Buddy Merrill, string wizard from the Lawrence Welk show
December 19, 2011 5:39 AM   Subscribe

Never had a whole lotta use for the Lawrence Welk show, but man, when it came time for steel guitar wizard Buddy Merrill and his dazzlingly snazzy stringery to take center stage, the broadcast got a hella lot better, fast!
posted by flapjax at midnite (24 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
I only listened to the first two but I just wanted to say HELL YEAHS this is the shit. I want to buy one of these and learn how to play, I LOVE steel guitar...
posted by dubitable at 5:46 AM on December 19, 2011


Nice. There are also some good clips of Merrill playing one of the first Strats.

Oblig Welk joke:

What's the difference between the Lawrence Welk band and a moose?
The moose has the horns in the front and the asshole in the back.
posted by plinth at 5:50 AM on December 19, 2011


They always had super musicians on that show.
posted by Ironmouth at 5:51 AM on December 19, 2011


This kid is so metal his guitar has four necks, making him twice as metal as Jimmy Paige.

Lovely morning link. Thanks!
posted by HeroZero at 5:55 AM on December 19, 2011


Buddy Merril Wiki.
Buddy Merrill official website.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:59 AM on December 19, 2011


°° °° °° °°
    °° ° °° °°° °
° ° ° °°° ° °
  °°  °°° °
°° ° ° °

If there aren't bubbles, it isn't a valid reference to Lawrence Welk.
posted by eriko at 6:20 AM on December 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


Consider also the wonders of Jo Ann Castle and Myron Floren. It shifts into turbo drive at about 1:00. The truth is that a lot of the musicianship on that show, at least in its earlier days, was top-notch.
posted by texorama at 6:21 AM on December 19, 2011 [2 favorites]


The truth is that a lot of the musicianship on that show, at least in its earlier days, was top-notch.

Yeah, I suppose so... I don't really know about the earliest period of the show, but I did have to suffer through many an episode at my grandma's house (it was her favorite show after Perry Mason) as a young child during the 60s, and god, it was bleak...
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:27 AM on December 19, 2011 [2 favorites]


He ain't a bad guitar player either.
posted by swift at 6:28 AM on December 19, 2011 [2 favorites]


flapjax:

I did have to suffer through many an episode at my grandma's house (it was her favorite show after Perry Mason) as a young child during the 60s, and god, it was bleak...

Little known fact: Lawrence Welk's dancing Bobby was also the Mickey Mouse Club's Bobby. So if your big sister made you watch the Mickey Mouse Club and your grandma made you watch Lawrence Welk you could get a 14 year old Bobby back to back to a 24 year old Bobby warping your little mind.

Now that would be an uncanny valley.
posted by bukvich at 6:44 AM on December 19, 2011


LW clearly whispers "Smile for the camera" into Buddy's ear in the first clip.
posted by scruss at 6:46 AM on December 19, 2011 [4 favorites]


I'll see your suffering through the LW Show and raise you one Hee-Haw.
posted by mattholomew at 7:43 AM on December 19, 2011


Yeah, I love me some steel guitar and this is some pretty sick steel playing, right here. Thanks for this.
posted by word_virus at 7:47 AM on December 19, 2011


LW clearly whispers "Smile for the camera" into Buddy's ear in the first clip.

Now we know we'll love him better.
posted by mintcake! at 8:00 AM on December 19, 2011


Yay, I love steel guitar so much. Almost as much as I love flapjax at midnite for all his fabulous music posts.
posted by madamjujujive at 8:10 AM on December 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


Oh, and for all you other hidden steel guitar junkies, there is Steel Guitar Radio.

And, hey, Lawrence Welk was on to toking. Sort of.
posted by madamjujujive at 8:18 AM on December 19, 2011 [2 favorites]


Why does he have four different guitar sections? Different tunings?
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:22 AM on December 19, 2011


Love this stuff. I can't seem to find any records of his that are from this early, steel guitar-focused period. They all seem to have a lot of cheesy Montovanni mid-60's string sections on 'em, and be more standard jazz guitar mush. Anyone have any recommendations?
posted by jetsetsc at 8:55 AM on December 19, 2011


Yep, different tunings. The usual terminology is "neck," as in a double-neck, triple-neck, or quad-neck guitar.
posted by stet at 9:01 AM on December 19, 2011


jetsetsc: Jon Rauhouse (the multi-instrumental mad scientist best known for his work with Neko Case) has released a number of albums of steel guitar weirdness and awesome. His latest is available on Spotify. In general, if you call Scotty's, they'll be able to advise you on pretty much all the steel guitar records ever. Shitty website, good advice. When I called them about a Sho~Bud packaseat they assured me that there would be, "OH YEAH, PLENTY OF ROOM IN THERE FOR ALL YOUR GUNS AND DRUGS!"

I should really play my steel guitars more, shouldn't I?
posted by stet at 9:28 AM on December 19, 2011


*cues bubbles*
posted by jonmc at 9:29 AM on December 19, 2011


TURN OFF THE BUBBLE MACHINE!!!
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:31 AM on December 19, 2011


I think this is some of his best work with the Lawrence Welk Orchestra.
posted by FLAG (BASTARD WATER.) (Acorus Adulterinus.) at 1:55 PM on December 19, 2011


Oh, and for all you other hidden steel guitar junkies, there is Steel Guitar Radio.

I would love to see a link for something like this that doesn't tell Canadian listeners to get lost.
posted by ovvl at 4:25 PM on December 19, 2011


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