Curly Chalker
Encyclopedia
Harold Lee Chalker better known as Curly Chalker, was an American
country
and jazz musician and pioneering pedal steel guitar
ist. Over the course of his career, he became a sought-after session musician and is considered one of the most influential pedal steel guitarists of all time.
, Chalker began playing the lap steel guitar
while still in his teens and made his professional debut in the nightclubs of Cincinnati, Ohio
.
, replacing C.B. White, and played on the Frizell cuts, "Always Late (With Your Kisses)" and "Mom and Dad's Waltz" (both in 1951). Chalker played dobro
on these recordings. Chalker then joined Hank Thompson's Brazos Valley Boys, and was featured on the 1952 cuts, "Cryin' in the Deep Blue Sea" and "The Wild Side of Life".
After two years in the US armed forces, Chalker joined the Springfield, Missouri-based Ozark Jubilee
ABC Radio and TV series for several years, backing Red Foley
and Porter Wagoner
. During this time Chalker switched from the lap steel to the pedal steel guitar.
In 1959, he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where he played behind fiddler Wade Ray, and later joined the band of the long-time Golden Nugget
fixture Hank Penny
. Roy Clark (of Hee Haw fame) also played with Penny and the two became friends. Chalker relocated to Nashville in 1965, and became successful as a session musician.
entitled Big Hits on Big Steel. This record was produced by fellow steel guitarist Pete Drake
. The follow-up release was More Ways to Play released in 1975. In 1976 he released an album consisting exclusively of Gordon Lightfoot
covers, entitled Nashville Sundown.
Chalker also appeared with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra
, recording the album, Counterpoint which was shelved for years after its completion.
, the Gap Band, Ray Price
, Leon Russell
, and Bill Haley and the Comets. One of his most notable collaborations was S'Wonderful (Four Giants of Swing) (1976), on which he collaborated with jazz violinist Joe Venuti, guitarist Eldon Shamblin
and mandolinist Jethro Burns. On this album, the quartet played classic swing tunes by composers such as George Gershwin
and Duke Ellington
.
Chalker also appeared on work that was outside the country and Western and swing genres, including appearances on Simon and Garfunkel
's 1969 hit "The Boxer" and Marie Osmond
's "Paper Roses". Proving that he had a mind for the unconventional, Chalker also appeared on Chinga Chavin
's 1976 album, Country Porn.
Chalker was also a member of the house band of the television show Hee Haw
for 18 years, with his friend and former bandmate, Roy Clark
.
In 1973, to meet the demands for low-maintenance and lighter amplifiers, Hartley Peavey
sought Chalker's guidance, along with that of Buddy Emmons
and other steel guitarists in developing the Session 400 amplifier, which went into production in 1974.
In 1985 he was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.
In 2009, he was honored by the Wiregrass Fesitval of Murals in Dothan, Alabama
. His likeness is featured next to 16 other country music performers with ties to the Wiregrass Region
on a mural in downtown Dothan.
Also, Chalker was nearly arrested once for striking a drunken audience member who was leaning on his instrument with the metal leg of his pedal steel guitar.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and jazz musician and pioneering pedal steel guitar
Pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...
ist. Over the course of his career, he became a sought-after session musician and is considered one of the most influential pedal steel guitarists of all time.
Biography
Born in Enterprise, AlabamaEnterprise, Alabama
Enterprise is a city in the southeastern part of Coffee and Dale Counties in the southeastern part of Alabama in the Southern United States. The population was estimated to be 25,909 in the year 2009....
, Chalker began playing the lap steel guitar
Steel guitar
Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
while still in his teens and made his professional debut in the nightclubs of Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
.
As a sideman
In the 1950s, Chalker was touring Texas with Lefty FrizzellLefty Frizzell
Lefty Frizzell , born William Orville Frizzell, was an American country music singer and songwriter of the 1950s, and a proponent of honky tonk music. His relaxed style of singing was an influence on later stars Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, George Jones and John Fogerty...
, replacing C.B. White, and played on the Frizell cuts, "Always Late (With Your Kisses)" and "Mom and Dad's Waltz" (both in 1951). Chalker played dobro
Dobro
Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
on these recordings. Chalker then joined Hank Thompson's Brazos Valley Boys, and was featured on the 1952 cuts, "Cryin' in the Deep Blue Sea" and "The Wild Side of Life".
After two years in the US armed forces, Chalker joined the Springfield, Missouri-based Ozark Jubilee
Ozark Jubilee
Ozark Jubilee is the first U.S. network television program to feature country music's top stars, and was the centerpiece of a strategy for Springfield, Missouri to challenge Nashville, Tennessee as America's country music capital...
ABC Radio and TV series for several years, backing Red Foley
Red Foley
Clyde Julian Foley , better known as Red Foley, was an American singer, musician, and radio and TV personality who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II....
and Porter Wagoner
Porter Wagoner
Porter Wayne Wagoner was a popular American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. He introduced the young Dolly Parton near the beginning of her career on his long-running television show, and they were a well-known duet throughout the late 1960s and...
. During this time Chalker switched from the lap steel to the pedal steel guitar.
