The Chetboard

On youtube type in " superannuatedlps " and you will find a number of LPs that someone( bless his or her heart ) has posted . One of Merle's,, with him relaxing in a white suite has an amazing steel guitar player on it. I have a shortened version of " So Round So Firm .... " on an old C & W compilation album . I played it for a friend of mine years ago and he thought the steel player was Curly Chalker. Just wondering if he was right.

I believe it was Curley

For a long time I thought it might be Joachin Murphy but someone told me it was defintely Curley. Quite an album.

In an interview, Merle said that Curly Chalker played steel on the "Travis!" album. I have it on vinyl, and it's a great recording.

Randy

Along with being a Chet Atkins fan, I am a big Merle Travis fan. I went through many pages but finally got worn out without finding the album you mentioned. Can you tell us about which page it is on? Thanks.

My dad was a big Merle Travis fan and owned the album "Travis" with that fantastic steel player. I had never heard of Chet Atkins yet and though I really liked Merle's guitar playing, I've always been a huge fan of harmony and the most sophisticated harmony was from that steel guitar, where my focus always was and caused the hair to stand up on my arms. He played all those jazz chords and what I call "transition chords", leading into other chords. That has become a permanent part of my thinking when I arrange songs. Many people consider it to be my "trademark" and I owe a large part of it to the steel guitar on that "Travis" album from my childhood.

Incidentally, I was the only musician in my family. I had no mentors or anyone to look up to or watch how to do anything. I just inherited a tremendous love for the musical details "behind the scenes of the melody".

Type in " superannuatedlps merle travis " Cheers, Charles