Cowboy Copas

J W Hock · Post by **J W Hock** » 22 May 2002 8:47 am

. I've been on a Cowboy Copas kick. Never listened to alot of his stuff before and I noticed that compared to other artists from that early 50's era , the steel in his songs has a unique Hawaiian sound. Lots of cool runs and hot licks.
Was his steel player anyone of note or just another forgotten musician from the past ?

Doug Seymour · Post by **Doug Seymour** » 22 May 2002 9:26 am

I'm an old guy (CRS) but if I'm not mistaken
Slim Idaho (great picker!) recorded with Copas some. I don't know what tunes you have
but he also recorded 2 Columbia cuts (4 sides) with Paul Howard & his Arkansas Cotton Pickers, an early WSM Opry act, I believe. I had them in my '78 RPM collection
for many years. Gave them away before I could burn CDs or I would still have them & they wouldn't have taken up so much shelf space!![This message was edited by Doug Seymour on 22 May 2002 at 10:27 AM.]

Ed Naylor · Post by **Ed Naylor** » 22 May 2002 11:58 am

Copas was born 20 miles from my shop here in Ohio. I have lots of Copas material. Jimmie Crawford played a D-8 Sho-Bud with Copas on the last show he did here in his home county before he was killed.I know some of his relatives and think he should be remembered more.Ed

Jody Carver · Post by **Jody Carver** » 22 May 2002 4:25 pm

Try to get a listen to his version of "Signed
Sealed and Delivered" great full chord steel work on that,,,,dont know who it was,,King records,,,,it wasn't Slim Idaho..Copas was underated. He could put these "new country guys to shame".

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 22 May 2002 6:09 pm

Copas did use Slim (a mighty hot player, for his day) on a couple of his early records, but I think SS&D came out in the summer of '48. I know Slim died before that, so it's probably somebody else playing on that record. I'll have to dig it out and give it a listen!

Everett Cox · Post by **Everett Cox** » 22 May 2002 8:58 pm

Hey ED,

There was one Copas' song I've always wanted to find, again. Something like "Last night I let a gypsey tell my fortune..."

That was a very pretty tune and the steel solo was especially nice. Check, see if you think that might be in your collection. I'm going to be needing some parts and supplies, soon. Maybe I'll drive down and check out the new location. --Everett Cox

Ray Montee (RIP) · Post by **Ray Montee (RIP)** » 22 May 2002 9:55 pm

JERRY BYRD recorded quite a few sessions with Cowboy Copas, among them:
Tennessee Waltz; I'm Waltzing With Tears In My Eyes; If You But Care; I Love You So Much It Hurts; The Feudin Boogie; Candy Kisses; Forever; Summer Kisses; The Party's Over; Sorry; Unwanted Alone; It's WRong To Love You Like I Do; Any Old Time; Don't Shake Hands with the Devil; He Stands By His Window Each Day; The Stone Was Rolled Away; Summer Kisses; to name but a few.

Jussi Huhtakangas · Post by **Jussi Huhtakangas** » 22 May 2002 11:27 pm

Add Don Davis, Bob Foster and Donny Buzzard too!
Jussi

Roger Shackelton · Post by **Roger Shackelton** » 23 May 2002 12:33 am

Don Davis played with Cowboy Copas in those Ganoway Films. They were filmed in Nashville in the mid 50s.
Don played a D-8 National steel guitar on his lap, while sitting on a hay bale.

Roger

Ed Naylor · Post by **Ed Naylor** » 23 May 2002 5:13 am

I think "Signed'Sealed and Delivered" was Copas first record and was King #505. The first King record was the Shepard Bros{Merle Travis and Grandpa Jones} #501.I wish I had time to sort out my records because I have a very good collection of "Old" artist on 78's. I have a Hank Williams "calling You" on Sterling 108. Very rare.. Ed

Bill R. Baker · Post by **Bill R. Baker** » 23 May 2002 5:16 am

My favorite Copas song is "Tragic Romance."
What a story!!

J W Hock · Post by **J W Hock** » 23 May 2002 5:40 am

The problem is that Copas really had two separate careers. One in the late 40's to early 50's, and then a comeback in the early sixties. Its the steel work on the early stuff that has such a unique sound (Hawaiian but with a hard twang, I'd love to know the tuning).
I have about all the CD reissues from King but they include nothing at all on recording dates and personel.
Cowboy Copas is long overdue a good retropective of his work . A nice , well-researched box set would be fitting.

