Pedal Steel Guitar

steelyman said:
I think you're right about the Mavericks - I had one of the blonde ones and they are great for beginners. It's hard enough wrestling with picking 10+ strings, foot pedals, knee levers, and a volume pedal! That's why steelers always look like they are in a trance :D
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This might well be why my friends and I are so enchanted with what little pedal steel we've gotten to see. While everyone else is leaping and shouting on stage, the pedal steel guy is studiously looking down to play, only rarely looking up and around to see what all the fuss is all about. No showboating on that instrument for sure!


And you'd be safe going to a show with us--us old married ladies won't pull any cougar stunts! :)
 
Route 66

Here's a rendition of the tune "Route 66" (of which I think the most popular version was done by Nat "King" Cole), done by a great player, Herby Wallace, who unfortunately died earlier this year. He always made me shake my head in admiration! If you care to listen to this, make sure you have good speakers (not the built-in ones). Herby's playing a Mullen guitar.

Herby Wallace "Route 66" w/ Ben Brogdon scat singing - YouTube
 
Here's another one from the late 70s, this time Emmylou Harris and The Hot Band playing in the UK. This is the opening tune from her second album Elite Hotel.

The steel player is Hank DeVito (on an Emmons) and he's paired for the twin guitar/steel lead-in lick with James Burton, who is probably best known for being Elvis' guitar player. Burton also played with guys like Jerry Lee Lewis, Ricky Nelson, John Denver, and many others. He is known as the king of "chicken pickin", which he subtly does throughout this performance.

Also notable is Rodney Crowell - the leftmost singer, with the darker hair - who co-wrote the tune and is a great singer-songwriter in his own right ("Leaving Louisiana In Broad Daylight", "Ain't Livin' Long Like This", "Stars On The Water", etc.).

Finally, Emmylou, besides being cuter than cute, has a voice that just soars :cool:


Emmylou Harris - Amarillo - YouTube
 
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mh said:
Here's some steel guitar outside the country / bluegrass realm..
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In Bluegrass, it's more likely (or should be*) a Dobro, or possibly a resonator (or resophonic) guitar, e.g. National, Republic (Dobros differ from other resonator guitars - Difference Between a Dobro & a Resonator Guitar | eHow.com). Lap & pedal steel guitars are essentially electric, while Dobros & resonators are acoustic. Dobros/resonator guitars can also be, and sometimes are, played held like a regular acoustic guitar.

Google: difference between steel and resonator

*in the opinions of some Bluegrass snobs. :angel: Other Bluegrass snobs insist that even a Dobro isn't "traditional" or "real" Bluegrass. I've seen arguments about that get as hot as p*litics or religi*n... :eek:

Tyro
 
See, Tyro, this is why I'm suspicious that bluegrass folks don't drink enough! They get all up the air about stuff like this, when all us audience members want to see up there are hot musicians who can play! :) And that usually look/sound better after a 6-pack.

I do love some Emmylou--that is a great song, and one I've never heard. Thanks!
 
Sarah in SC said:
See, Tyro, this is why I'm suspicious that bluegrass folks don't drink enough! They get all up the air about stuff like this, when all us audience members want to see up there are hot musicians who can play! :) And that usually look/sound better after a 6-pack.

I do love some Emmylou--that is a great song, and one I've never heard. Thanks!
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Who says?

John Hartford - Granny Wontcha Smoke Some Marijuana - YouTube

John Hartford / Up on the Hill Where They Do the Boogie - YouTube
 
LOL-HFWR, I was transferring some stuff to a new computer at home and made sure some of those John Hartford and Goose Creek Symphony gems from you got transferred over and also added to my "big mix" that now plays on the home stereo all the time.
 
Sarah in SC said:
LOL-HFWR, I was transferring some stuff to a new computer at home and made sure some of those John Hartford and Goose Creek Symphony gems from you got transferred over and also added to my "big mix" that now plays on the home stereo all the time.
Click to expand...

Always happy to help corrupt the youngins... :cool:
 
HFWR said:
Who says?
Click to expand...

+1 I didn't say those were MY opinions. I played (such as it wasn't) with anybody. Speaking of Granny... at a keg party in the late '70s, I met a woman in her 70s who could have been the model for Mammy Yokum - corncob pipe and all. At the time, she was known for owning more Rolls Royces than any other woman in the world with the exception of the Queen. Someone passed her a pipe, and after a taste, she remarked, "Why I haven't tasted this since they made it illegal"* and took another before passing it along... Truly one of the most interesting people I have ever met.

*We assumed 1937.
 
I've been trying to post only live performances, but HFWR's message with John Hartford made me think of this one, which is a track off a CD. But it's set against a nice montage of photos that give a little peek into Hartford's world. Plus, while there are plenty of versions of this out there, this is the only one I know of that features the steel (that's what this thread is about, after all!).

In the late 90's, I happened to be able to attend a week's worth of sessions where Hartford was recording his (then) new CD, and one afternoon we went to his bus and chatted about music - he couldn't have been more funny, gracious, and interesting. I remember he walked around with a little stack of blank index cards on which he jotted down lines that he heard or that came to him and may be a future lyric in a song. Well, I remember more than that, but this is a public forum :)

This is a version of Hartford's song "Gentle On My Mind" that appears on his album All In The Name Of Love with a stellar lineup of bluegrass players: Benny Martin on violin, Hartford on banjo, Sam Bush on mandolin, Pig Robbins on piano, and bringing it all home is Buddy Emmons on pedal steel with an amazing single-note (almost jazz) solo.

