Steel Guitar Is Not Just For Country Music

John McGlothlin · Post by **John McGlothlin** » 2 Oct 2007 7:05 am

First of all, don't get me wrong. I like a lot of country music(mainly the classic country). But I don't like being labeled as a 100% country music fan simply because I own a pedal steel guitar. When I took interest in the steel guitar back in the seventies.....it was my goal to learn a variety of songs. When I got my first Sho-Bud all my friends and family jumped the gun and said....wow John you should pack up and go to Nashville. I said to them....is Nashville the only place on earth where a pedal steel guitar is allowed? The kind of country music that is played this day and time....a steel guitar player has to either make his steel sound like a sooped up microwave powered super sonic jet...or...starve to death lol. Its the swing, jazz,big band music that fits the steel guitar also....not just the classic country and gospel. The fun is not just playing the steel guitar.....its learning to play it and in order to do that, you have to venture into a wide range of musical styles. John McGlothlin

Larry Strawn · Post by **Larry Strawn** » 2 Oct 2007 7:35 am

John,

I agree with you completely, even tho I'm definatly a country music fan.

I enjoy my steel guitar with Classic Country, "SOME" top 40 country, and Classic Rock & Roll.

Now I've determined in my opinion that the term "classic" is relative to the persons age who is using it. At nearly 60 years old it's not hard to determine what I consider as classic,

This is what "I" enjoy playing, but I see no reason why a person can't enjoy playing steel in any style or form that they choose. I love to hear steel guitar in any kind of music!

Larry

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 2 Oct 2007 8:10 am

John, please stop by for a visit! You must!

www.SteelGuitarJazz.com
.

John McGlothlin · Post by **John McGlothlin** » 2 Oct 2007 8:38 am

Thank ya Jim. How could the good Lord above create such beautiful music and the musicians like that and not enjoy listening to it himself. John

Roger Shackelton · Post by **Roger Shackelton** » 2 Oct 2007 3:05 pm

Hi John,

Ernest Bovine plays steel guitar on a tune "Talk To Me" on an album by the same name. The artist is Joey McIntyre. Joey does similiar 50s & 60s Pop Songs like Michael Bubl'e. My Funny Valentine, Bewitched, Moon River, etc.

Roger

Terry Wood · Post by **Terry Wood** » 2 Oct 2007 3:14 pm

I am in agreement with you John. Your in good company with former super great steel guitarists: Curly Chalker, Julian Tharpe, Zane Beck, Sneaky Pete, Bobby Black and a bunch of others. They already paved the way, just go for it!

Though I love Country Music, I too also always sort of resented being classified as just a Country player. I have played it all from Disco to Country to Gospel to blues, Rock, etc. If I hadn't been able to play other musical geners, I would have stasrved years ago. I went back to school made a visual arts teacher and now play what I please and when I please to do it. As the late Julian Tharpe once said, "I wear my own kind of hat!" And he did too!

Terry Wood

John McGlothlin · Post by **John McGlothlin** » 2 Oct 2007 3:36 pm

Thanks everybody...music is a gift to us all. I don't play professionally just as a hobby but whenever someone comes to our house and wants to hear a tune I want to be able to play whatever the request might be...music is for everyone.

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 2 Oct 2007 3:39 pm

Amen John! I feel the instrument is limited only by the person sitting behind it. It is capable of being used in any style of music in the right hands. Including rock [yes, I said rock], blues et al.

I couldn't be happy without playing some classic country songs, but I'd feel incomplete if that's all I could do.

Not a thing in the world wrong with wanting to play only country if that's your bent. I only wish the steel community in general would be more tolerant of it being used in other styles of music as well.

Charles Davidson · Post by **Charles Davidson** » 2 Oct 2007 6:08 pm

Sometimes when I meet some one and say I play steel guitar,at least 98 percent of the time I hear this[Oh you play country music]I have played in Classic country bands[am right now]rock bands,using a lot of effects,distorting etc,Blues ,Southern Rock,50's rock,some old pop tunes from the 30's,40's,so on.even played a German club once[and really enjoyed it]where we had to play out of fake books[you young whippersnappers proberly never heard of those]Thats a misconception that will NEVER go away,if you play steel you MUST be a country musician.I love all kinds of music[except rap which IMO is as far from music as you can get.As a poor country boy growing up in the 40's,you had little choise in what you had to listen on our little Motorola radio.there whas country[was called hillbilly]back then.and the Big band and Jazz,It may seem weird but as a kid two of my heros were Hank Snow and Charlie[Bird]Parker,just about as far apart as you can get,go figure,don't you know.

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 2 Oct 2007 7:00 pm

I don't care much for country music, too many depressing stories about drinkin' and cheatin' etc, so I play steel in a contemporary praise and worship band at my church. I've talked to lots of players that don't think the steel fits in with this type of music, but I beg to differ.

Here is a link to MP3's of a couple of live songs you can download if you want to hear how we sound. These were recorded live right off the FOH board, with no editing or overdubs etc. On one of them I used a fairly straight steel sound, on the other I used distortion and chorus.

CLICK HERE

Or if you would like to see a video clip of a couple of songs, try this.

CLICK FOR VIDEO

Jim Sliff · Post by **Jim Sliff** » 2 Oct 2007 7:03 pm

a steel guitar player has to either make his steel sound like a sooped up microwave powered super sonic jet...or...starve to death lol

And there's nothing inherently "wrong" with that either. Some players say "it's a waste of steel guitar" or "steel guitar isn't meant for that kind of music" - and that kind of thinking is what KEEPS it branded as a country instrument.

