Example of a bottleneck, with fingerpicks and resonator guitar.

Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles. Instead of altering the pitch of the strings in the normal manner (by pressing the string against frets), a slide is placed upon the string to vary its vibrating length, and pitch. This slide can then be moved along the string without lifting, creating continuous transitions in pitch.

Slide guitar is most often played (assuming a right-handed player and guitar):

• With the guitar in the normal position, using a slide called a bottleneck on one of the fingers of the left hand; this is known as bottleneck guitar.
• With the guitar held horizontally, with the belly uppermost and the bass strings toward the player, and using a slide called a 'steel' held in the left hand; this is known as 'lap steel guitar'.

History[link]

The technique of using a slide on a string has been traced to one-stringed African instruments^[1] similar to a "Diddley bow". The tuning and bend filled playing style resembles the blues-harp.^[2]

The technique was made popular by African American blues artists. The first musician to be recorded using the style was Sylvester Weaver who recorded two solo pieces "Guitar Blues" and "Guitar Rag" in 1923. Some of the blues artists who most prominently used the slide include gospel singer Blind Willie Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Son House, Robert Johnson as well as Casey Bill Weldon of the Memphis Jug Band. The sound has since become commonplace in country and Hawaiian music. It is also used in rock, by bands and artists such as Canned Heat, The Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Little Feat, Eagles, ZZ Top and AC/DC. The Rolling Stones featured a slide guitar as early as their 1963 recording of the John Lennon/Paul McCartney song "I Wanna Be Your Man". Guitarist Brian Jones played slide in a very blues-oriented style. His successor Mick Taylor also displayed his own slide guitar skills while with the band, using a bottleneck on studio recordings and during live performances. Many early Pink Floyd songs such as "See Emily Play" (played with a Zippo lighter for a slide), feature Syd Barrett's slide guitar performances, reflecting the band's original Chicago urban blues repertoire from musicians such as Bo Diddley and Slim Harpo. Canned Heat's Alan Wilson also helped bring slide guitar to the rock music industry in the late 1960s which he used frequently during concerts to create a buzzing delta blues boogie which can be heard on tracks such as London Blues, I Love My Baby, Sandy Blues, and countless others and can also be seen during their performances at the Monterey Pop Festival on Rollin and Tumblin' and at Woodstock During Woodstock Boogie and On The Road Again. George Harrison experimented with slide guitar during the latter half of The Beatles' career, first using the technique on an early outtake recording of "Strawberry Fields Forever" in 1966. He later used slide extensively during his solo career on songs such as "My Sweet Lord", "Cheer Down" and the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle With Care", as well as on The Beatles' 1995 reunion single "Free as a Bird".

Arguably the first influential classic electric blues slide guitarist is Elmore James, whose riff in the song "Dust My Broom" is copied from Robert Johnson^[3] and is held in particularly high regard. Blues legend Muddy Waters was also very influential, particularly in developing the electric Chicago blues slide guitar from the acoustic Mississippi Delta slide guitar. Texas blues musician Johnny Winter developed his distinctive style through years of touring with Waters. Slide player Roy Rogers honed his slide skills by touring with blues artist John Lee Hooker. John Lee's cousin Earl Hooker may have been the first to use wah-wah and slide together.^{[citation needed]}

Like Alan Wilson, Duane Allman played a key role in bringing slide guitar into rock music, through his work with The Allman Brothers Band, specifically on the 1971 live album At Fillmore East and with Derek and the Dominos' Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs album. Beginning in the late 1960s, Allman used an empty glass Coricidin medicine bottle, which he wore over his ring finger as a slide. This was later picked up by other slide guitarists such as Bonnie Raitt, Rory Gallagher, Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Joe Walsh, who used his middle finger and later in the mid 80s, switched to a brass slide. Such bottles eventually went out of production in the early 1980s, although replicas have been produced since 1985, including a copy of Allman's slide used by another Allman Brothers member, Derek Trucks, which was made of Dunlop Pyrex, giving the same sound as the glass slide, without the danger of shattering.

Allman extended the expressive range of the slide guitar by incorporating the harmonica effects of Sonny Boy Williamson II, most clearly in the Allman Brothers' cover version of Sonny Boy's "One Way Out", heard on their album Eat a Peach. His playing on the original studio recording of "Layla" imparted a sublime quality for which the song is distinctly memorable.

Most recently lap style slide has been re-born via artists like Jack White, Sean Kirkwood and Xavier Rudd - both players of weissenborns, the former using original early 1900s instruments long with modern day variations such as his own co-designed Asher signature model, the latter using modern reproductions of weissenborn.

Equipment[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Slides may be used on any guitar, but slides generally and steels in particular are often used on instruments specifically made to be played in this manner. These include:

• All steel guitars.
• Many (perhaps most) resonator guitars, particularly Dobros and their descendants.
• Lap slide guitars, particularly Weissenborns and their descendants.
• Conventional electric guitar.

Resonator guitar played with a horizontal slide.

