John Hughey-Highway Call CD Available

Craig Stock · Post by **Craig Stock** » 20 Feb 2003 7:17 am

I just saw The Richard Betts Cd 'Highway Call' on Amazon.com for $11.98. I had found it years ago, them it dissappeared. Found another last year, and now I see it for sale again.

If you don't have it or have never heard it, believe me, GET IT. John's picking is fabulous, I still can't get over 'Hand Picked'. The song goes for over 14 minutes and never gets boring. I wonder why more people don't let the tape go for a while, on this song it just gets better the more they play.

Enjoy, and Thanks, John!

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Regards, Craig

D Schubert · Post by **D Schubert** » 20 Feb 2003 2:34 pm

Yes, this is one great CD. I wore out the 8-track AND the LP years ago. I'd put it in my desert-island box for sure. The "Hand Picked" cut features Dickey Betts on guitar, Vassar Clements on fiddle, along with John Hughey.

Chris Forbes · Post by **Chris Forbes** » 21 Feb 2003 5:56 am

It sure was a good 'un!! The funny thing to me was that Dickey Betts was the biggest attraction on the album. He was also, in my opinion, the worst lead player on the album!! Between Chuck Leavell, Vassar, and Mr. Hughey, poor ol' Dickey really had his hands full! But man do I really like this album.

Jerry Hayes R.I.P. · Post by **Jerry Hayes R.I.P.** » 21 Feb 2003 9:24 am

I have the LP record of this and haven't played it for a long time. I think I'll get it out and some others I have and transfer them to CD. As I remember, side 2 of Highway Call was all instrumental with a lot of great C6th playing by John. I have to disagree with Chris though, Dickey had his own thing going and in my opinion held his end up on the whole album very well. This album didn't sell really well but it sold more than any steel album alone would have so it was good exposure for John and steel guitar in general.

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Chris Forbes · Post by **Chris Forbes** » 21 Feb 2003 11:14 am

Oh, don't get me wrong!!! Dickey played well, and I think he's a fantastic picker, but.............look at the competition!!! I wasn't trying to denegrate his playing at all, more trying to demonstrate my admiration for the pickers he surrounded himself with on this album.

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 21 Feb 2003 11:33 am

I just ordered a brand new shrink wrapped copy from the "Buy it used" link on Amazon for $10.10 plus $2.49 shipping.

Dennis Atkins · Post by **Dennis Atkins** » 22 Feb 2003 10:27 am

A couple of years ago, when I was running the Minnesota Steel Guitar Association, I had John Hughey as our featured player, and I asked him if they did the song in one take or with overdubs, or sections. His reply was that they played it through all the way without stopping until they reached the end.

How many players could do that today? Credit goes to the musical abilities of all the players on that session. Great album, done by great musicians.

Dennis

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Craig Stock · Post by **Craig Stock** » 22 Feb 2003 12:08 pm

I asked John a few years back if he had the CD, and he said no, he didn't and wasn't aware that it was available. So I told him I would mail him a dub of it. Well, Being the lazy @ss I can be, I didn't. Then last summer I found another copy at a Cd store, bought it and sent it to him. It was the least thing I could do for him. What a great record, I wish there were more like that out there.

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Regards, Craig