Pete Drake- Talking Steel Guitar

Wally Moyers · Post by **Wally Moyers** » 7 Apr 2012 1:17 pm

http://soundcloud.com/pete-drake/12-tal ... eel-guitar

Another innovator player from the steel guitar world..

How many of you guys remember Pete doing this back in the 60s? I was just a kid but my Dad was a steel player so I got to hear it back then. The local radio station KLLL bought him a Pete Drake talk box so he could do radio commercials for them, in fact, I still have it... Pete got a lot of recognition for it and was on some network TV shows. Of course Peter Frampton got famous with it later... I hope Pete had a patent...

Ransom Beers · Post by **Ransom Beers** » 7 Apr 2012 1:23 pm

I remember him,knew his bro. out on the west coast,Jack(?)I think was his real name ,everybody called him Pappy Drake".

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 7 Apr 2012 1:23 pm

I doubt he had a patent, as Alvino Rey did it much earlier. I built my first one in '66, using the driver from a Voice of The Theater horn, and some surgical tubing.

David Nugent · Post by **David Nugent** » 7 Apr 2012 1:54 pm

Wally...I seem to remember that Pete recorded an instrumental version of the song, 'Forever' sometime in the '60's which featured his "talking" steel guitar.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 7 Apr 2012 2:01 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPd9cxqKCVg

Tracy Sheehan · Post by **Tracy Sheehan** » 7 Apr 2012 5:10 pm

I do not know who did it but still remember as a kid in the 40s hearing a Blue ribbon beer commercial done on a talking steel.

Billy Tonnesen · Post by **Billy Tonnesen** » 7 Apr 2012 6:48 pm

Alvino Rey developed this technique back in the 30's and used it as novelty act with a puppet with his big Swing Band. There are U-tubes showing this.

John Ed Kelly · Post by **John Ed Kelly** » 7 Apr 2012 7:48 pm

David Nugent wrote: ''Wally...I seem to remember that Pete recorded an instrumental version of the song, 'Forever' sometime in the '60's which featured his "talking" steel guitar.''

And....here it is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dTFajHV ... re=related

I must say that I was mildly surprised when PD put the tube in his mouth........I know this is how it was done.........but it looked like he was on some sort of respirator!

I suppose that this technique has now been superseded by the wah-wah pedal or some other sundry electronic device?

Niels Andrews · Post by **Niels Andrews** » 7 Apr 2012 9:13 pm

Most people would think that Peter Frampton started this talking guitar.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 8 Apr 2012 7:46 am

i think frampton found out about it from pete drake.

Wally Moyers · Post by **Wally Moyers** » 8 Apr 2012 4:02 pm

Billy Tonnesen wrote:Alvino Rey developed this technique back in the 30's and used it as novelty act with a puppet with his big Swing Band. There are U-tubes showing this.

Thats really interesting Bill...

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 8 Apr 2012 6:34 pm

Joe Walsh and Jeff Beck were doing it before Frampton, if I recall correctly. Speaking of the wah-wah pedal, I always considered that, along with the talkbox, to both be great talent equalizers - as soon as it's switched on, everybody sounds alike.

Chris LeDrew · Post by **Chris LeDrew** » 8 Apr 2012 6:50 pm

chris ivey wrote:i think frampton found out about it from pete drake.

Yes, Frampton was first exposed to it in 1970 when Pete set it up at George Harrison's All Things Must Pass sessions in England. Bob Heil built one for him in '74 which he used on Frampton and Frampton Comes Alive. Here is a quote from Frampton that I read on Drake's site:

"He was setting up his pedal steel right in front of me and got out this little box. I didn't know what was doing," Frampton recalls. "He had a pipe and plugged this in here and that in there, stuck the pipe in his mouth, started playing the pedal steel and it started coming out of his mouth. The pedal steel was singing to me, talking to me. That's when my jaw dropped, and I said, 'There it is. I've got to get that.'"

Joe Walsh used on on "Rocky Mountain Way" in 1973. Many in rock used it before that: Steppenwolf, Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, Iron Butterfly, etc. Beck used one on Blow by Blow in '75.

Wally Moyers · Post by **Wally Moyers** » 8 Apr 2012 7:05 pm

David Mason wrote:Joe Walsh and Jeff Beck were doing it before Frampton, if I recall correctly. Speaking of the wah-wah pedal, I always considered that, along with the talkbox, to both be great talent equalizers - as soon as it's switched on, everybody sounds alike.

It's like any use of effects, they all have their place but they can also become a crutch.. I hear a lot of steel players using way to much reverb and delay.. In the 80s everyone used too much chorus (i was also guilty).. All of these effects are great used tastefully but they can become defects if over used.. I think some effects are a gimmick and believe thats what the talk box was... The key to any gimmick is being the first to use it... Pete was the first I ever heard and saw use it... Its interesting hearing about the guys before him, maybe its time has come again?

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 8 Apr 2012 7:31 pm

There's a classic saying that applies to just this sort of thing: "Be the first or be the best."

Niels Andrews · Post by **Niels Andrews** » 8 Apr 2012 7:56 pm

Really an educational thread for me. Thanks guys!

Niels Andrews · Post by **Niels Andrews** » 8 Apr 2012 8:01 pm

Forgot to add, effects suck just like auto tune. One of the things I respect about BB King is he showed up with just his Axe, and can bring tears to your eyes. No amps, no boxes, no gimmicks, just talent and years of working at it.

