British guitarist reacts to Alvino Rey and the HISTORY of Guitars TALKING!

Tonight I'm taking a look at Alvino Rey, and a brief history of talking guitars!
Original video - • Video
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[@horaceheidtsr]

From 1932 to 1938 Alvino Rey was a member of Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights. He drew attention to himself and the band when he started playing pedal steel guitar. The Gibson corporation asked him to develop a pickup for the guitar. In 1937, he married Luise King of the King Sisters. The King Sisters also sang with the Musical Knights during these years.

[@bobwallace9814]

Now here's something you don't see everyday. Alvino Rey and his talking guitar was a regular guest on the Ed Sullivan Show. I was really young and saw this guy doing that at least once a month. Now, the Spooky Voice singing with the orchestra. That voice was used by every 60's radio station in between records. The Who copied it on their Who Sell Out album. I never knew how they did it until now. Now I know the rest of the story.

[@wingsofpegasus]

Cool!

[@theawakeningheard410]

Man, this was amazing. Thank you Fil. You bring so much joy and positive energy. I really appreciate your dedication and discipline. Rock on.

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks!

[@spookyben]

I first saw him in the mid-60s on the old King Family TV show - I used to tune in just to see if he was on. He was married to Luise King and was uncle to Tina Cole (Katie on My Three Sons). His playing was always a treat. Thanks for doing Alvino!

[@wingsofpegasus]

No problem!

[@tilldeathdouspart1160]

For 10-12 mins when you post- i get to excape to another world- Thank you for sharing your world- ROCK

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍☺

[@johnnycashmiller288]

Great job of bringing back lost artist of the past phil.

[@gregormiller4037]

Agree, the more somewhat recent music I send him, the further back he goes LOL :)

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍☺

[@mariorabottini5687]

This is just brilliant Fil! It’s sensational to go back through the archives and show us some of the pioneers of different styles of musicians and their unique inventions which still exist today in one form or another! Really enjoyed this Fil!! Cheers Mario!😀😀👌👌

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks Mario!

[@musicom67]

So I've just watched a younger gen Brit dude bop to his newly-discovered Alvino Rey. Yup, Mr. Rey was not only an amazing guitarist in all forms his electronics background and hobby (before Les Paul) - he eseentially 'invented' the amplified guitar in 1930 at NBC in San Francisco - to only make it heard in the orchestra. Alvino was also a 'ham radio' operator - to get that license takes electrical knowledge - which created an entire industry - as he was a spokesman for Gibson.

[@triffidgrower]

None of the arts is as rich in history as music. You put it all into context perfectly. Feel free to dig back anytime. Great video.

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍

[@aryensessoltani7398]

The group Daft Punck used talk Box.

[@pcno2832]

Both of these effects were used extensively in radio jingles when I was a kid, especially the PAMS jingles, produced in Dallas, TX, and customized for stations all over the USA and for some of the pirate stations broadcasting to the UK (eg. "Wonderful Radio London"). Frampton mentioned that the sound reminded him of Radio Luxembourg , though I don't know where their jingles originated.

[@deweylaseptum7611]

Outstanding job breaking this down , as with all the videos I see you do. So cool that you are digging deep and wide and not just going after the low-hanging fruit. It's a big, deep world out there, and you are doing a stellar job of broadening our view! Big thumbs, mate, and I look forward to more!

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks!

[@gregmardon6973]

Really love the history and evolution, it would be great if you could do this more often!

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍😁

[@stevetrivago]

😂😂✊🏼 Always love your introduction! Helloooo Fil here.. my dad and brother have your same name.. My dad answers the phone like that now..

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍😂😂😂

[@katherinea.rodgers8366]

How great is this? Thank you for appreciating the old timers!

[@wingsofpegasus]

No problem!

[@bekind6763]

Last! This one was kind of funny, because you added the spooky analysis & I like history, so thanks for the history lesson.

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍☺

[@amandacastelo6]

Its really very spooky! O.O But I love the analysis, cool story! Awesome video like always Fil 🤘😁❤️

[@wingsofpegasus]

Obigaaaadoo Linda!

[@Gtigerclaw]

I remember that effect from when I was a kid. Backing in the 1950s, the used it for radio and TV commercials.

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍

[@lastone783]

Love the variety of topics you cover. Keep surprising us!

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍☺

[@jeffbeckfreak54]

That is so cool! The first time I ever heard it was in Iron Butterfly with Mike Pinera who played with Rhino the other guitar player.

[@drewpall2598]

Your analysis are like music appreciation classes! more power to You Fil. You definitely done your homework on this one. the drummer is keeping up the beat to Alvino Rey, playing! another great analysis Fil.

