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From Portland OR and a monster on standard or steel.
He was around the clubs in the Bay area too.
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08-26-2015 06:58 PM
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Good player, he got kind of a bright sound out of his Guild.
It's hard to find recordings that aren't cheesy tunes, but there are some out there (try Spotify)
Interesting character, self-driven.
One thing I never understood is: in his bio, that is everywhere, they talk about how he had a pianistic technique that allowed him to play simultaneous bass lines and melody - but I never found a recording that demonstrated this...?
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I've got some of his LP's I'll give a listen for that. You mention that style and it brings to mind another little known guitarist from the Tulsa area. He used to play near the airport. I want to say Bob Crooks, but that doesn't sound right to me. Bob Crooks made Standel amps. Crooks was his last name I'm pretty sure. He played in that style. I heard Chet Atkins used to fly to Tulsa see the guy play then fly home.
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Buddy Fite was an incredible guitar player. I lived on the West Coast during the period when he was actively playing in clubs. You had to see Buddy live to appreciate him. The stuff you can find on recordings, to me, doesn't even sound like Buddy Fite. It's worse than judging Wes Montgomery as a jazz guitarist by just finding a copy of the Tequila album (where's the jazz?).
Fite ended up sort of giving up on the music scene--jazz was so unprofitable that you couldn't support yourself or a family in the 70s and 80s playing jazz guitar. My understanding is that he went back to timber work.
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Buddy Fite & Friend does the best job I've heard of capturing this.
Originally Posted by tucson matt
Danny W.
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Man! That name brings back memories. My dad was super cheap, and that was the only record I remember him ever buying. I remember he had been on a trip, and came home talking about this "lumber jack with huge hands doing amazing things with the guitar" in some bar or restaurant he had stopped at. I think he even said it was like watching someone play piano.
I listened to that record a lot.
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good interview
Buddy Fite
cheers
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That's a funny interview. Another interview suggests that he enjoyed slinging some BS to see what would stick.
Entertainment & the Arts | Guitarist Buddy Fite Chose Life, Family, Music | Seattle Times Newspaper
But it is interesting to read someone talking about the deep, philosophical thoughts you sometimes have as a little kid.
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The guy you're thinking of is Tommy Crook. He's a legendary fixture on the Tulsa music scene and was once a teacher to Tuck Andress. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2007. Originally Posted by Bigsbyguy
He's also really nice guy. In 1995, my girl friend and I passed through Tulsa and I called his home to see if he was still playing at the airport hotel. His wife told me that he was playing at an Italian restaurant. We arrived at the restaurant about a half hour before closing and Told the manager that we had come for dinner and to hear Tommy play. We were seated at small bar behind which Tommy played and had a wonderful meal while Tommy sat and played and chatted with us. He was playing a Gibson Switchmaster with bass strings for the 5th and 6th strings. There some videos of him on YouTube.
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I never heard of the guy. Very interesting interview though and I'd probably buy that Mel Bay book if it was in print. Originally Posted by neatomic
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It's a shame that no recordings of BF playing live in clubs exists. Originally Posted by Greentone
I bought every one of those LPs he made in the early 70s, and loved them all.
Even though he played pop music from that time and a few standards, he managed to make effective jazz vehicles out of all of them.
I never thought I'd like a guitarist whose sound was so treble sounding and country oriented, but he's always been one of my fave jazz guitarists. I still play some of his ideas I copied from him every time I play jazz.
He said that he started using finger picks, because he used to drop all of his flat picks when he was drunk!
He claimed to be a member of the Hell's Angels, until they put a contract on him for testifying against one of the members in a murder case. He said he went into hiding for a few years until it was safe again.
Who knows if any of that was true...
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Well, in one of the interviews he talks about starting out with finger picks on the steel guitar, when he was like 8.
...I suppose he could have been drunk at the time.
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anyone know which chapter of Hells Angels Buddy allegedly belonged? thank you
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I grew up in Camas, WA. When I was 15 years old I use to go over to Buddy's apt in Washougal WA and he would let me sit and listen to him rehearse to minus one reel to reel tapes to get ready to record his albums. He would go over to Rip Chord studios in Portland OR and record his guitar parts and send them back to Robert Mersy his producer from Bell Records. Reason he would do this is he was afraid to fly. A 350 pound ex Hells Angel! I would always ask Buddy to show me some stuff. He would say to me "Dave...you'll figure it out. Now let's go race my car at the Black Forest!" And that's what we'd do...
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It's very true. His jeep had a bomb under it and his wife and kid got killed. Buddy was never the same after that.
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You know why his style was country oriented? Because when Buddy lived in Tacoma, WA...he was a peddle steel player. That's how he developed his unique picking style with finger picks on all four's.
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My Dad would take me to a club in Lake Oswego OR called the Beach Comber. I was about 15 so I had to sit in the dining room but I could see and hear him. It was him and a drummer and they made more music than some 5 piece bands I ever heard.
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When did that happen? Was this because he testified against the HA's? Originally Posted by DaveRave
Did Buddy ever make any jazz recordings with just a rhythm section?
I have all the stuff he made on Cyclone, which was great, but the solos were usually one chorus.
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I saw Buddy play several times at the Beachcomber in Lake Oswego 1973-1974 in a trio with Bob James (not the more well-known one) on keys. Buddy had a great mix of jazz and country influences in his playing. Of the recordings I've heard none of them really capture how talented he really was. He was playing a Fender LTD archtop at the Beachcomber.
The last time I heard Buddy play was probably 1986 in a club in Portland. He was still sounding good on a Super 400 with a Bigsby.
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Here's a complete Fite record from 1975.
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Buddy Fite was a really good friend of my Dad's, and I knew him when I was a little girl. Yes, he had the technique of playing the bass line and melody at the same time...I didn't get how special that was when he'd play for us. He led a very interesting, tragic, and colorful life, and always treated us kids with kindness and respect. The last time I saw him, in the late '70's, I was pretty much grown up and was struck by how much smaller he seemed...lol. He was a great and talented man.
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It is true about him going into hiding...he was, I believe, the leader of the Camas Washington Hell's Angels. There was also some smuggling going on involving airplanes, and other "interesting" activities.
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Actually, that's not true about the bomb in his Jeep. His wife and daughter were killed when they were driving on a steep, windy road and the brakes went out...she lost control and I think it rolled off a cliff. He used to come to our house and work on it with my Dad, who raced Jeeps at the time...I think they met over the CB radio...they were great lifelong friends.
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The guys that told me about Buddy were players from the Bay Area. Michael Allen provided me with several LP's. I heard Buddy played steel and guitar in Oakland and around there. Do you know of him being there?
There were so many monsters in that style. Tommy Crook,(thanks Monk) I had a cassette of him until my car was stolen and I lost it! There was another guy around OKC, Joe Settlemires, and Leon Chambers in Dallas. So many great players that passed thru.
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+1 for Buddy.....
Have at least one of his vinyl LP's from way back when....
Grew up mostly in Portland, so, once I got into jazz in my teens, I learned of him, but never heard him play live unfortunately.
Definitely a unique character and a great picker....
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