Eldon Shamblin
Encyclopedia
Eldon Shamblin was an American guitarist
and arranger
, particularly important to the development of Western swing
music as one of the first electric guitar
ists in a popular dance band.
Born in Clinton, Oklahoma
, Shamblin learned guitar at a young age and learned to read music at his sister's piano. He became interested in Jazz
when he heard Eddie Lang
and Joe Venuti. In time he purchased transcriptions of Eddie's solos and learned them when he became interested in arranging, a skill he later proved to be in demand for as the Big Band era swept the nation. As a teenager he migrated from Weatherford, OK to Oklahoma City where he played some of the roughest dives and nightclubs and landed a daily 15 minute radio show where he sang and accompanied himself on his guitar. Eventually he wound up playing in hotel bands there in OK City with jazz musicians playing selections that were soon to become classics. His local fame spread and he soon was known as the other great guitarist in Oklahoma, the first being a young Charlie Christian
who was playing in venues down in the Deep Deuce area of 2nd St and also with groups that had programs on some of the same radio stations as Eldon. Charlie played in a lot of the nightclubs on the 'other' side of town where few 'white' people ventured. Likewise Blacks seldom were seen in the 'white' section. In the Deep Deuce area the color lines were often completely forgotten as in mixed races Jam sessions at Salathiel's Barn where Charlie was known to have played with steel guitarist Noel Boggs and pianist Clarence Cagle, both of whom figured into the Western Swing music of Bob Wills
and other bands of the genre. Ironically, some of these artists played in clubs which were across the alley from one another, often well within earshot of the back door. Music being a bond between races it's said that Eldon & Charlie possibly heard one another either on the air or across the alleys.
In 1934 The Alabama Boys an early western swing
band led by non-musician Dave Edwards came through Oklahoma City. When they heard him on the radio they recruited Eldon to join them as their new singer and guitarist. Eldon left with them en route to Tulsa where they headquartered having landed radio spots on KVOO and eventual jobs at various dancehalls there. He stayed with the Alabama Boys for about three years. He later had his own radio show and eventually joined another group playing hotels performing classical songs in the swing band tradition. By then Bob Wills had already began calling him. Bob was persuasive but Eldon was reluctant at first until Wills made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Bob sold him on the security of a future he could bank on. He joined Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys in November 1937.
A self-taught guitarist, he quickly became the band's musical arranger as he had learned to read charts by studying big band arrangements. Shamblin's trademark electric guitar style and musical knowledge was key to the success of Wills' Western swing. His guitar featured prominently on the band's 1938 hit "Ida Red
", which was later rewritten by Chuck Berry
as "Maybellene
". Then, on "Take Me Back To Tulsa
" in 1940, he invented a two-beat rhythm arrangement which became his trademark sound.
Over the years Shamblin's rhythm style incorporated many dynamics including a Big Band style much the same as Freddie Greene from the Count Basie Orchestra
. Based on much of what he learned from studying Eddie Lang's recorded work and transcribed solos Eldon was an a very creative innovator in his chord voicings moving beyond what Lang had brought to the fore along with other Lang influenced guitarists including Dick McDonough
, Karl Kress and George Van Eps
. Shamblin ranks right up there with the finest of these but is lesser known for his contributions because of his western swing affiliation which was looked down upon by many in the Jazz world because of western themes and dress, albeit the music was swing and utilized much of Jazz and other styles in the music produced by bands such as Bob Wills who was the most eclectic and swingingest of all WS bands. Over the years he hired many great musicians who had been in the known Jazz world and several who cut their teeth in his Playboys band who went to on Jazz careers.
