Curly Chalker
| Curly Chalker | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Harold Lee Chalker |
| Born | October 22, 1931 |
| Origin | Enterprise, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | April 30, 1998 (aged 66) |
| Genres | country, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | musician, session musician |
| Instruments | pedal steel guitar |
| Associated acts | Lefty Frizzell, Porter Wagoner, Red Foley, Joe Venuti, Roy Clark |
Harold Lee Chalker (October 22, 1931 – April 30, 1998), better known as Curly Chalker, was an American country and jazz musician and pioneering pedal steel guitarist.
Born in Enterprise, Alabama, Chalker began playing the lap steel guitar while still in his teens and made his professional debut in the nightclubs of Cincinnati, Ohio.
In the 1950s, Chalker was touring Texas with Lefty Frizzell, replacing C.B. White, and played on the Frizell cuts, "Always Late (With Your Kisses)" and "Mom and Dad's Waltz" (both in 1951). Chalker played dobro on these recordings. Chalker then joined Hank Thompson's Brazos Valley Boys, and was featured on the 1952 cuts, "Cryin' in the Deep Blue Sea" and "The Wild Side of Life".
After two years in the US armed forces, Chalker joined the Springfield, Missouri-based Ozark Jubilee ABC Radio and TV series for several years, backing Red Foley and Porter Wagoner. During this time Chalker switched from the lap steel to the pedal steel guitar.
In 1959, he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where he played behind fiddler Wade Ray, and later joined the band of the long-time Golden Nugget fixture Hank Penny. Roy Clark (of Hee Haw fame) also played with Penny and the two became friends. Chalker relocated to Nashville in 1965, and became successful as a session musician.
In 1966, he made an instrumental album for Columbia Records entitled Big Hits on Big Steel. This record was produced by fellow steel guitarist Pete Drake. The follow-up release was More Ways to Play released in 1975. In 1976 he released an album consisting exclusively of Gordon Lightfoot covers, entitled Nashville Sundown.
...
Wikipedia