Imagine this: You’re looking through some old albums in a used record store and you pull out one titled “Ralph Mooney Plays Gospel Standards”. You then look on the back and to your amazement, the record company actually listed the musicians’ credits, and look a that! Don Rich and James Burton played guitar on the album, and Sneaky Pete even dropped by and played some guest solos on a few songs. Too bad such an album was never recorded. This description is given only as a hint at the styles and flavors of my new “West Coast Gospel Steel Guitar” CD. I make no claims to even play in the same universe with these legends, but this description along with the sound clips below will tell the story. The CD is actually more interesting than the sound clips can portray. There is a lot of diversity in sounds and textures.
Whether I'm playing West Coast style steel or just listening to it, I feel good inside. It's like extra bits of sunshine pouring down on me. Inspirational and gospel music are designed to make you feel very much like that, so I have combined the two in the songs on this CD. I believe that West Coast style steel will be around as long as the steel guitar itself. There's something about it that brightens a person's spirit and makes him glad to be alive. God created us to be happy, and I've really enjoyed the making of this album. I hope it brings you that kind of joy and that you'll want to hear it over and over again.
Here are seven sound samples, and there are more on my site. Click on the title to listen.
There is so much more substance in the CD than the sound clips can portray. For instance, there are several songs where I alternated between the Mooney-like stuff and some Sneaky Pete-like solos on a Fender 1000 with Pete's tuning on it. It's amazing how Pete's style fits into this project, and gospel music specifically.
Mike - You have a new fan. You have cleanly nailed the west coast sound and style. I hear the obvious Mooney influence with shades of Brumley and Pete mixed in. Your tone and touch is to die for and the classic Don Rich style guitar lick on the second tune is really clever. Questions:
1. Who played guitar?
2. Can you give a rundown of the steels and amps you used? I think I hear a lot of Fender 1000, but maybe not on every track?
Anyway - thanks for keeping the west coast sound alive and kicking! This was clearly a truly inspired project on many levels.
Thanks, Tim. I'm happy that you liked it. West coast style is a side thing for me, but I started out that way, and still love it. I played guitar professionaly before I got my first steel, so it's convenient for me to play guitar on my own projects. There are actually several songs on the CD with the Don Rich style guitar.
I ran three tracks of steel into the recorder. Two tracks were generated by a Profex ll, and were panned left and right. A third track came from a Shure SM57 placed in front of an Evans amp which was placed in the center of the stereo image. Different Profex settings gave me different sounds for each song. Occasionally I would change the balance between the Profex tracks and the mic track to get an "out of phase" effect. That's a trick I sometimes use when recording Mooney type stuff. All I've described here was when I played my Zum.
You are correct in thinking you heard a Fender 1000. I only used that guitar on the Sneaky Pete style solos. I played that guitar through a POD except on two songs. On those songs I played into a stereo phasor which fed two direct boxes. No further effects were added to the 1000. Man, that 1000 through a phasor is beautiful sound!
You asked for it....you got it! Hope this wasn't too much info. Thanks for asking.