Shamblin's lead guitar work was such that in April 1941 Metronome
magazine called him the most creative and inventive guitarist since the discovery of Charlie Christian and the best white guitarist with the greatest flow of fresh ideas like Charlie played. They acknowldged Eldon as an emulator of Christian's style and made the distinction that he was an innovator and not an imitator of Charlie's style. Thirty years later a Rolling Stone editor wrote a piece on him called "Eldon Shamblin - the Greatest Rhythm Guitarist in the World" hailing Eldon for his creativity, solidity and echoing Metronome
magazine's much earlier assessment. Similarly, Down Beat
acknowledged Eldon's legendary status as a major contributor to the world of guitar noting he was Jazz oriented and a Swing musician albeit working in Western Swing and Country bands, particularly Merle Haggard
who was on the cover - a first for the publication, granting a Country artist the coveted cover issue.
Over the years Eldon's lead guitar solo outings took on a life of their own evolving and moving along with the times. His acoustic single string lead guitar work in the 30's smacked of Lang and Django Reinhardt
influences, while his occasional brief chord solos speak to an immense knowledge of harmony and the fretboard on a par with George Van Eps. By the 40's his style was reminiscent of early Bebop
with the occasional chord flourish added to good effect. Bob Wills only told Eldon what to play on two occasions, the first being during recording Ida Red when he instructed him to put a lot of runs in his rhythm chords (because the bass player was very perfunctory) and after WWII he told Bob to "gouge your licks like ol' Junior" speaking of Junior Barnard
who was in and out of the band and had a very bluesy style that was low down and dirty. Bob asked Eldon to bend the strings and turn up the volume. The result was Eldon venturing into what can now be considered proto-rockabilly with his somewhat "less than Junior" attack, playing more reserved by executing his licks with more harmonic structure and more intricacy in his very forward thinking solos. In the 40's Junior heralded what was to become rock guitar in the 60's with his proto-grunge distortion and sustain while Eldon held the reins and visited the soon to come Rockabilly
era in California, Oklahoma and Texas a full decade before it launched in Memphis.
At any rate Rockabilly
and Rock and Roll
owe a debt to Bob Wills and his great guitarists of the 30's, 40's and 50's. Guitarist Jimmy Wyble
who was a Texas Playboy from late 1943 until Spring 1945 waxed some of the finest guitars solos on record in any genre with Bob Wills on hits like Roly Poly
and Texas Playboy Rag. His licks can be traced directly to almost note for note rip offs on Gene Vincent
's recordings from his great sessions with guitarist Cliff Gallup
. He also heavily influenced Hank Garland
in Nashville and Jimmy Bryant
on the coast in CA. Wyble went on to play Jazz with Benny Goodman
, Frank Sinatra
, Red Norvo
and made solo Jazz albums as well as several Jazz guitar teaching resources. His Bebop style was closer to Christian's yet forward thinking and very distinct from Eldon's or any other western swing player. Eldon's lead stands out as something organic in that it was constantly growing in new directions, while Junior and Wyble were in their own respective Blues and Bebop Jazz bags.
During his tenure with Wills, Eldon played his 1936 Gibson Super 400 which he had bought from Wills upon joining, paying monthly payments. At Wills request he also purchased a Gibson ES-150 electric guitar and matching EH-150 amplifier in 1938. Eldon and Playboys steel guitarist Leon McAuliffe
began experimenting with what would become their trademark Twin Guitar idiom right away in the motel rooms when they traveled just to amuse themselves in their off duty hours. One day a couple years later at a rehearsal Bob Wills heard what they were doing and asked them to work up a solo arrangement for a fiddle tune he was going to record called Bob Wills Special. That day one of Western Swing's most endearing guitar excursions came about and was quickly added to the arrangement of the song, where it remains to this day. A few days later Wills asked them to write a special instrumental that would feature them as primary artists. They quickly came up with not one but two tunes, Twin Guitar Special which Wills recorded along with his own Special
fiddle tune in 1940. The other tune Eldon and Leon came up with was called Twin Guitar Boogie which Wills never recorded because Wills thought the tune was too 'out there' so he passed. The tune still made the set lists at dances and got airplay on KVOO as rare transcribed radio broadcasts from Cain's Ballroom attest. McAuliffe recorded this song on one of his Capitol albums from the 60's under the name Bouncing Bobby (a nickname for fiddler Bobby Bruce). In December 1973 Wills made his last recording in Dallas with an all-star cast of past Playboys including Eldon & Leon who played Twin Guitar Special but it was renamed Twin Guitar Boogie with the two of them listed as composers. The 'twin guitar' idiom inspired a whole generation of guitarists over the years including Dickie Betts of the Allman Brothers band who has attributed his twin lead work with the late Duane Allman and more notably the uncredited Les Dudek who played on the Brothers and Sisters album with their hit song Rambling Man and Jessica
both of which feature great twin leads owing much to what Eldon & Leon invented.
