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Slidy steel…..

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…. Is what the wife calls the pedal steel guitar, that evocative mix of soaring beauty and lazy cliche, unfairly lumped always in with country. To be fair, it can be a wondrous centrepiece to country, and I love it therein, but offers so much more. Good old BJ Cole is as responsible as any for the genre diversity it can be applied to, adding his mellifluous tones to classical, jazz, electronica and ambient, but suddenly there are players popping up all over the place, in all sorts of settings. Here is a new favourite, David Murphy. If you have seen the Delines, or Richmond Fontaine, before that, this side of the pond, chances are he will have been the fella on steel, depping for the non-travelling Tucker Jackson. He’s Irish, and has decided steel is just what trad and Irish classical needs. See below.

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    • Great find @slotbadger. Noah plays beautifully. He has an ep on Spotify, Texas Madness, which is a joy to listen to.

      Such presence and authority! For the first few bars I thought this was an amusing oddity, and then I realised that he’s far from a joke.

  8. I’m going to go out on a limb and say I’m the only member of the massive who actually owns one of these bizarre contraptions. I bought it 20 years ago because I was in love with the keening sound on Stones, Neil Young, Alt Country etc, rather than traditional honkey-tonk country or Western swing (much to the chagrin of the VERY conservative pedal steel community, although that is changing). I taught myself just enough to play the sorts of sounds I like and still jump on from time to time.

    Here’s a few things you may not know about pedal steels:

    > It’s not just pedals: there are also knee levers. I have a very basic instrument with 3 pedals and 4 knee levers, so moving either leg left or right activates a change. Many have vertical levers as well and it’s not unusual to have 6 knee levers and 5-6 pedals. A PSG guitarist’s legs are moving furiously while they are pretty static with their arms.

    > There is no such thing as a ‘standard’ pedal steel setup. In general there are E9 and C6 tunings (with most pop/rock stuff on the E9) and some common pedal and knee lever set-ups for each, but you can ‘program’ each pedal and lever to raise and lower whatever combination of strings you want (and there can be 8, 10, 12, 14 strings!) . So pretty much every instrument is bespoke, set up to the owner’s preferences.

    > It requires a mindset unlike any other instrument. You have a straight bar that you move up and down the neck, but you are doing Tetris-like mental calculations to raise or lower the strings so that the chord you want appears within that straight line. It’s like playing every guitar chord by laying a finger flat across the frets and playing with the tuning knobs. It’s this changing of the voicing within the chord that gives the pedal steel its distinctive sound. No other analog instrument can do this. A lot of the new breed of gospel blues pedal steel players don’t do this either. They use the pedals/levers to alter the tuning then play it like a lap steel. i.e. they rarely bend the notes while a chord is playing.

    > If you get the chance to be near one of these things, ask to look under the chassis, because that’s where the magic is. The complexity and ingenuity of a PSG is remarkable.

    • Thanks a lot @Podicle! The AW never ceases to delight me with unexpected posts like this. All these experts in our midst!

      Your explanation about the knee levers and the pedals were a revelation. If someone had asked me to describe it, I’d have probably said that a pedal steel was basically a horizontal version of a normal guitar. Duh! Bottom of the class!

      Here’s Steve Fishell giving a practical demonstration.

      • That’s what a lap steel is and what a pedal steel started as. The evolution of the pedal steel is a classic case of punctuated equilibrium. Lap steels had started sprouting more strings, as guitarists sought more complex voicings (remember, they are pretty much stuck with playing notes in a straight line), then some smart person in the early 50s realised that they could get the same effect by raising or lowering a string, and within a few years the lap steel had more pedals and levers than a tail gun on a B29.

        The ‘shot heard ’round the world’ that everyone sought to emulate was the intro to this song (although like Stravinsky’s ‘Rites of Spring’ and Link Wray’s ‘Rumble’, the effect has been somewhat attenuated by time):

  10. Fully confess I wasn’t aware of all of that, my admiration of players going ever more into orbit. I sat directly behind BJ Cole at Brum’s Kitchen Garden Cafe a few years back, as he played for Michael Chapman. The size of the venue was such that I was looking over his shoulder, possibly even breathing down his neck. You get to understand how he pulls such extraordinary gurns while he plays.

