This letter is one of many letters written detailing the development of the pedal guitar, and the birth of the Emmons Guitar. It also includes standardization of the tuning and copedent, as well as historical commentary.
The letters were written from Ron Lashely Sr. to Mr. Paul J. Graupp, the editor for "Pushin Pedals", the pedal guitar section of Fretts magazine, which was published by Fender Sales.
Scroll down for the complete transcription of this letter. The spelling and grammar shown below is exaclty how it was written by Ron Lashley Sr.
TRANSCRIPTION
Hello Paul,
I sent a letter to you today but forgot to put an airmail stamp on it so you will probably receive this one first. Gi Gi sent the facts today which you requested for the article. I will copy it.
Ronnie:
Buddy asked me to type the following facts to be incorporated in the article for Country Song Round-Up.
The first guitar Buddie played was a single neck Supro, using the E major tuning.
He was born in Mishawaka, Indiana, January 27, 1937, but was raised in nearby South Bend.
Buddie was the first to have the split pedal. His first prominent pedal work outside of that which he did for Jimmy Dickens was with Faron Young on the hit record SWEET DREAMS. This was followed with another by Faron - - EVERYTIME I’M KISSING YOU - - and several sessions to follow. He has recorded with (besides almost every major artist in the Country Field and many, many lesser C&W artist) such predominately Pop Artist as Anita Bryant, Bobby Vinton, Dwayne Eddy, and Brenda Lee.
He worked first with Casey Clark, Detroit, Mich. in 1954, joined the band of Little Jimmy Dickens on the 4th of July 1955, worked with Carl Smith in 1955, Ernest Tubb from 1957 to 1962 and is currently with Ray Price & the Cherokee Cowboys whom he joined in 1962. The first record he recorded with Price was YOU TOOK HER OFF MY HANDS b/w WALK ME TO THE DOOR.
At present he is gaining much acclaim across the country for his fine rendition of the blues on Ray Price’s album NIGHT LIFE.
He introduced into Nashville the 10 string tuning with a high F# & Eb above the regular E-9th tuning.
A highlight in his career was, of course, recording his current album, STEEL GUITAR JAZZ, with a group of outstanding jazz musicians in New York City. He used the C-6th tuning throughout the entire album.
Although not generally recognized, Buddie was also the originator of the “talking Steel” now being heard throughout both the Pop and Country field.
I’ll close for now. What happened to Fretts?
Your friend,
Ron
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