In 1959, he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where he played behind fiddler Wade Ray, and later joined the band of the long-time Golden Nugget
Golden Nugget Las Vegas
The Golden Nugget Las Vegas is a luxury casino-hotel located in Las Vegas, Nevada on the Fremont Street Experience. The property is owned and operated by Landry's Restaurants....
fixture Hank Penny
Hank Penny
Herbert Clayton Penny was an accomplished banjo player and practitioner of western swing. He worked as a comedian best known for his backwoods character "That Plain Ol' Country Boy" on TV with Spade Cooley...
. Roy Clark (of Hee Haw fame) also played with Penny and the two became friends. Chalker relocated to Nashville in 1965, and became successful as a session musician.
Solo work
In 1966, he made an instrumental album for Columbia RecordsColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
entitled Big Hits on Big Steel. This record was produced by fellow steel guitarist Pete Drake
Pete Drake
Pete Drake , born Roddis Franklin Drake, was a major Nashville, Tennessee-based record producer and pedal steel guitar player....
. The follow-up release was More Ways to Play released in 1975. In 1976 he released an album consisting exclusively of Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...
covers, entitled Nashville Sundown.
Chalker also appeared with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra
Nashville Symphony Orchestra
The Nashville Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in Nashville, Tennessee. The orchestra performs 140 concerts annually.-History:...
, recording the album, Counterpoint which was shelved for years after its completion.
Collaborations
A prolific studio musician and sideman, Chalker performed on records and on stage with artists such as Willie NelsonWillie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, the Gap Band, Ray Price
Ray Price (musician)
Ray Price is an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone has often been praised as among the best male voices of country music...
, Leon Russell
Leon Russell
Claude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
, and Bill Haley and the Comets. One of his most notable collaborations was S'Wonderful (Four Giants of Swing) (1976), on which he collaborated with jazz violinist Joe Venuti, guitarist Eldon Shamblin
Eldon Shamblin
Eldon Shamblin was an American guitarist and arranger, particularly important to the development of Western swing music as one of the first electric guitarists in a popular dance band....
and mandolinist Jethro Burns. On this album, the quartet played classic swing tunes by composers such as George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
and Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
.
Chalker also appeared on work that was outside the country and Western and swing genres, including appearances on Simon and Garfunkel
Simon and Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel are an American duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl". As Simon & Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965, largely on the strength of the...
's 1969 hit "The Boxer" and Marie Osmond
Marie Osmond
Olive Marie Osmond is an American singer, actress, doll designer, and a member of the show business family The Osmonds. Although she was never part of her family's singing group, she gained success as a solo country music artist in the 1970s and 1980s...
's "Paper Roses". Proving that he had a mind for the unconventional, Chalker also appeared on Chinga Chavin
Chinga Chavin
Nick "Chinga" Chavin became known in the mid-1970s for his musical album, Country Porn.Perhaps his best-known song is "Asshole From El Paso", which has since been covered by Kinky Friedman. The song was a parody of "Okie From Muskogee" by Merle Haggard....
's 1976 album, Country Porn.
Chalker was also a member of the house band of the television show Hee Haw
Hee Haw
Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...
for 18 years, with his friend and former bandmate, Roy Clark
Roy Clark
Roy Linwood Clark is an American country music musician and performer. He is best known for hosting Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969–1992. Clark has been an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and helping to popularize the genre...
.
In 1973, to meet the demands for low-maintenance and lighter amplifiers, Hartley Peavey
Hartley Peavey
Hartley Peavey is a founder and CEO of Peavey Electronics Corporation and a well-known innovator in the musical equipment industry. A 1965 graduate of Mississippi State University, Peavey has been recognized by his alma mater as an Alumni Fellow and as the 2004 commencement speaker...
sought Chalker's guidance, along with that of Buddy Emmons
Buddy Emmons
Buddy Emmons , is an American guitarist.Emmons has been called "The World's Foremost Steel Guitarist" and his talent is greatly admired by fellow steel guitarists...
and other steel guitarists in developing the Session 400 amplifier, which went into production in 1974.
In 1985 he was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.
Death and legacy
Chalker died on April 30, 1998 from a cancer-related brain tumor.In 2009, he was honored by the Wiregrass Fesitval of Murals in Dothan, Alabama
Dothan, Alabama
Dothan is a city located in the southeastern corner of the US state of Alabama, situated approximately west of the Georgia state line and north of Florida. It is the seat of Houston County, with portions extending into nearby Dale County and Henry County...
. His likeness is featured next to 16 other country music performers with ties to the Wiregrass Region
Wiregrass Region
The Wiregrass Region or Wiregrass Country is an area of the Southern United States encompassing parts of southern Georgia, southeastern Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle...
on a mural in downtown Dothan.
Personality
While Chalker earned a reputation both as an innovator and performer, he was also known for his quick temper and strong personality. Sometimes after onstage mistakes, he had a tendency to slam down his fretting bar and yell profanities, a habit that led bandleader Hank Thompson to remark:Also, Chalker was nearly arrested once for striking a drunken audience member who was leaning on his instrument with the metal leg of his pedal steel guitar.
Solo albums
- Big Hits on Big Steel (1966) Columbia RecordsColumbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
- More Ways to Play (1975) Mid-Land Records
- Nashville Sundown (1977) GNP Crescendo
With Joe Venuti, Eldon Shamblin, and Jethro Burns
- S'Wonderful (4 Giants Of Swing) (1977) Flying Fish RecordsFlying Fish RecordsFlying Fish Records was a Chicago-based eclectic blues and country record label. It was founded in 1974 by Bruce Kaplan, former president of the University of Chicago's Folklore Society....