ROOTS of Country Music

Steel Guitar Players

A-Z Partial Listing 

1. Billy Robinson
2. Bob White
3. Bobby Black
4. Bobby Garrett
5. Bobby Koefer
6. Bud Isaacs
7. Buddy Charleton
8. Buddy Emmons
9. Curly Chalker
10. Don Helms
11. Don Warden
12. Doug Jernigan
13. Hal Rugg
14. Herb Remington
15. Harold (Shot) Jackson
16. Jaydee Maness
17. Jerry Byrd
18. Jimmy Day
19. John Hughey
20. Johnny Sibert
21. Leon McAuliffe
22. Little Roy Wiggins
23. Lloyd Green
24. Noel Boggs
25. Norm Hamlet
26. Paul Franklin
27. PeeWee Whitewing
28. Pete Drake
29. Ralph Mooney
30. Ron Elliott
31. Speedy West
32. Tom Brumley
33. Tom Morrell
34. Weldon Myrick

Steel Guitar Hall of Fame

Founded in 1978, the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in St. Louis includes over sixty inductees, five of whom are from Indiana.  Three of them, Herb Remington, Buddy Emmons and Sneaky Pete Kleinow are from the South Bend area,while Bud Isaacs hails from Bedford and Johnny Sibert from Indianapolis.

The following are Inductees of the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame:

• Billy Robinson (1996)
• Bob White (1990)
• Bobby Black (2004)
• Bobby Garrett (1995)
• Bobby Koefer (2004)
• Bud Isaacs (1984)
• Buddy Charleton (1993)
• Buddy Emmons (1981)
• Curly Chalker (1985)
• Don Helms (1984)
• Don Warden (2008)
• Doug Jernigan (1994)
• Hal Rugg (1989)
• Herb Remington (1979)
• Harold (Shot) Jackson (1986)
• Jaydee Maness (2003)
• Jerry Byrd (1978)
• Jimmy Day (1982)
• John Hughey (1996)
• Johnny Sibert (1998)
• Leon McAuliffe (1978)
• Little Roy Wiggins (1985)
• Lloyd Green (1988)
• Noel Boggs (1981)
• Norm Hamlet (2008)
• Paul Franklin (2000)
• PeeWee Whitewing (2002)
• Pete Drake (1987)
• Ralph Mooney (1983)
• Ron Elliott (2009)
• Speedy West (1980)
• Tom Brumley (1992)
• Tom Morrell (2001)
• Weldon Myrick (1997)

-Steel Players Brief Biography

Curly Chalker

Johnny Sibert

(b. Indianapolis, Indiana, Nov.  24, 1933)

The steel guitar playing of Johnny Sibert figured prominently in the success Carl Smith’s band, the Tunesmiths, whose popularity peeked in the mid to late 1950s. 

In addition to his two-decade stretch with the Tunesmiths, Sibert was also sideman to Lefty Frizzell, Little Jimmy Dickens, Kitty Wells, Gene Autry, the Everly Brothers, and Johnny Bond. 

A pioneering steel guitarist of the 1950s and 1960s, Sibert was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1998.

Herb Remington

(b. Mishawaka, Jul. 9, 1926)

After starting on the piano at age five, Herb Remington switched to guitar and eventually the pedal steel guitar during his years at South Bend’s Riley High School.  While still in South Bend, he studied the steel guitar at the Honolulu Conservatory of Music and played with a local group called the Honolulu Serenaders. 

Following graduation in 1944, Remington went to California (CA) to play in Hawaiian groups but ended up playing in western swing bands instead.  After a brief stint in the military, he returned to Los Angeles, CA and from 1946 to 1950 played with Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, the premiere Western swing band. 

During his tenure with Mr. Wills, Remington wrote his own featured selctions such as Boot Heel Drag, while also recordings his own singles with Decca Records. 

Remington's next major engagement was with Hank Penny, with whom he wrote and recorded his signature tune Remington Steel. 

In the 1950s, Remington moved to Texas and played with such greats as George Jones and Merle Haggard.  Since 1972, he has also recorded and performed enxtensivley with the River Road Boys, a Western swing band. 

Currently, Remington leads his own Texas-based swing band called Playboys II.  Since 1978, he has been a builder and retailer of his own design of steel and pedal steel guitars. 

Herb Remington was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1979.

Researched, compiled and written by Richard Bell, Roots of Country Music, Jan. 11, 2012.