Casey Bill Weldon

[frank64f]

Hello Michael,
I'm still new here so I may be wrong, but I wonder why Casey Bill never seems to get any attention these days.

I am new to slide playing, but have been listening to it for many years, and have always thought he was one of the smoothest, most 'musical' of the older slide players. He had a really distinctive sound, with great control.

I wonder if you know what guitars he used, and in what tunings?

thanks

Frank

[Michael Messer]

Hi Frank,

You struck gold!!!!!

Casey Bill Weldon is one of my A-list slide guitarists and I believe a very important figure in the history of both Chicago blues and slide guitar playing.

Why history chooses to ignore him has always confused me. I think it is because most researchers and historians are not musicians, they are academics and are not looking for the same things as we are. I know some of the blues historians personally and as much as they love the music, they do see it differently to us musicians. From there, most people follow what is told to them, rather than research and form their own opinions. Rumour has it that Casey Bill played in open G and everyone accepts that.

In the early history of Chicago blues I consider Casey Bill to be as important and influential as the better known slide guitarist & singer, Tampa Red. Not only for his stunning and original slide guitar playing, but also his wonderful rockin' sh*t kicking blues band. I believe that as slide players and of how slide guitar fits into a band situation, that Elmore James, Robert Nighthawk, and to a lesser extent Muddy Waters, owe a great deal to Casey Bill Weldon.

As a guitarist I have studied his playing for three decades and over that time I have gathered a good understanding of his techniques & mindset when playing.

As far as I can tell Casey Bill recorded with single cone National guitars. There was more than one instrument, but whether they were steel bodied Triolian & Duolian Nationals, or brass bodied Style O instruments is hard to identify and not particularly important. What is important to me is how he played. As far as I can tell Casey Bill only played lap-style (Hawaiian), but that cannot be proved. His tunings vary, but sit in three tuning groups. When I talk about his tunings, I am more interested in the intervals between the strings rather than the actual keys.

Casey Bill Weldon played in the following tunings, but because of his innovative and unique approach which was influenced by Hawaiian guitarists and country Dobro guitarists, are not always in the key of the tuning. (remember that Bashful Brother Oswald & Jim & Bob were in Chicago playing at that time)

This is quite complicated....but you did ask!

Low G >DGDGBD
High G >GBDGBD
Low F >CFCFAC
High F >FACFAC
C like D but lower >CGCEGC (DADF#AD)

Casey Bill plays a lot of his tunes using the 7th fret as his 'home fret'. So for example he would tune the guitar to FACFAC and play in the key of C off the 7th fret. This gave him the top string 'C' to play open and up the scale...frets...0, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12... It also gave him lots of frets below his home fret to work with.

Sometimes in the key of C he would tune the guitar to C like D but lower...CFCEGC...and play off the 12th fret like Elmore James made so famous.

Then there is a whole other area where he plays jazzy pop runs in the tunings mentioned above. How much he actually knew about jazz progressions I cannot tell, but his ear for melody & soloing over those progressions is wonderful.

I gotta stop or I will end up writing the Casey Bill Weldon story!!!!

I hope that helps to open up a few areas for you?

Shine On
Michael.

[Gerry C]

Thanks for that, Michael - great stuff! I'm ashamed to say I only have a few tracks of CBW on compilations. Can you recommend a decent album of his best stuff or should I just search the net (ie Document Records!)?

Been trying to get a hold on You Might As Well Let Her Go for ages - going to have to try again now!

Cheerily

Gerry C

[Michael Messer]

Catfish Records - Guitar Swing. Is a great compilation. Or if you are a completist...The complete Document Records set.

Although historians claim this, I have never been convinced that Will Weldon & Casey Bill Weldon are the same person. There is nothing about 'Hitch Me To YOur Buggy' that connects with numbers like 'The Big Boat' and 'Back Door Blues'...as examples. To me these are two different musicians. I see no connection at all.

Also there is nothing about the one and only photo of Casey Bill that convinces me that I am looking at the man who made all those great records.

