Steeler: Sneaky Pete Kleinow
Artist: Flying Burrito Brothers
LP Title: Close Up The Honky-Tonks
Tune: Beat The Heat
Label: A&M SP-3631
Year: Probably recorded in 1971, and not released until this album of out-takes and alternate versions came out in 1974
Here's Sneaky at the top of his game, playing different licks than everybody else, going for a whole different sound than Nashville, and yet still playing fast and clean.
Last edited by Joe Goldmark on 25 Apr 2017 6:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
Has anyone ever tabbed this tune out for E9th tuning ? It's always been one of my favorites but i can't seem to get anywhere with it. I've only been playin steel a little over a year & i'd really like to play this one.
Billy, yes as far as I know, Sneaky played the same Fender his whole career. I'm not sure it was a 400, as I remember more than four pedals. I'm sure someone could answer that.
Mike, I'm unaware of tab for this song. It would be a stretch for a veteran steeler to play it well, because Sneaky's tuning was a little different than an E9 or C6. Also I think he used both feet on the pedals at times, and this tune is real fast. So a lot of his licks fit his tuning better than it would fit ours. I would suggest starting with something like "White Line Fever" by the Burritos and copping some of those licks, as an introduction to Sneaky's licks.
Sneaky Pete's B6 tuning is shown under "pedal steel tunings" on the home page of this website. I belive it is from hi to low, D# B,G#,F#, D#,B,G#, F#. It is same as low C6, just a half a step down. He had about nine pedals and I haven't been able to figure out how most of them were used.
Pete modified his 400 by adding 5 pedals and 2 kls. There are a few of us who have a 400 with some version of Pete's B6. It is an interesting tuning to play around with.
Ed Bierly tabbed "Beat the Heat" for the B6 with Tabledit.
I'm not sure how to attach it but send me an email and I'll forward it to you. Again, this is for the 8 string B6 so I'm not sure how you'll translate this for the E9 and even if you have a B6 with all the changes there is no guarantee that you will be able play it like Pete!
I got my first 400 in 2005 and used a modified E9 on it. This is a short version of "Take it Easy" by the Eagles when I got together with some friends I played with in the late 70's. Excuse the performance and recording but you can get much of Pete's feel on E9. Mine was a 60's sunburst with the bottom 8 of a 10 string tuning through a Pro Reverb. The solo starts at about 1:30.