The only "country" I play is "regenerated" stuff the country-rockers did in the 60's and 70's...I don't play jazz, so the "sooped up microwave powered super sonic jet" sound kind of appeals to my rock sensibilities....

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 2 Oct 2007 7:28 pm

The steel guitar is used a lot in the blues...

Mat Rhodes · Post by **Mat Rhodes** » 2 Oct 2007 7:34 pm

John,

I really admired your work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra - amazing stuff! How come you never used steel with them?

Brett Day · Post by **Brett Day** » 2 Oct 2007 8:16 pm

I've gotten to where I love different kinds of music, like some soft rock and eighties stuff. A friend of mine sings a Cyndi Lauper song called "Time After Time" on a movie soundtrack called "A View From The Top" and I'm wonderin' how the song would sound with steel. I've even played songs like "Yesterday" by the Beatles and "Under The Boardwalk" by the Drifters on steel. I believe steel sounds good on other types of music besides country too. I love country music first, but I love other types of music. I've even added steel to Bonnie Raitt's song "I Can't Make You Love Me".

Brett

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 2 Oct 2007 11:56 pm

Steel Guitar Is Not Just For Country Music

Paul King · Post by **Paul King** » 3 Oct 2007 3:37 am

When some tells me the steel is a country music instrument, I bring up Robert Randolph. He sure does not play country. Another gripe of mine is when someone says the steel is a wordly instrument because it is used in clubs. How ignorant can a person be? The last time I checked, clubs were still using drums, bass guitars, keyboards and lead guitars as well as other instruments. The steel has ventured out considerably in todays music and those who do not want to admit that are just in denial.

John McGlothlin · Post by **John McGlothlin** » 3 Oct 2007 5:07 am

Yes Brett...I agree with ya on a lot of rock songs like the Beatles....Yesterday is a beautiful song on the steel guitar or any other instrument also
"Can't Buy Me Love" is a great one. I am gonna work on a few from Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder...I have the Curly Chalker LP with the song "For Once In My Life" by Stevie Wonder and Curly did an awsome job on that song.

Jay Fagerlie · Post by **Jay Fagerlie** » 3 Oct 2007 5:18 am

I was wondering the same thing, Matt

Jay

Ernie Pollock · Post by **Ernie Pollock** » 3 Oct 2007 5:22 am

If steel was only for country music, I would have quit years ago. It can be played in just about any kind of music, including country, but not just country.

Ernie

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 3 Oct 2007 7:44 am

Steel Guitar Is Not Just For Country Music

Yep - we can play both kinds - Country and Western.

I agree that it's not restricted to any particular style. But playing country or country-rock is what brought me to the table - without that, I probably would have just continued to focus mainly on guitar. Still - I was very pleasantly surprised to find a significant community of players doing other things, since I'm interested in many styles besides country. I don't see why steel can't fit into any musical style if one wants to spend the time figuring out how to make it work.

Dennis Graves · Post by **Dennis Graves** » 3 Oct 2007 12:42 pm

I first think of country music when I hear of someone playing a steel. But that's just my way of thinking because that's what I like.

The steel is no different than a piano being used in various types of music...gospel, classical, county..etc

Joe Miraglia · Post by **Joe Miraglia** » 3 Oct 2007 4:14 pm

Thats great to know. I alway thought that you had to be a Good ole boy,or from a Red state to play steel guitar.

Joe

Wally Taylor · Post by **Wally Taylor** » 3 Oct 2007 5:58 pm

Guys, I think sometimes we forget that the steel guitar is just that, a guitar. It is an electric guitar and in the right hands, it can be used to play any style of music to be enjoyed by all. Yeah, instead of using our fingers to make chords and notes, we use a bar, pedals, knee levers and a volume pedal, but it is still a guitar. So, as a guitar, there is no limit on the type of music that can be played on it. For me, I love the old country sounds that I have heard all my life. But I can also appreciate what others can do with the steel. Bobbe Seymore is a classic example of a pro that can extract whatever he wants from a steel. He can do hardcore country or some really modern jazzy stuff and both are equally good material.
Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, music is in the ear of the beholder.
Wanna hear the steel in a differnt light, then check out Zane Beck or Julian Tharp! So, there is room for all styles of music with the steel and I for one, want to hear all of them.
Thanks,
Wally

Fred Murphy · Post by **Fred Murphy** » 3 Oct 2007 7:29 pm

I agree that the Steel can be more versatile than just playing country. I am a Freshman in college (Ball State), and I'm going to start playing Steel this weekend (this is my second attempt at learning, but the first attempt lasted about a week). I certainly don't plan on sticking on one genera, but the one I'll mainly play will probably be rock or jazz. I plan on playing a little county because I have a friend that wanted to start a country band, but it won't be more than 1/3 of what I play.

David Wren · Post by **David Wren** » 3 Oct 2007 9:34 pm

Yeah..... I'm all about seeing where we can push the evelope for PSG. Luckily for me I hitched up with a pair of great songwriters in Santa Cruz. Mixing our CD now.... I'll post clips when they are available.

Not that I am disparaging of anything done in the past... good lord where would we be without the masters of the '50-'70s on PSG.... however, least we miss it, we are now in a new century... and this instrument is just too powerful a force in recorded and live music to be stuck in one gendre of music... my $00.02

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Steel Guitar Is Not Just For Country Music

Steel Guitar Is Not Just For Country Music

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