Speedy West interview

[Andy Volk]

https://soundcloud.com/aev/speedy-west-interview

Not sure where I got this or exactly when it was recorded. I found it on a drive while looking for something else. Cool to hear Speedy's voice, memories and opinions.

[Mitch Drumm]

https://soundcloud.com/aev/speedy-west-interview

Not sure where I got this or exactly when it was recorded. I found it on a drive while looking for something else. Cool to hear Speedy's voice, memories and opinions.

I think that is from about 1980. He's being interviewed by Sammy Jackson of KLAC in Los Angeles.

[Chris Templeton]

[Larry Dering]

Andy thanks for posting this. I seen Speedy for several years at Scottys International Steel Convention in St Louis. He was no longer able to play and did MC duties. Great guy and more than a legend and innovator. He had such style and fire in his playing. I will always admire his contributions to the steel guitar.

[Andy Volk]

It's amazing what Speedy and Jimmy pulled off in their prime from sheer talent and desire; amazing 60 year old music that still sounds fresh and exciting. Speedy (in this and other interviews) comes off as a really kind person who gave credit where credit was due and was modest about his own accomplishments. Kind of like Django, there's a magic to Speedy's music that simply cannot be duplicated.

[Anthony Lis]

Andy,

Thanks for posting this; as someone else said, interesting to hear Speedy West's voice (and also sense his friendly demeanor).

I taped the interview this morning, to listen to while I did some walking this evening; unfortunately, I learned there are skips in the program—is this perhaps a problem with the original? At first I thought, OK, someone in podcast-land is shortening the musical examples (and I can see where the original interviewer might fade an example, for sake of time, but there were also abrupt, wholesale cuts in examples, and at least one moment where a missing part of an earlier conversation popped in out of nowhere). Also—towards the end, some brief gaps of silence. Just curious.

A. Lis

[Mitch Drumm]

Here's another interview with Speedy from 1974, done at a Western Swing festival in Tulsa.

http://picosong.com/wP4fz

Only about 3 minutes.

He explains how he saw Eddie Martin (in late 1947) using a fish hook welded onto a coat hanger to pull strings on a pedal steel. Martin’s setup did not use stops, so Speedy says “so I went to a man by the name of Paul Bigsby……………”.

Anthony: my copy of the longer interview has the same gaps that you mention. I'm not aware of any version without those issues.

[Andy Volk]

Unfortunately, that's how I have it - gaps and all.

In some box somewhere down at the precambrian level, I have a DVD full of Speedy interviews and footage that Scotty sent me about 10 years ago. I had and apparently lost a 30 min cassette tape of a fan interview that I transcribed and posted on the forum years ago. Sadly, it's no longer on the server or my computer.

Here's NAMM's 55 min interview with Speedy:
https://www.namm.org/library/oral-histo ... -interview

Looks like Mike Neer must have been my source for the one posted above: viewtopic.php?t=297549&sid=83f4fa483a60 ... 092cc4623f

[Anthony Lis]

Mitch,

Thanks; I will also give your link a listen. Interesting your copy of the longer interview has gaps, also; I'm usually of the "blame-my-setup-first" school of thought.

[Anthony Lis]

Andy,

Thanks. I didn't know about the NAMM interview with Speedy West; I'll also check out the Mike Neer link. Interesting to hear about your other, unfortunately-currently-mispaced material.