  11. This thread has got me thinking about classic tracks featuring steel guitar and wondering who was playing.

    Someday Soon by Judy Collins for example. I googled and discovered it was Buddy Emmons, who it transpires was one of the greats.

    Here he is with Ernest Tubb: Half a Mind.

    Wiki explains that he was an innovator. Podicle will probably understand this a lot better than the rest of us!

    “In late 1956, Emmons contributed to the evolution of the pedal steel guitar by splitting the function of the two pedals that changed the pitch of certain strings from a tonic chord to a subdominant chord. This “split-pedal” setup is now the standard pedal arrangement in the E9 tuning, since it allows greater musical flexibility than the earlier pedal setup pioneered by Bud Isaacs. Emmons recalls that he first used this split-pedal innovation on Ernest Tubb’s “Half a Mind (to Leave You)”.[11][12] Emmons’ name is on a US patent for a mechanism to raise and lower the pitch of a string on a steel guitar and return to the original pitch without going out of tune.[6] Prior to his invention, the problem of a string going out of tune after stretching to raise pitch, and loosening to lower the pitch had been a vexing problem in the design of the instrument. Emmons and Shot Jackson formed the Sho-Bud (“SHOt-BUDdy”) Company to design and build pedal steel guitars in 1956. In 1962, Emmons added two additional strings to the upper register of the E9 neck of the pedal steel guitar.”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Emmons

    Another fine moment from Buddy with Ernest Tubb.

    • I used to regularly visit that site a decade or so ago, but it was so musically (and socially!) conservative that I gave up. Think MAGA level discourse in all caps. To the PSG forum, music and American society apexed in the mid to late 50s with the likes of Buck Owens and Lefty Frizell and had been on a rapid decline since. I was publicly flogged for admitting that I didn’t use (or like the sound of) metal finger picks, and that I played with plectrum and fingers. They were apoplectic about the gospel steel movement. As the average age of (the all male) members would have been the high seventies back then, it may be refreshed with some younger and more progressive members these days.

      That said, I learned a lot from that site.

      • What an hilarious comment @Podicle! That’s exactly the impression I got. Some very knowledgeable musicians who sadly had some pretty Stone Age attitudes.

        Some of them were probably still upset about the wrong side winning the Civil War!

        But they certainly know about the pedal steel guitar.

        I really hope that the wonderful Pedal Steel Noah ( mentioned above) is a little more broadminded!

  17. I was hoping I might find an album of Steely Dan Hits played on pedal steel. Almost as good was to discover an interesting suggestion.

    Phasing out pedal steel after pretzel logic
    byu/shakemahorn inSteelyDan

    Namely, that one of the reasons that the band took its name was that they had an excellent steel guitar player: Jeff Skunk Baxter.

    Here are couple of early tracks which show how much his steel playing added to the sound,

    Dallas

    Brooklyn owns the charmer under me

        • I have Loveless on CD. You know how The Jesus And Mary Chain used to be described as The Beach Boys played by the Velvet Underground?

          My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless is like that – some lovely melodies drenched in FX, and Japancakes just play the tunes.

          • A very elucidating explanation of Japancakes @fentonsteve. And I love that description of the JAMC.

            This thread has treated us to quite a few modern pedal steel players who are far more experimental than the Good Old Boys of the Steel Guitar Forum.

            But did you know that there is a new genre? Cosmic Pedal Steel. The wonderful Canadian producer and musician, Daniel Lanois, is a major figure. And the wonderful Aquarium Drunkard is very keen.