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks Drew!

[@fnmag6809]

God bless you fil what a wonderful time capsule getting to watch alvino Rey I remember as a Wee child watching him and amazed at how he played thank you so much for bringing that back

[@wingsofpegasus]

No problem!

[@stargazer1460]

Love to see such great innovators of old. So many great musicians who have been forgotten or not given their due credit.👍😎

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍

[@TaraLyz]

Awesome technic! Instant smile start to finish with this video!

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍

[@BOOMNERD51]

Over on Patreon, I raved about this video,and how efficiently you cover lots of technical history, and it's always fun!

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks Marcia!

[@74dartman13]

Cool video Fil. I always learn something new from you! Thanks!👍😎🎸🎶

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍😁

[@499PUCK]

The King had a TV show back in the day. Alvino was a regular on the show. I recall him from that show.

[@ipsurvivor]

I recommend this to you... But you already did this... Man, you are ahead of the curve!

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍😁

[@jazzcat8786]

I love how he gets those harmonics on the pedal steel..... 🤟🏻. Some people who lose their voice to cancer use the same kind device against their throats to communicate..

[@wingsofpegasus]

Yeah! There's some cool playing in there!

[@pcno2832]

Yes, I remember that sound from the anti-smoking PSAs they ran back in the 1990s.

[@shagrabs]

Amazing classic video, incredible!!

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍☺

[@rhwinner]

Fun Fact: Rey is the grandfather of two members of the group, Arcade Fire.

[@wingsofpegasus]

Nice!

[@c.b.-11]

Rockinghorse Winner thanks. I'll check them out.

[@ronnie5129]

FIL, THANKS FOR THE SPECTACULAR VIDEO, THIS GUY IS AWESOME, COUSIN FIGEL

[@seanmiller7889]

Long overdue but just became a patron of Wings of Pegasus! Fil is the best!

[@loripond1839]

@Sean Miller....welcome to Fil-mania!!...✌❤🤘🎸

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks Sean! See you over there!

[@loripond1839]

Fil I was laughing at your reaction thorough this "horror show" part...😂😂.... I love that you used different videos and went further back and explained the history of the "talk box" that was really cool!...✌❤🤘

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍☺

[@mlhesler68]

This brings back memories of Alveno. My dad loved his playing.

[@wingsofpegasus]

☺

[@likhound]

Enjoyed very much , a good history on the talk box .

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍☺

[@futuredirected]

I was frightened by the talkbox the first time I heard one (possibly on the Jimmy Dean Show in the 1960s). I never got over it, apparently.

[@wingsofpegasus]

😂

[@kevinsands6769]

Thanks Fil. I enjoy your videos. Please do Junior Brown. He uses a unique and homemade guitar.

[@wingsofpegasus]

He's here somewhere!

[@kevinsands6769]

@@wingsofpegasus I found it Fil, thanks. Loved it.

[@TK-fk4po]

Love the volume swells.

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍

[@TraderJack641]

Cool video as usual, Fil! This kind of reminds me of how Roy Buchanan made his own wah wah effect just by using the controls on his guitar. Also, I like how you put it "the head is like just a massive resonance cavity". :)

[@wingsofpegasus]

😂👍

[@youminholastransit3218]

He married a king sister as well

[@atlanticity]

Hola🌴love Alvinos drummer giving the brushes an enthusiastic workout. Loved the video 👍

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks!

[@Deliquescentinsight]

Some mad skills from the guys, cocktail hour at The Algonquin Hotel - you can imagine an audience of urbane, sophisticated New Yorkers smiling wryly at the Hawaiin tones, maybe Les Paul and Mary would be the following act?

[@wingsofpegasus]

Possibly!

[@andrewpuckett5295]

Fil enjoyed this so much he forgot to stop the video to comment on it until it was over! Lol

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍

[@kathleenstewart409]

Very, very interesting. Great post and thank you for the history! Not sleeping tonight after that talking guitar creature though lol

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍😂

[@Johnnycdrums]

"Bachelor Pad Royale" ("Night Train" cut, and for the wicked sick horn section specifically, as those boys were nuttin' it), is what brought me here. Lol, four years late. Knew not of Alvino Ray until about now, better late than never, I suppose.

[@sonnymaupin9267]

Well done, I enjoyed this

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍☺

[@ursafan40]

Thanks for the history lesson.

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍☺

[@pcno2832]

5:19 I remember a sound like that from one of the characters they met along the way in The Wizard of Oz. Maybe not the Munchkins, but maybe some singing flowers or mermaids or something else that would have been expected to have a high voice.

