"(West and Bryant) probably, in their particular bag,
were as brilliant and maybe even more so than some of the
great jazz players."
** Billy Strange, 1997 **
45 years later, guitarist Billy Strange, who worked with some
of the biggest names in rock, pop and country over those
decades, remains in awe of country pedal steel pioneer Speedy
West and country jazz guitar genius Jimmy Bryant, known in
California as the 'Flaming Guitars'. He sow their genius up
close. For three years, he played rhythm guitar on their
Capitol recordings and on Cliffie Stone's weekly 'Hometown
Jamboree' TV show. West's and Bryant's futuristic
instrumentals, recorded for Capitol from 1950 through 1956
made them two of country's most admire and innovative
musicians, even if the public knew little of them.
Bryant's dazzling technique mixed clean picking and raw
genius. Speedy could play sweetly and melodically, but
explosive flamboyance became his trademark. Today's
guitarists need high-tech electronics to get the weird sounds
these two got when low-tech was all there was.
This 112 song collection includes West and Bryant's complete
recordings for Capitol from 1950 through 1956 and both
Speedy's post - Bryant solo LPs for Capitol. But it goes
further, featuring the first known recordings each man made
as an accompanist and an entire disc sampling their rich and
varied career as Los Angeles studio musicians, accompanying
everyone from Tennessee Ernie Ford and Kay Starr to Spike
Jones, Jean Shepard, Bing Crosby and Ella Mae Morse, from
straight ahead country to big band jazz, always leaving their
own mark while making the artist sound good.
For those who've heard only a sample of these two at their
peak and want it all, here it is, with a complete discography
and a 28,000 word, newly researched biography by Rich
Kienzle.
CD-1: Jelly Beans Daddy ~ Just Remember ~ Boogie Barn
Dance ~ Gamblin' Money ~ Steel Strike ~ Bryant's Boogie ~ Red
Headed Polka ~ Railroadin' ~ Stainless Steel ~ Hub Cap Roll ~
T-Bone Rag ~ Truck Driver's Ride ~ Liberty Bell Polka ~
Crackerjack ~ Bryant's Shuffled ~ Roadside Rag ~ Yodeling
Guitar ~ Georgia Steel Guitar ~ Pickin' The Chicken ~
Midnight Ramble ~ Comin' On ~ Lover ~ Skiddle-Dee-Boo ~
Serenade To A Frog ~ Bryant's Bounce ~ Opus 1 ~ Whistle Stop
~ Speedin' West ~ Hometown Polka ~ This Ain't The Blues
CD-2: Jammin' With Jimmy ~ Two Of A Kind ~ Sunset ~
Steel Guitar Rag ~ Swingin' On The Strings ~ Old Joe Clark ~
This Is Southland ~ Arkansas Traveler ~ Blue Bonnet Rag ~
Hop, Skip And Jump ~ Country Capers ~ Low Man On A Totem Pole
~ Sleep Walker's Lullaby ~ Our Paradise ~ Cotton Pickin' ~
Bustin' Thru ~ Flippin' The Lid ~ Deep Water ~ Stratosphere
Boogie ~ West Of Samoa ~ Shuffleboard Rag ~ Steelin'
Moonlight ~ Caffeine Patrol ~ Yankee Clover ~ Pickin' Peppers
~ Chatter Box ~ Frettin' Fingers ~ Pushin' The Blues ~ Sand
Canyon Swing ~ Water Baby Blues ~ Shawnee Trot
CD-3: On The Alamo ~ Rolling Sky ~ The Night Rider ~
Hillcrest (Opus 3) ~ China Boy ~ China Boy ~ Hawaiian War
Chant ~ Song Of The Islands ~ On The Beach Of Waikiki ~ My
Tane ~ Drifting And Dreaming (Sweet Paradise) ~ My Littie
Grass Shack In Kealakekua, Hawaii ~ Sweet Hawaiian Chimes ~
Blue Hawaii ~ Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula ~ The Moon Of Manakoora
~ Ka-Lu-A ~ Luna ~ Reflections From The Moon ~ Space Man In
Orbit ~ Lazy Summer Evening ~ Double Or Nothing ~ Afternoon
Of A Swan ~ Wild And Woolly West ~ Rippling Waters ~ Totem
Pole Dance ~ Slow And Easy ~ Speedy's Special ~ Sunset At
Waikiki ~ Tulsa Twist
CD-4: Eddy Kirk: Candy Kisses Kay Starr &
Tennessee Ernie Ford: Ain't Nobody's Business But My Own ~
I'll Never Be Free Tex Williams: Wild Card Ella Mae Morse:
Okie Boogie Spike Jones: Down South ~ I've Turned A Gadabout
~ Stop Your Gamblin' ~ There's A Blue Sky Way Out Yonder Ella
Mae Morse: Okie Boogie Jean Shepard: Twice The Lovin' (In
Half The Time) ~ Crying Steel Guitar Waltz ~ Nobody Else Can
Love You Like I Do ~ Keep It A Secret Bing Crosby: Y'all Come
Spike Jones: Under The Double Eagle ~ Hot Lips ~ Hotter Than
A Pistol ~ Keystone Kapers (Bag Of Rags) ~ The Boys In The
Backroom Billy May: Whistle Stop Betty Hutton & Tennessee
Ernie Ford: This Must Be The Place