His long-time guitarist Roy Nichols was heavily influenced by Wills music. )[66], In 2011 the Texas Legislature adopted a resolution designating western swing as the official "State Music of Texas". It wasn't all out boogie woogie; it was 'swingier'—more smooth and subdued. According to Roy Lee Brown, Milton told the bass player to “Slap it like they do down in New Orleans.” Later Brown added jazz-influenced Bob Dunn on steel guitar. Although the tax was later reduced to 20 percent, "No Dancing Allowed" signs went up across the country. Bill Haley's music from the late 1940s and early 1950s is often referred to as Western swing, and his band from 1948 to 1949 was named Bill Haley and the 4 Aces of Western Swing. Despite the presence of great musicians including former Playboy Johnny Gimble and a who’s-who of session musicians, the Nashville sessions are generally lack luster and pale in comparison to Wills’ best work. [31], In late 1933, Wills organized the Texas Playboys in Waco, Texas. It is very much in the style of eastern “hillbilly” guitarists of the period such as “blue yodeler” Jimmy Rogers and the influential Riley Puckett, who played with Gid Tanner’s Skillet Lickers. Leon Rhodes guitar work on this project is memorable. 81–88. Rhythm guitar was not featured prominently in these first sessions. You were lucky to find a ticket on a Wednesday night. Karl Farr’s rhythm and lead style helped set the swingy drive of Western music. In 1937, Wills added a young Oklahoma guitarist named Eldon Shamblin to the Playboys lineup. Perth, Australia is known as the place where blockbuster film actors Heath Ledger and Sam Worthington were born. All these styles can rightfully be called Western swing style guitar. "We sure not tryin' to take credit for swingin' it." Some early photos of the Doughboys (see phot on this page) do not include the teenaged Durwood Brown, as he was an “unofficial” member of the band. [15] Most of the big Western dance bandleaders simply referred to themselves as Western bands and their music as Western dance music, many adamantly refusing the hillbilly label.[16]. Perth, Australia is a vibrant city with beautiful year-round weather, boundless beaches, and an active music, arts, and jazz guitar scene. Western Swing was born in the '30s and is still going strong! See Appendix 1 for a primer on rhythm guitar technique. Western Swing was born in the '30s and is still going strong! Country super star George Strait recorded several of Wills’ famous songs in the swing style. "The Cowboy's Bawdy Music". His band’s hugely popular recordings and television appearances have kept swing guitar front and center. Additionally, Cecil Brower and Jesse Ashlock played twin fiddles and Wanna Coffman played the upright bass (bull fiddle). [41] The "front line" of Wills' orchestra consisted of either fiddles or guitars after 1944. In the 1978 interview cited above, Shamblin acknowledges Christian’s great playing, but doesn’t single him out as an influence. Cooley moved up from Phillips' County barn dances at Venice, Calif., ballroom, where he was featured for 74 weeks."[25]. The carved top, round sound hole, raised pick guard and tailpiece of this model make it very distinctive. The contemporary band Hot Club of Cowtown features Whit Smith whose guitar style owes much to all the Western swing pioneers mentioned here. Early players such as Jimmy Wyble, Charlie Aldrich, Jimmy Bryant, Roy Western Swing Guitar: Series: Guitar Recorded Versions TAB: Composer: Fred Sokolow : Western Swing was born in the '30s and is still going strong! Outside the factory, the western swing guitarists who helped Leo perfect his new guitar were the first to fully understand how good the Telecaster really was. This duet was worked out over several months and was first recorded on “Bob Wills Special.” On the recording, Wills identifies the new sound with his call, “Ahh, twin guitars.” Eldon recalled that on these recordings and others, including the landmark 1940 sessions, he played an acoustic Gibson Super 400 Wills had sold him. View course $25. [67][68], Late 1930s to mid-1940s: Height of popularity. Django Reinhardt is an important “ear-opening” guitarist and his “Minor Swing” is also an often-played favorite. Texas steel guitarist Tommy Morrell has produced a series of great instrumental recordings on his own label that feature great swing rhythm guitar. Now, it’s time to explore playing lead guitar in the