Shamblin logged over 300 recorded sides with Bob Wills from 1938 until 1954. He also was in a few Hollywood films with Bob Wills most notably Take Me Back To Oklahoma
with Tex Ritter
etc. and Go West Young Lady featuring Penny Singleton
and the up and coming Glenn Ford
. Wills music can be heard to great advantage in both of these films as well as Eldon's guitar.
Shamblin was drafted into the Army in 1942, where he served for four years as a Captain in Patton's 3rd Army in the European Theater of War and was there at the Battle of the Bulge
. After his discharge he rejoined the Texas Playboys in September 1946 (after a brief stint with Leon McAuliffe's Western Swing Band in Tulsa), rejoining Wills in Fresno, CA where the Playboys were headquartered, staying with them until 1956. In 1957 Eldon joined Hoyle Nix and the West Texas Cowboys band in Big Spring, Texas where they played at the Stampede Ballroom. After two years on the Nix band Eldon returned to Tulsa where he managed a convenience store and went to night school earning a CPA license. He quickly decided the CPA business was not for him and began teaching guitar at the Guitar House music store there in Tulsa. He expanded his work to becoming a first rate piano tuner and electronic organ serviceman who was much in demand.
He returned to music in 1970 when he was called upon to help organize a tribute to Wills and played on Merle Haggard's album A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (or, My Salute to Bob Wills). Shamblin later joined Haggard's award winning Stranger's band, the Strangers in 1973. He toured with Hag on a fairly irregular basis, with most of his participation being in the Oklahoma & Texas area as well as Hag's usual seasonal 2 week stands every year at Harrah's in Reno, NV. Eldon played sessions with Hag in Hollywood at Capitol Records and studios in Nashville, TN. During his off time he worked in Tulsa playing locally with various acts playing everything from Jazz to Swing, Country music to western swing. Most notably was his presence at the Caravan Ballroom playing in a band led by Shirl Cummins a local drummer who owned a first class music store there in Tulsa called The Guitar House where Eldon taught music and guitar and also worked tuning guitars and servicing keyboard instruments. Shamblin had his own piano tuning and electronic organ servicing business that afforded him a decent living because he was so in demand. At one point he had nearly every church in town as one his accounts. Word has it that not only was he the best in town, he was the least expensive and most reliable.
In 1983 Eldon left Haggard because he was tired of the touring which had become more frequent and the extended stays away from home and his business. He returned to Tulsa and joined a late version of the Texas Playboys in 1983 led by Leon McAuliffe who fronted the Original Texas Playboys band which had been reassembled in 1971 for the 1st occasion of Bob Wills Days celebration held every year since the last weekend of April in Turkey, Texas near the area where Wills grew up. The Original Playboys recorded several albums for the now defunct Delta Records (as well as 2 pre-Eldon outings for Capitol Records
featuring Bob Kiser on guitar) which also re-released an album that had been recorded locally called Eldon Shamblin - Guitar Genius. Eldon recorded with other artists including an album by Joe Venuti with Jethro Burns and Curly Chalker
- 'S Wonderful 4 Giants of Swing as well as solo outings by fellow Texas Playboys & Stranger's allumnus Tiny Moore
, Tiny Moore Music and Back To Back
with Jethro Burns accompanied by two Jazz greats Ray Brown
and Shelley Manne, as well as guest recording spots with Asleep at the Wheel
, George Strait
, Willie Nelson
, Johnny Gimble
and a host of others. Shamblin is noted for playing one of the first Fender Stratocaster
electric guitars ever made which was a demonstrator model given to him personally by Leo Fender
in March 1954. That same month Eldon used the guitar with the Texas Playboys in what became the final Bob Wills recording session for MGM Records
. Eldon used this guitar and a borrowed Gibson Switchmaster loaned to him by Billy Strange
took the guitar on the road with Bob Wills up through California on a month and half long tour of the great Northwest. The guitar is notable in that Eric Clapton
called Eldon at his home in Tulsa and offered him $10,000 for it in the early 80's. It is in a collector's hands but has fetched even larger sums in the scant half dozen owners it has had since Eldon sold it in the early 90's.
