- #HARMONY ROY SMECK GUITAR IDENTIFICATION FOR FREE#
- #HARMONY ROY SMECK GUITAR IDENTIFICATION MOVIE#
- #HARMONY ROY SMECK GUITAR IDENTIFICATION TV#
Here is a photo of my friends other two instruments a tenor guitar and a uke, made by Regal and Harmony of the exact same wood. Harmony made instruments for many other companies under brand names Valencia, Johnny Marvin, Vogue, Airline, Fender, Kay and Silvertone.
![harmony roy smeck guitar identification harmony roy smeck guitar identification](https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--0xNLFyov--/a_exif,c_limit,e_unsharp_mask:80,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_south,h_620,q_90,w_620/v1471632012/xkelczjru4bbpiuevtox.jpg)
This rare curly Cuban mahogany shows up in many instruments in that 1934-35 period made by Regal and mostly Harmony who I am told jumped on it first and purchased a ton of this wood from Regal. who had a side-line business importing woods from all over the world and selling it mostly to musical instrument companies, but also to some high-end furniture manufacturers. Smeck died in 1994 at the age of 94 in New York City.Ziz - as noted above, the wood used in the 1934 Smecks was a curly mahogany from Cuba.
![harmony roy smeck guitar identification harmony roy smeck guitar identification](https://guitars.azureedge.net/aza/user/gear/1959-harmony-roy-smeck-FwDE1jT.jpg)
In the 1970s, the reissue label Yazoo released several of Smeck's virtuoso recordings from his early days.Ī documentary by Alan Edelstein and Peter Friedman about Smeck and his career, Wizard of the Strings (1985), was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Short Documentary, and won an award at the Student Academy Awards. In addition to working solo, Smeck also played on sessions by country greats Vernon Dalhart and Carson Robinson and formed his own band in the 1930s, the Vita Trio. Many are on 78rpm records, and a good number can be found on LPs. He made over 500 recordings for Edison, Victor, Columbia, Decca, Crown, RCA and others.
#HARMONY ROY SMECK GUITAR IDENTIFICATION TV#
He appeared on TV with Ed Sullivan, Steve Allen, and Jack Paar. Smeck played at FDR's presidential inaugural ball in 1933 George VI's coronation review in 1937 and toured and played in Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Japan, Iceland, Greenland, Alaska, Canada, Puerto Rico, Korea and, of course, Hawaii. The "Pastimes" piece made him an instant celebrity and was the beginning of six decades of accomplishments on the banjo, guitar, steel guitar and uke.Īmong many notable appearances, one particularly unique performance with with Russ Columbo in That Goes Double (1933), which featured Smeck on a screen divided into four parts, playing steel guitar, tenor banjo, ukulele, and six-string guitar simultaneously. The first nationally promoted Vitaphone talking picture was "Don Juan," starring John Barrymore, and the production was accompanied by other short entertaining video pieces including one entitled "His Pastimes" featuring Smeck.
![harmony roy smeck guitar identification harmony roy smeck guitar identification](https://www.pickerssupply.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/DSC_0755.jpg)
The Vitaphone was a projector/sound machine that synchronized a moving image with an audio disc record at 33 1/3 speed and played from the innermost groove to the outside edge. In 1926 he appeared in one of the first sound films ever made by Warner Brothers/Vitaphone.
![harmony roy smeck guitar identification harmony roy smeck guitar identification](https://www.frettedamericana.com/sites/default/files/02169_front.jpg)
#HARMONY ROY SMECK GUITAR IDENTIFICATION FOR FREE#
He was a tireless performer who played nearly everywhere and would appear in local music shops along the way for free demonstrations on his Vita-Uke.Ĭheck from Thomas Edison's Recording Division He wrote instruction/method books by the dozens for all these instruments and arranged countless tunes for the ukulele. In the late 1920s, Harmony Company issued a Vita-Uke and several other ukulele, guitar, Hawaiian guitar, steel guitar, and banjo models in a Roy Smeck signature line. His amazing style and skill earned him the nickname "Wizard of the Strings".
#HARMONY ROY SMECK GUITAR IDENTIFICATION MOVIE#
He began issuing records and appearing on Warner Brothers movie shorts during the 1920s, wowing everyone who saw him playing his unique blend of jazz, country, and Hawaiian styles. He became a self-made string instrument virtuoso and played banjo, guitar, Hawaiian steel guitar, and ukulele in the vaudeville circuit in his early days.