From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sat Jan 25, 2003  7:14 am - UPDATED 6 JANUARY 2004
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Speedy West
 
SPEEDY WEST (By Shaun Mather)

Born Wesley Webb West, 25 January 1924, Springfield, Missouri
Died November 2003, Broken Arrow, OK

(Due to private circumstances, Shaun had to resort to cut-and-paste work,
much to his regret. - Dik)

From All-Music Guide: "One of the greatest virtuosos that country
music has ever produced, Speedy West bridged the western swing and
rockabilly eras with eye-popping steel guitar. Besides contributing to
literally thousands of country sessions, West cut many of his own
instrumentals, as a solo act and with his guitarist partner Jimmy Bryant.
Adept at boogie, blues, and Hawaiian ballads, West played with an infectious
joy and daring improvisation that, at its most adventurous, could be
downright experimental. It's doubtful whether anyone could collect all of
Speedy's solos under one roof, but it was his sessions of the 1950s and
early '60s - especially those with Bryant - that found his genius at its
most freewheeling and dazzling."

From Rockabilly Hall of Fame - http://www.rockabillyhall.com/SpeedyWest.html

Born Wesley W. West January 25, 1924 in Springfield MO, to parents,
Finley G. and Sue Arthur West. Finley was a linotype operator at a gospel
publishing company, and in his spare time, played guitar and sang gospel
songs.

At age 9, Wesley became interested in music because of his friends and
neighbors, the Cline's boys, three brothers. One played steel guitar,
another banjo and the other played guitar. The boys' parents suggested to
Wesley's father, that he should buy him an inexpensive $12 Hawaiian guitar.
Wesley spent all the time he could learning to play the instrument with the
help of the Cline's as well as his father. 

Wesley's interest in music continued to grow and he yearned for a more
expensive instrument, namely, a National steel-bodied resonator model
costing $125, which the West family could not afford. In order to give
Welsey what he so desperately wanted, his father sold his own guitar in
order to buy the National. In the 9th grade he won a prize in a school
amateur contest.

By the late 1930's Wesley spent countless hours practicing and listening to
steel players like Leon McAuliffe. He also admired the talents of Brother
Oswald Kirby, Little Roy Wiggins, Billy Robinson, Jerry Byrd, and several
other Opry stars.

In 1941, at age 17, Wesley married his first wife, Opal Mae. They lived in
St. Louis for a year, where Wesley worked at a factory that made machine
gun bullets on behalf of the war effort. He played music as much as possible
with a friend, Cleat Jones.

Approximately 1942, Wesley and Opal moved to Strafford, MO, near
Springfield, where they lived on a 200-acre farm owned by Wesley's father.
Farming was vital to the war effort. One of their main crops was tomatoes.
He also milked up to 33 cows daily.

After the war ended, Wesley continued to farm but found more time to play
music and develop his skills.

In 1946, a Grand Ole Opry tent show came to Springfield starring Eddy Arnold
and Minnie Pearl. Inspired by watching and listening to Arnold's steel
guitar player, Little Roy Wiggins, Wesley began to think about pursuing a
musical career.

Wesley began to play the steel locally on jam sessions that were broadcast
over KWTO radio in Springfield, and played with friends and other local
musicians at every opportunity that came along. A major turning point
occurred when a sailor, who was passing through town, told Wesley about the
wonderful musical opportunities available in Southern California. He told
him he could make as much as $25 a night, which sounded like a gold mine
just waiting for him.

Wesley was playing at a jam session sponsored by KWTO at an event
called a pie social. Slim Wilson, a local country music personality, introduced
Wesley to the audience as "Speedy West", a name which he would later
adopt.

Partly because of the influence of Little Roy Wiggins' style of playing,
Wesley bought a huge, hand-carved, 7-string doubleneck steel from an
individual, which he paid off in installments.

On June 13, 1946, with only $150 in his pocket, Speedy and his wife and
their 2-1/2 year old son, Donnie, packed all they could into a 1936 Lincoln
Zephyr and headed for Southern California. Following several breakdowns,
they arrived in Los Angeles 3 days later.

During the first few months after arriving in Los angeles, Speedy worked
during the day at a dry cleaners. After working all day he played steel
guitar at night, starting out with a group called the Missouri Wranglers,
all part-time musicians, who played the VFW Hall in Southgate.

Speedy found a new steel guitar idol - Joaquin Murphy, who played with the
Spade Cooley band. Speedy soon adopted another idol by the name of Noel
Boggs, who played in Hank Penny's band, as well as the Bob Wills and Cooley
bands.

Speedy admired Joaquin so much that he attempted to copy his style and then
realized that it would be more beneficial to him to develop his own style rather
than copy Joaquin's.

Speedy worked as much as he could at night and on weekends, playing at
local bars, such as, Murphy's and the nearby Fargo Club and the Four Aces.
In 1947, Tex Williams auditioned Speedy to replace Joaquin Murphey, who had
left the band. Although Speedy didn't get the job, he fondly remembered how
Tex encouraged him to sit in with the band, and to keep pursuing his
ambition. In fact, sometime later, Tex offered him a job, which he did not
accept because of other commitments.

