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Topic: The Very First Pedal Steel Guitar song |
Kenneth Kotsay
From:
Davie/Ft Lauderdale, Florida
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Posted 2 Oct 2019 10:59 am |
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Most Pedal Steel players know that in 1954 Webb Pierce recorded,'Slowly" with Bud Iaacs playing his Pedal Steel. This song is considered to be the first country song to use a pedal steel guitar.
BUT.................
What was the very first recorded song using a pedal steel guitar.
Here's some facts:
In 1939 Jay Harlin produces the, Kalina Multi-kord pedal steel.
Sold for $395.
In 1942 Gibson comes out with the Electra-Harp, another pedal steel guitar, sold for $477.
So if these pedal steels where around back in the late 30s & early 40's, who played them and what were the songs they played or the song(s) they recorded using a pedal steel guitar????????? |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 2 Oct 2019 2:01 pm
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Years and years ago, I documented here on the Forum the earliest stuff I could find. Most of it was Hawaiian music. I'll either have to search out that post (if it still exists), or try to re-gather all that info.
May take me a while.  |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 2 Oct 2019 2:22 pm
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Bud Isaacs' "first" is not about whether the guitar had pedals, but whether their audible movement was a deliberate feature of the song.
When valves were first introduced to the French horn, there was no intention to move them while actually playing.
Did anyone play a Multi-kord or Electra-Harp with audible squeezes? Wasn't it just a quick way to change tunings without needing multiple necks?
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Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
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Posted 2 Oct 2019 3:25 pm
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| Donny Hinson wrote: |
Years and years ago, I documented here on the Forum the earliest stuff I could find. Most of it was Hawaiian music. I'll either have to search out that post (if it still exists), or try to re-gather all that info.
May take me a while. |
Donny - I found this one.
Click Here |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 2 Oct 2019 7:42 pm
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| Thanks Lee! That wasn't my first post on the subject, but that will work to satisfy most people who are curious about some early "moving pedal harmonies while playing". |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 3 Oct 2019 12:53 am
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"Moving pedal harmonies while playing" - that's the clincher.
_________________
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Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 3 Oct 2019 7:45 am
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It's a good thing Bud Isaacs came around because, as far as I'm concerned, Webb Pierce wasn't much of a singer. 
Erv |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 3 Oct 2019 8:15 am
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Erv's right - there is nothing to commend that song except Isaacs' historic contribution. Was he shrewd enough not to pick a big name for his experiment in case it didn't work?
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Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 3 Oct 2019 3:59 pm
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| Erv Niehaus wrote: |
It's a good thing Bud Isaacs came around because, as far as I'm concerned, Webb Pierce wasn't much of a singer.
Erv |
Erv, Webb's career spanned over 30 years. During that time, he had over 60 records on the Billboard Top 20 charts, with 13 of them reaching #1 between 1952 and 1957. They also rated him the #1 country singer of the 1950's, the #7 country singer of the 1960's, and the #9 country singer of all time up to the year of 2005.
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 3 Oct 2019 4:14 pm
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I wouldn't have guessed. Maybe it's not one of his best.
_________________
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 4 Oct 2019 12:19 am
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What was?
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Brian Hollands
From:
Geneva, FL USA
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Posted 4 Oct 2019 4:58 am
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The Cocaine and Rhinestones podcast on Ralph Mooney credits Speedy West in 1949. https://cocaineandrhinestones.com/ralph-mooney-country-music-sound It mentions Alvino Rey too.
Starting at about 14:50 through about the 18 minute mark it discusses Mooney's influences and plays a clip of West from '49. Not that this is some supreme authority but it adds a bit to the discussion. Cool podcast too.
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 4 Oct 2019 8:04 am
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The very first recorded song using a pedal steel guitar was probably by Alvino Rey. His "St. Louis Blues" (1940) may have been played on one of the early Gibson pedal steel prototypes.
Alvino Rey wasn't real obvious in his pedal use, and his steel parts were pretty simple. Speedy West came along a few years later and blew everyone's mind with his virtuosity. But the thing they had in common was the use of pedals to create big swing chords. The use of pedals was hidden from the audience, which I imagine baffled students of the instrument. On the radio, a pedal guitar didn't sound much different from a multi-neck console until you tried to play all of the chords they were using.
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Mitch Drumm
From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 4 Oct 2019 12:49 pm
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I don't think so. Maybe I should have said "deliberately audible squeezes", like you get from the Sho-Bud era onwards. On both of those songs I think I can hear tuning changes, but they are incidental and not supposed to draw attention. That's how it seems to me, anyway.
Thanks for posting, Mitch - I'd never have heard those songs otherwise! 
_________________
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Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Mitch Drumm
From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
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Posted 4 Oct 2019 1:09 pm
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| Ian Rae wrote: |
I don't think so. Maybe I should have said "deliberately audible squeezes", like you get from the Sho-Bud era onwards. On both of those songs I think I can hear tuning changes, but they are incidental and not supposed to draw attention. That's how it seems to me, anyway.
Thanks for posting, Mitch - I'd never have heard those songs otherwise! |
That's supposed to be Bud on an Electraharp.
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 4 Oct 2019 1:32 pm
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That would make sense. It's very tasteful, and the changes are smoothed over rather than exaggerated.
What instrument did he use on "Slowly"? Was it something different or just the same one played a different way, I wonder?
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Mitch Drumm
From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
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Posted 4 Oct 2019 1:51 pm
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| Ian Rae wrote: |
That would make sense. It's very tasteful, and the changes are smoothed over rather than exaggerated.
What instrument did he use on "Slowly"? Was it something different or just the same one played a different way, I wonder? |
The above songs were from July 7, 1950. Slowly was recorded on November 29, 1953---over 40 months later.
But I don't know if Bud had his Bigsby guitar by that time. I don't think I've seen the serial number on it.
Nor do I know if he was using the Electraharp after 1951. There may have been an intervening guitar.
The pic of Bud with Thumbs Carlille above is from Bend Oregon during the summer of 1951 on a Dickens tour. Thumbs is playing the Butterball Paige Bigsby standard. |
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