Dell Staton - Unsung, Early, Lefty, Electric Jazz Pioneer

[Krinky]

I have owned an old ES-150 for a while that had belonged to my father. I posted about it in the Guitar, Amps and Gizmos forum. (Pictures!) I got curious about the name "Dell Staton" that was on the truss rod cover and did a little research. Of particular interest is that he was a lefty who played a standard stringed guitar rotated to the left, like Hendrix.

Here are some of his recordings.

DELL'S GIT'R BOOGIE : THE THREE STEPS : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

CARAVAN : THE THREE STEPS : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Live At My Place Miami Beach, Fla. : Dell Staton : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Here are some liner notes about Del.

Live At My Place Miami Beach, Fla. (archive.org)

I am curious. Are there any comparable lefties?

[Ol' Fret]

Nice! Fortunately, Del Staton is not completely unsung - in Germany:

In Memoriam: Dell Staton – Guild of American Luthiers

WDR 3 Jazz · Del Staton - Live At My Place Miami Beach, Florida · Podcast in der ARD Audiothek


It seems to me that the guitar maker brought up in the links above, where Del Staton was accomodated around 1945, had been Anton Mettal (1898 - 1954) in Schönbach, Bohemia.
Anton specialized in the making of Spanish guitars and was regarded, together with his brother Franz, as one of the best guitar makers, not only of his generation. According to the book mentioned below 'their guitars were destined for professional players, expensive and completely unavailable on the general market.'

Anton Mettal was also a virtuoso guitar player, and he made a couple of very fine archtop guitars as well:
Bohemian Jazz Guitars Tribute – book preview by Halda - Issuu (scroll to pages 24 - 25)

[Krinky]

I had a link to that German podcast but didn't think to post it here. Forgot it's the WORLDWIDE web!

It seems that often Germans take American pop culture more seriously than Americans.

(Is it a sin to call Jazz "pop culture" here?)

[Ol' Fret]

I had a link to that German podcast but didn't think to post it here. Forgot it's the WORLDWIDE web!

It seems that often Germans take American pop culture more seriously than Americans.

(Is it a sin to call Jazz "pop culture" here?)

Well, for my part I don't care much about the WORLDWIDE web, but I'm extremely interested in joining the dots - worldwide, if necessary.
Here it's nothing earth-shattering, just about one influence explaining why Del Staton liked to play classical guitar as well during his lifetime. That's not so common for a professional jazz musician, though this forum proves that the reverse could be true. One of my jazz guitar teachers did it too, but he sometimes complained that one had to practice so much to perform classical music ...

It's probably correct to claim that after WWII American expat Jazz musicians were generally more welcome and appreciated than in their homeland, not only in Germany. Also, it could well be that such itinerant laborers between cultures had to be a bit more open-minded, resp. had a less centrist worldview than is often the case today.

As a side note: the story about Del Staton in Bohemia also explains why the Mettal guitar making family decided to stay in the Soviet-controlled CSSR, at a time when about 96 percent of the German-speaking inhabitants and musical instrument makers in Schönbach were expelled by act of Czech law. But that's another story.


Jazz is still a (tiny) part of popular culture. I agree on Jazz simply being "music" (Charles Mingus and other Jazz greats). Once it was a subculture, an art form in its own right. What a pleasure!

Artworks
are phenomenal,
historically ineffective,
practically without consequences.
This is their greatness.

[Davewwhorton]

I took lessons from Dell in the early 70s until I joined the Air Force. When I’d come home for leave I’d visit his gigs. He told me all sorts of music related war stories, including how he met Mr. Mettal near the end of the war. I’d love to be in touch with any of his remaining family members to share these stories.

Dave Whorton, originally from Hollywood Florida

[Ricmolina]

Hi Dave,

I doubt we met but I lived across the street from Del in the late 70's and at his behest I too joined the Air Force in 1977. Del's son Del Jr. had joined and he said it would be a good idea. Anyway, I studied classical with Del before and after the AF. I spent many days in the everglades fishing with him and some notable musicians like Flip Phillips and Red Rodney. I didnt know i was in the presence of players who played with Bird at the time and i kick myself for not picking their brains.
You probably met his daughter Jill who also played guitar. She an I were sweethearts when we were 16 and I still keep in touch with her.

The magnitude of Del's influence both personally and to those who had the good fortune to study or just hear him play is immesurable.

His protoge, Rick Whitehead lives in Virginia and is still active.

All the best,

Ric Molina

[Davewwhorton]

Ric,

Thank you for your reply. I don’t think we met, though I visited Dell’s house most Sundays for a lesson in the early 70s. I remember his son and daughter but never hung out with them. I live near Dayton Ohio and take lessons with a teacher from Cincinnati. The Cincinnati music institute where Dell went to school is now part of a university.

When I decided to join the AF Dell shared some WWII music and war related stories. I’d love to share these memories, maybe ones already heard, and remember Dell. If you or Dell’s daughter or son are interested, please let me know. Please feel free to share this and my contact info with them. [email protected] or (937) 546-6170

Best regards,

Dave

[Davewwhorton]

Krinky,

Do you still have that ES-150?

Dave






QUOTE=Krinky;1310574]I have owned an old ES-150 for a while that had belonged to my father. I posted about it in the Guitar, Amps and Gizmos forum. (Pictures!) I got curious about the name "Dell Staton" that was on the truss rod cover and did a little research. Of particular interest is that he was a lefty who played a standard stringed guitar rotated to the left, like Hendrix.

Here are some of his recordings.

DELL'S GIT'R BOOGIE : THE THREE STEPS : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

CARAVAN : THE THREE STEPS : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Live At My Place Miami Beach, Fla. : Dell Staton : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Here are some liner notes about Del.

Live At My Place Miami Beach, Fla. (archive.org)

I am curious. Are there any comparable lefties?[/QUOTE]

[davidzstaton]

Hey all on this thread.

I'm the grandson of Dell Staton Sr. and one of the sons of Dell Staton Jr.
I happened to find this forum in a search on my grandfather & I wanted to know if this forum thread was still active. If so, please reach out to me in whatever way possible. I'd like to get as much info on my grandfather as possible. If anyone here would like to reach out to my dad as well, I'm pretty sure he would not mind speaking with anyone. Especially to reminisce. Just let me know.

I've been doing years of research on him. I've come across 4 of his albums, some old pictures, and old newspaper articles. I even found the recording (audio only) of him playing live on the Arthur Godfrey show... the performance where it was the Dell Staton Trio, & I believe they won the talent show that night. I cannot find any recording of him playing on the Ed Sullivan show, though. CBS denied my requests to have old episodes sent to me for research. I'm in pursuit of finding someone in the Gibson community who knows where I might find old Gibson models. I've looked into the Gibson Garage in Nashville, but it's all newer guitars... no museum.

[Davewwhorton]

David,

I was a student of Dell in the 1970s and would love to share the music stories he shared with me, especially the WWII stories he shared when he learned I was being stationed in England.

Please contact me at [email protected] or (937) 546-6170.

Regards Dave