The Genius of Emmons

[mick hearn]

Where have I been all my life? Yes I have had a pedal steel about since the 70's but didn't really learn much in my opinion. I used to go out - ad lib for 4 hours and come home again. Yes I got the lloyd Green and Suite Steel plus a Buddy Emmons album but that was it. Then a couple or so years ago I found the lap steel and that really opened me up to all the greats especially on lap steel. I love the C6 and you know my efforts to convert some of the pedal steel stuff to lap steel.

Someone posted the Exploration E9 by Buddy on facebook and whilst I had heard some of these there were some I had not. "I Love You Because" was one of those so thought I would have a go. I did not realise what a task I had set myself. For a start no pedals - that's the rule, but listening to what Buddy did with pedals was nothing but sheer genius. Where did he get the ideas and where did he get those chords? Also the way he phrases some of those lines. Brilliant. I wonder how much of that he played off the top of his head.

Not only did he have the ability from an early age he had another advantage, and that was playing with other musicians who were equal if not better on their own instruments. This is something I have said for many years as a guitarist - get with someone who is better than you and feed from them - something I can't do any more. My version of "Feelings" was a result of listening to the guitar solo and sitting in the shed recording I just followed ad lib. It worked so well that I have difficulty thinking what the hell I had done as I have tried live to follow suite. Guess I am going to have to sit down and learn my own ad lib part.

Anyway I am near to completion so we will see how it turns out. In the meantime let me listen to this man again. Now where are the headphones?

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Mick I think B.E. was playing with a band from about 9 years old! couple that with a shed load of talent and 4 buckets of pure genius and you have your answer....

[mick hearn]

Yeah I know John but it still amazes me as it does others. Plus he makes it all look so easy and we know it isn't.

[Ken Byng]

Mick
The word genius is very over-used. Buddy is a genius in not just 1 but 3 different areas.

1. As a player he was a real pioneer. Unlike the rest of us, he had very few role models to learn from apart from Jerry Byrd and Joaquin Murphy. He listened to musicians like Charlie Parker, Oscar Peterson and Duke Ellington, and in his early 20's recorded a groundbreaking CD called Steel Guitar Jazz with top jazz session musicians in New York. Buddy spent hundreds of hours practising, and many of those hours were done in pitch blackness in order that he could improve his intonation which was as good as it gets. His rapid single string playing, his use of jazz chords and his beautiful playing of ballads on E9 are of the highest order.

2. He had a hand in the design and build of 2 of the greatest pedal steel guitars ever manufactured. The Sho~Bud with Shot Jackson and the Emmons push pull with Ron Lashley Snr. Buddy was no business man, and I have to be care what I say here, but his ideas on steel guitar construction were picked up on and run with by others who had more of a business acumen. Buddy became consigned to the role of a bit player, and his 'partnership' with Lashley ended acrimoniously when he found out that Emmons Inc. had no place for him in the managerial hierarchy. However, Buddy has stated publicly that his greatest ever achievement in his life was his concept and invention of the Emmons push pull - regarded as the benchmark for tonal greatness by discerning pedal steel guitarists.

3. Tunings. As far as the E9 tuning was concerned, this was evolving in the late 50's and early 60's with Jimmy Day and Ralph Mooney playing significant parts in the placing of the middle F# string and the high G# string. However, the big game changer was Buddy Emmons. He could hear in his mind the sound of the two high F# and G# strings. In an experiment before a session with Ray Price, he put the two strings on positions 9 and 10 on his guitar. Bearing in mind that his pullers had to be welded in place, this was not something that he could pull out of at the last second, and so he had to carry on regardless. Once he realised that he had stumbled on something very significant, he moved the strings to positions 1 and 2 and the rest is history. Buddy introduced the splitting of pedals A and B, which players previously were using the change with a single pedal.

With C6, Buddy devised the 5 standard pedals virtually overnight when he had his first D10 built. His musical brain was so good that he could hear in his mind the chords and passages that he deemed the C6 to be capable of.

So there you have it Mick - As a player, designer/builder and innovator, Buddy Emmons was peerless in what he brought to the world of steel guitar. He was also a flawless lap steel player, and a more than capable bass player. But above all......he was a sheer genius.

[sabatica]

I agree with his genius as does everyone here.

As an innovator he led the way.

As a player he opened the possibilities

As a visionary he knew C6 inside out and knew its strengths and weaknesses. So adding pedals to the weak points to make it stronger made all the difference. So I could understand once the mechanics became available adding all those changes you wish you had.

A living legend and genius. But all too often we forget he started at 9 and changed the landscape in his 20's. Thats dedication of at least 12 or more years. Let's be honest here he was fantastic but attainable for us all if we persevere.

I believe that his vision on pedal steel and its pedals and levers led him away from the never ending hole that is non-pedal. So no-one IMHO has taken the same level of commitment to developing a universal non-pedal tuning. Which is exciting. Which means Emmons should inspire us all to boldly go where no-one has gone before.

Reece Anderson realised this and was heading there before he passed and I wish I knew then what I know now so I could've asked him so many questions.

All that to say is the path of Emmons is lonely but can be rewarding musically. I dare to try it.

Notable mention is he had the likes of Jimmy day and many other pros to bounce ideas off of. The pedal steel and its development and applications were a community effort and Emmons was able to get to where he got by ALOT of help and input from others.

[Danny Mitchell]

What a great thread you've kicked off Mick
It Informs, Educates and Entertains. Lord Reith would've enjoyed it.
All the contributions have been enlightning

[mick hearn]

Thanks for replies folks and I dare say more to come. As far as the C6 is concerned I am finding that there are limitations but dare I go along the pedal route. I don't really want to as I really enjoy the discoveries I am making at the moment. I am not going to get this song spot on with Buddy for obvious reasons, mainly my limitations both as a player and by sticking to lap steel. I will get close however. I am not a musician and I find my way around by blundering in the dark. If I added pedals I probably would not be able to use them and they would get in the way. Still never mind - I have bigger fish to catch. Have you tried the fast run Buddy does in "I Love You Because" on a C6 lap steel. Not an easy task but I am trying.

All I can say is thank god for the internet and blogs like this one - It's the only way I find anything out as I only see other steel players at meetings.

Right - now how did that run go again ........

[mick hearn]

Right - try this. Put your picks on - done? right - now rub your thumb and finger together and see how fast you can do it. How long before your speed dropped or you cramped up? Now try the same but picking strings. Only two. Now try doing the same but moving forward across the strings then back again and when you can do that that, move your bar about. Oh yes and all using the 12th fret as a centre point. Thats how the fast run in "I Love You Because" by Emmons is. Not that easy so I have decided to play an alternative at this point until such time as I get up to speed. I know the notes but the co-ordination is beyond belief. No wonder Emmons and one or two others are our heroes.

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Mick you could be chasing your own tail or the end of the rainbow..... I am not saying your wrong as I don't even know the run you speak of but, I know i have tried to play things that our heroes play and the way I have worked out what they are doing has been wrong and there is an easier way to do it quite often. have you got visual on what you are trying to achieve?

[mick hearn]

Would not be any good John. He is using E9 pedal and I am on C6 lap. Fingers still have to move fast and not too many actual slides in that part.