I suppose everyone has their own unique style in playing weither it's pedal steel or guitar and the type of music they are playing. Even though I don't particularly care for this type of music I don't critisize it because he is extremely talented. I couldn't do what he is doing and that is what makes him unique.
He may have been the father of the pedal steel guitar but there were SOOO many others that played it better.
In my early days as a singer, I had the good fortune to have had many really good steel players behind me - Alvino Rey was one of them. And also, Buddy Merrill. Buddy was, by far the better of the two.
@gloriajean1952 As Pat Paulson used to say "Picky, picky, picky." Alvino Rey, born in1908, built his first radio at the age of 8, & by age 10, became one of the youngest licensed ham operators in the country. He began studying guitar at age 12. At 15 he invented an electrical amplifier for the guitar. 1942 - Metronome Mag's guitarist of the year. Inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of fame in St Louis in 1978 as the 'father of the pedal steel guitar'. He was a brilliant man. Lighten up a little?
@gloriajean1952 - You wouldn't know a REAL steelman if it bit you on the ass! Mr. Rey has impeccable timing and intonation. If you don't like the style of music he plays then just say so but to criticize his technique only exposes your ignorance. He is one of the earliest major influences on electric guitar and there is evidence that he invented the whammy bar as well! His 30's recordings gave direction to EVERY steel player who followed.
That is one amazing looking instrument. This man plays it so well that it is difficult not to look at his hands. I had to watch it twice because the first time I was mesmerized by his hand movements. The instrument itself is like nothing I have ever seen. It really is quite remarkable. This was a delightful piece of music to listen to. How did he manage to get all those souds out of that one instrument?! Thanks for this post.
Why doesn't PBS ever show episodes from before about 1967? :( Its like they only air stuff from 1967 to 1978 or so. They neglect the early years of the show. There's some really good material in those early years.
@veechar 'Hindustan' is a popular song from USA written in 1918. To be charitable, let's say it is an American songwriter's idea of music that should remind you of that city. It may not be true at all, but that was the songwriter's conception of what music in Hindustan would sound like. For those of a certain age, it is a much admired & appreciated piece of beautiful music. chuck in Arizona
Incredible! A truly gifted musician...what he does in this clip must have inspired so many-thank you LW for introducing so many world class music folk to us all!
I love how you guys insist on comparing...Pete Drake on pedal steel to a big band musician playing a dual lap steel....twenty years earlier....anyway....Alvino was a master player and a great entertainer and pretty much every good steel player I ever met worshipped the guy....thanks for the posting!
That's just the name of the song. Lots of songs were named after (still) exotic cultures back then. Everyone knew it wasn't real Hindustani music. It's just s song name.
Alvino Rey was one of several guitarists that Lawrence had on his shows during the time between Buddy Merrill's departure for the armed forces and the arrival of Neil Levang.
along with all the other Pedal steel info- This type instrument uses more "Human Body Parts" than any other musical instrument- both hands Both Feet Both Knees no other instrument of
@rentatrip1 Right but this is not a pedal steel. This video has made me appreciate Alvino more, for the recordings I had heard on oldies radio does no justice to this mighty amazing guy.
"Alvino Rey was the first musician to play an Electraharp, an instrument he actually helped invent along with engineer John Moore." - from the Fretboard Journal,
hi, if anyone can help me locate an alvino rey clip, please see description in video posted above (vid response). thanks. by the way, in the video above he plays his name and says goodbye.
and most of all thanks to tvcollector for all the great clips and for being smart and keeping vid response open
Hindustan is the name for India. Indian classical music is called Hindustani. Is this somehow historically associated with India or Indian classical music?
@jpeanrkode I had to back up when he started making that pedal steel 'sing' at 0:51. I was totally choked up by the end, watching such a master of this instrument! My channel is a 700 playlist archive of the best of a century of music. Added this to my Music of 1959 playlist & my Guitar Favorites list. Still watching this as I type, UTTERLY in awe of the talent demonstrated here! Hope you come visit my channel. chuck
Alvino Rey is dead now, yes. He is, rather famously, Win and Will Butler of The Arcade Fire's grandfather - there's an uncanny resemblance, too. Funeral is in part dedicated to him. Arcade Fire nerds like me seek out recordings of him out of curiosity, so he's had a bit of a resurgence.