By 1996 Shamblin was in ill health and retired from music except for a few of rare special appearances. He died in a nursing home in Sapulpa, OK on August 5, 1998. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 (along with Bob Wills and a select group of about a dozen the most active and productive of his Texas Playboys) and was also inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame
in 2006.
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and arranger
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
, particularly important to the development of Western swing
Western swing
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...
music as one of the first electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
ists in a popular dance band.
Born in Clinton, Oklahoma
Clinton, Oklahoma
Clinton is a city in Custer and Washita counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 9,033 at the 2010 census.-History:The community began in 1899 when two men, J.L. Avant and E.E...
, Shamblin learned guitar at a young age and learned to read music at his sister's piano. He became interested in Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
when he heard Eddie Lang
Eddie Lang
Eddie Lang was an American jazz guitarist, regarded as the Father of Jazz Guitar. He played a Gibson L-4 and L-5 guitar, providing great influence for many guitarists, including Django Reinhardt.-Biography:...
and Joe Venuti. In time he purchased transcriptions of Eddie's solos and learned them when he became interested in arranging, a skill he later proved to be in demand for as the Big Band era swept the nation. As a teenager he migrated from Weatherford, OK to Oklahoma City where he played some of the roughest dives and nightclubs and landed a daily 15 minute radio show where he sang and accompanied himself on his guitar. Eventually he wound up playing in hotel bands there in OK City with jazz musicians playing selections that were soon to become classics. His local fame spread and he soon was known as the other great guitarist in Oklahoma, the first being a young Charlie Christian
Charlie Christian
Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian was an American swing and jazz guitarist.Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar, and is cited as a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra...
who was playing in venues down in the Deep Deuce area of 2nd St and also with groups that had programs on some of the same radio stations as Eldon. Charlie played in a lot of the nightclubs on the 'other' side of town where few 'white' people ventured. Likewise Blacks seldom were seen in the 'white' section. In the Deep Deuce area the color lines were often completely forgotten as in mixed races Jam sessions at Salathiel's Barn where Charlie was known to have played with steel guitarist Noel Boggs and pianist Clarence Cagle, both of whom figured into the Western Swing music of Bob Wills
Bob Wills
James Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...
and other bands of the genre. Ironically, some of these artists played in clubs which were across the alley from one another, often well within earshot of the back door. Music being a bond between races it's said that Eldon & Charlie possibly heard one another either on the air or across the alleys.
In 1934 The Alabama Boys an early western swing
Western swing
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...
band led by non-musician Dave Edwards came through Oklahoma City. When they heard him on the radio they recruited Eldon to join them as their new singer and guitarist. Eldon left with them en route to Tulsa where they headquartered having landed radio spots on KVOO and eventual jobs at various dancehalls there. He stayed with the Alabama Boys for about three years. He later had his own radio show and eventually joined another group playing hotels performing classical songs in the swing band tradition. By then Bob Wills had already began calling him. Bob was persuasive but Eldon was reluctant at first until Wills made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Bob sold him on the security of a future he could bank on. He joined Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys in November 1937.
A self-taught guitarist, he quickly became the band's musical arranger as he had learned to read charts by studying big band arrangements. Shamblin's trademark electric guitar style and musical knowledge was key to the success of Wills' Western swing. His guitar featured prominently on the band's 1938 hit "Ida Red
Ida Red
"Ida Red" is an American traditional song of unknown origins. It is chiefly identified by variations of the chorus:Verses are unrelated, rather humorous, and free form, changing from performance to performance. Ida Red's identity is unknown, but is feminine in most uses.The earliest recording is a...
