Sneaky Pete

[Bill Ford]

Don't know if this has been posted....this is one cool dude,to call him a genus would be to downplay his accomplishments.. BF


http://youtube.com/watch?v=mMdqt1xtV9Q& ... ed&search=

[Russ Tkac]

Very true!

Exclusive Web Tribute by His daughter, Anita Kleinow

Sneaky Pete Kleinow, 1934-2007
By Anita Kleinow | July 2007

When asked once about the Flying Burrito Brothers’ constant change of participants and how he experienced the people coming and going, Sneaky Pete replied, “I just played the music and let them sort it out.”

And play he did—on more than 250 albums throughout his lifetime using the same Fender 400, 8-string pedal-steel guitar he’d been loyal to.

While still in high school, Pete joined a music class to learn the steel guitar he fell in love with while listening to the radio.

“They didn’t call it steel guitar then—they called it electric slide guitar. So my grandmother rented a single neck for me. I met my wife, Ernesteen in that class. She’s still pretty cute,” he said in a 2004 interview.

At age 16, he started playing his first gigs driving from Dowagiac, Michigan, across the state line to Indiana. In 1954, he met bass player Cliff Manuel while playing at the Bluebird bar in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Their friendship lasted a lifetime. A rhythm guitarist going by the name of “Flyrod” and a drummer made up their four-piece band that played regularly at the High Hat in South Bend, Indiana, where Pete was born, and at Kubiak’s—a large Quonset-hut structure on the Michigan side of the Indiana/Michigan state line.

“Pete played lead, as he was already an accomplished musician by this time,” Cliff told me.

Being three years older than Pete, Cliff did not have any trouble getting into the bars they played at, but Pete did, and he had a fake ID showing the name “Pete Metcalf.”

In 1957, Pete packed up his pregnant wife, sons Martin and Aaron, daughter Anita, and mother-in-law Eliza, and left for California, ending up in El Cajon. “Cactus” Soldi—one of the owners of the Bostonia Ballroom—needed a steel player to replace Joaquin Murphy, who was leaving. He hired Pete, and after learning that his little family was waiting out in the car, offered them use of the apartment atop the ballroom until they got back on their feet. On Pete’s first night playing, Cactus introduced him as “Sneaky” Pete as he ripped into “Cannonball Rag.” The crowd went wild, and the name stuck.

In October, Ernesteen gave birth to their fourth child, Tammy, and Pete knew he would have to get a day job to supplement his meager wages. He was not thrilled about taking a dull 9-to-5 job. Scanning the want ads, he saw Clokey Productions was looking for an animator, and he called for an interview. Meeting with owner Art Clokey, he was asked if he had ever done any animating before, and Pete answered just as any other hopeful applicant would—with a roaring “Yes!” This was, of course, a lie.

“Well, let’s see what you can do,” said Art.

After taking Pete around the studio to watch some of the other animators at work, Art pointed to a set, and asked Pete to “do something.”

“I'll be back in a couple of hours to see what you’ve got,” he said.

When Art returned, and viewed Pete’s work, he hired him on the spot as animator, and, later, as supervisor and studio coordinator for the Gumby and Davey and Goliath television series.

It has been erroneously reported that Pete left music to work in films, or quit film work to go back to music. Pete had two very distinct careers simultaneously: animation and special effects during the day, and music at night. The man had tremendous energy, a joy and appreciation of life, and never-ending creativity. He was a humble man who could have played the role of rock star, but it just wasn’t in him. At age 72, he was still carrying his steel guitar himself (it weighs 85 lbs), and using the case as a seat when he played.

He loved his family and friends. But, most of all, he loved the music.

Some Selected “Sneaky Pete” Career Credits
Film:
The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao
The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
The Empire Strikes Back
Cave Man
The Right Stuff
Robocop II
The Terminator
Terminator II
Gremlins
Dune
Flight of the Navigator

Television:
Gumby
Davey and Goliath
The Outer Limits
Land of the Lost
Carl Sagan’s The Cosmos
The Twilight Zone
The Winds of War

Recording:
The Ventures
Sir Raleigh and The Coupons
Flying Burrito Brothers
Byrds
Burrito Deluxe
Jackson Browne
Bee Gee's
Gene Clark
Leonard Cohen
Rita Coolidge
Spencer Davis
Everly Brothers
Fleetwood Mac
Dan Fogelberg
The Jackson 5
Billy Joel
Tom Jones
The Knack
L.T.D.
Johnny Lee
The Lemonheads
John Lennon
Huey Lewis
Gordon Lightfoot
Little Feat
Little Richard
Terry Melcher
Bette Midler
Steve Miller
Joni Mitchell
Olivia Newton-John
Harry Nilsson
Danny O’Keefe
Yoko Ono
Robert Palmer
Shawn Phillips
The Rave-Ups
Helen Reddy
Minnie Ripperton
The Rolling Stones
Linda Ronstadt
Leon Russell
Neil Sedaka
Carly Simon
Sly & The Family Stone
Ringo Starr
Jennifer Warnes
Bobby Womack
Stevie Wonder
Frank Zappa

Awards:
Emmy, Winds of War
Lifetime Achievement Award, 15th Annual Los Angeles Music Awards

[Russ Tkac]

[Al Moss]

Nice pics, info and You Tube film.

BTW: I know that I don't know, so, maybe some other folks would like to know too --- How did Pete become known as "Sneaky Pete.."?

[Greg Simmons]

In 1957, Pete packed up his pregnant wife, sons Martin and Aaron, daughter Anita, and mother-in-law Eliza, and left for California, ending up in El Cajon. “Cactus” Soldi—one of the owners of the Bostonia Ballroom—needed a steel player to replace Joaquin Murphy, who was leaving. He hired Pete, and after learning that his little family was waiting out in the car, offered them use of the apartment atop the ballroom until they got back on their feet. On Pete’s first night playing, Cactus introduced him as “Sneaky” Pete as he ripped into “Cannonball Rag.” The crowd went wild, and the name stuck.