Western-swing style. The remaining two Doughboys, Wills and Sleepy Johnson, replaced Milton and Derwood Brown with Tommy Duncan (guitar and vocals) and Herman Arnspiger (guitar/tenor banjo) and continued to perform under the Doughboy name. [31], On February 9, 1932, Brown, his brother Derwood, Bob Wills, and C.G. Most of the big Western dance bandleaders simply referred to themselves as Western bands and their … The style features a moving bass … Although the band was in a decline as far as popularity went, these years produced some of Wills most exciting music. The music in this early period of the Wills band was definitely swing-influenced but lacked the focus and drive the band would find by 1940. In February of 1932 the Victor recording company came to Dallas from New York City to make recordings with local artists. Guitars [ edit ] Acoustic guitars have been a firm favourite for country musicians since the 1920s. Career. Logsdon, Guy. [6][7][8] The music is an amalgamation of rural, cowboy, polka, folk, Dixieland jazz and blues blended with swing;[9] and played by a hot string band often augmented with drums, saxophones, pianos and, notably, the steel guitar. ...It was nobody intended to start anything in the world. The Quebe Sisters Band are real sisters Grace Quebe, Sophia Quebe, and Hulda Quebe. Western swing was one of the many subgenres to influence rockabilly and rock and roll. page 176, 177. Johnson is shown with a small mahogany-topped Martin in photographs. Western Swing Monthly,[65] based in Austin, is a newsletter for musicians and fans. This album is now available in CD format at a bargain price and contains lots of great Eldon-style rhythm guitar. The guitar in Western Swing holds a particularly important place. Swing. Around 1942, Cooley's promoter, disc jockey "Foreman" Phillips, began using "Western swing" to advertise his client. Haggard later added both Moore and Shamblin to his band, the Strangers. Shamblin recounts that he developed his trademark rhythm style at Wills’ urging. "Here's the way I figure it," he said. During the desperate grimness of the Great Depression, he moved to Oklahoma City, where he played and sang on the radio.Eventually, he ended up in Tulsa, working with Dave Edwards’ Alabama Boys and at another radio station, where he arranged classical … The group, with Fred "Papa" Calhoun on piano, played dance halls and was heard on radio. [36] According to Jimmy Thomason, "It happened when Dunn was working at Coney Island in New York...he ran into this black guy who was playing a steel guitar with a homemade pickup attached to it...hooked up to this old radio or something and was playing blues licks...and he got this guy to show him how he was doing it. Forrester produced an instructional video on swing guitar for Homespun. These Western dances were a huge success. Club owners and promoters couldn't afford the combined city, state government taxes. Leon McAuliffe and Tommy Duncan both had solo careers after their stints with Wills. On the radio, with W. Lee O’Daniel in charge, songs were limited to those with ‘high moral character,’ meaning old-time ballads about mother, home, religion, and family. Waco guitarist Ken Frazier to be inducted Into Western Swing Hall of Fame May 19, 2011 May 19, 2011 Updated Aug 17, 2019 0 × Thanks for reading! Django Reinhardt is an important “ear-opening” guitarist and his “Minor Swing” is also an often-played favorite. His influence on swing guitar was immense. Brown’s song selections came largely from the standard jazz and swing repertoire of the day. Born in Weatherford, Oklahoma, Shamblin taught himself guitar and music by studying big-band charts and stock arrangements as a teen. Legendary jazz guitarist Charlie Christian made recordings beginning in the early 1940s with the Benny Goodman orchestra. Western swing is a style of popular music that began in the 1920s in the American Southwest among the region's popular Western string bands. Western swing has always been widely considered a sub-genre of country music, but I’ve never understood why it doesn’t get included in the jazz lineage. The movement was an outgrowth of jazz. Fiddle-tune-based flatpick style guitarists generally discover swing style guitar at some point in their development. Doug Green (Ranger Doug) of Riders In The Sky is considered by many to be one of the best acoustic arch-top rhythm players today. Texas-style backup evolved from 1940s and ’50s