Ol' Possum

[elreydlp]

Who'd a' thunk it?
Something tells me the Baritone part wasn't really played on that Ric.
Super El Rey bonus points to anyone who can name the bass player and identify the manufacturer of his instrument (no fair going to youtube).

[jfine]

Cool clip! You're probably right about the baritone thing--it was probably a Dano or a Fender Bass VI on the recording. I don't know who the bass player is, but his bass is a '60's Teisco. That model also turns up with the St. George brand, and was also available as a 6-string bass. I played in the house band at George's Possum Holler club in late '78--quite a while after that clip, which looks to be '60's vintage, and George's road bass player in '78 was Ernie Ryle. Our bass player at the Holler was Jerry Dee, and the guy in the clip doesn't look like either of those guys. Is it possibly a young Willie Nelson? I know that Willie played bass with Ray Price at one point, and if the Ricky guitar was farrly new when that clip was done, it would put it in the right (early '60's) time period.

[wmthor]

I don't know who the bass player is, but his bass is a '60's Teisco.

A very young Johnny Paycheck.
From 1962-66, Paycheck was the front man and bass player for George Jones' band, the Jones Boys.

[elreydlp]

Johnny Paycheck-you got it! And that is a Teisco bass. Word is that Johnny was tossed out of Faron Youngs band because Faron didn't want to play with anyone crazier than him.

[elreydlp]

Here's some info supplied by producer Mark Neill, my expert in things Ric:
The guitar player is Jerry Starr who was with Jones for many years and did in fact play that Ric on records and in concert. The solo on "Love Bug" however was played on Jerry's Fender Bass VI and he is pantomiming. His other Fenders included a Jaguar and a Jazzmaster as well as a Guild Starfire.
According to Mark, the Ric is featured in a hot solo on the song "Root Beer" which I haven't been able to locate.

[elreydlp]

Here's "Root Beer" with Jerry Starr playing lead on his Ric. Sorry, no video!

[jfine]

Wow--so that's Paycheck! He came in the Holler several times and sat in with us, and one time he wanted to play bass! That guy was one of the most soulful singers that country ever produced, and Jones was another one.
I've never heard that song, "Root Beer", either--so how many songs did George record that sounded like "White Lightnin'"? That's three--"White Lightnin'", "Who Shot Sam", and "Root Beer". In those days, if you had a big hit, you had to clone it...