Alvino Rey was my Idol in 1938 when I first heard him. I copied his style of playing in my early Music career. I bought his records and learned his "Hindustan", "St. Louis Blues" ,"My Buddy","On the alamo", Etc. Thanks for putting this on Youtube...al marcus
I love this clip, thank you for reloading it. What a great talent. I had never encountered Alvino Rey before your first posting of this some months ago. He's a riot when he makes the guitar "talk". The rhythm section is particularly inspired in this number, too.
Alvino was actually of Scots descent...just some trivia
scotnick59 4 weeks ago
It's great to hear his talent runs in his family, his grandchildren are phenomenal musicians as well.
WolfLikeWe 2 months ago
The best steel player I have ever heard.
KC4JTA 3 months ago
im laughin on the inside
elena6366 3 months ago
Don't forget that Alvino was one stomper of a guitar player too; most people don't seem to know that
paul29671 3 months ago
without alvino rey, there'd be no such thing as an electric guitar!
Malucodemez 3 months ago
i love this. better than punk rock!
emilyoshiro 4 months ago
I suppose everyone has their own unique style in playing weither it's pedal steel or guitar and the type of music they are playing. Even though I don't particularly care for this type of music I don't critisize it because he is extremely talented. I couldn't do what he is doing and that is what makes him unique.
tejeffers1 5 months ago in playlist chkjns Guitar Favorites 20 Songs
WOW !!!! Great !!
TheInvincibleViolet 6 months ago
He may have been the father of the pedal steel guitar but there were SOOO many others that played it better.
In my early days as a singer, I had the good fortune to have had many really good steel players behind me - Alvino Rey was one of them. And also, Buddy Merrill. Buddy was, by far the better of the two.
gloriajean1952 7 months ago
Sorry- I'm used to hearing a REAL steel player, like Buddy Merril.
Alvino Rey is ALL show - not much there as far as being a great steelman.
Yuck!
gloriajean1952 8 months ago
@gloriajean1952 As Pat Paulson used to say "Picky, picky, picky." Alvino Rey, born in1908, built his first radio at the age of 8, & by age 10, became one of the youngest licensed ham operators in the country. He began studying guitar at age 12. At 15 he invented an electrical amplifier for the guitar. 1942 - Metronome Mag's guitarist of the year. Inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of fame in St Louis in 1978 as the 'father of the pedal steel guitar'. He was a brilliant man. Lighten up a little?
chkjns 7 months ago
@gloriajean1952 - You wouldn't know a REAL steelman if it bit you on the ass! Mr. Rey has impeccable timing and intonation. If you don't like the style of music he plays then just say so but to criticize his technique only exposes your ignorance. He is one of the earliest major influences on electric guitar and there is evidence that he invented the whammy bar as well! His 30's recordings gave direction to EVERY steel player who followed.
bigmamou 4 months ago
That is one amazing looking instrument. This man plays it so well that it is difficult not to look at his hands. I had to watch it twice because the first time I was mesmerized by his hand movements. The instrument itself is like nothing I have ever seen. It really is quite remarkable. This was a delightful piece of music to listen to. How did he manage to get all those souds out of that one instrument?! Thanks for this post.
0917gva 9 months ago
Win Butler's grandpa!
thedroogfulable 9 months ago
Alvino Rey made a series of albums for Warner Brothers as "Ira Ironstrings". Very few of which have ever been re-issued.