I had a few conversations with Brother Oswald, but because he was such a giant of country music & Dobro playing, our conversations never went beyond that into his life in Chicago working as musician and who he knew and played with. I am convinced that Brother Oswald, Bob Pauole, Ralph Kolsiana and Casey Bill Weldon were aware of each others' playing and influenced each other. They were all in Chicago at the same time and all played Hawaiian Steel Guitar. The problem with so many historians and musicians is that they are partisan and do not want to look outside of a particular box for other influences. It is only logical that as Casey Bill was playing his blues and jazz slide guitar in the Hawaiian style, that he was aware of and a fan of Hawaiian Steel Guitar.

If you look at some of the session musician credits on Casey Bill's records, such as Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy, Black Bob, Charlie McCoy, Washboard Sam...etc, it's no wonder those records just jump out of the speakers at you. Imagine cutting a record with those boys holding down the rhythm! Talk about a supergroup.

Shine On
Michael.

[Bill Stig]

Hi Michael,
It's funny that you should mention FACFAC tuning. The last couple of days I've been transcribing "Hawaiian Capers" by King Bennie Nawahi and had come to the conclusion that he is playing in that tuning. I had not come across this tuning before and had previously been under the assumption that the tunings mostly used around that time were either A or E. Where others using this tuning or do you think that Bill Weldon and King Bennie's paths may have crossed?
I'll have to check out Bill Weldon, I've not heard of him before.
Bill

[frank64f]

Hi Michael,
well I certainly did strike GOLD!!!!!

Thank you very much for your most interesting and informative reply, it was all I hoped for and more! It has certainly given me a new impetus.

I was thinking of starting out with Lady Doctor, I love that easy going feel to that song. His sound and style suit it perfectly. (I hope you are not going to tell me it's not Casey Bill !!!)

I agree with you about Hitch Me To Your Buggy, the voice and phrasing are different on the vocal, and I don't hear his guitar anywhere. Reminds me of somebody, can't think who at the moment.

Thanks again

Frank

[Michael Messer]

Hi Bill,

I think the confusion starts when people think of tunings as actual keys, rather than the intervals of the tuning. FACFAC is just GBDGBD or AC#EAC#E but lower.

I think the Hawaiian players of the 20s and 30s used many variations of these tunings. These days everyone thinks of G tuning as the key of G, but I think those guys thought of it as a type of tuning. Quite a lot of early Hawaiian steel is in F, so it is quite possible that they were tuning to FACFAC.

The key to finding out is to listen for the open strings. This is what I did with Casey Bill. When I found that he was playing in the key of C typical open G licks, but that there was an open C string on the top, it had to be in a tuning that has C on the top and still gives you open G licks. Therefore FACFAC at the 7th fret is exactly that. It only took me 30 years, BUT I FOUND IT!!!!!!

Nobody else that I have ever talked to about Casey Bill's playing has ever mentioned or realized what he was doing. There are one or two well known National players that occasionally play Casey Bill's songs, but they treat his music as comedy and have only ever scratched the surface of understanding his playing style. There is nothing funny to me about his music!

I do not think Casey Bill & King Benny would have met, but who knows. I am sure that Casey Bill Weldon was listening to all these guys and King Benny with his hot jazzy playing on a single cone National is not a million miles from Casey Bill's playing. Imagine that, Casey Bill & King Benny Nawahi having a chat. That is like John Lennon & Johnny Cash!

On this subject, but with another artist; I have found that Blind Willie McTell was doing stuff in G tuning, but right down to the key of E. So same intervals, but the actual key is E. It is an easy route to think....open tuning....key of E....must be EBEG#BE, but not so...it is the G tuning down to E.

Smith Casey's East Texas Rag is in the key of B, but the tuning is like EBEG#BE down to B.

The old names for these tunings were I am sure popularized for this very reason; Hawaiian - meaning G type tuning, and Vastapol - meaning D type tuning. Much easier to say 'I am in Hawaiian tuning in the key of F'.

A very interesting subject.

Shine On
Michael

[colinbrooks]

There is a very poor photo of a person who may be Casey Bill on vol. 2 of his Document cds. He appears to be playing an electric lap steel on a stand. You can see it at the foot of this discography.

www.wirz.de/music/weldofrm.htm

The discographer assumes that the Memphis Jug Band Will Weldon (and ex Mr Memphis Minnie) is our man.

I'm sure that Casey Bill was aware of King Benny because his 'Guitar Swing' has licks that come straight from His Highness.

Guess I'll Drag out the Casey Bill LPs and the Style O Hawaiian Tonight!