In 1947, Speedy bought an amp created by Leo Fender, who owned a radio
shop in Fullerton, CA. In addition to amplifiers, Leo also designed and built
steel guitars. This amp was called Fender's Professional Model, which had
an all-wood body and handle with chrome trim on the front grille.

Now equipped with a new amp, Speedy felt the necessity of having a more
up-to-date steel to replace the homemade electric steel he brought from
Missouri. Paul Bigsby from Downey, CA, a pattern maker, built Speedy
a pedal steel. Bigsby had also built a 3-neck non-pedal steel for Joaquin
Murphey. Speedy asked for a 3-neck steel with four foot pedals, and Bigsby
went to work building it.

Speedy took delivery of his Bigsby pedal steel on February 8, 1948. The four
pedals were side by side, a design that would later influence all pedal
guitars. He developed his own tuning technique.

In 1948, Speedy was working at Murphy's Club, locted in the skidrow area of
Los angeles, when he first met Jimmy Bryant. Jimmy was working down the
street from Murphy's, at the Fargo Club. One night Jimmy came to see Speedy
play and said to him: "I really like your playing -- why don't you come down
to the Fargo Club and dig me". Speedy was so impressed by Bryant's talent
that he said, "he couldn't believe what he was hearing". That was the
beginning of their long professional and personal relationship.

In the spring of 1948, Spade Cooley, who had a 23-piece western swing band
that included a full horn section, hired Speedy. At the time, Cooley also
hosted the Hoffman Hayride TV variety show, broadcst by KTLA on Saturday
nights, in addition to playing various dance jobs. Speedy's job with Cooley
lasted only 5 months. Cooley's erratic behavior caused him to repeatedly
fire and then attempt to rehire several band members, only Speedy chose not
to accept an offer of being rehired after he fell victim to one of his
tirades.

After Cooley, Speedy played at the Riverside Rancho in the Shambrock
Cowboys band. It was about this time that friends familiar with the talents
of Speedy, introduced him to Cliffie Stone, assistant A&R man for Capitol
Records.

Speedy's first recording session was with Eddie Kirk who sang "Candy
Kisses".

Beginning in early 1949, Speedy worked full time doing recording sessions.
One of the first lessons he learned was to play "commercial", and produce
the sound expected by the producer. Speedy learned very quickly that he
would not be able to develop his potential for session work if he continued
to focus on his own style and try to dazzle everyone with his own talent.
Speedy joined the Hank Penny western swing band in early 1949, where
he was allowed to be more creative in his playing.

Late 1949, Speedy left Penny when he was hired by Cliffie Stone for his
daily radio program, Dinner Bell Round-Up, as well as Cliffie's Saturday
night dances at El Monte Legion Stadium. Like Penny, Cliffie Stone allowed
and encouraged Speedy, as well as other band members, to be creative and
expand their talents as much as possible. Many performers launched their
careers with the help of Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree, such as,
Tennessee Ernie Ford, Merle Travis, Eddie Kirk, and many others.

In December 1949, Cliffie Stone took his show to TV. The shows were
broadcast over KLAC-TV from 7-8 PM on Saturdays, live from El Monte, and
were known as the Hometown Jamboree. After the TV broadcast, the band
played for an hour of dancing before they took to the air again for a second
Hometown Jamboree over KXLA radio.

While at Hometown Jamboree, Speedy received a lot of encouragement from
Merle Travis, who was also a member of Hometown. Merle suggested that in
order to promote his name recognition more, Speedy should have Bigsby make
him a nameplate for the front of his pedal steel. Bigsby crafted a Birdseye
maple panel that snapped onto the front legs with Speedy's name on the
front. Merle Travis also took many opportunities to promote Speedy when he
would be on tour in various parts of the country.

Leo Fender also contributed a lot toward Speedy's success, as well as many
other musicians. Leo not only provided the musical equipment, but also would
make himself available on location at some of the dances and shows, with the
tools and equipment necessary to service the musicians' instruments.

In 1950, Speedy's steel guitar career and reputation were given a major
boost following a recording session with Tennessee Ernie Ford and Kay Starr.
The songs recorded were "I'll Never Be Free" and "Ain't Nobody's Business
But My Own", and both reached the top hits on country charts as well as the
pop field. Ernie and Kay had offers to appear around the country, including
the Grand Ole Opry in 1950. Speedy and his Bigsby were also along.

Because of his style of playing on "I'll Never Be Free", Speedy landed an
instrumentalist contract with Capitol. He did his first session in January
1951, with Bryant accompanying him. This was the beginning of the
West/Bryant recordings that resulted in making their style very well known
and recognizable, not only on the west coast, but internationally as well.
Copies of their records have become valuable collectors' items today.

