Linda Ronstadt vividly recalled the transformative moment she first encountered Buddy Emmons’s playing. As a budding musician in Tucson, Arizona, the sound emanating from a jukebox in a local country club stopped her in her tracks. It was “Night Life.” “I went, ‘What is that?’” she recounted, immediately captivated by the song’s unique sonic landscape. Her date, a pedal steel player, simply stated, “Oh, that’s Buddy Emmons. He’s the best one.” Ronstadt’s deep dive into Emmons’s music began that night, a testament to the profound impact of a true Guitar Icon.
Ray Price, already a leading voice in honky-tonk music by 1963, was poised to release Night Life, an album that would solidify his status and further showcase the groundbreaking talent of Buddy Emmons. This landmark record, considered one of country music’s earliest concept albums, weaved a poignant narrative of life on the road – a tapestry of lonely nights, barrooms, fleeting connections, and heartfelt sorrow. The centerpiece, Willie Nelson’s six-minute title track “Night Life,” became the perfect canvas for Price’s emotionally resonant vocals and Emmons’s haunting, nuanced pedal steel guitar. The Night Life album, featuring another Nelson-Emmons collaboration, “Are You Sure,” soared to #1 on the Billboard country charts, cementing its place as a honky-tonk masterpiece and further elevating Emmons as a guitar icon.
The distinctive arrangement of “Night Life” emerged organically during a Texas tour. With a Nashville recording session looming, Price wanted the band to develop the song’s arrangement live, testing it on dancehall audiences. Price’s signature shuffle rhythm and walking bassline were ill-suited to the song’s bluesy, melancholic mood. Emmons, drawing from his deep musical knowledge, proposed a set of jazz-influenced turnaround chords. “Neither would have fit the slow bluesy feel of ‘Night Life,’ so I came up with a set of chords used in jazz; turnaround chords were typically used at the end of a verse to set the song up for the second verse,” Emmons explained.
Emmons’s inspiration extended to Lionel Hampton’s 1954 tune “Midnight Sun,” which featured unusual jazz turnaround chords preceding the second verse. “I’d never heard them on the intro of a song, so I chose them for the ‘Night Life’ intro,” Emmons revealed. This bold move, deviating from Ray Price’s established sound, was a hallmark of Emmons’s innovative spirit. “It was nothing like Ray had ever done before, but neither was the song ‘Night Life,’ so I thought I’d have a little fun with it. I figured what the heck; it would be only four chords we’d have to change. Meanwhile I was using raised 9ths and augmented 11th chords in my fills, knowing they could be eliminated when it came time to record.” This willingness to experiment and push boundaries is a defining characteristic of a true guitar icon.
During the recording session rehearsal, the jazz-infused intro initially startled even seasoned musicians. Hargus “Pig” Robbins, a legendary session pianist and Country Music Hall of Famer, confessed to being “scared to death” upon first hearing it. “They started playing all those big jazz chords in the intro and I was thinking, ‘What am I going to play against all that?’” Robbins admitted. However, Emmons’s musical vision proved infectious. “Once I got into it I just played some honky-tonk blues: it started feeling natural to me to play, like in a nightclub. I’m a three-chord hillbilly man; it was as close to honky-tonk jazz as I could get.” Robbins’s eventual embrace of the arrangement underscores Emmons’s ability to bridge musical worlds and inspire creativity in others.
For the session, Buddy Emmons utilized his signature Sho-Bud steel guitar and Grady Martin’s tremolo amplifier to achieve a specific sonic texture. “He wanted to use that sound,” Emmons recalled, describing how Martin manually manipulated the tremolo effect as Emmons played the chorus. “He just stood by the amp and regulated the speed.” This detail highlights Emmons’s meticulous approach to sound and his collaborative spirit in achieving his artistic goals.
The unconventional arrangement of “Night Life” defied country music norms, yet producer Don Law embraced it wholeheartedly. Emmons recounted his surprise at Law’s immediate approval: “When we finished, I waited for producer Don Law to say, ‘It was good but we should change some of the chords.’ Instead he pushed the talkback button and said, ‘We like it; let’s do it.’ I almost fell off my chair. We had just broken every rule on a country music recording session.” This anecdote emphasizes the groundbreaking nature of Emmons’s contribution and the forward-thinking attitude that allowed his innovative ideas to flourish.
Ray Price himself immediately recognized the brilliance of Emmons’s intro. “It helped make the song,” Price stated. “Buddy was never a drawback; he was right there with me. Whenever he plays, we look at each other and we smile because we both are enjoying what we’re doing.” This mutual admiration and musical synergy fueled their creative partnership. Emmons often spoke of Price’s vocal prowess as a catalyst for his own playing. “Ray’s heart and soul was so much in tune with mine on sessions, it brought about a quality in my playing that otherwise would never have surfaced,” Emmons reflected. “We had a silent rapport with each other. The better he sang, the better I played; the better I played, the better he sang.” This symbiotic relationship between Price and Emmons further underscores Emmons’s role as a guitar icon, whose playing elevated the music of those around him.
The album also featured “Are You Sure,” a song born from a chance encounter in a Nashville bar. Buddy Emmons and Willie Nelson were engaged in “shop talk” when an unwelcome bar patron squeezed into their booth, repeatedly nudging Emmons. The exchange, culminating in Emmons asking, “Are you about where you want to be?… Are you sure?” sparked an idea in Nelson’s mind. “Willie looked at me and said, ‘That’s a good title,’ or something like that, and I asked what he meant. He said, ‘Are You Sure, that’s a good song title.’ Then he followed with, ‘I’ll write it and give you half.’” This story reveals the serendipitous nature of songwriting and Emmons’s unassuming role in its creation. Despite initially being uncredited, Willie Nelson ensured Emmons received his due co-writing credit, a testament to their friendship and Nelson’s integrity.
Dale Thomas, a steel guitarist and singer, experienced Buddy Emmons’s brilliance firsthand in a more intimate setting. Visiting Emmons in his Holiday Inn room after a Ray Price concert in 1963, Thomas was surprised to find Emmons with a leg cast. Despite his injury, Emmons, propped up in bed with his steel guitar, began to play. “He laid his steel guitar across his lap, propped himself up with a couple of pillows, and we started,” Thomas recalled. Playing his C6 neck without pedals, Emmons delivered a performance that left Thomas in awe. “I have never heard anyone play with more creativity and cleanliness than he did that day, laying there with his foot in a cast.”
Fortunately, Thomas had the foresight to record this impromptu session, capturing a rare glimpse of Buddy Emmons in his prime, just before the release of his groundbreaking Steel Guitar Jazz album. This recording, now preserved at the Country Music Hall of Fame, offers further evidence of Emmons’s exceptional talent and enduring legacy as a guitar icon. Listeners can experience this remarkable recording here: https://digi.countrymusichalloffame.org … o/id/9093/
Buddy Emmons’s contributions to Ray Price’s “Night Life” album extend far beyond simply playing the steel guitar. His innovative arrangements, jazz-infused harmonies, and unparalleled musicianship shaped the album’s distinctive sound and cemented its place in country music history. More than just a sideman, Buddy Emmons was a driving creative force, a true guitar icon whose influence continues to resonate with musicians and music lovers alike.