Aloha, Colin Brooks

[Michael Messer]

Hi Frank,

Lady Doctor Blues was the first Casey Bill tune that I learnt to play. I had the Yazoo 'Bottleneck Trendsetters' album - eight tracks of Casey Bill & eight tracks of Kokomo Arnold. Lady Doctor, The Big Boat, Back Door Blues, Go Ahead Buddy, You Shouldn't Do That....what a great record! It blew my mind when I heard that. I already knew the WPA Blues from Paul Oliver's Story Of The Blues, but it was that Yazoo record that got me. Still does.

Colin - thanks for the info about that photo. I reckon that looks more like our man! The Guitar Swing stuff is very like King Benny's playing, I agree. The Lady Doctor Blues sits somewhere around Brother Oswald and Bob Pauole. Casey Bill was definitely into these peoples' music, and I think they were also into what he was doing.

Casey Bill's wonderful lap-style rhythm playing on single cone Nationals is fantastic. His rhythm section are always brilliant too, and their boom-chang, chang-boom, and chang-chang rhythms are the icing on the cake and very hard to copy.

Shine On
Michael.

[Michael Messer]

I have not seen this photo before. Does anyone know where it came from? I notice it still has a question mark next to the information, so I guess it has not been verfified yet.


Casey Bill Weldon (right?); source: front cover of Document DOCD-5218

Shine On
Michael

[dj]

The picture above is apparently from the Chicago Defender of January 4th 1941. There's been speculation that the man on the left may be "Banjo" Ikey Robinson. The picture was discussed over at Weenie Campbell a few years ago:

weeniecampbell.com/mambo/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=60&topic=2941.0

THe date of the picture is interesting, as it comes a little more than 2 years after casey Bill's final recording session, and seems to indicate that Casey Bill had not left the music business at the end of 1938, but had merely stopped recording for whatever reason.

I'm new to lap guitar, having only started about 5 months ago. I'm particularly interested in Casey Bill Weldon, so I'd like to thank everyone here, and especially Michael, for the info on Weldon's guitars and tunings. It does sound to me like Casey Bill is playing a wooden non-resonator on his second session, which produced My Stove Won't Work, his first version of Somebody Changed The Lock, Long-Eared Mule, etc. And he's switched to an electric instrument, unfortunately pretty buried in the mix, on his last session (I Believe You're Cheatin' On Me, Way Down In Louisiana, You Gotta Do Your Duty, and Midnight Blues).

For anyone interested in Casey Bill, there's some more discussion of Casey Bill at Weenie Campbell. Go to weeniecampbell.com ->Forums->Tabs and look for "Casey Bill Weldon".

Regards,

David

[Michael Messer]

Hi David,

Always good to have a talk about Casey Bill Weldon's music.

As to what guitar he played on what session; while I agree that there is more than one resophonic guitar, I do not agree that he is playing a non-resophonic guitar on those cuts. It is just my opinion, but I can hear the tone of a resophonic guitar quite clearly. There is definitely a cleaner tone, but that same guitar appears on other cuts and I am convinced it is a resophonic guitar.

I am of course interested in discussions about his tools, but what really fascinates me about Casey Bill is his wonderful playing and his creative use of slide guitar in a blues & swing band context. Apart from Hawaiian steel players, I can't think of anyone else in the blues who was approaching slide guitar in a band like a horn player. Even the mixes are approached in that way with the steel guitar up with and sometimes louder than the vocal. I am convinced that Elmore James was listening to, among others, Casey Bill's records.

Good to see this thread active again! Well done Daviid

Shine On
Michael.

[steadyrollinman]

Hi Michael,
Great thread. Can we still get Catfish, “Classic Slide Guitar Blues” album?

[ken1953clark]

Great thread. Somebody else I hadn't heard of and need to look up

"Bottleneck Guitar Trendsetters of the 1930's" is available from amazon...
www.amazon.co.uk/Bottleneck-Guitar-Trendsetters-1930s-Weldon/dp/B000000G7P

[Michael Messer]

Hi Steady Rollin Man,

Catfish Records went out of business in 2003. If you trawl the Internet you will definitely find the Catfish slide guitar compilation. There are actually two CDs, the one I was involved with was the first one with the cover drawing depicting the WC Handy Tutwiler Station story.

Shine On
Michael