Sneaky Pete Kleinow

[Bill Ford]

I don't know if this has been posted but it deserves another look at a true genus.
here

[Mark Eaton]

I hadn't seen it, thanks for posting Bill - very cool.

There were a couple of Forum members (if not more) at one of Pete's last gigs here in Santa Rosa, with Burrito Deluxe. It was the first time I had seen him play in many years. I had seen him with one of the Burrito Brothers "incarnations" many years ago.

It was quite a thrill.

And he of course had his own very unique take on the pedal steel.

He was one of a kind.

[Jim Eaton]

I have been listening non-stop to the Shiloh collection that was recently released.
Sneaky is one entire facet of the diamond that is steel guitar.
JE:-)>

[Eugene Cole]

I have seen this video countless times and I never tire of seeing it again.

Pete had a great sense of humor!

He got more music out his 8-string Fender than I will ever get outof all my instruments.

[Peer Desmense]

What an amazing man he was.

I cannot emphasize this enough but I'm pretty sure that thanks to Pete many Dutchies got to play the pedalsteel.
The Byrds were popular in the Netherlands but I think the Flying Burrito Bros were enourmously succesfull over here and this helped the growth of the dutch pedalsteel scene enormously.

Thanks again Pete

[David L. Donald]

He was one of the 1st steel players I really became aware of.
I had ALL the albums listed in the video.

I also was very much a huge fan of stop action animation.
I did my own ones on super8 back in the day.
Davy and Golliath and Gumby were equaly big
influences on my development.

But I never knew Sneaky was involved till just now.
It gives me so much more reason to appreciate him.

[Jim Sliff]

David - That's one thing that's SO funny about Pete; animation WAS his "day job" and he always considered steel a sort of hobby, even though when you look at his resume you start to realize that, because of his work in popular as opposed to the more limited country market, he might be the most "heard" steel player in history (not the most recorded, but the player who more people have actually heard - whether they realize it or not).

He also had absolutely no ego. he was just this real, genuine guy who was continually floored by compliments and never quite grasped the breadth of his influence...I think partially because he just didn't believe he was that "important".

[David L. Donald]

I used to go to week long animation festivals
and see stop action stuff from turn of the LAST century.

I am sure he and I were having similar thoughts
on the historical context of his work.
We would have no doubt had great conversations
on many subjects. Never got to meet him.

Yeah, it was clear 'He Just Loved To Play'.
And other fine players brought him along because of it.
He listened and put something in that worked.
That got him studio sessions most people dreamed of getting.

[Mike Bienstock]

I had the great pleasure of working with Pete on a couple of movies, long before I took up the steel guitar. At the time I knew only of Sneaky Pete the musician and could not for the life of me believe he was one and the same with this stop motion animator I was working with. I was new to the visual effects business.

It was during the first few days of production and someone kept referring to him as Sneaky Pete. After awhile it started to irk me and I said something like, "you know, Sneaky Pete is this great steel player, don't you know that?" This fellows reply was "Yes, and that's him!" It was so incongruous to me at the time (now it makes perfect sense)I had a hard time believing it. When I asked Pete at lunch about it I almost choked and fell right out of my chair.

We had a lot of laughs. Pete was a great guy. He could breathe life into anything with his hands and heart.

[Bill Ford]

Truly an amazing man..I'm posting again to track this subject.