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Topic: Steel on non Country records |
Chris Templeton
From:
The Green Mountain State
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Franklin
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Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
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Barry Blackwood
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Posted 16 Mar 2018 6:24 pm |
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| Quote: |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67CNsnCbbxM
Country Rock in 7/4 |
Played in a band that would occasionally play this for all the line dancers, creating a hilarious clusterf**k every time!   |
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Bill L. Wilson
From:
Oklahoma, USA
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Posted 16 Mar 2018 9:29 pm Man, What a Drummer!!!
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| Vinnie Colaiuta, One Really Fantastic Drummer. Old Sting is a different breed of cat. |
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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Posted 16 Mar 2018 10:52 pm
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BJ cole plays also on this cut by Gary Brooker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Kochb7QH6o
The rhythm is also a bit complex. Drums by Dave Mattacks.
_________________
Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube. |
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Franklin
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Posted 18 Mar 2018 6:39 pm
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Joachim,
Your curiosity as to who and why the decision is made to hire a steel is what I thought of asking when I interviewed Dann Huff...Dann's personal resume spans the spectrum from Madonna to Merle Haggard...It was his decision to put steel on the sessions he produced for Peter Cetera, Kelly Clarkson, and Megadeth. Even though I was who he hired I never knew the reason steel was added...His insights are very interesting.
Paul |
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Tim Herman
From:
Alberta, Canada
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David Gertschen
From:
Phoenix, Arizona
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Posted 22 Mar 2018 5:39 pm
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| Jeff "Skunk" Baxter's playing on the Doobie Brothers "South City Midnight Lady" has always been one of my favorites. |
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scott murray
From:
Asheville, NC
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Posted 28 Mar 2018 9:35 am
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this has turned into a great thread. might get more action in the Steel Players section?
on the subject of Megadeth... which album or songs feature your steel mr. Franklin?
and let's not forget this little ditty by Parliament:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFNM7nG2OUQ
Greg Leisz is all over that last Daft Punk album which was huge.
or Bruce Bouton's work with Maxwell:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkeCNeHcmXY
_________________
1965 Emmons S-10, 3x5 • Emmons LLIII D-10, 10x12 • JCH D-10, 10x12 • Beard MA-8 • Oahu Tonemaster |
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Douglas Schuch
From:
Valencia, Philippines
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Posted 28 Mar 2018 2:45 pm
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Jimmy Buffett was originally considered more country, but kind of defined his own genre (I call it Coconut Country). Pedal steel has been a part of his sound throughout the years.
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Bringing steel guitar to the bukid of Negros Oriental! |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 4 Apr 2018 10:53 pm Re: Steel on non Country records
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| Joachim Kettner wrote: |
I often wondered what made artists or producers decide to employ steel (maybe only for one track) on a record. There are many examples: Carpenters, Clapton, Tim Hardin.
The only info I have is for "Teach Your Children". Is there any more information? |
I seem to have made a little world of my own playing steel in different settings. In my experience producers hire me because they see me playing or are in a band I'm playing in. One chain of events that led to some very successful work went like this:
I met a really wild improviser/composer at a club in NYC. I told him I have a pedalsteel and a gig playing quiet drone/noise music at this weird restaurant downtown. Come by and play. They feed us and we make a little cash. He shows up and its super fun playing so we get together once a week at his place basically getting drunk and experimenting with sounds. He writes an opera that gets produced that does a couple concerts. The piano player for the opera is an arranger. A year later I get a call from him to fill out some sounds in the string section for this pop record he is doing an orchestration for. The producer of the pop record see's this pedalsteel player that is fitting into a very dense arrangement. So he hires me for an overdub session on a tune by this new band called Hem. It goes really well so I end up all over the record and they hire me to tour with them as well as record.
During the course of all this I get known as a pedalsteel player who can hang with different musics. So I get calls for all sorts of stuff. NYC was just a fantastic place at the time. Everybody was looking different sounds and combinations. Plus I got a ton of work playing real simple pretty stuff from the Hem connection.
There is some truly wild and great music happening in Austin now that is not connected to the country scene.
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Bob |
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Glenn Suchan
From:
Austin, Texas
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Jim Fogarty
From:
Phila, Pa, USA
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Posted 5 Apr 2018 5:33 pm
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One early hit that helped start the steel on pop records trend.....
My buddy and occasional musical partner Iain (back then, Ian) Matthews and his band Matthews Southern Comfort......featuring Gordon Hundley on steel.
#1 UK hit and tons of US airplay in 1970....
"Woodstock"
https://youtu.be/qIHfuihoz70 |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 5 Apr 2018 8:25 pm
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Bob Hoffnar, great story and great answer!
I don’t have “information†as such, but like others have said, I believe an open minded and educated producer is a key ingredient for recording with pedal steel.
It also helps to have an open-minded artist that isn’t afraid to expose their fan base to a song with a touch of twang on their otherwise non-country album. That seems to be much more of a rarity than it was in the 60’s, 70’s, and even into the 80’s. Dire Straits with Paul Franklin - what a gem of a recording On Every Street is! It seemed so obvious after only the first time listening to it. Of course this band will sound great with pedal steel! Why didn’t we think of it before? |
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Ford Cole
From:
Texas
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Posted 6 Apr 2018 3:21 pm
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| David Crowder, contemporary Christian artist, sprinkles a little steel into several of his songs and it fits very well! Does anyone know of other artists who use steel in this particular style? |
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Rick Bernauer
From:
Kansas, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2018 5:45 pm
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For any of you who haven't checked out Bob Hoffnar's work on the Hem albums, his approach is a text book example of leaving out the "country cliches" (but I do love them) and keeping the haunting beauty of the pedal steel. That's how you get producers and bands to be willing to give PSG a try outside the country genre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFQrH9w8VM4 - Redwing by Hem. |
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Anthony Lis
From:
South Dakota, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2018 8:27 pm
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| David Gertschen wrote: |
| Jeff "Skunk" Baxter's playing on the Doobie Brothers "South City Midnight Lady" has always been one of my favorites. |
Yes—a fine song/fine steel-playing. |
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Jim Fogarty
From:
Phila, Pa, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2018 8:31 pm
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| David Gertschen wrote: |
| Jeff "Skunk" Baxter's playing on the Doobie Brothers "South City Midnight Lady" has always been one of my favorites. |
Even better....on Steely Dan's "Pearl of the Quarter"
https://youtu.be/9CbL2-nvalE |
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Olaf van Roggen
From:
The Netherlands
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Posted 7 Apr 2018 6:37 am
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When I was in my teens my dad loved Rock n Roll and Rockabilly too. I never liked it, one of his favourite singer was Robert Gordon.
I remember a country song on one of his albums that I really liked, especially the pedal steel guitar part.
Robert Gordon must have listened to country songs too i guess.
"Standing on the outside of her door" with I think Lloyd Green on pedal steel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6zradYHnwI |
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Dennis Montgomery
From:
Western Washington
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Tom Spaulding
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Doug Cassell
From:
San Antonio Texas, USA
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Posted 7 Apr 2018 7:35 pm
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Look at Steve’s face on that video. He is totally on acid!  |
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