An ordinary guitar, either electric or acoustic, can be used for playing slide. Often the strings are raised a little higher off the neck than they would be for ordinary guitar playing. This is done especially if the free fingers are not going to be used for fretting. An extension nut may be used to achieve the higher string height at the peghead end of the neck. This is just a normal nut, with the slots filed less deeply, and often in a straight line rather than following the radius of the fretboard.

The lap steel and the pedal steel are guitars that have evolved especially for playing slide in the horizontal position. Resophonic or resonator guitars have often been employed for slide playing, typically held horizontally. They are sometimes known as Dobros after the Dopyera brothers, whose company first made them. National is another brand. In resonator guitars, rather than the sound being produced by the body's hollow, a special bridge transfers the vibrations from the strings to a metal cone placed inside the body.

Approximately in 1975, glass guitar slides started appearing in Music shops across America. Clear Glass Manufacturing Company and Clayton Products supplied the majority of the market. Both companies grew, though eventually Clear Glass was sold to Dunlop Manufacturing. Borosilicate glass (Pyrex) was developed by Corning Glass Works. Modern bottleneck slides are still manufactured by companies such as Dunlop Mfg., Steve Clayton, Inc., Mr. B's Bottleneck Guitar Slides, Bluemoon Bottleneck Company and Diamond Bottlenecks.

A slide can be made with any type of smooth hard material that allows tones to resonate. The slide's weight (in terms of density and wall thickness) cause differences in sustain, timbre, and loudness, while the surface structure and material affect tonal clarity and timbre. Heavier bottlenecks usually can produce longer, warmer and louder tones, but they also require more mastery to play with.^[4]

With the sliding technique originating from the cut off neck of a glass bottle, bottlenecks usually still have the same tubular shape and a length of one to three inches, and glass still remains a popular material. Borosilicate glass is often found in cheaper, entry-level slides. It is easier to shape as it can withstand higher temperatures. Soda-lime glass is heavier which helps produce a better sound, while lead glass improves tonal quality.^[4] Glass coloring alters the timbre. The addition of iron oxide turns glass green and hardens it, causing a louder and sharper tone with a warmer sustain, while cobalt oxide colors it blue and produces the sharpest, loudest tones.^[4] The structural properties of colored glass promote withstanding mechanical shock, which allows for automated manufacturing.

In 1989, Terrie Lambert invented the Moonshine (ceramic) slide that produces a timbre in between that of brass and glass, and the Mudslide (porcelain) slide, which just as brass slides is quite heavy, producing richer, fuller and resonating tones with more harmonics. As a result, they are often used in blues music. The Moonshine and Mudslide slides are glazed on the outside but porous on the inside so that finger moisture is absorbed, preventing slippage. Metals such as stainless steel, chrome and aluminium cause a bright penetrating sound and are mostly used with electric guitars, among others for rock music. Less frequently used types of materials include stag antler, buffalo horn and bone, as the time and effort needed to create one is often too much when conventional slides are available. Segments of PVC piping can be used to achieve a slide, and is common among those who do not choose to buy a slide.

Besides differences in material, many variations in bottlenecks exist. Square, beveled or rounded edges may allow a player to apply different techniques, while tapered rather than straight sides may help improve control and cause less damping. Pedal steel players may prefer using tonebars, which have one capped end. One recent development is the rise of hybrid slides. Glass Moonshine slides are made of glass, but have a porous ceramic interior that helps prevent slipping; other slides have been designed to reduce the weight of brass or porcelain slides by using a lightweight interior, while still others are made of glass on the front and of metal on the back to allow easy switching.

Although the use of hollow bottlenecks is preferred by many players because only one finger is required to hold it, leaving the other fingers free for normal fretting, sliding can be done in many ways. One alternative is to use a solid metal bar or rod, about the same size as a bottleneck slide, laid across the strings of the guitar and held by the fingers of the fretting hand being laid on it to either side, parallel to it. Shotglasses, pipes, and stones have also been used to good effect, as have rings, spoons and even cigarette lighters. Even a knife can reportedly be used:

"As he played, he pressed a knife on the strings of the guitar in a manner popularised by Hawaiian guitarists who used steel bars. The effect was unforgettable." ―W. C. Handy on his first hearing slide guitar, a blues player in the Tutwiler, Mississippi train station.

Technique[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

A bottleneck slide on an acoustic guitar

The slide is pressed against the strings—lightly, so as not to touch the strings to the fretboard, and parallel to the frets. The pitch of the strings can then be continuously varied by moving the slide up and down the neck. The usual limitation in fretted guitar playing of twelve pitches per octave does not apply. Indeed, in pure slide guitar playing the frets serve no purpose, other than as a visual reference. The technique lends itself to glissandi (swoops up or down to a note); in addition it has the ability to evoke sounds of the human voice, crying, sighing or weeping, or natural noises. Another strength of the technique is its vibrato, which is easily achieved by oscillating the hand so that the slide goes quickly back and forth.

The major limitation of slide playing is of course that only one chord shape is available: whatever the strings happen to be tuned to going straight across. Many slide guitarists will still use their free fingers to fret the strings if they want to employ that sound as well. Using the free fingers opens up the possibility of playing chord shapes other than the straight line given by the slide. One strategy is to use the free fingers for rhythm work, and intersperse this with lead phrases played with the slide.

