Monday 12 April 2010

Steel Guitars and Hurtin' Songs

I fell in love with the sound of a steel guitar the very first time I ever heard one on the classic 1960s Canadian TV show, Don Messer's Jubilee. I was probably about five. Ever since, I cannot get enough of that instrument's sweet sobbing sound.

And where is the use of steel guitars most prominent? Country hurtin' songs. You simply can't have a good hurtin' song without that distinctive sound. Case closed.

Steel guitars made me a major fan of country hurtin' songs and their plaintive, lonesome expressions of emotional pain and suffering. I don't find these songs depressing at all. Hey, we've all been there at one time or another.

In upcoming posts, I'll feature a few of my all-time favourite hurtin' songs.

11 comments:

brandi said...

~l♥♥♥ve the sweet sound of a steel guitar...my oldest started playing an electric guitar 3 years ago and just bought an accoustic electric guitar...i am hoping one day this one will want to learn to play a steel guitar...it would be simply divine! i hope you are feeling better with each day that passes...so nice to have you back! well wishes and blessings always~

yellowdoggranny said...

one of my favorite country songs isn't a country song, but it is when sung by slim whitman..check out youtube..I remember you by slim whitman..oh man..

mxtodis123 said...

I've loved the sounds of the steel guitar ever since I first heard one. I also love country and western songs, love the sound. I lived in Murfesboro, Tennessee for awhile, and that was all you could here. I was in 7th heaven.
Mary

Anonymous said...

Those songs are some of the best!

Judith said...

My brother-in-law produced that show and then moved on to Sing Along Jubilee.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Wow, Judith, he had his hand in the creation of real Canadiana!

Beatnheart said...

Yeah your back!! Yippee thata girl..

Blueberry said...

Love that steel.

Sara said...

I'm a fan of the steel guitar as well. Such sweet melancholy.

Suzie said...

The sound of a steel guitar sends little zings and twinges down my spine in a good way. I think that it is about the closest you can get to being "inside" the actual music, not just listening to it, but a part of it.

Emme Toaye said...

I love anything with a steel guitar and I love Vince Gill. Right now I am tearful because in an effort to free some much needed computer space I accidentally deleted the file that gives the computer it's sound. Good news is my husband is not going to divorce me over it.