Don Henley steeler

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 22 Sep 2015 8:31 am

Can you ID the steel player from last night's performance on Colbert?
Clue: It's not Doogie Howser..

Brett Day · Post by **Brett Day** » 22 Sep 2015 8:54 am

Could be BJ Cole

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 22 Sep 2015 10:00 am

Too young for BJ Cole, I think...

Frank Freniere · Post by **Frank Freniere** » 22 Sep 2015 10:56 am

Milo Deering is supposed to be touring with DH. Perhaps he got a haircut... and glasses ...

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 22 Sep 2015 1:28 pm

i saw it, too. odd look with those glasses.
very conservative playing.

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 22 Sep 2015 1:48 pm

His name is David Mansfield.

Nick Reed · Post by **Nick Reed** » 22 Sep 2015 5:30 pm

he was playing a Williams

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 23 Sep 2015 2:13 am

He's been playing steel for quite some time. He's on a record by Roger McGuinn fom '76. Check out "Partners In Crime" on youtube.

Craig Baker · Post by **Craig Baker** » 23 Sep 2015 4:35 am

Didn't Jeff Newman have a twin brother?

Craig

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 23 Sep 2015 7:23 am

If you check out David's bio on his website, you'll find he has a resumé as long as your arm:

http://www.david-mansfield.com/bio.html

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 23 Sep 2015 7:26 am

Confusing, because there's a video on Facebook with two steel players, one of whom is BJ Cole.

But, although there is a physical resemblance here, this chap is too young to be Brian. Anyway, Jon Light seems to be sure of his identity.

Another concidence - in the FB video BJ is playing a keyless Williams - this gentleman is also playing a Williams, but a standard format guitar.

As you can tell, I'm having a slow day here at home...

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 23 Sep 2015 8:26 am

I'm satisfied that it's David Mansfield. Tons of cred, and looks a lot younger than 59…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Mansfield

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 23 Sep 2015 8:50 am

chris ivey wrote: ...very conservative playing.

With all the people on that stage - horn section, four backup singers, two keyboards, etc. it would have been a cluster____ if David was really "going for it" on the steel.

I saw over to the right on acoustic is occasional Eagle co-lead guitarist Steuart Smith. Occasional because they only occasionally tour, and Smith replaced the fired Felder in 2001.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 23 Sep 2015 10:30 am

Just saw that. I notice that he has a mic setup. Unusual for a touring steel guitarist.

The Williams sounded great, and his playing was spot on.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 23 Sep 2015 10:33 am

yeah i know mark. i heard some pretty stuff in the background. i was just disappointed overall. i was expecting something better from don. this style didn't do it for me.

that guy did look a little like jeff newman with no personality, though.

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 23 Sep 2015 10:45 am

It's possible that exhibiting too much personality on stage in Don Henley's band if you're not Don Henley is not allowed.

But that might be too harsh an assessment of Don, though he's had stories following him around over the years. And it doesn't seem to matter what you're really like, but stories follow those around whom have spent a lot of time at or near the top of the heap like Don Henley - and some of them might even be true!

Jerry Douglas played on the new Henley album and he had nice things to say about Don sometime back and posted the following on his forum:

I just spent the day yesterday recording with Don Henley. I guess he counts as a Rocker, albeit a soft one. The guy has pipes though. He started singing the song in D, we moved it to E, then he lowered it to Eb and suddenly I was in the Hotel California. Great guy too. You don't have such an enduring career without a great personality.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 23 Sep 2015 11:04 am

Craig Baker wrote:Didn't Jeff Newman have a twin brother?

Craig

My first thought too.

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 23 Sep 2015 11:28 am

This is the first song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CslgPde2xNU

Another song from the show---the outro number--I listened thru out of respect for well produced, well crafted music but it is a bit trying on my patience. This is only very rarely my thing (the second song).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1MnWV6 ... ture=share
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b0b · Post by **b0b** » 23 Sep 2015 1:35 pm

Thanks for posting that, Jon. The second song wasn't broadcast on TV. There are some real pretty steel harmonics in the outro. In places, David gets a horn-like tone from his Williams. I really like it!

Not much steel to be heard, though. The featured instruments are the very photogenic fretless bass and of course the trumpet solo. Does Henley feature pedal steel on his new album at all?

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 23 Sep 2015 1:54 pm

In places, David gets a horn-like tone from his Williams.

Yeah--that turned my head too.

I don't know if the steel is featured on the album but I believe Milo Deering is on the sessions.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 23 Sep 2015 2:15 pm

i'd heard milo was doing it. i'm sure he would play exceptional steel and all his other instruments.
and i would think it would be hard to subdue milo's personality.

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 23 Sep 2015 2:36 pm

Judging by his solo multi-instrumental videos, I do believe that irrepressible would be a good word.

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 23 Sep 2015 3:12 pm

Check out Don dipping into the Louvin Brothers catalog with the stellar assistance of Miss Dolly on When I Stop Dreaming in the link below.

I don't recognize the guy on the well-worn Emmons, but I know someone here can surely identify him, and he is providing some classic playing for this classic song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKld0YQPojc

As to the featuring of steel, I just read an article on NPR and the author stated that in the credits pedal steel guitar appears in 14 of the 16 songs.

I am going to buy the CD which comes out on Friday, but I want to make sure to get the version with bonus tracks. The "regular" edition contains 12 songs, the Deluxe edition has 16, and this tune with Dolly is only on the Deluxe edition.

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 23 Sep 2015 3:38 pm

Looks a little like Doug Pettibone but since everybody's syncing, it hardly makes sense to book him for an acting session although this guy mimes it well enough that it has to be a steel player. If a director or an artist demands that the playing look legit, I suppose serious players can get work on video sessions? I don't pretend to have any idea how stuff works.

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 23 Sep 2015 3:57 pm

I'm guessing it might be the same guy that played on the actual track, but then I have no idea how this stuff works either.

If music video producers only went for "pretty people"in a band to make the video look nice then there are an awful lot of folks since the whole thing started becoming a big deal a few decades ago whose faces would have never been viewed on a screen.