Bobbe's Tips

[Zumbilly(Murdoch)]

I guess many of You red Bobbe's tips weekly.
I have now given up trying to improve My technique and am concentrating on My personality

[Ken Byng]

Billy
I think Bobbe was spot on with his views. There are some world class steel players in Nashville who never get a sniff of session work because their faces do not fit. Lloyd has made no bones about this in the past. He made great efforts to get into the Nashville 'inner circle' by being compliant and friendly with producers and fellow studio musicians. Curley Chalker once did a session with producer Felton Jarvis, who did not appreciate Curley's ascerbic personality one bit. He was never asked back for any more sessions.

I remember reading a piece where Pete Drake brought Bobby Black in to do a session, and almost had to force the quiet and retiring Bobby to socialise with the other musicians.

We cannot change our personalities - there are great musicians all over the place who for one reason or another do not endear themselves to others. You know who some are. You certainly don't have to work on your personality Billy. You're one of the good guys in Commonwealth Corner!

[Tony Smart]

That's an interesting point Ken, how did Curly reach the heights he did in Nashville with his self confident (for want of a better word) personality?

[Ken Byng]

Tony
Chalker got relatively few sessions, despite being a monster player. He was primarily a live player, and was very much in demand as a back up player in addition to playing in small combos in clubs. Actually his E9 playing was very good, despite him being slightly dismissive of the tuning and being known mainly for his C6 stuff. I love talking to guys in the States who knew him well - he seemed like a very complex person who did not suffer fools in any way. I would imagine that he found it very difficult being told what to play by some producers who were not on the same plane as him musically. You know the sad thing was that he, along with Jimmy Day, died with very few assets to his name. However, the legend lives on. He is probably in the top 4 or 5 players who have ever lived in my opinion. The first time I heard his C6 solo on Charley McCoy's Danny Boy, I just burst out laughing - it was that good.

(I should have clarified with the Felton Jarvis incident that he never got any more sessions that Jarvis was conected with).

Here are some examples of his E9 playing

[e9b6]

Some of the Wilburn Brother's shows on Sky 280 have Curley playing - both E9 and B6 - excellent on both necks