John Hartford -- Gentle On My Mind - YouTube
 
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Here's an early autumn dose of Dire Steel for you. I probably don't need to tell anyone who the singer or what the song is, but you might not know who the guy sitting in on the steel is. That's Paul Franklin and he's playing (naturally) a Franklin guitar - a company started by his father, Paul Franklin Sr.

Might want to clear out a little space in your living room for this one, especially if you follow Bob Dylan's advice: Play It Loud. :cool:


Mark Knopfler - Walk Of Life - A Night In London Live 1996 (HD) - YouTube

 
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When I was in college, occasionally several friends and I would head to a local mom 'n pop Italian restaurant that had delicious pasta and thin crust pizza. It was a pretty big, old-style place with plenty of room for things like parties and receptions. Off to one side, there was a raised stage that was only big enough to hold one of those old Hammond organs... which no one ever seemed to play.

One night though, someone was playing - he was an older blind gentleman who obviously knew his stuff. He played the right selections and at the right volume to add atmosphere to dinner. We kept commenting on how nice it was, and after dinner (with enough wine in me), I went up to him, put some cash in his tip jar and asked if he took requests. While still playing, he said, "sure, if I know 'em". I asked, "Do you know 'Moonglow'?". He turned towards me, got this big smile on his face and said, "I love Moonglow!". So I returned to our table and we enjoyed spumoni and this tune.

I'd never heard of this guy before, but his name is John Lang and he's playing a non-pedal steel that (to me, anyway) adds a kind of Hawaiian tinge to it. Someone sent me the link and I like it. This song is easier to play with pedals, but if you watch his left hand, you'll see him twist the bar to get the closing changes at the end of each verse.

John Lang - MOONGLOW - YouTube
 
Here's one of those "git along, lil' dogie" numbers. It's "Midnight In Old Amarillo", performed by Marcel Parijs in Ireland, and originally from Billy Bowman of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. I think it's got a nice strut to it to take you into the weekend:

Midnight in old Amarillo - YouTube
 
I had a different tune I wanted to post, but I have learned to "preview" before submitting and (arggh) it didn't allow embedding.

Instead, I thought of this one by the Beatles which, while not pedal steel, has John Lennon on the lap steel - he's not very good but who cares? It's Lennon!!

Love the comments made by George Harrison: "Go, Johnny, go!", "Elmore James got nothin' on this failure!"


The Beatles-For You Blue (rare!) - YouTube
 
This is a clip recorded in the mid-80's at the British Steel Guitar Festival. The person doing the introduction is DeWitt Scott of St. Louis, who started what became the International Steel Guitar Convention back when I was in grade school.

It's Buddy Emmons (making his 4th appearance in this thread) on an MCI and offering up some 12-bar blues along with some bar gymnastics :cool:


Buddy Emmons 2 - YouTube
 
With Thanksgiving over, and November on the way out, I think it's finally legal to post seasonal songs. So here's "Winter Wonderland" by Kjell Heide from Norway on a Franklin. The backing track is from a CD called Christmas Sounds of the Steel Guitar, which is one of my top 10 choices if you like steel. You can keep an eye out for it at used CD stores (I say that because the usual places are asking ridiculous prices for it). It's not flashy, but I think very nice :)


Winter Wonderland. - YouTube
 
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Happy New Year, E-R'ers!

Got one here from one of the legends of the steel guitar: Jimmy Day. This guy was a "steel man's steel man", if you know what I mean. He played on many classic recordings, mostly country (and I'm not a country guy), but not here.

Every time I saw him, he always sounded a little drunk to me, but I guess that's part of what gave him his style. In my mind, he was sort of like the Samuel L. Jackson of steel - you don't mess around with Jim! :nonono:

C6th Blues Jimmy Day ISGC 1997 - YouTube
 
This is a Willie Nelson song done by Ray Price's band a while ago on Austin City Limits. There's lots of stuff I like about this, one needs a little explaining.

When you shop for a steel guitar, you'll see them described like "Franklin D-10, 8x4". What that means is that it's a guitar made by the Franklin company, with two necks (D), ten strings per neck, 8 floor pedals and 4 knee levers. That's pretty much the standard steel setup. The two necks are tuned differently, with the upper one meant more for traditional country music, and the lower more for jazz.

The pedals are split between the two necks, usually with three devoted to the country neck, and the other five for jazz. One of the jazz pedals lowers the bottom string a minor third (for you musicians), and it's great. This performance uses it perfectly.

The other thing I like about this is towards the end, where there's a steel solo and the player (who should be quite familiar by now) looks over at Ray Price with a great smile that seems to say, "how 'bout THEM apples?". :cool:

Buddy Emmons & Ray Price - Nightlife - YouTube
 
There are at least three things I like about this one:


  1. The lyrics are great, very poetic
  2. Stephen Bishop's singing is amazing
  3. The steel player (you knew that was coming) seems able to evoke a cool ocean breeze blowing through

Stephen Bishop - On And On - YouTube
 
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