            “The cosmic pedal steel scene continues to expand — and we’re here for it. Daniel Lanois, one of the godfathers of this movement, once called the pedal steel “my little church in a suitcase.” And if anything ties these various musicians together, it’s a certain kind of earthy spirituality, an openness to the myriad possibilities that the instrument offers. Check out a few recent favorites, via the following roundup, featuring Gary Peters, Rich Hinman, Luke Schneider and Dave Easley . . .”

            https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2024/01/08/further-cosmic-pedal-steel-situations-winter-2024/

            Recommended sweet steel jams from Dave Easley, Old Saw, Lake Mary, SUSS, Mouth Painter, and Chuck Johnson . . .

            https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2022/02/15/cosmic-pedal-and-lap-steel-situations-winter-2022/

            Sadly the articles are behind a paywall.

            But here’s Daniel in very fine form:

            That reminds me that one of the very first gigs @DuCo01 and I saw together was Monsieur Lanois at the long- gone Gino nightclub. He was stupendous as was his band, all of whom looked as though they had been recruited from the Louisiana State Pen. I’ve never seen such an ornery bunch of bampots in my life. They were not the sort of guys, you wanted to look at in the wrong way if you valued our life.

            The Con Air House Band!

            • Snap! I too have been realising the pedal steel prowess of M. Lanois.
              One slight concern, mind, is how cosmic PDG (which seems and sounds ambient or new age to my ears, can become all too much of a soporific embalming.
              Does no one do disco steel?

              • You want something more lively? Robert Randolph should fit the bill nicely.

                George Clinton would approve.

                Here he talks about his early days playing Sacred Steel and his admiration for Stevie Ray Vaughan.

                Robert is a pleasure to listen to.

                Now for a real taste of Sacred Steel. And look who’s a guest! Derek Trucks. He got a bit of a bashing here on the AW recently but the guy can play.

                I never cease to be amazed by @retropath2.

                Talking about being topical and having his finger on the steel pulse!

                There’s a new Sacred Steel & History Museum i Toledo, Ohio.

                And it’s opening this weekend: 27 april 2024.

                If you hurry, you may still be able to get a ticket.

                https://sacredstrings.com/

                If you do, I suspect you’ll run into Retro. He’s bound to be there!

                To get you in the mood here’s a Sacred Steel Tv programme.

  18. Somewhat counter intuitively, one of the finest pedal steel players lives right here in Exmouth. She has played with Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Glenn Campbell, amongst many others, and frequently jets off to the US to play. Just before Christmas I was front row in the tiny Exmouth Pavilion bar area listening to her sublime playing, as she has joined forces with local country singer Sarah Yeo to do some regular tiny intimate gigs. Oh, and she is an absolute hoot to interview – I had her on my radio show last year, but here is an interview and some of her playing….

  19. I’ve been enjoying listening to the Cosmic Pedal Steel players that Aquarium Drunkard mentioned.

    But I agree with your comment, @retropath2: “One slight concern, mind, is how cosmic PDG (which seems and sounds ambient or new age to my ears, can become all too much of a soporific embalming.”

    So it’s refreshing to go back to the 1950s when the pedal steel guitar was in its infancy. I suspect that you might enjoy this interview with Bud Isaacs @Podicle.

    “On November 29, 1953, Bud would change music history forever with his playing on Webb Pierce’s “Slowly.” The guitar that he had altered with simple equipment from a hardware store created a pitch-changing sound that had never been heard before.

    “Slowly” became the most-played song of 1954 and was at No. 1 on the charts for 17 weeks.”

    https://www.fretboardjournal.com/features/steel-guitar-legend-bud-isaacs-interview/#:~:text=About%20a%20decade%20later%2C%20on,had%20never%20been%20heard%20before.

    Bud owned the only pedalled steel guitar in Nashville and was in ridiculous demand.

    I suspect that in post-war Britain, where rationing went on well into the 1950s. Western Swing must have sounded very exotic and exciting and great to dance to..

  20. I just stumbled across this and make no apologies about posting another clip of Derek and Susan and some more sacred steel.

    “Unannounced guests blues legends Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks sat in with the Sacred Steel Summit at Stephen Foster Folk State Park, White Springs, Fl. They came to honor the Reverend Aubrey Gent, who is playing steel with them on this set. He married them over twenty years ago.”