The guitar may be held in the normal guitar-playing position (that is, with the face of the guitar more-or-less vertical) or it may be held flat, with the face of the guitar horizontal. In the latter case the guitar may sit flat in one's lap or on a stool, face up, or held in this position by a strap, and played standing up. If holding the guitar in the normal vertical position, it is more common to use the tube type of slide. In the horizontal approach, solid bars or "bullets" are more commonly used, and the grip is overhand: the hand is not wrapped around the neck, the index finger is nearest the bridge, the little finger nearest the nut, fingers pointing away from the chest.

Usually, a slide player will use open tuning, although standard tuning is sometimes used. In open tuning the strings are tuned to sound a chord when not fretted; sliding the bottleneck up and down the guitar neck gives that chord in various keys. The chord tuned to is most often major. Open tunings commonly used with slide include Open D or "Vestapol" tuning: D-A-d-f#-a-d; and Open G or "Spanish" tuning: D-G-d-g-b-d . Open E and Open A, formed by raising each of those tunings a whole tone, are also common. These tunings can be traced back to the 19th century through the banjo, predating the Hawaiian guitar. Another open D tuning is D-A-d-a-d-f#. Other tunings are used as well.

Occasionally a bottleneck is used on only the highest two strings of a guitar in standard tuning, usually in live performance to introduce just a short passage of bottleneck effect into a piece which otherwise consists mainly of guitar played in standard fashion.

Slide guitar is most often fingerpicked, with or without plastic or metal picks on the thumb and fingers. However some players use a flatpick (plectrum).

The bottleneck or tube type of slide is usually worn over the ring (3rd) or little (4th) finger. Wearing it on the 4th finger has the advantage of leaving one more finger free to fret notes if desired. However some players feel that they get better control using the ring finger. Most instructors recommend letting one or more of the fingers behind the slide rest lightly on the strings to help mute unwanted vibrations.

Double slide guitar system[link]

Brian Cober's double slide technique in action

A relatively new technique, expanding the musical range and sonic capabilities of slide guitar, is the system of double slide guitar. It was invented by Brian Cober,^[5] a Canadian blues musician. In double slide, the first slide is placed on the middle finger (usually a modified steel bar that can be put on the finger), and a modified thumb slide is put on the thumb that is able to cover two strings. Double slide is meant to be played on a six-string lap guitar (or a regular six-string guitar modified with the strings raised for high action like a lap guitar), usually tuned to open E tuning. The double slide guitar system enables the player to play chords not heard in open tunings, such as minor chords, dominant seventh chords, etc. and provides a greater use of technique in soloing.^[6] Will Ray of the Hellecasters uses a similar technique, wearing "stealth" pinky-type slides on either hand.

Effects[link]

In recent years, some guitarists have developed the bottleneck technique further by introducing other guitar effects.

Bass[link]

John Paul Jones playing slide on his bass guitar

A few musicians have used slides with bass guitar—slide bass. Mark Sandman was probably the best known proponent (with Morphine, he performed primarily on a custom two-string slide bass guitar). Bill Laswell, Robert Weaver^{[disambiguation needed ]}, Kevin Rutmanis, Marc Sloan and Stefan Lessard have also played slide bass. John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin has performed on a custom-made bass lap steel. Timo Shanko of G. Love & Special Sauce, incorporates slide playing on electric bass. Jazz bassist Victor Wooten occasionally uses a slide for soloing during his live performances. Similarly to John Paul Jones, Mark Robbins, bass player and song writer from Joan, plays a number of songs in the standing lap slide style.

Samples[link]

	"Traveling Riverside Blues" noicon 29 second sample of the song "Layla" noicon 27 second sample of the song
Problems listening to these files? See media help.

The following samples give an impression of the various styles of slide guitar. First is Robert Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues", one of the best-known examples of Delta blues slide guitar. Second, a part of Duane Allman's solo from Derek and the Dominos's "Layla" is included, to give an impression of highly acclaimed slide work in rock music.

See also[link]

Guitar portal

• Blues guitar playing
• Classical guitar
• Electric guitar
• Guitarist
• Lap steel guitar
• List of slide guitarists
• Lute
• Pedal steel guitar
• Vichitra veena
• Chitra veena

References[link]

• van der Merwe, Peter (1989), Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ISBN 0-19-316121-4 

1. ^ Payne, Rick. "History and Origin of the Slide Guitar in the Blues". Lessons. Guitar Noise. http://www.guitarnoise.com/lesson/slide-guitar-history/. Retrieved 3 March 2010. 
2. ^ (van der Merwe 1989, pp. 66–67)
3. ^ Oliver, Paul (1984). Blues Off the Record. New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press. p. 109. ISBN 0-306-80321-6. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} McWee, I. (2011). Diamond Bottlenecks: F.A.Q.'s. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
5. ^ Brian Cober, "Home Page"
6. ^ Jonathan St. Rose "Brian Cober, blues guitarist"

External links[link]

• Slide Guitar for Beginners
• Slide Guitars, Pictures & History
• What are the best guitar slides?
• Open-G tuning, Open-E tuning and Slide guitar An overview of Open-G and Open-E slide

