Biography

Ed Beaver grew up in the wild west town of Gallup, New Mexico. Route 66 was still the main artery from the East Coast to the West Coast. Gallup was the Indian Capital of the World. Cowboys were real. Pickup trucks and horses were tools and transportation carrying goods and families to and from the ranches and reservations. Movie stars walked the streets and the Harvey House was upscale dining. Ed was a street kid. He sold newspapers and played in the arroyos downtown. The tracks were two blocks from his house. Saturdays were always an adventure as tourists and Indians crowded the streets for weekend revelry. His life would become a song in the making.

His musical roots included the Big Bands of World War II; Rock and Roll of the Fifties; Country and Western music, when it was called Country and Western; and his mother’s influence, Puerto Rican music including Salsa and Boleros. Ed learned guitar, like many of his friends, in High School. His first band, "The Rejects" (Cool name, huh?) performed for school dances and functions.

Ed started playing in Santa Fe, NM. He was asked to move to Dallas where the company he played for had a new acquisition, a Ramada Inn. He played in Dallas, Colorado and California for the company. Life happens and Ed wandered the Southwest for awhile until he found himself in Dallas again. He spent the next twenty years playing in and around the Dallas area. It was there that he developed his own signature sound and music.

Ed had songs published by Buckhorn Music and Famous Music. His song “Who Needs Her” was on hold for B.W. Stevenson. Buck became ill and never recorded it.

He moved to Nashville twice. The first time in the "80's' as a songwriter with the help of Willis Alan Ramsey. He stayed about a year and saw it was not going to be in his best interests to stay. Nashville was in transition (again) and the direction was not one he was comfortable with.  Ed never really bought into songwriting for money as he preferred to write what he felt in his heart and when he felt it. He never missed the grind of the music mill.

Besides, there were Texas women waiting to break his heart. How could he say no? The second time, about the year 2001, was as a guitar repairman/Luthier after being encouraged by old friends who knew his work. This put him in contact with many of the industry songwriter’s and performers.

He kept them separate and continued to write and sing what he felt was important.

A new friend, legendary Thom Bresh and old friend, John Knowles, encouraged Ed to perform publicly and he appeared in and around the Nashville area. Jim Pasquale recognized his songs from being at Famous Music and invited Ed to perform at Pensacola Beach Songwriter's Festival. It was there that Thom Bresh formed the 3B's, a trio of writers including himself, Bobby Keel and Ed. They have continued to perform at festivals including the renowned, Frank Brown International Songwriter Festival in Gulf Shores, FL.

Most recently, Ed performed in the round with Lisa Carver and Jim Parker in The 2nd Annual Singer Songwriter Festival at Hotel Eklund in Clayton, NM. It was a great success. We all committed to doing it again. 

Ed is an independent songwriter who always followed his own path.  His songs reflect these roots in eclectic rhythms and his approach to songwriting.

Some of the people who influenced me throughout the years.

Contact:

ed@edbeaver.com

Assorted Videos of my self and friends.

(Not every time I sing a song do I sing it well.)

Contact:

ed@edbeaver.com

Mr Rhodes wandered into my shop at Soundcheck early on.

He was very supportive and we had lunches together.

Then one day I noticed he had not been by in awhile.

I am very sorry I did not get to say good-bye.

Leon Rhodes

Leon Rhodes, guitar great, dead at 85

Leon Rhodes, whose lead guitar was an integral part of Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadours in the 1960s, and could be heard for decades as part of the Grand Ole Opry and “Hee Haw” staff bands, died Saturday morning at his Donelson home. He was 85 years old.

He played with blinding speed and unbelievable accuracy, and for years on stage and in the studio, Tubb would call out his dazzling solos with a drawled, "Aww, here's Leon." 

"Leon Rhodes can play circles around most guitar players," Vince Gill told The Tennessean in 1999.

Rhodes was born on Mar. 10, 1932 in Dallas, Texas. He began learning to play his older brother's guitar at a young age. His family couldn't afford to get Leon his own guitar, so, Rhodes remembered during a program at the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2014, he sold his bed in order to buy one. 

It paid off. By the age of 16, he was a musician on "The Big D Jamboree," a country music program on Dallas station KRLD. 

Rhodes recorded with Lefty Frizzell and Ray Price in Texas during the 1950s before Tubb hired him to be the lead guitarist in the Texas Troubadours in 1960.