    How many of other couples have turned up to have a funky jam with the vicar who wed them 20 years after the event?

  21. Steel crazý after all these years ….

    The wikipedia page on steel guitars is very comprehensive and informative.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_guitar#Indian_music
    I learnt for example about the craze for Hawaiian music that swept the USA at the beginning of the previous century.

    “The annexation of Hawai’i as a U.S. territory in 1900 stimulated Americans’ interest in Hawaiian music and customs.[11] In 1912, a Broadway musical show called Bird of Paradise premiered; it featured Hawaiian music and elaborate costumes.[12] The show became quite successful and, to ride this wave of success, it toured the U.S. and Europe, eventually spawning the 1932 film Bird of Paradise.[10] Joseph Kekuku was a member of the show’s original cast[13] and toured with the show for eight years.[14] In 1918, The Washington Herald stated, “So great is the popularity of Hawaiian music in this country that ‘The Bird of Paradise’ will go on record as having created the greatest musical fad this country has ever known”.

    And about how Hawaiian guitars became an integral part pf the Ju Ju scene in Nigeria in the 1970s:

    Here is King Sunny Ade live. You don’t see much of the steel guitar but you can certainly hear it.

    Lastly , there is the arrival of the slide guitar in India.

    “The steel guitar’s popularity in India began with a Hawaiian immigrant who settled in Calcutta in the 1940s named Tau Moe (pronounced mo-ay).[12] Moe taught Hawaiian guitar style and made steel guitars, and helped popularize the instrument in India.[49] By the 1960s, the steel had become a common instrument in Indian popular music—later included in film soundtracks. Indian musicians typically play the lap steel while sitting on the floor and have modified the instrument by using, for example, three melody strings (played with steel bar and finger picks), four plucked drone strings, and 12 sympathetic strings to buzz like a sitar.[50] Performing in this manner, the Indian musician Brij Bhushan Kabra adapted the steel guitar to play ragas, traditional Indian compositions and is called the father of the genre of Hindustani Slide Guitar.”

    That makes me think of Meeting by the River, the album that Ry Cooder made with V. M. Bhatt.

  23. I’ve said it before, And now I’m saying it again: “Everybody ought to have a Jazz Neighbour!” It means an enormous improvement to your quality of life.

    I met my Jazz Neighbour, Fredrik, at Kärrtorp Metro station yesterday afternoon. By a strange coincidence, he was just coming back from watching a friend and former colleague, Country and Western singer and pedal steel player, Karolina Brännstörm, playing a short gig at the Pet Sounds record shop on Söder. And of course I had to tell him that (thanks to this thread) I have been binge-listening to pedal steel players all week. Not to mention learning a great deal about the history of the instrument and googling to find out who had played pedal steel on my favourite tracks from my past.

    Fredrik told me about going to a gig at Fasching with Karolina to see the America pedal steel virtuoso, Susan Alcorn. After the show, Karolina went up to say hello to Susan and they got into a long, enthusiastic and very detailed discussion about all the different models of pedal steel guitars.

    A little later in the evening Fredrik mailed me:

    “My favorite steel guitar player is Susan Alcorn. Last year she released Canto, a marvelous album on which she combines Chilean nuéva cancíon with experimental jazz!

    https://susanalcorn1.bandcamp.com/album/canto

    I’m also extremely fond of her album Pedernal:

    https://susanalcorn1.bandcamp.com/album/pedernal

    What would I do without him??
    His encyclopaedic musical knowledge constantly sets me off on new voyages of discovery.

    Here’s Susan live:

    • These gospel (derived) steel players are at a whole different tangent, almost using the instrument to mimic a something else, apropos the bluesy style they get out of it, with less of the archetypal sliding and notebending. It sounds like bottleneck on a normal guitar, and seems sort of counter to any expectations, like trying to mimic a trumpet with an oboe, or the old adage about gynaecological surgery being like performing open heart surgery through a letterbox. A long and difficult way around to get the same sounds.

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