Russ Wever · Post by **Russ Wever** » 8 Apr 2012 8:08 pm

Billy Tonnesen wrote:
Alvino Rey developed this technique back in the 30's
and used it as novelty act with a puppet with his big
Swing Band. There are U-tubes showing this.

Thats really interesting Bill...

Alvino Rey, as well as Kay Kyser and others,
used a somewhat different method than did
Pete Drake, called Sonovox.
It is modulated moreso by the larynx
than the shape of the oral cavity.
You can see it used in this ~> clip
~Russ

Wally Moyers · Post by **Wally Moyers** » 8 Apr 2012 8:17 pm

Thats cool Russ! Thanks! Thats sounds almost better than Pete's voice box.. It looks easier too...

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 8 Apr 2012 8:35 pm

More re Frampton at Pete Drake Music.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 8 Apr 2012 8:46 pm

That Sonovox clip was freaky! Nice find.

Russ Wever · Post by **Russ Wever** » 8 Apr 2012 10:12 pm

Sonovox was also widely used in jingles
and station id's along through the '60's.
At one of the most successful jingle-houses
it was the norm to record the steel track
first, then later modulate it using Sonovox,
giving them the liberty to use different call
letters for different markets.

Below are three 'before/after' examples.

The steel player was Ray Hurst and he
played a Gibson Console Grande in an
'Alvino-ish' strumming manner.

First
~>Before
~>After

Second
~>Before
~>After

Third
~>Before
~>After

Russ Wever · Post by **Russ Wever** » 9 Apr 2012 12:00 am

Below are several paragraphs
from a blog on the subject.

It differentiates between Alvino
Reys device and the Sonovox.
Fwiw, I've always had the notion that
they are one in the same, and in talk-
ing with Alvino Rey he had referred to
the device as Sonovox, though by that
time perhaps he used the term 'generically' . . .

Alvino Rey’s Throat Microphone

As stated earlier, the idea for a talk box type of effect had its roots in the 1930s. The first prototype was used by steel guitarist Alvino Rey. His device was a military issue throat microphone that was used as an output of his amplified his steel guitar. Unlike Drake, Walsh, and Frampton, Rey didn’t manipulate his own mouth to provide the talking sounds. This was done offstage by using his wife, Luise King Rey, singing through the throat microphone that was used as an output device with her husband's steel guitar signal. I have a few of Rey's 78s that I got over three decades ago, but sadly do not have 78 player any longer.

In the accompanying video of “St. Louis Blues,” Rey’s orchestra is joined by the “talking guitar” puppet “Stringy.” The gimmick was to have the sound of Luise Rey’s vocal processed with Alvino Rey’s steel guitar appear as though “Stringy” was singing. While Rey invented his device in 1939, this video is from much later in his career.

I’m not 100 percent sure, but I believe Rey is playing a six-string pedal steel guitar. It has the same design as a Multi-Kord – one of the first pedal steels on the market. I purchased a Multi-Kord steel from a fellow college student, Scott Bryant, back in 1978 for $75.00. It is a horrible little instrument because there is the tendency for the cables to stretch causing the pitch to change unevenly when the pedals are depressed. Later pedal steels used rods to correct this issue. Rey also uses the steel's tone controls to achieve certain effects. My Multi-Chord has a tone button that allowed for very quick wah-wah type by rolling off the bass when the push-button switch is depressed.

The Sonovox Output Device

Simultaneously in 1939, Gilbert Hunger Wright developed a device that his father, novelist Harold Bell Wright, called the "Sonovox." The younger Wright noticed one day that when he scratched his Adam’s apple he could make unique sounds by mouthing the words. He took two small speakers that are not much different from modern headphones, input sound to the speakers, and placed on these on an individual’s throat. The resulting sound would emanate from the persons mouth when he formed the words and gave the appearance that the instruments were singing.

In the 1940 film, “You’ll Find Out,” Harry Babbitt demonstrates the Sonovox with Kay Kyser’s band. I’m not sure how they did this live, as the instruments do not appear to be miked. It is possible that it was prerecorded or there were other instrumentalists backstage that were miked and played on cue. He is not miked either until he sings with Kay. Is it live or or is Bell Labs? With that said, most recordings of that era were done with a single mike and that may be what is happening here. The single mic records were marvelous as correct mic placement allowed for a balance of the instrumentation and vocals.

Pete Drake’s Talking Actuator

In the 1960s, Nashville session musician, Pete Drake took the technology one step closer to today’s talk box. Drake attached an ordinary paper speaker cone that was attached to a funnel’s wide end and a plastic tube on the narrow end. The tube ran to his mouth where he mouthed words while playing his pedal steel. The device was used on a number of recordings, but was impractical for live performances as the volume levels were low. I am including his single “Forever” and its flip side, “I’m Just a Guitar (Everybody Picks on Me).

The link to the blog, which includes
other similar devices ~> click

~Russ

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 9 Apr 2012 12:52 am

Btw

One of the things I respect about BB King is he showed up with just his Axe...

But he used the wah wah at least on one of his records.
"Lucille Talks Back" fom 1975 has it all over it. Not the Vox version, but the one that came out later in the early seventies.

Russ Wever · Post by **Russ Wever** » 9 Apr 2012 1:41 am

A Sonovox demonstration ~> click
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Pete Drake- Talking Steel Guitar

Pete Drake- Talking Steel Guitar

Talking steel.