Western swing guitarists who used swing-style “sock” chords to back up fiddle tunes. The music was broadcast as a radio show, The Cavalcade of Western Music, on KFI-AM. Some listeners have objected to his nearly constant talking, introducing and “Ahh-Haa-ing” during instrumental solos. It was practically impossible to wedge your way into the Palace Barn where Red Murrell and his band were playing. Others include the rhythm and lead styles of countless guitarists who played with Wills and bands that developed from or were inspired by the Wills sound. Haggard’s 1970 Wills tribute album led directly to the United Artists 1972 release For the Last Time: Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys two-album boxed set. The band moved to California and starred in numerous “B” Western movies over the next several years. Try a Sample Lesson Chord Melody Basics, Part 1: Triad Inversions Wills was creating a new sound and these recordings were the first steps toward the new genre. The common denominator, early … [62], Western swing influenced genres known as honky-tonk, rockabilly, and country rock,[63] popularizing the following in country music: use of electrically amplified instruments, use of drums to reinforce a strong backbeat, expanded instrumentation, a honky tonk beat of a heavy backbeat superimposed onto a polka or waltz beat, and jazz/blues solo styles.[64]. And they were shipped with flatwounds. Very few of the Big Bands survived the war years. An in depth video course on the guitarist who's blues, jazz, and swing stylings helped create the Western Swing guitar sound! Wetlock, E. Clyde; Richard Drake Saunders (eds.). All subsequent cowboy bands have featured the swing guitar rhythm style. Any Django fans in the room? Through Hendrix, guitarists everywhere finally seemed to get it on a much larger scale than ever before—the Stratocaster was an instrument capable of extraordinary things. Eldon left the band to serve in the armed forces during World War II. He was 68. Western Swing was born in the '30s and is still going strong! Jazz Age dances such as the Charleston, Lindy Hop, and Fox Trot helped establish swing as the popular modern beat. Herman Arnspiger continued to work with Wills up until the early 1940s, even after Eldon Shamblin [see below] was in the band. The aging Wills’ “Ahh-haas” and other vocal interjections are obviously over-dubbed and the results are often “cheesy” and the songs definitely do not swing. According to guitarist Merle Travis: “Western Swing is nothing more than a group of talented country boys, unschooled in music, but playing the music they feel, beating a solid two-four rhythm to the harmonies that buzz around their brains. [18][19][20] On the other hand, The Billboard, in its January 29, 1944 issue, reported Cooley came fourth in the orchestra section, behind Sammy Kaye, Freddie Martin, and Jimmy Dorsey. Robert Lee "Bob" Dunn (February 5, 1908 – May 27, 1971) was an American jazz trombonist and a pioneer Western swing steel guitarist. On mid-1930s sessions, two guitars and a banjo were often listed on the track listings, although the guitars were hard to hear in the rhythm section. The Pioneers’ appearance in many Western movies helped spread the Western sound. The guitarists on the Tiffany recordings were Lester “Junior” Barnard (1946 sessions) and Eldon Shamblin (1947 sessions). Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. (Boatright was a fiddle player originally from Goree. This style was born in the late 1940's with the rise of Western Swing - a hybrid of western-themed songs with jazz rhythm and harmony. The crowds of dancers loved the arrangement and eagerly anticipated the change in tempo. Multi-instrumentalist Marcy Marxer who has performed regularly with Cathy Fink for many years has also produced a swing guitar video. Bob Wills was heard on every jukebox with this "San Antonio Rose". And so in a nutshell Western swing moved from campfire chords to sophisticated cowboy jazz also named Jazz of the Midwest.br>br>Since Eldon Shamblin was so important in defining Western Swing style rhythm guitar playing this will be a large part of this course. However, that job only lasted a few months. Wills’ early recordings included some of this material as well, but not to the same extent as the Brownies. Western swing lives on at the Bobby Boatright Memorial Music Camp in Goree, Texas. [46] From 1934 to 1943, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys played nightly at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa, reaching crowds as large as 6,000 people. #591256 - 04/11/20 05:24 AM [Off-Topic] An Introduction to Western Swing and Its Illustrious Guitarists Registered: 07/13/02 Posts: 2984 Arnspiger appears with a Gibson L-4 guitar in numerous early 1930s photographs. According to Merle Travis, "At that time "Western swing" was a household word. [35], The amplified stringed instruments, especially the steel guitar, gave the music its distinctive sound. He recorded several harmonized duet solos with steel guitarist, Leon McAuliffe including the famous blues duet that is often heard today in “Milk Cow Blues” (see transcription on page 10). The horns played more in a 1920s Dixieland style and the arrangements sounded dated compared to mid 1930s dance orchestras. Through these records, Milton expanded his vocal repertoire to include popular and jazz tunes, some of which he had learned while with his vocal group in the late 1920s.”. [60], In 1955, Decca Records, in what Billboard called "an ambitious project", issued seven albums of "country dance music" featuring "swingy arrangements of your customers 'c&w' dance favorites". The rhythmic long-short, long-short beat was a national craze. ...They wouldn't be a runaway...and just lay a real beat behind it an' the people would began to really like it. Recordings of early Texas fiddlers in the 1920s also feature the “boom-chick” style. Western swing began in the dance halls of small towns throughout the lower Great Plains in the late 1920s and early 1930s,[26][27] growing from house parties and ranch dances where fiddlers and guitarists played for dancers. The 1930s cowboy music group Sons of the Pioneers featured (beginning in 1934) a hot fiddle/guitar duo from Texas. Additionally, although popular horn bands tended to arrange and score their music, most Western bands improvised freely, either by soloists or collectively.[12]. Wills himself was present for the first session and makes a few vocal contributions. Milton Brown sang these tunes with great affection, but he knew that people also wanted more up-to-date numbers, especially at dances. The Crystal Springs Dance Pavilion was at the center, and it prospered as a country music venue until the 1950s. The fact is that these two iconic guitars were created for the Western Swing genre. Numerous players in the 80s and 90s helped keep the Western swing rhythm style alive. Shamblin was a self-taught guitarist with considerable arranging skills. Perhaps due to poor recording techniques, the rhythm sound is very busy with piano, guitar, drums and banjo all fighting for a place in the music. The four-beat swing sound developed out of ragtime and early jazz music. Johnson’s playing on later fiddle/guitar recordings with Wills from 1935 and 1936 include “Smith’s Reel” and “Waltz in D.” These recordings feature the same open-chording style used by Derwood Brown. Its short neck and high tuning (CGDA) made it a loud acoustic instrument. When Spade Cooley unexpectedly received the most votes, besting Benny Goodman and Harry James, Jarvis declared Cooley to be the King of Western Swing. This book includes 25 swingin' classics, including the solos of the best guitarists from yesterday and today, such as Chet Atkins, Ray Benson, Vince … Speaking of Milton Brown and himself—working with popular songs done by Jimmie Davis, the Skillet Lickers, Jimmie Rodgers, songs he had learned from his father and others—Wills said, "We'd...pull these tunes down an set 'em in a dance category. Photographs of the Light Crust Doughboys taken as early as 1931 show two guitars along with fiddle player Wills. In the meantime, Fender put its new Stratocaster into the hands of the western swing and pop guitarists Leo intended it for—players such as Buddy Merrill (of Lawrence Welk’s band), Alvino Rey, Eddie Cletro, Charlie Aldrich, Al Eldon Shamblin (April 24, 1916 – August 5, 1998) was an American guitarist and arranger, particularly important to the development of Western swing music as one of the first electric guitarists in a popular dance band. This is a list of swing and Western swing musicians. Recording rosters show that beginning in September 1935, Wills utilized two fiddles, two guitars, and Leon McAuliffe playing steel guitar, banjo, drums and other instruments during recording sessions. The name of this band changed often, depending on who