According to the information I found on "The Travlers" when I had a look about for the flip side The gutarisr in the Travelers was Eddie Slusser who was "a fine guitar player who has lived in Memphis for several years'
Based on the style of playing and sound of the guitar I'd bet this is Eddie performing a few years ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sxl-9_xu60
Eddie is alive and well and I was able to contact him to find out a bit more about this 45, his time with Kenny Owens, and what he’s up to today. He first started playing with Kenny Owens in the late 60’s after returning from Vietnam and stayed with him for 3 or 4 years before heading to Memphis to play at Hernando’s Hideaway, where the likes of Waylon Jennings and Jerry Lee would stop in (actually I think it was a regular hangout of Jerry Lee). He later moved to the Vapors Supper club where he had the chance to work with Ace Cannon. While playing with Kenny in Jonesboro he was also part of Kenny’s television show, a weekly affair where Kenny and the band would play one number, a few guests would come on and play or sing a few more and then I suppose Kenny and the band would finish it off. Eddie couldn’t remember anybody that played or sang who went on to greater national fame and fortune; it was truly a local affair. This side, “First Date”, and the other side “You Got No Reason” were recorded locally at Joe Lee’s Variety Recording Studios the home of Alley Records.(see the previous post for a bit more info) Eddie remembered them as being demos not cuts from the subsequent album recorded at Wayne Raney’s studio and released on ORK. The band was the same as on the ORK released album with Kenny probably on rhythm guitar or bass. Eddie said he always played lead so there’s good chance that some of the great guitar work we’ve heard on some of your previous ORK posts is from him. At present Eddie is teaching at the Howard Vance Guitar academy in Memphis and still performing on weekends with a standing Saturday gig at a senior center in Mississippi. He stepped away from performing for awhile when he started teaching, but is back to it and loving it. It was a real thrill to talk to Eddie and hope I got this all down correctly from my hastily scratched notes. If you’re ever in Memphis and need a guitar lesson or just want to hear some good music, I’d suggest looking him up.
Joe Lee's Alley Records studio burn down around 82 after Joe had sold out. He kept the master tapes has sold some but still has a few in his possession
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4 comments:
Great instrumental!!
According to the information I found on "The Travlers" when I had a look about for the flip side The gutarisr in the Travelers was Eddie Slusser who was "a fine guitar player who has lived in Memphis for several years'
Based on the style of playing and sound of the guitar I'd bet this is Eddie performing a few years ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sxl-9_xu60
Absolutely beautiful! Thanks!
Ginger
Eddie is alive and well and I was able to contact him to find out a bit more about this 45, his time with Kenny Owens, and what he’s up to today.
He first started playing with Kenny Owens in the late 60’s after returning from Vietnam and stayed with him for 3 or 4 years before heading to Memphis to play at Hernando’s Hideaway, where the likes of Waylon Jennings and Jerry Lee would stop in (actually I think it was a regular hangout of Jerry Lee). He later moved to the Vapors Supper club where he had the chance to work with Ace Cannon. While playing with Kenny in Jonesboro he was also part of Kenny’s television show, a weekly affair where Kenny and the band would play one number, a few guests would come on and play or sing a few more and then I suppose Kenny and the band would finish it off. Eddie couldn’t remember anybody that played or sang who went on to greater national fame and fortune; it was truly a local affair.
This side, “First Date”, and the other side “You Got No Reason” were recorded locally at Joe Lee’s Variety Recording Studios the home of Alley Records.(see the previous post for a bit more info) Eddie remembered them as being demos not cuts from the subsequent album recorded at Wayne Raney’s studio and released on ORK. The band was the same as on the ORK released album with Kenny probably on rhythm guitar or bass. Eddie said he always played lead so there’s good chance that some of the great guitar work we’ve heard on some of your previous ORK posts is from him.
At present Eddie is teaching at the Howard Vance Guitar academy in Memphis and still performing on weekends with a standing Saturday gig at a senior center in Mississippi. He stepped away from performing for awhile when he started teaching, but is back to it and loving it.
It was a real thrill to talk to Eddie and hope I got this all down correctly from my hastily scratched notes. If you’re ever in Memphis and need a guitar lesson or just want to hear some good music, I’d suggest looking him up.
Joe Lee's Alley Records studio burn down around 82 after Joe had sold out. He kept the master tapes has sold some but still has a few in his possession
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