[@mistergrandpasbakery9941]

Almost forgot about this but the best instrument talker was Lonnie Glosson from Searcy, Arkansas. He was on Hee Haw when I was a kid.

[@wingsofpegasus]

Cool!

[@reedhryals7007]

Super sweet love that sound

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍

[@raserx63]

Check The Meters song “ Funkify your Life”. Lots of talkbox & very funky..

[@carbine090909]

Music is all about acoustics at it's core. Amazing engineering and technique. Glad you mentioned his wife; I was thinking, this guy HAS to be married, otherwise, he'd just be a misunderstood crank making weird sounds in a rented shed. Add the support and validation of a wife, and you have yourself a musical genius. Thanks for the analysis!

[@loripond1839]

LMAO!!... "misunderstood crank making weird sounds in a rented shed!!!".....classic Renee...😂😂😂

[@melissamorris8046]

@@loripond1839 lol

[@carbine090909]

@@loripond1839 kzbin.info/www/bejne/nV6XXpqCoatjq9k :-)

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍☺

[@scottsmith3273]

Scarier? The talking guitar puppet, or the size of the guy’s hat at 7:15?

[@wingsofpegasus]

😂

[@39thala]

That is so cool!

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍

[@vansmith2349]

Holy crap! Fil, you did not adequately prepare me for the talking guitar.

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍😂

[@jonathanmoran8932]

That was amazing. Winner winner chicken dinner on this one Fil! Nice, thank you for another new cat we need to know. Check out Kal David plays the hell out his firebird, saw him do George Harrison’s wmggw on a tele, killed it. 🤟

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks!

[@Guardducks]

Nice History lesson Fil .👍

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍☺

[@39thala]

Actually its kind of nice you switched it up a little. Throwing in those old videos from the 40's. Adds a little additional interest and variety now and then..

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks!

[@charlesjames888]

Alvino was from Cleveland, Ohio. He married one of the King Sisters. When Joe Walsh was a freshman at Kent State University, he played by himself at a bar called "JBs". He found a later version of the throat box you call the "Sonovox". Later there was a thing called the "Vocoder" which only required a rubber tube in your mouth. There isa complicated story about patents but years later Walsh was sued for every song he recorded with the "Vocoder". I do not know what the outcome was.

[@aumphp]

ty great history lesson

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks!

[@lornereeves3160]

Nice, great video.

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍☺

[@jondriggs]

Hey! That's my great uncle! super cool!

[@ipsurvivor]

I don’t currently imbibe but this is spliff worthy.

[@RodBolt]

At 6:46, spooky is right. That kinda stuff is creepy. Ventriloquist puppets have always bothered me too. 🤘😳

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍😅

[@melissamorris8046]

If you plug the microphone in a ampeg guitar you get an interesting sound going. Let me rephrase this you plug the microphone in ampeg guitar amp and turn on the tremolo to get in depth about it.

[@melissamorris8046]

Example... Crimson and Clover

[@loripond1839]

@@melissamorris8046 ... cool I did not know that... when I think about how freaky strange the beginning of that song is... I did not know what effect that was... thank you Melissa

[@melissamorris8046]

Yes, That was how Tommy James developed that echo sound.

[@melissamorris8046]

Also, there is a long version of that song and if you ever get a chance look it up.

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍

[@vmat1000]

Nice history lesson here, Fil. Work well done!! man, i have some pos image of Weird Al saying 'Make it talk' while playing an accordian,,,,,,i'll stop here...

[@wingsofpegasus]

😂

[@TheLordHighXcutioner]

Banjo suggestions- Raymond Fairchild- Whoa Mule (bluegrass) Stringbean- Cripple Creek

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks!

[@daydreambeliever6603]

Very cool!

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍

[@eheavensone]

Good piece.

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍☺

[@stephenmichalski2643]

Rather iconic in a way ain't it ? This stuff is so over the top classic it begs reverence.Did you actually kinda apologize for this type of vid?Definitely no need for that. And yeah...the way he was working the volume knob in sync with his playing was......well I found it pretty fascinating.While this obviously isn't us rockers type of music......it belongs in a hall of fame somewhere.......this stuff is priceless.Another awesome vid.Great job.

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks Stephen!

[@drewpall2598]

The camera shot on Vicente Gomez, on this performance capture His great fingering on the acoustic guitar . the year is 1949/50 not sure? enjoy Fil, kzbin.info/www/bejne/en24qXt7f5mehq8

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks!

