Charlie Bingham

[kendog]

Anyone know of this fellow? He played in early nineties with the Hoopsnakes out of Minnesota. What a tasteful tele player!
I believe he went on to play with The James Solberg Band whom I've not heard. Anyone have info on his set-up? strings, amps, etc. thanks.

[Brad]

I don't have any info on him, but my friend who lives in chicago sent me several tapes of Hoopsnake....must have been 10 -12 years ago or so....and it was great stuff. Very tasty playing. I'd forgotten that name till I read your post. I believe they were huge in the midwest.

[Bob Davis]

Hi Ken: Long time no hear!! Charlie is a monster-blues Telecaster player with some of the best tone you'll ever hear. Although I don't have a clue what he's doing now, I've got a "bunch" of bootleg live audio and video of Charlie playing with the Hoopsnakes from the early to mid-90s, that simply amazes me even now. When you talk about "tasteful" playing, Charlie has it all going on. I wish I knew what he was doing now, as he's one guy who's playing I never get tired of hearing. Maybe someone will post on here that knows where he is today.
Bob Davis

[bluesy]

Last time I saw him here in Rochester (had to be at least 10 years ago), he was playing a sunburst double bound custom through a super reverb (can't quite remember if it was a black or silver face) with one of the 4 speakers mismatched. He was a MONSTER!

[dbl bound]

I last saw his name on a James Solberg cd (I think it was "One of These Days") It was a great cd. I think he also played on alot of the Lamont Cranston Band Lp's/cd's.Picture's I've seen show him playing a double bound sunburst Tele, That's what got my attention.
James is a very good player/songwriter, if you like Luther Allison and Jimmy Thackery then, he should be on your list to check out. He usually plays those G****n guitars but, when I saw him two years ago he played a Strat most of the night. Excellent Band!

my two cent's-dbl bound

[kendog]

Hey, Mr. Bob,
Hi, how about posting your e-mail address for me. I seemed to have lost it. Good to hear from you. By the way, anyone interested in Roy Buchanan needs to visit with Bob Davis, he is the word on Roy.

[Jim W]

I like his and Solbergs playing on the Solberg LPs - I have the first 4 there is a new one. I especially like the Atomic Theory LPs.

Seems to me I read somewhere that Charlie Bingham was getting out of the music business - going to farm. Unfortunately I have not been able to confirm this.

So don't have a cow if I am wrong.

Jim

[TCook]

New guy here. My co-worker here just saw him with the Hoopsnakes. He uses a MIJ Tele, sunburst, double bound through a 1963 Super Reverb. Not sure of the speakers -I will have to ask him about that.

[herbdorfman]

Originally Posted by kendog

Anyone know of this fellow? He played in early nineties with the Hoopsnakes out of Minnesota. What a tasteful tele player!
I believe he went on to play with The James Solberg Band whom I've not heard. Anyone have info on his set-up? strings, amps, etc. thanks.

Charlie's best stuff, in my opinion, was with Lamont Cranston. I've never paid much attention to his amps, but I've banged around on a few of his guitars, and I can tell you that he has the highest action of any player I know except maybe Jody Harris. You could shoot arrows with his guitars. Pretty heavy strings (it's all about the tone, man), and none of it really matters. I've heard Charlie get his tone out of every amp and every guitar he's ever played. It's in his hands. I used to work at a guitar shop in Minneapolis, and one day I heard this sweet sound coming from downstairs. I said, "Hey, that's Charlie!" and went down there. And sure enough it was. He was playing the crappiest Japanese guitar off the wall through some 40-dollar Fender solid state practice amp. Charlie's tone is all in his hands.

He bought a farm a few years ago, and did a short stint as a professional gambler. I haven't seen him for a few years, but I've heard he's playing again. Charlie and Roy Alstead are the best darn blues players that ever came out of the midwest.

[Legato]

Unearthing an old thread here, but I was in Minneapolis in the early 80's, and saw the Hoopsnakes a bunch of times just after they transitioned from the Bingham McCabe band, They were a great band and Charlie was a monster player. The band had wonderful dynamics, reach a crescendo then drop down to a whisper for a chorus, then come roaring back full blast. These were usually in Charlie's solos. I wish I could find local music of that caliber again.

Dan

[Brewboy]

He was one of my favorites back in the Hoopsnakes days. I recently heard he was driving heavy construction machines and is out of the music biz. He does get together for Hoopsnakes reunion shows. His brother is also a great "traditional blues" player.

[Hoopsnake1]

I just stumbled across this post... Back in the 90's the Hoopsnakes were a weekly ritual for me at Five Corners, Cabooze, Fine Line, etc. Charlie is by far my biggest guitarist influence. His tone is awesome and playing style are like none I've ever seen since. As far as his gear, he plays a mid-80's '62 Custom Tele MIJ with EMG's through an Ibanez Super Tube, Boss DD-3 pedals and '63 Super Reverb modified with 2x12's (Celestion's). Charlie move to FL a few years ago and still makes it back to MN once a year around November for a Hoopsnakes reunion show at the Medina.

[goldtopper]

Used to see him all the time with the Hoopsnakes. Truly a local gem.

[Jack Knife]

Necro-posting here!

Just ran across this thread while Googling something else. Charlie was a great player and the Hoopsnakes were a local fave of mine. Saw them at the Taste of Minnesota one year. I was standing about 10 feet from Charlie while he played. Awesome sound! Double-bound sunburst Tele through a tweed Bassman.

I went to school with the bass player, Mick Massoff. We jammed at a school "arts day". He was the one who introduced me to the Allmans and the idea of guitar -> amp.

[Tele Jr]

Last I heard Charlie was at a Hoopsnakes reunion a while back at the Cabooze, he had his Custom Tele and 2 cranked blonde Supers. He literally blew the room away, it was so loud you could hear it clearly from the green room.

[garytelecastor]

Charlie played with the Hoop Snakes and the Lamont Cranston Band.
Both were smokin' bands.
When LC went to New York to talk to a record deal with one of the major labels, they booked a couple gigs in town.
On a Wednesday night they were playing and Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi came in.
They were using a horn section and playing those cool R & B hits from the 50's and 60's.
So John and Dan got up and did a set with the band.
Then about 2 months later the Blues Brothers were born. In a radio interview Ackroyd was asked where he got the idea for the band, and he admitted that they got it from LC, and that at that time there were only 3 bands doing it this way. He said one was in Detroit and the other Mpls.
When they would play in the cities you couldn't get in the door.

Their keyboard player is Bruce McCabe. He was the person who put together a band, and produced the 1st album for Johnny Lang (who is out of North Dakota).
He is an absolute genius on the keys and is a renown blues historian.

[TeleMan59]

The Hoopsnakes were the best blues band around the Twins Cities for a long time. I used to go to see them by myself all the time...then they split and Bruce McCabe joined Jonny Lang. I remember going to see Jonny Lang when he was a young teenager. Hey called himself Kid Jonny Lang then and they were playing at a bowling alley. Jonny Lang wasn't old enough to be in a bar but since he was the band..... Bruce McCabe was his piano player and when the took a break, they just sat around and talked with whoever wanted to hang with them.

[Strangec]

Great player- I've been a fan since the late 80s. He uses a bond Tele with EMGs. Tube Screamer into Fender Super Reverbs- I believe he re-mounted the amps into cabs with 2 12s, not 410s. Ran one and always had a spare next to it. Also used a Chandler Tube Echo or something for delay.

[birv2]

Wow. Never heard of this guy. Smoking solo!

[Mike Simpson]

I knew his brother Bob Bingham when he lived in the Phoenix area.

It's a pity the sound is clipping in this video....