Wesley Webb "Speedy" West (January 25, 1924 –
November 15, 2003) was an American pedal steel guitarist and record producer.
He frequently played with Jimmy Bryant, both in their own duo and as part of
the regular Capitol Records backing band for Tennessee Ernie Ford and many
others. He also played on Loretta Lynn's first single.
Speedy West was among the most innovative and influential
steel guitarists in country-music history. A master showman and the originator
of the explosive "crash-bar" style of playing, he will be best
remembered for a series of exciting instrumental duets he cut in the 1950s with
the guitarist Jimmy Bryant, including their classic "The Night
Rider".
The son of an amateur gospel singer and guitarist, Wesley
West was drawn to the steel guitar as a child. Fired by his admiration for
early players such as Leon McAuliffe and Jerry Byrd, he persuaded his parents
to buy him a $12 Hawaiian guitar and then rapidly progressed to a more
expensive National steel-bodied resonator model.
He married at 17 and spent the Second World War years
working successively in a munitions factory and on a farm, all the while honing
his craft at local clubs and jam sessions. At the war's end he began to appear
regularly on local radio, KWTO, Springfield. During one of these appearances
the emcee, Slim Wilson, introduced him as "Speedy" West and the name
stuck.
In 1946 he moved his family to Southern California where he
juggled work at a drycleaners with membership of a popular local band named the
Missouri Wranglers. He also fell under the influence of another renowned steel
guitarist, Joaquin Murphey, whose astonishing jazz-influenced single string
riffs whilst with Spade Cooley's Orchestra can be seen as a precursor of West's
own approach.
In 1948 he was himself hired by Cooley but left after just
five months and began to work with the broadcaster and musician Cliffie Stone
whose Hometown Jamboree would do much to establish California as a major centre
for country music. Stone encouraged his musicians to develop their own style
and, through his position as assistant A&R man at Capitol Records, was able
to offer them session work.
In 1949 West made his recording début alongside the vocalist
Eddie Kirk and a year later played on sessions with Tennessee Ernie Ford and
Kay Starr that resulted in the country/pop hits "I'll Never Be Free"
and "Ain't Nobody's Business But My Own". As a result he was invited
to tour with both stars and in that same year made his début on Nashville's
Grand Ole Opry. Perhaps more significantly, the label also signed him to a
recording contract that led to his now revered duets with Jimmy Bryant. The
sides they cut together from 1951 to 1956, once described as "manic
country bebop", included "The Night Rider", "Chatter Box"
and "Stratosphere Boogie", and have had a major influence.
Following the cancellation of the Hometown Jamboree in 1959,
West briefly became a fixture in Las Vegas. In 1960 he produced sessions for a
young Kentuckian named Loretta Lynn and was sufficiently impressed with her
talent to suggest that she allow him to bring in leading musicians such as Roy
Lanham and Harold Hensley rather than the also-rans she had hired. The
resulting disc, "Honky Tonk Girl", went on to become her first hit.
He cut a final album for Capitol in 1962, Guitar
Spectacular, on which he was joined by Lanham, the guitarist Billy Strange and
the legendary R&B drummer Earl Palmer, and then began to concentrate
increasingly on work outside of music. He was reunited briefly with Bryant in
the late 1970s, a session that was belatedly issued in 1990 as For the Last
Time.
In 1980 Speedy West was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall
of Fame. The following year a debilitating stroke left him unable to play his
instrument, but he remained a popular fixture at steel-guitar conventions,
where his good-humour made him an ideal emcee. He looked back on his playing
days with affection. His health deteriorated, and West died on November 15,
2003, in Broken Bow, Oklahoma.
“I used to get high,
higher than a kite, just playing my guitar. You don't have to use drink and
drugs if you love your instrument enough.” (Info from The Independent.co)
3 comments:
For “Speedy West featuring Jimmy Bryant - Travellin' from Georgia to West of Samoa” go here:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/53mth255br01sda/Speedy_West.rar
1. GEORGIA STEEL GUITAR
2. STEEL STRIKE
3. BRYANT'S BOUNCE
4. RED HEADED POLKA
5. RAILROADIN'
6. STAINLESS STEEL
7. HUB CAP ROLL
8. TRUCK DRIVER'S RIDE
9. BRYANT'S SHUFFLE
10. ROADSIDE RAG
11. YODELLING GUITAR
12. MIDNIGHT RAMBLE
13. SERENADE TO A FROG
14. HOMETOWN POLKA
15. SPEEDIN' WEST
16. SUNSET
17. THIS AIN'T THE BLUES
18. OLD JOE CLARK
19. SWINGIN' ON THE STRINGS
20. THIS IS SOUTHLAND
21. OUR PARADISE
22. STRATOSPHERE BOOGIE
23. WEST OF SAMOA
At last! A second Jasmine issue of the great talent of Speedy West, including the massive hit “Stratosphere Boogie”. Hear the master playing the tunes that made the steel guitar popular. This is a highly recommended CD for both country music & steel guitar collectors.
Download not available.
This file has been blocked by media fire so have reposted here :
https://www.sendspace.com/file/rofmmt
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