PALINDUP 10 months ago
I will bet my bottom dollar that's Big Tiny Junior playing the accompaniment piano in the background.
vimana19 1 year ago
Welk's musicians are totally eating it up.
vania1917 1 year ago
Why doesn't PBS ever show episodes from before about 1967? :( Its like they only air stuff from 1967 to 1978 or so. They neglect the early years of the show. There's some really good material in those early years.
ragemanchoo82 1 year ago
can someone tell me what hindustan (I mean India) has to do with this?...I searched for my country name and came to this place
veechar 1 year ago
@veechar Title is "Hindustan." Words and music by Oliver Wallace and Harold Weeks.
guitarslim56 1 year ago
@veechar 'Hindustan' is a popular song from USA written in 1918. To be charitable, let's say it is an American songwriter's idea of music that should remind you of that city. It may not be true at all, but that was the songwriter's conception of what music in Hindustan would sound like. For those of a certain age, it is a much admired & appreciated piece of beautiful music. chuck in Arizona
chkjns 9 months ago
WOW, GREAT
oceanbound222 1 year ago
Incredible! A truly gifted musician...what he does in this clip must have inspired so many-thank you LW for introducing so many world class music folk to us all!
tim2tahoe 1 year ago
Holy crap, that was awesome! That guy had some serious, serious skills!
StereoEarth 1 year ago
His right hand harmonic technique is just incredible. Few of today's best players are that good.
b0blee 1 year ago
Alvino Rey's "April In Paris" was unique in 2/-/1990;UNIQUE today,19 years later!!!
ectowle 1 year ago
I'd rather listen to him than his grandsons in arcade fire
kd5inm 1 year ago
Alvino was wayyyyyyyyyy ahead of his time!
resopicker 1 year ago
It's a 1920s jazz tune, idiots. This is good, even though not to my taste really.
tubapizza 1 year ago
I love how you guys insist on comparing...Pete Drake on pedal steel to a big band musician playing a dual lap steel....twenty years earlier....anyway....Alvino was a master player and a great entertainer and pretty much every good steel player I ever met worshipped the guy....thanks for the posting!
nystan1 1 year ago
This guy is damned good!
That's not Hindustani music, though,,,,
mysticjaz 1 year ago
That's just the name of the song. Lots of songs were named after (still) exotic cultures back then. Everyone knew it wasn't real Hindustani music. It's just s song name.
DanFiebiger 1 year ago
@mysticjaz i agree that's christian Mormon rock
ONSTAGERECORDSUK 1 year ago
man! that is some fiiiiine playing! reminds me a bit of george american liquor from ren and stimpy though!
bassmantomas 1 year ago
Alvino Rey was one of several guitarists that Lawrence had on his shows during the time between Buddy Merrill's departure for the armed forces and the arrival of Neil Levang.
Dachshund 1 year ago
It would be decades before that wow knob showed up on a guitar under Jimi Hendrix
urwclwg 1 year ago
along with all the other Pedal steel info- This type instrument uses more "Human Body Parts" than any other musical instrument- both hands Both Feet Both Knees no other instrument of
Music has such complexity
rentatrip1 2 years ago
@rentatrip1 Right but this is not a pedal steel. This video has made me appreciate Alvino more, for the recordings I had heard on oldies radio does no justice to this mighty amazing guy.
AnnaMayWongSociety 1 year ago
@rentatrip1 Not so; you forget the centuries old organs, hand and feet risters and knee paddles for the air.
urwclwg 1 year ago
Music changed when the pedal steel guitar was invented. I wonder if he ever played it.
SpeedyNeutrino43 2 years ago
Comparing Pete Drake to Alvino Rey is like comparing Don Helms to Speedy West...two different worlds. It can't be done.
jpeanrkode 2 years ago
He was fantastic but PETE DRAKE had him beat by lightyears!!!!!
BigDuckKetterer 2 years ago
1.15 great:)
RobertZ2191 2 years ago
Wonderful!
LittleKim1001 2 years ago
"Alvino Rey was the first musician to play an Electraharp, an instrument he actually helped invent along with engineer John Moore." - from the Fretboard Journal,
peetee68 2 years ago
"Hindustan" refers to East India.
Although Joseph Kekuku (Hawaiian)
is credited as the main inventor of steel
guitar,it's also mentioned that Gabriel
Divion (India) is a co-inventor.
