitchell]

No help I'm afraid Robert, but as I was having a google around to see if there were any live clips of Pussycat with Gordon on steel, I came across, what I think is, Mark Dunn doing a Gordon Huntley tribute. Warning! Clip contains mild child abuse!



A lot of chancers mimed to this track back in the seventies, why one even used his Colt 45 as a bar

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

If he said he did the session Robert then he did, I remember going to top of the pops with him when he played Misty with Shakin wots his name and he played it perfectly but it was not Gordon on the original cut. he did quite a few with Olivier Newtron Bomb as he called her and I think it was Roger Hump. that told me he got 25 quid for playing on Rod Stewart's first album. I liked the Top of the pops sessions with the Johnny Pearson Orchestra some great musicians.

[Donny Johnston]

I think I can confirm that it was Gordon on Missssiiipppii, He told me when I met him at the same time as Robert that he had done the session in Holland and he used a double track sound effect pedal, he later sold me one which I used for a while but I'm not a great fan of effect pedals on steel so I sold it. Donny.

Last edited by Donny Johnston on Tue Mar 06, 2018 6:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Mcneilwaeasteel]

Danny
Mild child abuse certainly but the cruelty man could have done something about the sounds coming from the video
Gordon not only said he did the recording but told us he was flown over to Holland to do the recording session and paid £100, more than that he had a good feed and flown back, as it was his steel playing that made the record so successful the record company got a good deal.
Regards the videos of the song on utube I'm not sure if mime or pantomime was involved in the making of them, as the photos below show a cowboy on a single neck using a gun, and the same guy with a bit more hair instead of flair, supposedly playing a Framus twin neck pedal steel fitted with automatic pedal control
Thanks for confirming my recollections Donny, and that you were in the opry on the day we were talking to Gordon, as it was during the Ken Manners session on a Sunday afternoon.
This post should put the record right and give Gordon the credit he deserved

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[dessa]

Not wishing to burst anyone’s bubble as Gordon was a fabulous player and a lovely guy but he did not lay the steel down on pussycats Mississippi. I met the guy who did at a guitar show some years back. He was demonstrating a new kind of b- bender for guitar. Sorry I can’t remember his name. The track is played on lap steel which makes sense if you listen carefully at how it’s played.

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Well there you have it Robert from someone that knows, maybe Gordon played some shows with them? I really don't know but it sounds like a missunderstanding of what was said in Scotland to me as the most likely explaination.

[Mcneilwaeasteel]

Del
Thanks for the information on the recording of this number, you did not burst my bubble but made my day telling us it was a "Lap steel" used on the track
One video on utube shows a "cowboy" using the handle of his gun as a steel and the other later version that was the big hit in this country shows a Framus twin neck pedal steel, I guess Gordon made the track for one of them and your contact the other, I suppose that is about all we will ever know.
Unless anyone else can add to the story that's about all we will find out, regards misunderstanding what was said on the day, Lord Donald and myself misunderstand things at times but we have a mutual understanding that we don't misunderstand, misunderstandings, on the same day
Robert