", which was later rewritten by Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
as "Maybellene
Maybellene
"Maybellene" is a song recorded by Chuck Berry, adapted from the traditional fiddle tune "Ida Red" that tells the story of a hot rod race and a broken romance. It was released in July 1955 as a single on Chess Records of Chicago, Illinois. It was Berry's first single release and his first hit...
". Then, on "Take Me Back To Tulsa
Take Me Back to Tulsa
"Take Me Back To Tulsa" is a Western swing standard song. Bob Wills and Tommy Duncan added words to one of Bob Wills old fiddle tunes in 1940. The song takes its name from the chorus:The song is a series of unrelated, mostly nonsense, rhyming couplets, i.e.:Modern covers of the song, in order to...
" in 1940, he invented a two-beat rhythm arrangement which became his trademark sound.
Over the years Shamblin's rhythm style incorporated many dynamics including a Big Band style much the same as Freddie Greene from the Count Basie Orchestra
Count Basie Orchestra
The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie. The band survived the late '40s decline in big band popularity and went on to produce notable collaborations with singers such as Frank Sinatra and Ella...
. Based on much of what he learned from studying Eddie Lang's recorded work and transcribed solos Eldon was an a very creative innovator in his chord voicings moving beyond what Lang had brought to the fore along with other Lang influenced guitarists including Dick McDonough
Dick McDonough
Dick McDonough was an influential American jazz guitarist and composer. His major recordings included "Dr. Heckle and Mr. Jibe" with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra with Johnny Mercer, "Stage Fright" with Carl Kress, "Chasin' a Buck", "Feelin' No Pain", recorded in 1927 with Red Nichols, and...
, Karl Kress and George Van Eps
George Van Eps
George Van Eps was an American swing and Mainstream jazz guitarist noted both for his recordings as a leader, and for his work as a session musician. He was also the author of instructional books that explored his approach to guitar-based harmony...
. Shamblin ranks right up there with the finest of these but is lesser known for his contributions because of his western swing affiliation which was looked down upon by many in the Jazz world because of western themes and dress, albeit the music was swing and utilized much of Jazz and other styles in the music produced by bands such as Bob Wills who was the most eclectic and swingingest of all WS bands. Over the years he hired many great musicians who had been in the known Jazz world and several who cut their teeth in his Playboys band who went to on Jazz careers.
Shamblin's lead guitar work was such that in April 1941 Metronome
Metronome
A metronome is any device that produces regular, metrical ticks — settable in beats per minute. These ticks represent a fixed, regular aural pulse; some metronomes also include synchronized visual motion...
magazine called him the most creative and inventive guitarist since the discovery of Charlie Christian and the best white guitarist with the greatest flow of fresh ideas like Charlie played. They acknowldged Eldon as an emulator of Christian's style and made the distinction that he was an innovator and not an imitator of Charlie's style. Thirty years later a Rolling Stone editor wrote a piece on him called "Eldon Shamblin - the Greatest Rhythm Guitarist in the World" hailing Eldon for his creativity, solidity and echoing Metronome
Metronome
A metronome is any device that produces regular, metrical ticks — settable in beats per minute. These ticks represent a fixed, regular aural pulse; some metronomes also include synchronized visual motion...
magazine's much earlier assessment. Similarly, Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
acknowledged Eldon's legendary status as a major contributor to the world of guitar noting he was Jazz oriented and a Swing musician albeit working in Western Swing and Country bands, particularly Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
who was on the cover - a first for the publication, granting a Country artist the coveted cover issue.
