Music History-Kenneth Edelhauser

Kenneth Edelhauser lived in Dallas and would frequently come to Selfs Texas to visit his dad, John Edelhauser and mother Frances.
While Kenneth was there he started showing Boyd guitar chords on his electric guitar. Kenneth loved the Ventures and Boyd took a liking to them also. Because of Kenneth’s love of the Ventures, Boyd also started playing Ventures music and began playing Ventures music. Most of the records were 33rpm records. Songs included Pipeline, Tequila,Walk Don’t Run, Wipe Out, Honky Tonk, Last Date, And Many others. Thanks Uncle Kenneth!  Boyd.

By the way, today is Kenneth’s birthday. He is now 77years old!

Music History-Russell Davis

John Edelhauser had a dear friend who lived near Winston Wagner’s antenna field. His name was Russell Davis. In those years Boyd would spend a lot of time at Russell’s home learning about the various instruments Russell could play. One day Russell put a ukulele in Boyd’s hand and showed him three simple chords on the ukulele.
Russell would play the violin and try to tell Boyd what chords to make. Eventually Boyd traveled to Paris with John Edelhauser and would perform on his ukulele for folks at the C.B coffee breaks held in Paris.  Russell could play many instruments including the wash tub bass and the banjo. Boyd learned about music in those days than he ever did in Nashville.

Music History-John Edelhauser

As far back as Boyd can remember, John played the electric lap steel guitar. John would strum the lap steel with his fingers and played many Gospel tunes. John’s brothers would strum along with him,as they played rythym. Boyd has John’s steel guitar in his studio. Boyd has hooked it up to electricity and it still plays. Boyd would not take a thousand dollars for this priceless steel! Boyd says that this steel guitar is what caused him to play the pedal steel guitar!

Music History-Laverta Edelhauser

Boyd’s Mother could always be found at the piano!
She loved the old gospel music and always played piano at Selfs Baptist Church. Her father, John Edelhauser led music there.
Many years ago, John asked Boyd and Gary Moreland to play music at Selfs. That was unusual because there had never been other types of music played there other than Laverta! By the way, Laverta could play a mean boogie woogie. LaVerta was born on September 27

 

Music History – Johnny Cash

Died 2003. Born J. R. Cash in Kingsland, Arkansas, the fourth of seven children to Ray Cash (13 May 1897, Kingsland, Arkansas – 23 December 1985, Hendersonville, Tennessee) and Carrie Cloveree Rivers (13 March 1904, Rison, Arkansas – 11 March 1991, Hendersonville, Tennessee).[39][40] Cash was given the name “J.R.” because his parents could not agree on a name, only on initials.[41] When he enlisted in the United States Air Force, the military would not accept initials as his name, so he adopted John R. Cash as his legal name. In 1955, when signing with Sun Records, he took Johnny Cash as his stage name. The Cash children were, in order: Roy, Margaret Louise, Jack, J. R., Reba, Joanne and Tommy. His younger brother, Tommy Cash, also became a successful country artist. In March 1935, when Cash was three years old, the family settled in Dyess, Arkansas. J.R. was working in cotton fields beginning at age five, singing along with his family simultaneously while working. The family farm was flooded on at least two occasions, which later inspired him to write the song “Five Feet High and Rising”. His family’s economic and personal struggles during the Great Depression inspired many of his songs, especially those about other people facing similar difficulties.

Music History – George Jones

George Glenn Jones (born September 12, 1931, died April 26, 2013) is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette. Over the past 20 years, Jones has frequently been referred to as “the greatest living country singer.”[1] Country music scholar Bill C. Malone writes, “For the two or three minutes consumed by a song, Jones immerses himself so completely in its lyrics, and in the mood it conveys, that the listener can scarcely avoid becoming similarly involved.” Throughout his long career, Jones made headlines often as much for tales of his drinking, stormy relationships with women, and violent rages as for his prolific career of making records and touring. His wild lifestyle led to Jones missing many performances, earning him the nickname “No Show Jones.” With the help of his fourth wife, Nancy, he has been sober for many years. Jones has had more than 150 hits during his career, both as a solo artist and in duets with other artists. The shape of his nose and facial features have given Jones the nickname “The Possum.” Jones said in an interview that he has chosen to tour only about 60 dates a year.

Music History – Bill Monroe

:Died on this date, 1996. Monroe was born on his family’s farm near Rosine, Kentucky, the youngest of eight children of James Buchanan “Buck” and Malissa (Vandiver) Monroe. His mother and her brother, Pendleton “Pen” Vandiver, were both musically talented, and Monroe and his family grew up playing and singing at home. Because his older brothers Birch and Charlie already played the fiddle and guitar, Bill Monroe was resigned to playing the less desirable mandolin. He recalled that his brothers insisted he remove four of the mandolin’s eight strings so he would not play too loudly. Monroe’s mother died when he was ten, followed by his father six years later. As his brothers and sisters had moved away, after bouncing among uncles and aunts, Monroe settled in with his, now disabled, uncle Pendleton Vandiver, often accompanying him when Vandiver played the fiddle at dances. This experience inspired one of Monroe’s most famous compositions, “Uncle Pen,” recorded in 1950 and released on the 1972 album, “Bill Monroe’s Uncle Pen.” On that album, Monroe recorded a number of traditional fiddle tunes he had often heard performed by Vandiver. Uncle Pen has been credited with giving Monroe “a repertoire of tunes that sank into Bill’s aurally trained memory and a sense of rhythm that seeped into his bones.”[1] Also significant in Monroe’s musical life was Arnold Shultz, an influential fiddler and guitarist who introduced Monroe to the blues.

Music History- Ernest Tubb

:Died on this date, 1984. Tubb was born on a cotton farm near Crisp, in Ellis County, Texas (now a ghost town). His father was a sharecropper, so Tubb spent his youth working on farms throughout the state. He was inspired by Jimmie Rodgers and spent his spare time learning to sing, yodel, and play the guitar. At age 19 he took a job as a singer on San Antonio radio station KONO-AM. The pay was low so Tubb also dug ditches for the Works Progress Administration and then clerked at a drug store. In 1939 he moved to San Angelo, Texas and was hired to do a 15-minute afternoon live show on radio station KGKL-AM. He drove a beer delivery truck in order to support himself during this time, and during World War II he wrote and recorded a song titled “Beautiful San Angelo”