Al Marcus'
Steel Guitar Web page
page 2
The D-C Three, 1947.
We played in the Green Room of the Howe Hotel in Akron, Ohio 6 nights a week for about 6 weeks. On the last night of our contract, I brought my Gibson Electra-Harp with the enclosed birdseye cabinet, The sound was very good, reverberating in that cabinet. I played "Laura" and "Dream" as I remember as well as others, with full chords and I sure appreciated those 6 pedals.
After that we had a 6 week contract in Cleveland.
The two guys I played with at the time were just great. Julius Martze (max)Balog played Bass and played in the symphony orchestra also. I learned a lot about chord structure from him. He always had the right note at the right time. Ed DiFiore was the Accordian Player and a fine musician and a real friend. He was always upbeat and a real go-getter. He has the biggest Music store in Cleveland and gives good deals. A lot of his business is internet web connected mail order. Just punch in DiFiore's Music and you should get the website. If not email me and I will get it for you.
I had a Vega Double 8 with the tone and volume controls on the right end.
Here is where I had the tone control from bass to bright and slap the bar down, and dooowahh, just like a brass section.
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The D-C Three played quite a bit in the Akron Ohio area. This was a local entertainment magazine in Akron, September 19, 1947.
This Magazine came out once a week and we were on the cover and next week we were inside, (see next Pix). The following week Ted Weems was on the cover, playing at the Palace Theatre next door. He had a big hit with "Heartaches" at the time. He came in the Green room during his breaks . In 1942 he heard me play at the Press Club in Erie, Pa and liked my style, and wished he could hire me, but had to break up his band during the War. (I got drafted shortly after that myself) He took my name and address and put it in his wallet. Well, what do you know, In 1947, when he came in the Howe Hotel's lounge, He pulled out his wallet and showed me my old address in it. He offered me a job with his road band. I might have got more national exposure if I joined his band, but I just got married and I wanted to settle down. Besides that the Pay was about $55.00 a week and I was getting about twice that.
I found a couple of old set lists that we played around this time. We played all of the popular songs of the day.
This sheet is over 50 years old and about ready to fall apart. This was the set we played at the Howe Hotel and other places around 1947. As you can see some pretty good standards. I used a lot of chords, even non-pedal.
Here is the tuning I had on the Vega, Top neck, top down: E-D-B-G#-F#-D-B-G#
I could get a dim. min6, 7th, 9th, E maj, and I dropped the 2nd string D to C# and got my E13th. All on one neck!
Bottom neck, Straight E6, top down: E-C#-B-G#-E-C#-B-G#
I always wished I had 9 strings to put an E on the bottom of both necks. I did sometimes change the 7th to A and the 8th to F# or E. that opened up a whole new A Maj7th bottom.
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