Don Walters · Post by **Don Walters** » 23 May 2002 6:14 am

I have one LP by Copas titled "16 Greatest Hits of.. " on Starday Gusto SD-3012.

A while back, I posted the following image which I scanned from the back cover of the album. Someone on the Forum identified the man with his hand on the steel as Bob Foster.

[This message was edited by Don Walters on 23 May 2002 at 07:15 AM.]

J W Hock · Post by **J W Hock** » 23 May 2002 7:30 am

It looks as though you've answered my question Don. Thanks a million !
Did Bob Foster ever play with anyone else ?

Jussi Huhtakangas · Post by **Jussi Huhtakangas** » 24 May 2002 12:24 am

The man in the photo, holding his hand on the steel is none other than Hank Garland, Bob Foster is third from left. Besides Copas, he played frequently on sessions in Nashville in the early, mid 50's, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Jean Shepard, Jimmy C Newman, Charline Arthur, Terry Fell, Faron Young to name a few!

Kenny Dail · Post by **Kenny Dail** » 24 May 2002 5:36 am

Standing next to Copas is "Lazy" Jim Day. Front row left to right, Hank Garland, unknown (Autry Inman?), Don Davis and "Fiddlin' Red" Heron.

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kd...and the beat goes on...

Don Walters · Post by **Don Walters** » 24 May 2002 6:31 am

Kenny, are you saying that Bob Foster is not in the photo? If so, which one is a steeler?

Bill R. Baker · Post by **Bill R. Baker** » 24 May 2002 6:44 am

Do you remember the daughter of Copas? I think her name may have been Kathy. She
recorded with Copas and her husband was killed in the place crash with Copas if my
memory is correct. So you know what happened
to her?

J W Hock · Post by **J W Hock** » 24 May 2002 8:04 am

Cowboy Copas's son-in-law Randy Hughes was the pilot of the fatal plane crash. He was also Patsy Cline's manager.

Ray Montee (RIP) · Post by **Ray Montee (RIP)** » 24 May 2002 3:11 pm

Kathy Copas Hughes is still alive and living in Nashville. Her address provided me by a Forumite and I did drop her a line but she chose not to respond. I guess she didn't like me! SHe sang on "Sorry"......"You'll Never Ever See Me Cry"....with her dad.

Cairo Zoots · Post by **Cairo Zoots** » 24 May 2002 4:44 pm

Here's another picture....clik http://communities.msn.com/ZootsBlastfromdaPast/hank.msnw

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ree-00-dee-doo

[This message was edited by Cairo Zoots on 24 May 2002 at 06:19 PM.]

Bill R. Baker · Post by **Bill R. Baker** » 24 May 2002 5:39 pm

Thanks Ray for the word about Kathy. Sorry she did not respond to you. I think many of us who remember these recordings you mentioned would like to know what she is doing and in particular if she continued in the music business.

Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 25 May 2002 12:36 pm

Bob Foster was the steel player at the time of Copas death and did a lot of recording with Patsy Cline, Carl Smith and some others. I don't remember all of the artists he worked with but he pretty much retired after the plane crash. Bob owned a T-Shirt shop right next to a bar of mine in the 80's called the Hitchin' Post. Bob was a great guy and would show you anything he knew. He kept a bar and picks in the drawer behind the counter and would pull them out and play along with a tune on the radio. You can hear a lot of his stuff on the Eddie Stubbs early Saturday morning show. I always tried to get him to go to the St. Louis show and show them he still had it. He was a real smoothy to listen to.[This message was edited by Frank Parish on 25 May 2002 at 01:37 PM.]

J W Hock · Post by **J W Hock** » 25 May 2002 6:27 pm

well I guess we're back to my original question . Who was Copas's steelman on his EARLY hits ? According to the Encyclopedia of Country Music , Hank Garland was his lead guitarist. But nothing is said of the player behind that unique sound .

Ray Montee (RIP) · Post by **Ray Montee (RIP)** » 26 May 2002 8:57 am

Any specific titles that you're referring to? I have quite a few of Copas' records and have enjoyed them all for many years now. I feel he was under rated as c/w vocalist and that's a shame.
The ONLY steel man that I can think of that had a distinctive "HAWAIIAN SOUND" during s many of Copas' records was JERRY BYRD as I have listed for you above. Any of those ring a bell? This is not to infer that his several other steel players were any less than........... One of my all time favorites without JB was "Got The BLues in the Moonlight".........a really great record.