[@rustyjames4962]

47 was his first talking steel thing with st louis blues n stringy

[@markparee99]

Along with featuring examples of talk boxes, you might want to think about giving the good old 'ebow' a little love....I'm sure you could find a good example...

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks! Yeah I have mentioned the ebow in another vid but I can't remember which!

[@markparee99]

@@wingsofpegasus LOL, I probably heard it, but didn't remember...

[@PozerAdultRacingTeam]

Awesome

[@waynejones3428]

That was a cool vid!📣

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍☺

[@victoriateague9012]

Well that was creepy😱 This hurts my ears😨This is going to give me nightmares😕

[@sbardellajulio3114]

🤘🤘🤘great video 🤘🤘🤘 music history just great 👍🎸 cheeerss

[@wingsofpegasus]

😁🤘

[@mistergrandpasbakery9941]

While we're on the B&W videos, let's do an analysis of Liberace performing Beer Barrel Polka. OMG, best performance ever. Also do some Chico Marx videos!

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks!

[@drzarkov39]

Have you done, or will you do, a segment on Joscho Stephan?

[@wingsofpegasus]

Can do!

[@gregormiller4037]

Hope you do some sort of Jeff Healey tribute, I know its been 10+ years, would love to hear it from you.

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks! I have a few on Jeff!

[@gregormiller4037]

@@wingsofpegasus Roger that, i'll peruse you library:)

[@Primus-ue4th]

Killed it

[@wingsofpegasus]

☺

[@stevetrivago]

Damn.. missed ya

[@TheJabernet]

Cool!

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍

[@shinysidedown9090]

Take a look at Albert Collins doing "Conversation With Collins" (talking Telecaster). Also Gatemouth Brown Singing "I Hate These Doggone Blues"

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks!

[@bradyspears2723]

.. IS THAT A , WAWA PEDAL ..?? ON THE SIDE .. LOVE THE BATMAN SHIRT , BRO ...!!!! ..

[@wingsofpegasus]

The sound is being made by shaping the mouth not using a wah ☺

[@jaype331]

You should do a video on Tony Rices live version of John Hardy or any song.

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks!

[@jaype331]

He's the Jimmy Page of bluegrass. Check out his studio version of Lonesome Ruben

[@FunkyMarcel]

Rey was married to one of The King Sisters,,,ps, nice job on the vid info,,

[@melissamorris8046]

2 am in England. Fil must not sleep much.

[@loripond1839]

Me thinks Fil is like the Energizer Bunny!!...only cuter!!...😘

[@melissamorris8046]

@@loripond1839 mmmmmm Means he keeps on going.

[@melissamorris8046]

That is what they say about the Energizer Bunny.

[@loripond1839]

@@melissamorris8046 .... mmmmm one can only imagine

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍😅

[@timothypugh2429]

Fil, have you checked out Greg Lake’s guitar style? Anna

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks!

[@vmat1000]

I know you like 'live' sources but Peter Green vids need a look,,,Got A Mind To Give Up Living with FM has slayed me for a few years. LIVE PERFORMANCE RECORDED with an overlay. i 'm in,, not the Fillmore, sadly

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks!

[@PozerAdultRacingTeam]

It is talking!

[@majorpayne8373]

Sounds like C6 tuning. And he's playing it in the old style without using any pedals.

[@alvinvaz]

Same name, different time!

[@TheLordHighXcutioner]

Ahead of their time. Sounds like Soundwave from the Transformers cartoon.

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍😂

[@ecarteringram]

Do you think Jeff Beck got a few ideas from Alvino?

[@wingsofpegasus]

Probably!

[@jtdrake]

Is the sonavox a precursor to what Joe Walsh and Peter Framption use.

[@jtdrake]

Oh, I do see you did mention Framtion and the later history of this technique.. Very cool. Got a bit ahead of myself there.

[@wingsofpegasus]

Yeah that's right! ☺

[@PozerAdultRacingTeam]

Pretty good so far

[@wingsofpegasus]

👍

[@carty43]

Fil: Have not seen you react to Mike Campbell, and this live video (pro shot) is a great look at him going to town on "Running Down A Dream." A link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h6eXXqBjmK6NnJY

[@wingsofpegasus]

Thanks!

[@timwhitlock3500]

Phil YOU ARE DEAD WRONG! Rey did NOT use the sonovox on the Lawrence Welk performance. The singing tone on this clip was achieved entirely with his guitar's tone control (not the volume control). Yes he often used the sonovox in those earlier clips. Sorry to say your knowledge of this era of steel guitar is lacking. The other information about the sonovox in the other clips is fairly accurate.

[@wingsofpegasus]

Yeah that makes sense with the amount he uses the tone control!