RonaldVaughan 2 years ago
And the Painted Peacock sounds an awful lot like Nepal's National Bird the Impeyan Pheasant!
kinkajou777 2 years ago
hi, if anyone can help me locate an alvino rey clip, please see description in video posted above (vid response). thanks. by the way, in the video above he plays his name and says goodbye.
and most of all thanks to tvcollector for all the great clips and for being smart and keeping vid response open
whatgetsmehot 2 years ago
Hindustan is the name for India. Indian classical music is called Hindustani. Is this somehow historically associated with India or Indian classical music?
gunchibaiyya 2 years ago
I delivered Alvino's mail occasionally in the 1990's. He lived in Sandy, Utah with his wife, Luise ( one of the King Sisters ).
He was a very gracious, kind and friendly man and an electronics genius.
You can thank Mr Rey for developing the electric guitar pickup, inventing the "talkbox", and playing one mean steel lap guitar.
He also had one of the most talent-filled bands in history. Check out Rafael Mendez (cornet) in particular.
blackdogprod 2 years ago
He was also an amateur radio operator (ham).
wmcoale 2 years ago
Absolutey great!!
signora22 2 years ago
Not only is he a phenomenal player, it's extremely entertaining just to watch him. What a showman!
jpeanrkode 2 years ago 15
@jpeanrkode I had to back up when he started making that pedal steel 'sing' at 0:51. I was totally choked up by the end, watching such a master of this instrument! My channel is a 700 playlist archive of the best of a century of music. Added this to my Music of 1959 playlist & my Guitar Favorites list. Still watching this as I type, UTTERLY in awe of the talent demonstrated here! Hope you come visit my channel. chuck
chkjns 9 months ago
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Rey some years back, and he was as gracious as could be. A stellar talent.
WayOutWardell 2 years ago 2
can't help to go
"meanwhile, in bikinibottom"
in a french voice...
great stuff though!
vaos 2 years ago
It's pretty impressive the versetillity of that instrument. That guy kicks ass at playing it too. He's most likely dead now though.
Funkyrocket1000 3 years ago
Isn't Hindustan the original name of India?
dudemantwo 3 years ago
Yea but I doubt this song is about india. At least it doesn't sound like it would be. Sounds more like a crazy cartoon set on a tropical island.
Funkyrocket1000 3 years ago
Yes...something like that.
Ironically,an E. Indian man (Gabriel
Divion [sic]) is also credited for
inventing the steel guitar....
RonaldVaughan 3 years ago
Alvino Rey is dead now, yes. He is, rather famously, Win and Will Butler of The Arcade Fire's grandfather - there's an uncanny resemblance, too. Funeral is in part dedicated to him. Arcade Fire nerds like me seek out recordings of him out of curiosity, so he's had a bit of a resurgence.
jennyhaze 3 years ago
Ya Think ??
searchme45 3 years ago
If he isn't dead, he's probably stuck in some nursing home watching reruns in the day hall...Whether he wants to or not...
beefnotfish 3 years ago
this link was posted to me by one 'Alvino Rey' on facebook. but if so, he's 102 years old
jancivil 2 years ago
Alvino died in 2004 age 96
spookyben 2 years ago
Laugh if you want but it's wonderfully played.
anteupper 3 years ago 13
Thanks for re-posting this. It had mysteriously disappeared some time ago.
But it's "fair use" as Alvino Rey's work is
still difficult to find.
BTW,some other artists doing steel guitar (both country-western & Hawaiian) exist now only on vinyl records...or unknown films/videos.
Hope somebody can post THOSE as well.
RonaldVaughan 3 years ago
Alvino Rey was my Idol in 1938 when I first heard him. I copied his style of playing in my early Music career. I bought his records and learned his "Hindustan", "St. Louis Blues" ,"My Buddy","On the alamo", Etc. Thanks for putting this on Youtube...al marcus
Steelchordman 3 years ago
I love this clip, thank you for reloading it. What a great talent. I had never encountered Alvino Rey before your first posting of this some months ago. He's a riot when he makes the guitar "talk". The rhythm section is particularly inspired in this number, too.
romeman01 3 years ago
for the bozo- lol
cmacattack34 3 years ago