Over the years Eldon's lead guitar solo outings took on a life of their own evolving and moving along with the times. His acoustic single string lead guitar work in the 30's smacked of Lang and Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
influences, while his occasional brief chord solos speak to an immense knowledge of harmony and the fretboard on a par with George Van Eps. By the 40's his style was reminiscent of early Bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
with the occasional chord flourish added to good effect. Bob Wills only told Eldon what to play on two occasions, the first being during recording Ida Red when he instructed him to put a lot of runs in his rhythm chords (because the bass player was very perfunctory) and after WWII he told Bob to "gouge your licks like ol' Junior" speaking of Junior Barnard
Junior Barnard
Junior Barnard was a pioneering American electric guitarist. He is best known for his work with Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys...
who was in and out of the band and had a very bluesy style that was low down and dirty. Bob asked Eldon to bend the strings and turn up the volume. The result was Eldon venturing into what can now be considered proto-rockabilly with his somewhat "less than Junior" attack, playing more reserved by executing his licks with more harmonic structure and more intricacy in his very forward thinking solos. In the 40's Junior heralded what was to become rock guitar in the 60's with his proto-grunge distortion and sustain while Eldon held the reins and visited the soon to come Rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
era in California, Oklahoma and Texas a full decade before it launched in Memphis.
At any rate Rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
and Rock and Roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
owe a debt to Bob Wills and his great guitarists of the 30's, 40's and 50's. Guitarist Jimmy Wyble
Jimmy Wyble
James Otis Wyble was an American guitarist, noted for his contributions to both jazz and Western swing. He was born in Port Arthur, Texas and died in Los Angeles, California....
who was a Texas Playboy from late 1943 until Spring 1945 waxed some of the finest guitars solos on record in any genre with Bob Wills on hits like Roly Poly
Roly Poly
Roly Poly is an American chain of sandwich stores. They first opened their doors in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996. They have over 170 franchises in 27 states.-History:The first Roly Poly Sandwich Shop opened in 1997 in the Buckhead section of Atlanta, Georgia...
and Texas Playboy Rag. His licks can be traced directly to almost note for note rip offs on Gene Vincent
Gene Vincent
Vincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...
's recordings from his great sessions with guitarist Cliff Gallup
Cliff Gallup
Clifton E. "Cliff" Gallup was an American electric guitarist, who played rock and roll in the band Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps in the 1950s.-Biography:...
. He also heavily influenced Hank Garland
Hank Garland
Walter Louis Garland , better known as Hank Garland, was a Nashville studio musician who performed with Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison and many others.-Biography:...
in Nashville and Jimmy Bryant
Jimmy Bryant
Jimmy Bryant was a prominent American session guitarist. He was billed as "The Fastest Guitar in the Country".-Biography:Ivy J. Bryant, Jr. was born in Moultrie, Georgia, the oldest of 12 children...
on the coast in CA. Wyble went on to play Jazz with Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Red Norvo
Red Norvo
Red Norvo was one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba and later the vibraphone as viable jazz instruments...
and made solo Jazz albums as well as several Jazz guitar teaching resources. His Bebop style was closer to Christian's yet forward thinking and very distinct from Eldon's or any other western swing player. Eldon's lead stands out as something organic in that it was constantly growing in new directions, while Junior and Wyble were in their own respective Blues and Bebop Jazz bags.
During his tenure with Wills, Eldon played his 1936 Gibson Super 400 which he had bought from Wills upon joining, paying monthly payments. At Wills request he also purchased a Gibson ES-150 electric guitar and matching EH-150 amplifier in 1938. Eldon and Playboys steel guitarist Leon McAuliffe
Leon McAuliffe
Leon McAuliffe , born William Leon McAuliffe, was an American Western swing musician from Houston, Texas...
began experimenting with what would become their trademark Twin Guitar idiom right away in the motel rooms when they traveled just to amuse themselves in their off duty hours. One day a couple years later at a rehearsal Bob Wills heard what they were doing and asked them to work up a solo arrangement for a fiddle tune he was going to record called Bob Wills Special. That day one of Western Swing's most endearing guitar excursions came about and was quickly added to the arrangement of the song, where it remains to this day. A few days later Wills asked them to write a special instrumental that would feature them as primary artists. They quickly came up with not one but two tunes, Twin Guitar Special which Wills recorded along with his own Special
Special
Special or specials may refer to:In music:* "Special" * "Special" * "Special" * The Specials, a British bandIn film and television:...