Roy Rogers
Rogers performing at Knott's Berry Farm
Background information
Birth name	Leonard Franklin Slye
Born	(1911-11-05)November 5, 1911 Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Died	July 6, 1998(1998-07-06) (aged 86) Apple Valley, California, USA
Genres	Country
Occupations	Actor, singer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1932–1998
Website	royrogers.com

Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye (November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain. He and his wife Dale Evans, his golden palomino, Trigger, and his German Shepherd dog, Bullet, were featured in more than 100 movies and The Roy Rogers Show. The show ran on radio for nine years before moving to television from 1951 through 1957. His productions usually featured a sidekick, often either Pat Brady (who drove a Jeep called "Nellybelle"), Andy Devine, or the crotchety George "Gabby" Hayes. Rogers's nickname was "King of the Cowboys". Evans's nickname was "Queen of the West."

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2010)

Leonard Franklin Slye was born to Andrew ("Andy") and Mattie (Womack) Slye in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his family lived in a tenement building on 2nd Street. (Riverfront Stadium was constructed at this location in 1970 and Leonard would later joke that he had been born at second base.) Dissatisfied with his job and city life, Andy Slye and his brother Will built a 12-by-50-foot houseboat from salvage lumber, and, in July 1912, the Slye family floated up the Ohio River towards Portsmouth, Ohio. Desiring a more stable existence in Portsmouth, the Slyes purchased land on which to build a home, but the flood of 1913 allowed them to move the houseboat to their property and continue living in it on dry land.

In 1919, the Slyes purchased a farm in Duck Run, located near Lucasville, Ohio about 12 miles north of Portsmouth. There they built a six-room home. Leonard's father soon realized that the farm alone would provide insufficient income for his family, so he took a job at a shoe factory in Portsmouth. He lived there during the week and returned home on the weekends, bearing gifts for the family following paydays. One notable gift was a horse on which Leonard learned the basics of horsemanship.

After completing the eighth grade, Leonard attended high school in McDermott, Ohio. When he was 17, his family returned to Cincinnati, where his father began work at another shoe factory. He soon decided on the necessity to help his family financially, so he quit high school, joined his father at the shoe factory, and began attending night school. After being ridiculed for falling asleep in class, however, he quit school and never returned.

Leonard and his father felt imprisoned by their factory jobs. In 1929, his older sister, Mary, moved to Lawndale, California with her husband. Father and son decided to quit their shoe factory jobs. The family packed their 1923 Dodge for a visit with Mary and stayed four months before returning to Ohio. Almost immediately afterward, Leonard had the opportunity to travel to California with Mary's father-in-law, and the rest of the family followed in the spring of 1930.

The Slyes rented a small house near Mary. Leonard and his father immediately found employment as truck drivers for a highway construction project. They reported to work one morning, however, to learn their employer had gone bankrupt. The economic hardship of the Great Depression had followed them west, and the Slyes soon found themselves among the economic refugees traveling from job to job picking fruit and living in worker campsites. (He would later read John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and marvel at its accuracy.) One day, Andy Slye was told of a shoe factory hiring in Los Angeles and asked Leonard to join him in applying there for work. Leonard, having seen the joy that his guitar and singing had brought to the destitute around the campfires, hesitantly told his father that he was going to pursue a living in music. With his father's blessing, he and cousin Stanley Slye went to Los Angeles and sought musical engagements as The Slye Brothers.

In 1932, Leonard, now known as "Len," met Lucille Ascolese while on tour. That same year, a palomino colt was foaled in Santa Cietro, CA, named "Golden Cloud", and later renamed "Trigger" in 1938 after he was acquired by Roy. In May 1933, Len, 21, proposed to Lucille, 19, via a radio broadcast. Len then went on tour with the "O-Bar-O Cowboys" and in June 1933 met Grace Arline Wilkins at a Roswell, New Mexico radio station. She traded Len a lemon pie for his singing "Swiss Yodel" over the air. By August 1934, Len and Lucille had separated as she was reportedly jealous and tired of being a musician's wife. Len and Lucille's divorce was granted on May 28, 1935, and became final on June 8, 1936. Having corresponded since their first meeting, Len and Grace Arline Wilkins were married in Roswell, New Mexico, on June 11, 1936.^[1]

In 1941, the couple adopted a girl, Cheryl Darlene. Two years later, Arline bore a daughter, Linda Lou.