For nearly seven years, Rhodes played alongside steel guitarist Buddy Charleton, bassist Jack Drake, drummer Jack Greene, and front man Cal Smith. That configuration of the Texas Troubadours was Tubb's greatest. “They were what every hillbilly band at the time wanted to be, but wasn’t,” said Eddie Stubbs, WSM DJ and Grand Ole Opry announcer.

Tubb’s tour schedule was grueling; he was on the road up to 300 days a year. In addition to their work on the stage and in the studio with Tubb, the Texas Troubadours released their own albums as well. 

After Rhodes exited the Troubadours in late 1966, he became a member of the Opry staff band; he remained part of that band until 1999. After that, he continued playing on the show with Porter Wagoner and The Whites. 

"In my opinion, Leon was one of the greatest country guitarists of all time, and one of the finest jazz men to ever take the stage in a cowboy suit," wrote Chris Scruggs, one of Marty Stuart's Fabulous Superlatives, on Instagram Saturday. "Leon added a level of sophistication to the established style and elevated it into something that was elegant, refined and well spoken... but always with the down-home country twang of his Epiphone Sheraton's treble pickup. He always played with an enormous amount of humility and dignity, and his decades of service to the Grand Ole Opry staff band made radio listeners smile all over the world on Saturday nights."

He also worked as a session musician, appearing on recordings by Loretta Lynn, George Strait, Reba McEntire and more, and spent more than 20 years as part of the "Hee Haw" band.

He retired in 2014. That year, he was also honored as part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Nashville Cats series, which showcases musicians who have played important roles in country music history. 

Rhodes is survived by his wife Judi – the couple would have celebrated their 53rd anniversary in January – children Diane Williams (Terry), Leon (Sherry), Tonja Polk, Todd (Tonda), Tag (Judy), Tara Story (Arthur), Tammy Scragg (Scott) and Tandy Raynes (Jason), 25 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by parents James and Mary, brothers Arthur Ray and Earl Robert and grandchildren Ricky and Casey Polk. 

The Nashville Tennessean  Dec. 11, 2017

Rob Wolf and I were friends.

Then we weren't. Then we were again.

He decided I needed an album and offered to produce it. So we did one.

We just enjoyed each other and music was a part of the process.

He co-wrote "Sweet Love" and "Entourage" with me.
 

His passing really hurt.

Robert Scott Schieber
aka Robert K. Wolf, left this world peacefully December 27, 2018 surrounded by his loving family. He is survived by his beloved wife Lori J. Ingberg, his mother Florence Schieber, his sister Janet Schieber, nieces Emma From and Molly From, his aunt Barbara Garber, several cousins, and many dear friends and fans of his music. He was preceded in death by his father Theodore Schieber. Per his wishes, he is being cremated. No memorial service is planned. Celebrations of his life beautifully lived will be happening at a later date. Donations to www.youinspire.org or www.gildasclubmiddletn.org in Rob's memory are encouraged.

The Tennessean on Jan. 3, 2019

Lorna Flowers and I shared a special relationship.

We had several lunches together and I used to make her laugh or smile. 

When she passed, it was quickly albeit probably not for her.

She had struggled with cancer for awhile.

She co-wrote "Sweet Love" with me.

I still miss her.

Songwriter Lorna Flowers died Wednesday, March 5.

Flowers found success on the European Country radio charts during her career, and wrote with songwriters including Bob Welch, Roger Cook, John Peoppard and many others.

She moved to Nashville in July 2004 after nine years of visiting three times a year and building a network of great writer, publisher and artist connections.

In 2007, Flowers had a chart-topping song in Australia with Lucie Diamond‘s “Don’t Even Think About It” and had her first U.S. cuts with Kathy Chiavola and Heather Wilkins.

Flowers had produced demo projects since 1997, and was a co-producer on Sue James‘ UK debut 5 Stars and the Moon. She was producer for Blue Orchid‘s UK release of “Slow Down For A While,” which gained a Best Album nomination at the UK Country Radio Awards in 2004. 

She performed in UK/Europe on tours and festivals with Charley Pride, Gail Davies, George Hamilton V, Rivers Rutherford. In 2012, she made her debut on the prestigious Pensacola and Frank Brown International songwriter festivals. Flowers also set up her own demo production company, Lorna Flowers Productions.

https://musicrow.com/2014/03/lifenotes-lorna-flowers/

There are others whom I had met but had not gotten into relationships with by the time they committed suicide.

I mention this to note they died in vain.  It could have been prevented.

They are also missed.

Contact:

ed@edbeaver.com