fiddle tune in 1940. The other tune Eldon and Leon came up with was called Twin Guitar Boogie which Wills never recorded because Wills thought the tune was too 'out there' so he passed. The tune still made the set lists at dances and got airplay on KVOO as rare transcribed radio broadcasts from Cain's Ballroom attest. McAuliffe recorded this song on one of his Capitol albums from the 60's under the name Bouncing Bobby (a nickname for fiddler Bobby Bruce). In December 1973 Wills made his last recording in Dallas with an all-star cast of past Playboys including Eldon & Leon who played Twin Guitar Special but it was renamed Twin Guitar Boogie with the two of them listed as composers. The 'twin guitar' idiom inspired a whole generation of guitarists over the years including Dickie Betts of the Allman Brothers band who has attributed his twin lead work with the late Duane Allman and more notably the uncredited Les Dudek who played on the Brothers and Sisters album with their hit song Rambling Man and Jessica
Jessica
- Given name :* Jessica , popular first name for girls in many English-speaking countries * Iscah, in the Bible , daughter of Haran...
both of which feature great twin leads owing much to what Eldon & Leon invented.
Shamblin logged over 300 recorded sides with Bob Wills from 1938 until 1954. He also was in a few Hollywood films with Bob Wills most notably Take Me Back To Oklahoma
Take Me Back to Oklahoma
- Cast :*Tex Ritter as Tex Lawton*Bob Wills as Himself, leader Texas Playboys*Slim Andrews as Slim Hunkapillar*Terry Walker as Jane Winters*Robert McKenzie as Deacon Ames*Karl Hackett as Storm*Donald Curtis as Henchman Snapper*Gene Alsace as Henchman Red...
with Tex Ritter
Tex Ritter
Woodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
etc. and Go West Young Lady featuring Penny Singleton
Penny Singleton
Penny Singleton was an American film actress. Born Marianna Dorothy Agnes Letitia McNulty in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania she was the daughter of an Irish-American newspaperman Benny McNulty — from whom she received the nickname "Penny" because she was "as bright as a penny".During her sixty...
and the up and coming Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
. Wills music can be heard to great advantage in both of these films as well as Eldon's guitar.
Shamblin was drafted into the Army in 1942, where he served for four years as a Captain in Patton's 3rd Army in the European Theater of War and was there at the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
. After his discharge he rejoined the Texas Playboys in September 1946 (after a brief stint with Leon McAuliffe's Western Swing Band in Tulsa), rejoining Wills in Fresno, CA where the Playboys were headquartered, staying with them until 1956. In 1957 Eldon joined Hoyle Nix and the West Texas Cowboys band in Big Spring, Texas where they played at the Stampede Ballroom. After two years on the Nix band Eldon returned to Tulsa where he managed a convenience store and went to night school earning a CPA license. He quickly decided the CPA business was not for him and began teaching guitar at the Guitar House music store there in Tulsa. He expanded his work to becoming a first rate piano tuner and electronic organ serviceman who was much in demand.
He returned to music in 1970 when he was called upon to help organize a tribute to Wills and played on Merle Haggard's album A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (or, My Salute to Bob Wills). Shamblin later joined Haggard's award winning Stranger's band, the Strangers in 1973. He toured with Hag on a fairly irregular basis, with most of his participation being in the Oklahoma & Texas area as well as Hag's usual seasonal 2 week stands every year at Harrah's in Reno, NV. Eldon played sessions with Hag in Hollywood at Capitol Records and studios in Nashville, TN. During his off time he worked in Tulsa playing locally with various acts playing everything from Jazz to Swing, Country music to western swing. Most notably was his presence at the Caravan Ballroom playing in a band led by Shirl Cummins a local drummer who owned a first class music store there in Tulsa called The Guitar House where Eldon taught music and guitar and also worked tuning guitars and servicing keyboard instruments. Shamblin had his own piano tuning and electronic organ servicing business that afforded him a decent living because he was so in demand. At one point he had nearly every church in town as one his accounts. Word has it that not only was he the best in town, he was the least expensive and most reliable.