Rogers and Arline had a son, Roy Jr. ("Dusty") in 1946, but Arline died of complications from the birth a few days afterward on November 3. Rogers had met Dale Evans in 1944 when she was cast in a movie with Rogers. Following Arline's death, Rogers and Evans soon fell in love, and Rogers proposed to her during a rodeo at Chicago Stadium. They married on New Year's Eve in 1947 at the Flying L Ranch in Davis, Oklahoma, where a few months earlier they had filmed Home in Oklahoma. Rogers and Evans remained married until Rogers's death in 1998.^[1]

Career[link]

Leonard Slye moved to California to become a singer. After four years of little success, he formed the Sons of the Pioneers with Bob Nolan and Tim Spencer, a Western cowboy music group, in 1934. The group hit it big with songs like "Cool Water" and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds". From his first film appearance in 1935, he worked steadily in western films, including a large supporting role as a singing cowboy while still billed as "Leonard Slye" in a Gene Autry movie. In 1938, when Autry temporarily walked out on his movie contract, Slye was immediately rechristened "Roy Rogers." Slye's stage name was suggested by Republic Picture's staff after Will Rogers and the shortening of Leroy. and assigned the lead in Under Western Stars. Rogers became a matinee idol and American legend. A competitor for Gene Autry as the nation's favorite singing cowboy was suddenly born. In addition to his own movies, Rogers played a supporting role in the John Wayne classic Dark Command (1940). Rogers became a major box office attraction.

Roy Rogers in The Carson City Kid

In the Motion Picture Herald Top Ten Money-Making Western Stars poll, Rogers was listed for 15 consecutive years from 1939 to 1954, holding first place from 1943 to 1954.^[2] He appeared in the similar Box Office poll from 1938 to 1955, holding first place from 1943 to 1952. (In the final three years of that poll he was second only to Randolph Scott.) ^[3] Although these two polls are really an indication only of the popularity of series stars, Rogers also appeared in the Top Ten Money Makers Poll of all films in 1945 and 1946.^[4]

Rogers was an idol for many children through his films and television shows. Most of his postwar films were in Trucolor during an era when almost all other B-movies were black-and-white. Some of his movies would segue into animal adventures, in which Rogers's horse Trigger would go off on his own for a while, with the camera following him.

With money from not only Rogers' films but his own public appearances going to Republic Pictures, Rogers brought a clause into a 1940 contract with the studio where he would have the right to his likeness, voice and name for merchandising.^[5] There were Roy Rogers action figures, cowboy adventure novels, and playsets, as well as a comic strip, a long-lived Dell Comics comic book series (Roy Rogers Comics) written by Gaylord Du Bois, and a variety of marketing successes. Roy Rogers was second only to Walt Disney in the amount of items featuring his name.^[6] The Sons of the Pioneers continued their popularity, and they have never stopped performing from the time Rogers started the group, replacing members as they retired or passed away (all original members are deceased). Although Rogers was no longer an active member, they often appeared as Rogers' backup group in films, radio, and television, and Rogers would occasionally appear with them in performances up until his death. In August 1950, Evans and Rogers had a daughter, Robin Elizabeth, who had Down Syndrome and died of complications with mumps shortly before her second birthday. Evans wrote about losing their daughter in her book Angel Unaware.

Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers in the film, Rainbow Over Texas

Rogers and Evans were also well known as advocates for adoption and as founders and operators of children's charities. They adopted several children. Both were outspoken Christians. In Apple Valley, California, where they made their home, numerous streets and highways as well as civic buildings have been named after them in recognition of their efforts on behalf of homeless and handicapped children. Rogers was an active Freemason and a Shriner, and was noted for his support of their charities.

Rogers and Evans's famous theme song, "Happy Trails", was written by Evans; they sang it as a duet to sign off their television show. In the fall of 1962, the couple co-hosted a comedy-western-variety program, The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show, aired on ABC. It was cancelled after three months, losing in the ratings to The Jackie Gleason Show on CBS. He also made numerous cameo or guest appearances on other popular television shows, starring as himself or other cowboy-type characters, such as in an episode of Wonder Woman called "The Bushwackers".^[7] Rogers also owned a Hollywood production company which handled his own series. It also filmed other undertakings, including the 1955-1956 CBS western series Brave Eagle starring Keith Larsen as a young peaceful Cheyenne chief, Kim Winona as Morning Star, his romantic interest, and the Hopi Indian Anthony Numkena as Keena, Brave Eagle's foster son.

Rogers and Dale Evans at the 61st Academy Awards in 1989

In 1968 Rogers licensed his name to the Marriot corporation, which converted its Hot Shoppes locations to Roy Rogers Restaurants, with which Rogers otherwise had no involvement.

Rogers owned a Thoroughbred racehorse named Triggairo, who won 13 career races including the 1975 El Encino Stakes at Santa Anita Park.^[8]

Death[link]

When Rogers died of congestive heart failure on July 6, 1998, he was residing in Apple Valley, California. He was interred at Sunset Hills Cemetery ^[9] in Apple Valley, as was his wife, Dale Evans, three years later.^[10]

Homages and influence[link]

Rogers and Dale Evans at Knott's Berry Farm in the 1970s

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Rogers has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1752 Vine Street, a second star at 1733 Vine Street for his contribution to radio, and a third star at 1620 Vine Street for his contribution to the television industry. Rogers and Evans were inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1976 and Rogers was inducted again as a member of the Sons of the Pioneers in 1995. Rogers was also twice elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame, first as a member of The Sons of the Pioneers in 1980 and as a soloist in 1988.

Rogers was mentioned in the Lyle Lovett single "If I Had A Boat", Elton John's 1973 album "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" contained the escapist ballad "Roy Rogers", and Toby Keith's "Should've Been A Cowboy".

