The top three pedal steel players of all time.

Cody Stewart · Post by **Cody Stewart** » 19 Jul 2019 8:53 am

I'm interested in everyone's opinion on who they believe the three most revolutionary pedal steel players of all time are? The Criteria is Innovation, Taste, Touch, Tone ect... We all know the impact Buddy Emmons has had on the world of pedal steel. His contribution probably cannot be matched.

With all of that, here are my "picks" and they are order particular.

1. Jimmy Day
2. Lloyd Green
3. John Hughey

Tell me yours and why...

Regards,
Cody Stewart

Justin Emmert · Post by **Justin Emmert** » 19 Jul 2019 9:33 am

1. Buddy Emmons- father of modern steel guitar changes, co-designer of Emmons and Sho-Bud Guitars

2. Lloyd Green- his innovative playing

3. Paul Franklin- his touring and recording history, bringing steel playing up to modern style, the PFG method being the most modern and innovative teaching platform.

4. Cowboy Eddie Long- He's probably the #1 player I idolize. Love his music and style of playing.

Basically, in my thinking, Buddy and Lloyd took the addition of pedals to steel guitar to give us the copedent we all consider the standard. They also used those changes to give us the standard for country music playing. Franklin took what they figured out furthered it into today's music with playing that is more relevant to todays artists and expanding steel to other styles of music other than country.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 19 Jul 2019 9:34 am

Mine, in order:
1. John Hughey
2. Buddy Emmons
3. Sonny Garrish

Thiel Hatt · Post by **Thiel Hatt** » 19 Jul 2019 9:43 am

I would put them into catagories:
1.Steel guitar (without pedals = Jerry Byrd
2. Western Swing..Maurice Anderson . . Herb Remington
3. Thumb pickers... Bobby Garrett
4. West coast style...Ralph Mooney
5. Current pickers = Paul Franklin...Tommy White...Lloyd Green
6. Instructors = Jeff Newman
7. innovator = BUDDY EMMONS
8. Style and soul = Jimmy Day....John Hughey..Lloyd Green
9. Less known Hidden talent...Audie Shields

Brett Lanier · Post by **Brett Lanier** » 19 Jul 2019 9:44 am

1. Buddy Emmons

2. Lloyd Green

3. Can't choose a third! It's a tie between Buddy Charleton, Hal Rugg, Paul Franklin, Terry Crisp, Curly Chalker, Weldon Myrick, Jim Loessberg, Pete Drake, and probably a few others.

If we were including non-pedal steel, Joaquin Murphey and Jerry Byrd would be right up there at the top too.

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 19 Jul 2019 10:05 am

Sneaky Pete,Tom Brumley,Al Perkins.

W. C. Edgar · Post by **W. C. Edgar** » 19 Jul 2019 11:12 am

This is a no brainer
You must remember that when Emmons and Day got the first Sho-Bud guitars they went from 8 string to 10 string and that the chromatic strings were on the bottom until they (Emmons and Day) moved them to the top.
That's inovation
There was no instructional material in those days like now
Without a doubt my choices are
1.Buddy Emmons the greatest steel guitarist to ever walk the earth
2.Jimmy Day (the master of touch and tone)
Thats it

scott murray · Post by **scott murray** » 19 Jul 2019 11:28 am

narrowing it down to 3 is near impossible, but so is 10 or 20 in my opinion. so I will cheat like others have

if we concede that Buddy Emmons is the greatest of all-time in a league of his own, then we can go from there. I would also put Curly Chalker in a league of his own.

the most influential, revolutionary, and therefore greatest pedal players would have to include

Jimmy Day
Ralph Mooney
Lloyd Green

my list of personal favorites is much longer, and I'm grateful I don't have to choose one over another.