In 1983 Eldon left Haggard because he was tired of the touring which had become more frequent and the extended stays away from home and his business. He returned to Tulsa and joined a late version of the Texas Playboys in 1983 led by Leon McAuliffe who fronted the Original Texas Playboys band which had been reassembled in 1971 for the 1st occasion of Bob Wills Days celebration held every year since the last weekend of April in Turkey, Texas near the area where Wills grew up. The Original Playboys recorded several albums for the now defunct Delta Records (as well as 2 pre-Eldon outings for Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
featuring Bob Kiser on guitar) which also re-released an album that had been recorded locally called Eldon Shamblin - Guitar Genius. Eldon recorded with other artists including an album by Joe Venuti with Jethro Burns and Curly Chalker
Curly Chalker
Harold Lee Chalker , better known as Curly Chalker, was an American country and jazz musician and pioneering pedal steel guitarist...
- 'S Wonderful 4 Giants of Swing as well as solo outings by fellow Texas Playboys & Stranger's allumnus Tiny Moore
Tiny Moore
Billie "Tiny" Moore was a Western swing musician who played the electric mandolin and fiddle with Western swing legend Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in the 1940s....
, Tiny Moore Music and Back To Back
Back To Back
Back To Back is the sixteenth studio album by English rock band Status Quo and released in November 1983. For the first time in the group's history, it featured four singles, "Ol' Rag Blues" , "A Mess of Blues", originally a hit for Elvis Presley , "Marguerita Time" , and "Going Down Town Tonight"...
with Jethro Burns accompanied by two Jazz greats Ray Brown
Ray Brown (musician)
Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist.-Biography:Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one...
and Shelley Manne, as well as guest recording spots with Asleep at the Wheel
Asleep at the Wheel
Asleep at the Wheel is a American country music group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, but based in Austin, Texas. Altogether, they have won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception. In their career, they have released more than twenty studio albums, and have charted more than twenty...
, George Strait
George Strait
George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country," and critics call Strait a living legend. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional...
, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, Johnny Gimble
Johnny Gimble
John Paul Gimble , better known as Johnny Gimble, is an American country musician associated with Western swing. He is an award-winning fiddle player and considered one of the most impressive fiddlers in the genre's history....
and a host of others. Shamblin is noted for playing one of the first Fender Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
electric guitars ever made which was a demonstrator model given to him personally by Leo Fender
Leo Fender
Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender was an American inventor who founded Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, or "Fender" for short...
in March 1954. That same month Eldon used the guitar with the Texas Playboys in what became the final Bob Wills recording session for MGM Records
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...
. Eldon used this guitar and a borrowed Gibson Switchmaster loaned to him by Billy Strange
Billy Strange
William E. "Billy" Strange is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and actor.-Recordings and songwriting:...
took the guitar on the road with Bob Wills up through California on a month and half long tour of the great Northwest. The guitar is notable in that Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
called Eldon at his home in Tulsa and offered him $10,000 for it in the early 80's. It is in a collector's hands but has fetched even larger sums in the scant half dozen owners it has had since Eldon sold it in the early 90's.
By 1996 Shamblin was in ill health and retired from music except for a few of rare special appearances. He died in a nursing home in Sapulpa, OK on August 5, 1998. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 (along with Bob Wills and a select group of about a dozen the most active and productive of his Texas Playboys) and was also inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame
Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame
The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, located in Muskogee, Oklahoma, honors Oklahoma musicians for their lifetime achievements in music. The induction ceremony and concert is held each year in Muskogee...
in 2006.
External links
- [ Eldon Shamblin at Allmusic]
- Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame—TEldon Shamblin.
- The Greatest Texas Playboy by Buddy McPeters June 2005
- Eldon's Guitar