In the 1988 film Die Hard, the Bruce Willis character John McClane used the nom de guerre of "Roy", saying "I was always kinda partial to Roy Rogers actually".

American Dad character Roger uses "Roy Rogers" as a pseudonym in the episode "Roy Rogers McFreely".

Cheryl Rogers Barnett, a daughter of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, has written with Frank Thompson; Cowboy Princess: Life with My Parents, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans'.^[11]

Filmography[link]

Discography[link]

Charted albums[link]

Charted singles[link]

• ^A"Hoppy, Gene and Me" also peaked at number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100^[12] and number 38 on the RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks chart in Canada.

Music videos[link]

Popular songs recorded by Rogers[link]

• "Don't Fence Me In"
• "Hold That Critter Down"
• "Little White Cross On The Hill"
• "One More Ride"
• "Ride Ranger Ride"
• "That Pioneer Mother Of Mine"
• "Tumbling Tumbleweeds"
• "Way Out There" (singing and yodeling)
• "Why, Oh Why, Did I Ever Leave Wyoming?"
• "Hold On Partner" (duet with Clint Black)

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Roy Rogers

• Roy Rogers Restaurants
• Roy Rogers cocktail
• Earl W. Bascom, cowboy artist who worked with Roy Rogers

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Rogers, Roy; Evans, Dale; Stowers, Carlton (1979). Happy Trails: The Story of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Waco, Texas: Word Books. ISBN 0-8499-0086-7. 
• Enss, Chris; Kazanjian, Howard (2005). The Cowboy and the Senorita: A Biography of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (1st ed.). Guilford, CT: TwoDot. ISBN 978-0-7627-3830-4. 
• Phillips, Robert W. (1995). Roy Rogers : A Biography. Jefferson, NC [u.a.]: McFarland. ISBN 0-89950-937-1. 
• Zwisohn, Laurence. (1998). "Roy Rogers". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 456–457.

External links[link]

• Roy Rogers at the Internet Movie Database
• Official family website
• Database and Cover gallery of Roy Rogers comic book appearances
• Roy Rogers Ranch
• Interview with Delores Chapman who had a bit part with Roy Rogers in North of the Great Divide
• Profile at Turner Classic Movies
• Roy Rogers at the Internet Broadway Database
• Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
• Dusty Rhoads: Cowboy Bassist and vocalist who toured with Roy Rogers; original member of the Whippoorwills
• I Love Comix Archive: Roy Rogers
• The Ackerman Collection of Historical Photographs
• RFD-TV Trigger and Bullet Happy Trails Tour
• Public domain Roy Rogers media at Internet Archive
• "Roy & Dale 100th Anniversary"

Andrew Winton (born February 1972, Perth) is an independent, solo, Australian musician, combining acoustic guitar, lap slide, dobro and seven-string lap guitar/bass (the Wintonbeast), with hollers and stomps to provide an engaging and authentic performance. Winton's sound has been likened to a cross between Ben Harper, Sting, Kelly-Joe Phelps and Harry Manx.^[1] His performances are driven by infectious rhythms, stunning slide, bluesy vocals, quirky lyrics and storytelling.

Winton currently lives in Perth with Karen (his wife, manager and percusionist/vocalist), and their three children.

He is brother to famed Australian author Tim Winton and has a sister, Sharyn O'Neill, who is the current Director General of the West Australian Department of Education and Training.

Winton also works part time as a high-school chaplain in Perth.

Musical career[link]

Andrew grew up listening to Deep Purple, Kiss, Frank Zappa and Johnny Cash, and started his musical life as a drummer. In his late teens he moved on to electric guitar, playing in bands and completing a Degree in Jazz at the Conservatorium of Music in Perth Western Australia. Andrew played guitar for a few years in Perth band Hodad City with Adam Bruno who was to later become Adam Brand^[2] (Multi CMA Golden Guitar Award winner), and then went on to have local success in 3Ph,^[3] a quirky funk-rock band with bandmates Stephen Kelly (bass/vox) and Paul Novosel (drums/vox) which won Western Australia's The Next Big Thing competition in 1997. The band however disbanded a short time later when Novosel ('99) and Kelly ('01) moved to the east coast to do session work. After being invited to play drums with top Perth old-timey blues band Tin Dog, Andrew was exposed further to the world of blues, roots and folk music. After seeing UK musician Rory McLeod perform in 2002, Andrew was inspired to take the solo songwriting road and began his successful transition to dobro and other lap style guitars, which are now his passion. He recorded his first solo album in 2003 with only 8 months of dobro playing under his belt. Predominantly self-taught, with a few masterclasses from Lucky Oceans thrown in for good measure, Andrew is now recognised as one of Australia's talented slide guitar players. He is also known for his eclectic mix of styles and songs, lyrics that are thought provoking, his humour and storytelling on stage, and his dynamic vocal range that has earned comparisons with Sting, Steely Dan and Harry Manx. Andrew is a musician truly doing it for the love of it, what you see is what you get.