James Mayer · Post by **James Mayer** » 19 Jul 2019 12:05 pm

1) Johnny Farina
2) Ron Wood (Rolling Stones)
3) Jerry Garcia

Barry Coker · Post by **Barry Coker** » 19 Jul 2019 1:21 pm

#1 Buddy Emmons

#2 John Hughey
#3 Tommy White

Dana Blodgett · Post by **Dana Blodgett** » 19 Jul 2019 1:43 pm

1.-Lloyd Green

2.-Jay Dee Maness

3.-Buddy Cage

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 19 Jul 2019 2:01 pm

Cody asks for the three most revolutionary.

Bud Isaacs, Speedy West and Ralph Mooney then.

Long live the revolution!

Steven Paris · Post by **Steven Paris** » 19 Jul 2019 2:02 pm

JD Maness
Mike Johnson
Paul Franklin

Larry Ball · Post by **Larry Ball** » 19 Jul 2019 2:21 pm

The Great Players have been mentioned numerous times, so I will express my view on the following,

Lloyd Green (Studio performances and innovations)

Paul Franklin (Pick Blocking Technique, bringing the PSG into modern music, Eg: Dire Straits Tour, his teaching practices and recording performances.)

Sarah Jory - for showing us a modern PGA (Eg: her Abby Melody) and other song selections.

My two cents....

GaryL · Post by **GaryL** » 19 Jul 2019 5:19 pm

There ain't no such thing!

Jerry Horch · Post by **Jerry Horch** » 20 Jul 2019 10:20 am

Franklin
Chalker
Hughey
Emmons
Innovation and style...
Thats tuff...all mentioned on other posts are masters..
3 most beautiful women ever is easier..
Raquel
Raquel
Raquel

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 20 Jul 2019 12:06 pm

Cody Stewart wrote:We all know the impact Buddy Emmons has had on the world of pedal steel. His contribution probably cannot be matched.

Agreed. The old Playboy polls for party schools exempted UW Madison from their rankings, fully realizing the race was for number two. Same deal with Buddy Emmons.

Bud Isaacs was nothing if not revolutionary. He delivered the pedal steel guitar stylings of Alvino Rey, Speedy West, Marion Hall, et al into the modern era with one very, very influential recording. He set the table for guys like Emmons and Jimmy Day, who were pushing each other with new tunings, adding strings, creating pedal changes, etc. Operating independently a half-continent away, Ralph Mooney was doing likewise.

Since this discussion disqualifies non-pedal players, and exempting Emmons into class unto himself, my top three "revolutionary"...pedal steelers in terms of "Innovation, Taste, Touch, Tone" would be:

1) Bud Isaacs
2) Jimmy Day
3) Ralph Mooney

Honorable Mention: Robert Randolph

Paul Pearson · Post by **Paul Pearson** » 20 Jul 2019 3:10 pm

Let us not to forget junior knight and Randy Beavers

Dan Kelly · Post by **Dan Kelly** » 20 Jul 2019 4:02 pm

Buddy Emmons
Buck Reid
Doug Jernigan

Best PSG players / performers
Joe Wright
Sara Jory

Jon Voth · Post by **Jon Voth** » 20 Jul 2019 5:48 pm

Love this post because I don't know enough but get to be directed on who to check out.

A bit surprised Emmons not mentioned more, and Jernigen only once.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 20 Jul 2019 6:14 pm

Time machine ... correcting my dumb post via deletion.

Blake Hawkins · Post by **Blake Hawkins** » 20 Jul 2019 6:22 pm

Duplicate post

Kevin Fix · Post by **Kevin Fix** » 20 Jul 2019 6:24 pm

Buddy Emmons
Lloyd Green
Hal Rugg
John Hughey
Maurice Anderson

Blake Hawkins · Post by **Blake Hawkins** » 20 Jul 2019 6:26 pm

My picks: Slim Idaho
Speedy West
Jerry Byrd
I guess I'm a bit older than many of you.
Probably Buddy Emmons and Herb Remington plus
Joaquin Murphy and Leon McAuliffe should be on there too.

OOPS, I missed that it is for Pedal Steel Players.
Revised list: Emmons, Charlton, Chalker

Blake Hawkins · Post by **Blake Hawkins** » 20 Jul 2019 6:45 pm

Duplicate post.

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