Eldon Shamblin
Birth name Estel Eldon Shamblin
Born April 24, 1916
Clinton, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died August 5, 1998 (aged 82)
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Genres Western swing, country
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Guitar
Web: Eldon Shamblin Marie – YouTube
Joe Bonamassa – The 1954 Eldon Shamblin Fender Stratocaster …
Eldon Shamblin (April 24, 1916 – August 5, 1998) was an American guitarist and arranger, particularly important to the development of Western swing music as one of the first electric guitarists in a popular dance band. He was a member of The Strangers during the 1970s and 1980s.
Born in Clinton, Oklahoma, Shamblin taught himself how to play guitar, read music, and arrange it. He learned by studying the solos of jazz guitarist Eddie Lang. He performed in clubs in Oklahoma City, and he sang and played guitar on his own radio show. In 1934, he joined the Alabama Boys, a Western swing band, and stayed with them for three years. He established a reputation as one of the best guitarists in Oklahoma City, an honor he shared with Charlie Christian.
After leaving the Alabama Boys, he joined Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. He became the band’s musical arranger, as he had learned to read music by studying big band arrangements. His electric guitar style and musical knowledge were important to the success of Wills’ Western swing band. On “Take Me Back to Tulsa” in 1940, he invented a two-beat rhythm arrangement which became his trademark sound. His guitar featured prominently on the band’s 1946 hit “Ida Red”, which was later rewritten by Chuck Berry as “Maybellene”
Shamblin’s style incorporated a big band style similar to Freddie Green’s from the Count Basie Orchestra, much of it based on what Shamblin had learned from studying Eddie Lang. In 1941 Metronome magazine called him the most creative and inventive guitarist since Charlie Christian. They magazine acknowledged him as an emulator of Christian’s style and said he was an innovator, not an imitator. Thirty years later, a Rolling Stone writer wrote a piece praising Shamblin’s creativity and repeating Metronome magazine’s assessment. Down Beat acknowledged his contributions, calling jazz-oriented and a swing musician, though he worked in Western swing and country bands.
His acoustic, single string, lead guitar work in the 1930s resonated with the influence of Lang and Django Reinhardt, while his brief chord solos evoked the harmonies of George Van Eps. By the 1940s, his style was reminiscent of early bebop, with the occasional chord flourish added to good effect.
Bob Wills told Shamblin what to play on only two occasions. On the first, while recording “Ida Red”, he told Shamblin to put a lot of runs in his rhythm chords to keep up with the bassist. He told him to imitate Junior Barnard, who had been part of the band and had a bluesy style. Shamblin was instructed to play louder and bend strings. The result was what can now be considered proto-rockabilly.
Twin guitars
Shamblin and steel guitarist Leon McAuliffe began experimenting with what would become their Twin Guitar idiom. At a rehearsal years later, Wills heard what they were doing and asked them to work up a solo arrangement for a fiddle tune he was going to record called “Bob Wills Special”. A few days later Wills asked them to write an instrumental that would feature them as primary artists. They came up with “Twin Guitar Special”, which Wills recorded with his fiddle tune in 1940. The other song was “Twin Guitar Boogie”. Wills never recorded it, but McAuliffe did in the 1960s under the name Bouncing Bobby, a nickname for fiddler Bobby Bruce.
In December 1973, Wills made his last recording with the Playboys. Shamblin and McAuliffe played “Twin Guitar Special” but it was renamed “Twin Guitar Boogie”, with the two of them listed as composers. The twin guitar idiom inspired a generation of guitarists, including Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers Band. Betts credits Shamblin and McAuliffe for inspiring the songs “Rambling Man” and “Jessica”.
Shamblin appeared on over 300 recorded sides with Bob Wills from 1938 until 1954. He was also in a few Hollywood films with Wills, most notably Take Me Back to Oklahoma and Go West, Young Lady.
In 1983 Shamblin left The Strangers because he was tired of the touring. He returned to Tulsa and joined a late version of the Texas Playboys in 1983 led by Leon McAuliffe, who led the Original Texas Playboys band which had been reassembled in 1971 for the first occasion of Bob Wills Days in Turkey, Texas. The Original Playboys recorded several albums for Delta Records, which re-released an album that had been recorded locally called Eldon Shamblin – Guitar Genius. Shamblin recorded ‘S Wonderful: Four Giants of Swing by Joe Venuti with Jethro Burns and Curly Chalker.
Shamblin is noted for being one of the earliest adopters of the Fender Stratocaster electric guitar. A demonstration model painted gold and dated 6/4/54 was given to him by Leo Fender. Shamblin played the guitar with the Texas Playboys in what became the final Bob Wills recording session for MGM Records, later taking it on the road with Bob Wills on a month and half long tour of the great Northwest. Rock guitarist Eric Clapton called Shamblin at his home in Tulsa and offered him $10,000 for it in the early 1980s. Shamblin declined and sold the instrument to Larry Shaffer, a friend and owner of Cain’s Ballroom and Little Wing Productions.
By 1996 Shamblin was in ill health and retired from music except for rare appearances. He died in a nursing home in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, on August 5, 1998. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 with Bob Wills and a select group of Texas Playboys. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
Discography
1970 A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (or, My Salute to Bob Wills), Merle Haggard
1974 Take It Away Leon, Leon McAuliffe
1976 S’Wonderful: 4 Giants of Swing with Jethro Burns, Curly Chalker, Joe Venuti
1976 The Mac Wiseman Story, Mac Wiseman
1976 Wheelin’ & Dealin’ , Asleep at the Wheel
1978 Joe in Chicago, Joe Venuti
1979 Back to Back, Tiny Moore
1989 5:01 Blues, Merle Haggard
1993 A Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys, Asleep at the Wheel
1993 Heroes, Mark O’Connor
1994 Still Swingin’ , Asleep at the Wheel
1994 Tractors, The Tractors
1998 Farmers in a Changing World, The Tractors
2000 San Antonio Rose, Bob Wills
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Below by Ian “Scotty” Mcolloch
Eldon Shamblin was the guitarist for Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys. A phenomenal swing jazz guitarist and arranger, Eldon was invited to meet with Leon Fender. Leon, no guitarist himself, asked Eldon to try out a guitar he was about to start producing. He would need an expert opinion. Eldon took the guitar on the road for a few weeks, and contacted Leon, saying he would not be giving it back. Eldon Shamblin then play the first of the Stratocasters until he died an old man. He never ever changed to any other guitar.