BN's T: Well, over the
last 10 years or so, Boomer has worked with some of
Austin's
finest talents. Don Walser, Christine Albert, the Cornell Hurd Band;
occasionally with Chris Wall and Alvin Crow. With Don
McCalister, Boomer has
worked with Marianne Price, Floyd Domino,
and as I mentioned before, the great
Johnny Gimble. More
recently Boomer has gotten to work with Johnny while playing
with Texas singer/songwriter, Lost John Casner. Lost John is
going to do a
record this year that Boomer will be playing on
and, hopefully, will be featuring Johnny Gimble.
Boomer also
worked duet gigs with Son Geezinslaw for a number of years in the
Austin area and was called to play with Son and Sammy Alred, the
Geezinslaw
Brothers, when their regular guitarist was out sick
for a few weeks. He played
me when the Geezinsiaws opened for
Ray Price in Austin, and he played me when
they performed at
Willie Nelson's 4th of July picnic in 1996 in Luckenbach,
Texas.
G o/t W: Ah,
yes…Luckenbach, Texas, with Willie and Waylon, and the boys. That
must have been an incredible gig!
BN’s
T: Absolutely! (laughing) Waylon
wasn’t there that year but we saw
Willie and the rest of the
boys. We played between Leon Russell and Kris
Kristofferson.
14,000 people...and then the next night Boomer and Son played for
14 people at a club in Austin.
G o/t
W: You're kidding... really?
BN's T: I
kid you not!
G o/t W: So, a lot of
country music… do you get to play anything else? Any other
styles of music?
BN's T: Oh yes, definitely.
Boomer plays a lot of jazz and western swing… and he
has a
strong background in rock & roll and the blues. And out on a
gig, there's
really no telling what strange kind of things he
might play. He goes off on
tangents and chases weird ideas all
the time… whether they fall into a category
or not. Sometimes I
think he will deliberately play something so far out of the
bag
just to see if anyone is paying attention…just to see if anyone says
anything. I'm really afraid that he is going to get us fired
from a gig one of
these days...we'll see. But yes, to answer
your question, Boomer is a very
versatile guitarist… very
diverse influences… very eclectic listening habits
also
G o/t W: Yes, I can imagine.
Tell us about Boomer’s influences. Who does he
listen to? Who
are his favorite guitarists?
BN’s T: Well, first
and foremost would be the late Eldon Shamblin... longtime
guitarist with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. Eldon wore a
cowboy hat and
cowboy boots and he played jazz. A lot of
Boomer’s playing is all about just
that. "Faded Love" is one of
Boomer’s favorite tunes and Eldon’s guitar part is
almost as
essential to that song as the melody that the fiddle plays. Eldon's
guitar work is featured heavily on the Bob Wills and the Texas
Playboy's "For
the Last Time" record and on Merle Haggard's
record "My Tribute To The Best Damn
Fiddle Player". Both of
these records are in Boomer's collection, and we've
spent a lot
of hours woodshedding with them. Boomer got to meet Eldon briefly in
1995 at a Playboys reunion show. Sadly, Eldon died in the summer
0f 1998.
Some of Boomer's other influences include the king of
the three fingered guitar
players, the incomparable Django
Reinhardt, the spiritual father of the electric
guitar, Charlie
Christian, Merle Haggard's guitarist for so many years, Roy
Nichols… and of course, the legendary James Burton, who also
played with Haggard
and Elvis… and Emmylou Harris... and Ricky
Nelson, and The Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis.
Then there’s Joe Pass.
Boomer saw Joe Pass play solo at a jazz club in Austin in
the
ear1y 90's. He had, of course, been listening Joe's records for some
years
before that, and let me tell you, he's spent a lot of
practice time trying to
figure out what Joe Pass was doing.
Again, sad to say. Joe has left us… sometime
in the early '90s,
not long after he played Austin, I can't remember exactly
when.
And of course, there's
Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel… Boomer did a report on
Barney Kessel
in high school… Kenny Burrell… Wes Montgomery… he was about the
first jazz guitarist that Boomer got turned on to back when he
was playing beer
joints with Charlie Beaver. And of course the
hillbilly jazzman turned Nashville
session ace… Mr. Sugarfoot
Rag… Hank Garland. Hank played on so many great
records… "I Fall
To Pieces" by Patsy Cline, and "Little Sister" by Elvis
Presley,
just to name a few. Also, T-bone Walker, the great blues guitarist
with
the jazz touch, who's playing was such an extension of what
Charlie Christianson
had done.
Another Telecaster genius was, of course, The Colonel, Steve
Cropper, who
recorded with Otis Redding, and still plays with
Booker T and the MGs. Boomer
has seen the great Tele player from
the DC area, Bill Kirchen, play live in
Austin many times and
has always come away with new found inspiration. Stop The
Truck!
opened for Bill and his band, Too Much Fun, at a SXSW showcase a few
years ago..
G o/t W: How about
rock & roll influences?
BN's T: Chuck Berry.
More, and more, it goes back to Chuck Berry. He played some
of
the coolest stuff. What else can you say?
G o/t
W: I know that a lot of jazz guitarists will say they
listen more to
saxophone players than other guitarists. How
about Boomer? Is there a
saxophonist who holds sway over his
guitar playing?
BN's G:
Charlie Parker. Bird's playing has greatly influenced Boomer's
playing. His ability to play so wild and free and yet so
melodious… The way a
single outside note could throw a hairpin
curve into one of his tunes. So brash
and confident, yet so
intimate and confiding. Yes, Charlie Parker's music has
made a
big influence on Boomer. I should say also that Boomer digs John
Coltrane
so much that he named his son Cole. And it should then
be said that Cole really
digs Chuck
Berry.
G o/t W: Oh, that's wonderful.
Well, I wish we could go on but I know you have a
gig to go to.
How would you like to close?
BN's T: Well I
would be quite remiss if I didn't tell you that Boomer also plays
a 1972 Gibson 125 that would make a great interview for your
next installment of
Boomer's Guitars On The Web. Boomer's 125
was featured on both the AM Band's CD
and Stop The Truck's "2
Step Program" CD. He plays both of us through a late
'60's
Fender Delux Reverb with a JBL speaker.
G o/t
W: That reminds me... does Boomer use GHS "Boomers" guitar
strings?
BN ‘s T: (laughs out loud) Yes, he sure
does. He avoided them for a long lime
because of the name thing,
but a friend gave him a set about five years ago, and
he liked
them so much that he started using them. He’s trying to get a
sponsorship from the company, but it hasn't happened yet. His
string gauges are
11, 15, 18, 28, 38, and
50.
G o/t W: Well if he does get a
sponsorship from GHS, we'll certainly give them a
nice plug
here!
BN's T: Well, we're hoping for the best
with GHS, ha, ha. I guess I should
conclude now. I just want to
say, look for us in 2000. I know Boomer wants to
travel some
this year, and I’ll be right there with him at every gig. Also, of
course, look for the records… CDs… Stop The Trucks "2-Step
Program, and the AM
Band’s "Swang", ...and look for the new AM
Band CD out this spring in time for
SXSW. And, if you come to
Austin, he and I will probably be playing somewhere
around
town.
G o/t W: Boomer Norman’s
Telecaster, thank you so much for talking with us and I
hope you
have a great year.
BN’s T: Thank you...thanks
for inviting me here.