Speedy and Bryant's outstanding work on Tennessee Ernie's hit records led to
increasing session work for them beyond Capitol, the daily Dinner Bell
Roundup radio show over KXLA, and the Hometown Jamboree. Much of the
session work was with Capitol artists and Hometown performers, such as
Gene O'Quinn, Merrill Moore, Cliffie Stone, Molly Bee and Bucky Tibbs. Some
other artists they recorded with were: Sheb Wooley, Johnny Horton, Wade Ray,
Johnny Bond, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Doye O'Dell, Gene Autry, Sons of
the Pioneers, and many others. Speedy also credits both Lee Gillette and Ken
Nelson, A&R men with Capitol, for encouraging their innovative and creative
style of playing.

Between 1950 and 1955, Speedy (with and without Bryant) played on over
6,000 recordings with a total of 177 different artists. Some of those artists
include Frankie Laine, Jo Stafford, and Paul Weston's Orchestra, Billy May's
Orchestra, Betty Hutton, Helen O'Connell, Doris Day, Johnnie Ray, Ella Mae
Morse, Spike Jones, Jean Shepard, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and many
others. Mitch Miller, A&R man for Columbia Records, was so impressed by
Speedy's playing on Frankie Laine's 1951 recording of "Hey Good Lookin"
that he paid him double on that session as well as future sessions.

In the mid-1950's Speedy helped Bobby Bare get started in show business.
He first met him following Bobby's trip to L.A. via hitchhiking and riding rail
cars. Bobby presented himself as a songwriter when he came to KXLA radio
station. He asked Speedy to listen to some songs he had written. They both
went to Studio B at the station where Bobby sang several songs. Speedy told
him he should record them himself. Bobby stayed with Speedy for several
weeks during which time they went to Bakersfield to record some demo dubs.
Speedy started promoting them to various record companies. As a result Ken
Nelson at Capitol Records signed him up as an artist. Bobby then recorded
four songs with Speedy's band on Capitol.

Also in the early 1950's, Speedy appeared in three Western movies, while
still working the daily Hometown show at KXLA, plus the Saturday night show
and dance.. During this time, he continued to work on recording sessions. He
also landed a guest spot on Red Foley's ABC-TV show, "Ozark Jubilee", from
Springfield MO, in addition to a TV show hosted by bandleader Bob Crosby.
He enjoyed another guest spot on Lawrence Welk's very popular ABC-TV
show, plus Dinah Shore's NBC Chevrolet Show.

Speedy and Jimmy Bryant's final recording session for Capitol, as a team,
occurred October 9, 1956, however, Speedy's contract with Capitol was
renewed and he continued to record, as a single, until 1962.

With the onset of rock and roll, the music scene involving Capitol and
Hometown Jamboree began to decline. In addition, Cliffie Stone was occupied
full-time managing Tennessee Ernie, whose career was exploding with the
release of Merle Travis's Sixteen Tons plus beginning his prime time TV show
on NBC.

Speedy changed equipment in 1957 to a Fender 1000 pedal steel. He sold his
Bigsby, which he later regretted because of its historical value.
The Hometown Jamboree was cancelled in 1959 after which Speedy and other
Hometown musicians started working the Las Vegas/Reno/Lake Tahoe club
circuit. Their group was Billy and the Kids, featuring Billy Strange,
Merrill Moore, the Black Sisters and Speedy.

In the spring of 1960, Speedy was asked to report to a small studio in L.A.
where an unknown singer from Washington and her husband were to arrive to
record. The singer turned out to be Loretta Lynn and husband, Mooney.
Impressed with her voice, Speedy suggested that they release the musicians
in the studio and hire some capable studio pickers and rent a better studio.
He rounded up some of the Hometown people he had recorded with for years,
such as Roy Lanham, Harold Hensley, Roy Harte and Billy Liebert. Speedy
also suggested that Loretta overdub harmonies on her original song, Honky
Tonk Girl, an idea that he borrowed from Patti Page.

The opportunities no longer available for country musicians in the L.A. area,
Speedy made arrangements to go to work for Fender Musical Instruments
as manager of their warehouse in Tulsa, OK. He moved to Tulsa in September,
1960.

After moving to Tulsa, Speedy continued to play steel guitar, although not
full time because of his employment with Fender. He had his own band for
several years and played at various locations in the Tulsa area for dances,
special events, etc. He had many opportunities to travel around the United
States and abroad, performing on behalf of Fender as well as appearing at
several universities.

In 1963, the LeGarde Twins invited Speedy to Australia. While in that
country for 44 days, he performed on the Twins' country TV shows, as well
as appearances at various events, TV and radio stations.
In 1967, Speedy traveled to Japan to represent Fender at the International
Trade Fair. While in that country, he also performed for various other
events.

Although not able to play anymore because of a stroke in 1981, Speedy is
still able to attend various events promoting the steel guitar, such as the
annual Steel Guitar conventions in St. Louis, Dallas and Tulsa.

( I won't add anything more other than to say how much I enjoy some of his
work and how his playing lit up many a California record - Shaun)

Representative recordings:
For the Last Time (Step One, 1990)
Stratosphere Boogie : The Flaming Guitars of Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant
(Razor & Tie, 1995)
Speedy West, Jimmy Bryant - Flamin' Guitars (Bear Family 4CD, 1997).