Noel Boggs

Noel Edwin Boggs (1917–1974) was an American musician who was a virtuoso on the lap steel guitar.[1] He was one of the pioneers in electric steel guitar who helped popularize the instrument beyond its native Hawaiian music into other genres of American popular music, specifically Western Swing.[2] Boggs played and recorded with almost every major artist in the genre[3] including Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys (1944-1945)[4] and Spade Cooley's Dance Band.[1] Bob Wills' band helped define the guitar's role in western swing; he discovered and coached innovative guitarists who deeply influenced country, rock and jazz music.[4] Boggs appeared on some 2000 recordings as a soloist[5] and his playing was prominent on several of Wills’ hits that became Western swing standards, including "Roly Poly", "Texas Playboy Rag" and "Stay a Little Longer".[2]

Noel Edwin Boggs
Boggs with Fender Stringmaster c. 1955
Background information
Born(1917-11-14)November 14, 1917
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.
DiedAugust 31, 1974(1974-08-31) (aged 56)
Granada Hills, California
GenresWestern Swing
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsLap Steel Guitar
Years active1936–1970
Associated actsBob Wills, Spade Cooley, Jimmy Wakely

Early life

Born in Oklahoma City in 1917, Boggs began playing steel guitar in his youth and in 1935 was performing on three local radio stations while still in high school.[2] At that time, the electric pickup to amplify a guitar had just been invented (1934).[lower-alpha 1] Boggs began playing on a Rickenbacker lap steel, the first electrified string instrument of any type.[1] Just a month before high school graduation, he was invited to join Hank Penny's Radio Cowboys in 1937 for a southeastern U.S. tour.[2] At that time, the electric lap steel guitar was a new musical device and Western swing became a vehicle for trying new things with the instrument.[1] It was used to create horn-like punches and provide single-note solos, and to join fiddles and traditional guitars in three-part harmony.[1] After the Rickenbacker, Boggs played an Epiphone double-neck steel guitar.[4] He was one of the first steel players to switch between guitar necks in mid-solo[1] in order to get different chord voicings.[4]

Career

Boggs performed with Jimmy Wakely during the late 1930s.[7] He befriended guitar manufacturer Leo Fender in 1946[1] and became the owner the first product of Fender's new musical instrument company, a lap steel guitar (bearing the cursive "big F" Fender logo).[5] Musician Billy Strange said, "Speedy [West], Noel Boggs, Jimmy Bryant, and I—the four of us would go out there [to the Fender factory] and just play around as much as we could and help them with design, and tell them the things that we wanted to see put on the instrument."[8] Boggs' instrument of choice became the Fender Stringmaster for most of his career.[4] Boggs also befriended jazz guitarist Charlie Christian whose solos Boggs transcribed to create arrangements for three guitars on songs such as "Flying Home" or "Good Enough to Keep".[1]

In the early years of steel guitar, the instrument was limited to basic chords: major, minor, an occasional sixth chord.[9] The only way to get more chords and voicings was to add additional necks to the instrument, each tuned differently.[9] In 1949, Fender created at triple-neck console steel for Boggs requiring a metal frame with legs to hold it.[2] Next was Fender's quadruple neck model, delivered to Boggs on July 1, 1953,[10] known as "Boggs' Quad".[2] The concept of adding more necks had to stop somewhere, and that point was in the early 1950s with the invention of the pedal steel guitar . The pedals allowed playing more complex and versatile music than was possible on lap steel,[11] According to music writer Rich Kienzle, Boggs' refusal to switch to pedal steel hindered his latter career.[4] After leaving Spade Cooley's band 1954, Boggs formed his own quintet, playing throughout California and Nevada as well as on USO tours.[5] By the late 1960s, bad health slowed Boggs activity.[2]

Boggs died August 31, 1974 (age 56) after suffering a massive stroke and heart attack.[2]

Notes
  1. Patent applied for June 2, 1934 and granted August 10, 1937.[6]

References
  1. Ross, Michael (February 17, 2015). "Pedal to the Metal: A Short History of the Pedal Steel Guitar". Premier Guitar Magazine. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  2. Meeker, Ward (November 1, 2014). "Boggs' Quad". Vintage Guitar Magazine. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  3. Coffee, Kevin (2012). The Encyclopedia of Country Music : the ultimate guide to the music (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 43. ISBN 9780195395631. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  4. Kienzle, Rich (March 1, 2006). "Bob's Playboy Pickers". vintageguitar.com. Vintage Guitar Magazine. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  5. "Noel Boggs: Dean of the Steel Guitar". people.well.com. The Well Group. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  6. "First-ever electric guitar patent awarded to the Electro String Corporation". history.com. A&E Television Networks. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  7. Bush, John. "Noel Boggs/ Biography". allmusic.com. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  8. Kienzle, Richard (2003). Southwest shuffle : pioneers of honky tonk, Western swing, and country jazz (ebook ed.). New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415941020.
  9. Brenner, Patrick. "Early History of the Steel Guitar". steelguitaramerica.com. Patrick Brenner. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  10. "Four Necks , One Head and Two Hands: Noel Boggs is Expert On Four-Way Steel Guitar" (Vol.82, No.83). Reno, Nevada: Reno Evening Gazette–Journal. July 3, 1958. p. 8. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  11. Miller, Tim Sterner (2017). "9. This Machine Plays Country Music: Invention, Innovation, and the Pedal Steel Guitar". In Stimeling, Travis D. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Country Music. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190248178.
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