Awards[link]

2006 saw Winton tour Australia for three months, play at numerous festivals, events and radio broadcasts,^[4] and take out first place in the Folk/Acoustic category of the Australian Songwriter's Association awards for his song Lucky Boy^[5] (as well as the award for best live performance at the awards night). Winton was a feature artist on ABC Radio National's Music Deli program, and placed in the top 10 in the instrumental category of the MusicOz awards.^[6] In 2007, Winton was nominated for a WAMi West Australian Music Industry Awards for best Blues/Roots Artist, again in 2008 for best Guitarist, and in 2009 received two nominations for best Guitarist and best Blues & Roots act.^[7] His third album The Decompression Chamber received critical acclaim.^[8]

Live[link]

Partner Karen on vocals and percussion, adding beautiful harmonies and layers, sometimes accompanies Andrew on stage. Since about March 2007, Andrew has been more regularly seen accompanied by flamboyant percussionist and longtime friend Paul Novosel on percussion/vox for most live performances. This lineup is often billed as the Andrew Winton Duo. Winton has performed at many festivals including National Folk Festival, Australian Blues Music Festival,^[9] Fairbridge Festival, Woodford Folk Festival, Nannup Music Festival, A Day On The Green^[10] Tamworth Country Music Festival, and South by Southwest Festival.^[11] For the first four months of 2009, Andrew and Paul toured most of Australia to promote Andrew's fourth studio release Surface Tension. They can also be seen performing regularly around Perth and the southwest region. The duo are credited for inaugurating the Blues on the Verandah Sunday session at the Settler's Tavern in Margaret River and have since performed there regularly with their dynamic semi-acoustic performances.

Albums[link]

Surface Tension - album released January 2009

The Decompression Chamber - album released February 2006

Can't Slow Down - mostly live EP (2005) (out of print)

Barrel O Monkeys – album (2004)

Whalebone Surf Classic – DVD soundtrack (2004)

Singles[link]

Love Paints A Picture - includes live DVD footage of the Andrew Winton Duo

External links[link]

• Official Site
• Official MySpace page

References[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)

"Blind" Willie Johnson
A snippet of the only known photograph of Johnson.
Background information
Also known as	"Blind" Willie "Blind" Texas Marlin The Blind Pilgrim
Born	(1897-01-22)January 22, 1897 near Brenham, Texas, United States
Died	September 18, 1945(1945-09-18) (aged 48) Beaumont, Texas, United States
Genres	Blues, gospel
Occupations	Preacher, musician
Instruments	Guitar

"Blind" Willie Johnson (January 22, 1897 – September 18, 1945) was an American singer and guitarist, whose music straddled the border between blues and spirituals.

While the lyrics of his songs were often religious, his music drew from both sacred and blues traditions. His music is distinguished by his powerful bass thumb-picking and gravelly false-bass voice, with occasional use of a tenor voice.

Life[link]

Blind Willie Johnson, according to his death certificate, was born in 1897 near Brenham, Texas, United States (before the discovery of his death certificate, Temple, Texas had been suggested as his birthplace).^[1] When he was five, he told his father he wanted to be a preacher and then made himself a cigar box guitar. His mother died when he was young and his father remarried soon after her death.^[2]

Johnson was not born blind, and, although it is not known how he lost his sight, Angeline Johnson told Samuel Charters that when Willie was seven his father beat his stepmother after catching her going out with another man. The stepmother then picked up a handful of lye and threw it, not at Willie's father, but into the face of young Willie.^[2]

It is believed that Johnson married at least twice. He was married to Willie B. Harris. Her recollection of their initial meeting was recounted in the liner notes for Yazoo Records's "Praise God I'm Satisfied" album. He was later alleged to have been married to a woman named Angeline. Johnson was also said to be married to a sister of blues artist, L.C. Robinson.^{[citation needed]} No marriage certificates have yet been discovered.^{[citation needed]} As Angeline Johnson often sang and performed with him,^{[citation needed]} the first person to attempt to research his biography, Samuel Charters, made the mistake of assuming it was Angeline who had sung on several of Johnson's records.^[1] However, later research showed that it was Willie B. Harris.^[1]

Johnson remained poor until the end of his life, preaching and singing in the streets of several Texas cities including Beaumont, Texas. A city directory shows that in 1945, a Rev. W.J. Johnson, undoubtedly Blind Willie, operated the House of Prayer at 1440 Forrest Street, Beaumont, Texas.^[1] This is the same address listed on Johnson's death certificate. In 1945, his home burned to the ground. With nowhere else to go, Johnson lived in the burned ruins of his home, sleeping on a wet bed in the August/September Texas heat. He lived like this until he contracted malarial fever and died on September 18, 1945. (The death certificate reports the cause of death as malarial fever, with syphilis and blindness as contributing factors.)^[1] In a later interview, his wife, Angeline said she tried to take him to a hospital but they refused to admit him because he was blind, while other sources report that his refusal was due to being black. And although there is some question as to where his exact grave location is, Blanchette Cemetery (which is the cemetery listed on the death certificate but location previously unknown) was officially located by two researchers in 2009. In 2010, those same researchers erected a monument to Johnson in the cemetery, but his exact gravesite remains unknown.^[3]

Musical career[link]