hired them. Eldon Shamblin, Herb Remington (steel), Tiny Moore (mandolin, fiddle), and Johnny Gimble (fiddle, mandolin) were among the dynamic musicians who worked with Wills in the late 1940s. It wasn't done in the music's heyday of the 30's and 40's, but in 1973, in Nashville. Southwestern stringed-instrument-playing folk musicians of the 1920s and early 1930s heard the dance orchestras of Paul Whiteman and others and began to incorporate this pulsing rhythm into their music. He was a member of The Strangers during the 1970s and 1980s. Brown formed the regionally popular Musical Brownies whose career was cut short by Brown’s death in a 1936 automobile accident. Vocalist/guitarist Tag Lambert traveled and performed with Wills during these years and his style shows a strong influence of earlier Wills’ guitarists including Junior Barnard. This book includes 25 swingin' classics, including the solos of the best guitarists from yesterday and today, such as Chet Atkins, Ray Benson, Vince Gill, Roy Lanham [1][2] It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat,[3][4] which attracted huge crowds to dance halls and clubs in Texas, Oklahoma and California during the 1930s and 1940s until a federal war-time nightclub tax in 1944 contributed to the genre's decline.[5]. 187k members in the Jazz community. Western swing was born in Texas in the 1930’s with the formation of a band called the Light Crust Doughboys, which later split into two other bands; Milton Brown and his Musical Brownies, and Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. The roots of Western Swing began in 1929 at the Crystal Springs Dance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas and grew to small towns throughout the lower Great Plains throughout the 1930s, growing from Fort Worth house parties and West Texas ranch dances where fiddlers and guitarists played for dancers. Western swing started to gain popularity in the 1920s. “Sweet Georgia Brown” is a popular first swing tune. His lead style had a life changing effect on many jazz and swing guitarists including jazz greats Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis and nearly everyone else. In 1946 and 1947, the Wills band recorded many “live in the studio” songs for the Tiffany Transcription Company. Later recordings of “Roly Poly” generally include musical “quotes” from Wyble’s memorable solo. Price, Michael H. "Jazz Guitar and Western Swing". Lead Guitar Style of Roy Nichols. Reddit's home for all things related to Jazz. However they get into it, most guitarists eventually find their way to the unique Western version of swing music. [55], Fred "Poppa" Calhoun, piano player for Milton Brown, vividly remembered how people in Texas and Oklahoma danced when Bob Wills played. The camp was profiled in a story that aired on July 21, 2010 on National Public Radio's Morning Edition program. [51], Riverside Rancho, operated by Marty Landau, had a 10,000-square-foot (930 m2) dance floor, three bars and a restaurant. The duty of a guitar player in a classic Western swing group is first and foremost to play four-to-the-bar rhythm, not unlike how the jazz guitarist Freddie Green handled comping in his nearly half-century gig with the Count Basie Orchestra. I utilise that approach on the live album, it’s on … Example #1 - Western Swing This style was born in the late 1940's with the rise of Western Swing - a hybrid of western-themed songs with jazz rhythm and harmony. Between 1934 and 1936, Milton Brown and his Musical Brownies recorded nearly one hundred selections for Decca and Victor. He was killed in a 1951 car accident. The line outside at that time was ten deep and stretched into Venice. The Light Crust Doughboys’ repertoire as the Doughboys differed greatly from what was played at the dance halls. In the dance hall arrangement, the band would play at slow-drag tempo for as long as 15 minutes with an accompanying vocal. 51 Western Swing Licks With Dan Smith Take your jazz, blues and country lead guitar playing to the next level with these ear twisting Western swing guitar licks. "They were pretty simple couples dances, two steps and the Lindy Hop with a few Western twirls added for good measure. At the height of his popularity, Wills’ calls of “Take it away, Leon” and “Ahh, come in Tommy, sing” made stars out of his band members who might have otherwise remained anonymous to the public. Although his trademark rhythm style was not yet as obvious, his jazzy lead style was featured on several recordings in 1938. Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys remained popular after the war, and could not provide enough new recordings to fill demand. Both played on numerous 1945 recordings including the classic “Roly Poly.” The guitar solo on this Cindy Walker tune includes two guitar licks that have become Western swing clichés. The Wills band was no exception. [45] In the 1940s, the Light Crust Doughboys' broadcasts went out over 170 radio stations in the South and Southwest, and were heard by millions of listeners. If your movie tastes are more toward art-house films, it is also where actress Judy Davis is […] By September 1932, Milton Brown had left the Doughboys because he was interested in leading his own dance band and playing the kind of music that W. Lee O’Daniel was not allowing the Doughboys to play. Charlie Christian was the Oklahoma guitarist who single-handedly defined electric jazz guitar in the early 1940s. He was a member of The Strangers during the 1970s and 1980s. We also liked Red Nichols and Bix Beiderbecke. Popular Music in America: The Beat Goes On. The book Milton Brown and the Founding of Western Swing (University of Illinois Press, 1994) written by Cary Ginell and Roy Lee Brown (Milton’s youngest brother) states, “In addition to barnstorming for Light Crust Flour, Milton Brown and the band continued to play dances every Saturday night at Crystal Springs. [42] That helped the style gain a much wider following through the music of Wills and his Playboys in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Brown and the Light Crust Doughboys in Fort Worth. The term swing, meaning big band dance music, wasn't used until after the 1932 hit "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)". Wills’ call of “Herbie, Tiny, Eldon” during harmonized solos helped establish solo careers for Herb Remington (steel) Tiny Moore (electric mandolin) and Eldon Shamblin. Early lead players, such as Shamblin and Junior Barnard, were close in sound and style to such early jazz and blues guitarists as Charlie Christian and T-Bone Walker. Junior Barnard, born Lester Robert Barnard (December 17, 1920 – April 15, 1951) was an American Western swing guitarist who was a member of Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. "[52], In 1950, Hank Penny and Armand Gautier opened the Palomino in North Hollywood, "one of country music's most fabled venues, the commercial and social focal point of Hollywood's country set." This book includes 25 swingin' classics, including the solos of the best guitarists from yesterday and today, such as Chet Atkins, Ray Benson, Vince Gill, Roy Lanham It was so-called because it was used as a lead instrument in the then-popular American tango bands. Influenced by influential Hawaiian lap steel guitar player Sol Hoʻopiʻi, Dunn played in his own original bluesy style and was one of the first to record an electric guitar, preceding other country & western guitarists following him shortly. Eldon’s characteristic rhythm style is first heard clearly on the 1940-41 recordings of Wills’ classics such as “San Antonio Rose” and “Take Me Back to Tulsa.” Sometime later, he began playing electric and is pictured in 1941 playing a Gibson non-cutaway archtop electric (possibly an ES-150). [45] Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen and the Strangers were also key players in this revitalization. He was particularly important to the development of Western Swing music as one of the true innovators of the electric guitar. O’Daniel had nothing to do with the group’s dance engagements and constantly worried about what those ‘disreputable establishments’ would do to Light Crust Flour’s reputation. Swing was dance music, first and foremost. T. Texas Tyler was doing well with his "Remember Me (When the Candlelights are Gleaming)". The acoustic arch-top guitar chording of Freddie Green anchored Count Basie’s popular big band from 1937. Shamblin’s solo guitar work has been incorrectly (in my opinion) called “Christian-esque” in numerous accounts of his style. 5 minutes ago. It was so-called because it was used as a lead instrument in the then-popular American tango bands. … Ment Morris is an Austin based guitarist and educator specializing in Bakersfield Sound, Classic Country, Western Swing, Country Jazz, Swing/Bebop, and Electric Blues Guitar Note for note "Faded Love" and "San Antonio Rose