	"Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning" The traditional blues song recorded in 1928 by Blind Willie Johnson and his first wife
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His father would often leave him on street corners to sing for money. Tradition has it that he was arrested for nearly starting a riot at a New Orleans courthouse with a powerful rendition of "If I Had My Way I'd Tear The Building Down", a song about Samson and Delilah. According to Samuel Charters, however, he was simply arrested while singing for tips in front of a Custom House, by a police officer who misconstrued the title lyric and mistook it for incitement.^[2] Timothy Beal argued that the officer did not, in fact, misconstrue the meaning of the song, but that "the ancient story suddenly sounded dangerously contemporary" to him.^[4]

Johnson made 30 commercial recording studio record sides in five separate sessions for Columbia Records from 1927–1930. On some of these recordings Johnson uses a fast rhythmic picking style, while on others he plays slide guitar. According to a reputed one-time acquaintance, Blind Willie McTell (1898–1959), Johnson played with a brass ring, although other sources cite him using a knife. However, in enlargement, the only known photograph of Johnson seems to show that there is an actual bottleneck on the little finger of his left hand.^[5] While his other fingers are apparently fretting the strings, his little finger is extended straight—which also suggests there is a slide on it as well.

Some of Johnson's most famous recordings include "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed" (later covered as "In My Time of Dying" on later recordings), "It's Nobody's Fault but Mine", his rendition of the gospel song "Let Your Light Shine On Me", as well as "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground", where he sang in wordless hum and moans about the crucifixion of Jesus. This song was a "moaning" piece related to the Bentonia school of blues practiced by such "eerie voiced" artists as Skip James and Robert Johnson. On 14 of his recordings he is accompanied by Willie B Harris, or an as-yet-unidentified female singer. This group of recordings included "Church I'm Fully Saved Today", "John the Revelator", "You'll Need Somebody on Your Bond", "Soul of a Man", and "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning".

Legacy[link]

Johnson's records have become influential, and his songs have been covered by several popular artists, including Led Zeppelin. Other artists who have covered Johnson include Bob Dylan, The 77s, Beck, The Blasters, Phil Keaggy and The White Stripes (who have covered "John the Revelator", as well as covering "Motherless Children Have A Hard Time" and "Lord, I Just Can't Keep From Cryin'" live). Billy Childish has covered "John the Revelator" with his band The Buff Medways, and it was a staple of their live performances. "John the Revelator" was also recorded by delta blues musician Son House, and "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning" was recorded by another delta blues musician, Fred McDowell. Eric Clapton did "Motherless Children", Bob Dylan turned Johnson's "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed" into "In My Time of Dying" on his 1962 debut album and "If I Had My Way I'd Tear The Building Down" has been appropriated by the Grateful Dead and the Staple Singers.

"If I Had My Way I'd Tear The Building Down" was recorded by Peter, Paul, and Mary; retitled as "Samson and Delilah". The song was frequently performed by the Grateful Dead and appears on their studio album Terrapin Station; Gary Davis also recorded a version; and Bruce Springsteen has performed a version of the song live with the Seeger Sessions Band. In the opening scene of the second season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Shirley Manson sang a version of this song. "Nobody's Fault But Mine" has also been covered by Mason Jennings, Nina Simone, and was modified by Led Zeppelin. Nick Cave has performed "John the Revelator" live, and based his song "City of Refuge," from his band the Bad Seeds' 1988 album, Tender Prey, on Johnson's song of the same title. Many of Johnson's songs were recorded in the late 1980s by gospel blues musicians Glenn Kaiser and Darrell Mansfield, on their album Trimmed & Burnin'.

In 1991, Bruce Cockburn covered "Soul of a Man" on his album Nothing But A Burning Light, the title of which is a line from the same song. In 1994 Ben Harper added a short cover excerpt of "By and By I'm Going To See The King" as a hidden track on his debut album Welcome to the Cruel World. "Trouble Soon be Over" was covered by Colin Linden on the album Easin' Back to Tennessee. "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" was covered by Ry Cooder on his debut album and in 2003 Deep Sea Records issued a Johnson tribute album called Dark Was the Night, featuring artists such as Martin Simpson, Gary Lucas, Mary Margaret O'Hara and Jody Stecher. Dark was the Night was also included on the Voyager Golden Record, copies of which were mounted on both of the Voyager spacecraft which have since left the solar system.^[6] This event was mentioned, along with a clip of the song, on The West Wing episode The Warfare of Genghis Khan.

Segments of several performances by Blind Willie Johnson are used as interludes on the 2010 album We Walk This Road by Robert Randolph and the Family Band.

See also[link]

• The Ladykillers Soundtrack

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Charters, Samuel (1959). The Country Blues. United Kingdom: Jazz Book Club.  — Some facts in the book are at variance with those given in this article and may represent an earlier stage of research
• D. N. Blakey (August 2007). Revelation Blind Willie Johnson the Biography.. LULU PR. ISBN 978-1-4303-2899-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=bA7yGgAACAAJ. Retrieved 30 August 2011. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Blind Willie Johnson

• MP3 Audio Files of Songs by Blind Willie Johnson on the Internet Archive