Who should I listen to for some great pedal steel playing?

[Benjamin Wolfram]

AWESOME!!! Apart from that little unnecessary dig in one of the early posts there that is exactly what I was hoping for...actually come to think of it seeing as this is an internet forum that is all pretty much what I was hoping for and expecting

I'm totally new to the instrument, so much so that I've never played one, but I have played lots of lap steel and am going to be making the transition to pedal as soon as I get an instrument (which isn't far off). I don't know many actual players yet but I know my ears and pedal steel is one of the greatest sounding instruments EVER as far as I'm concerned, no matter what kind of music it's in. I absolutely love it and I can't wait to be able to play one myself...but in the meantime I will listen

My favourite song by far at this point in time that has pedal steel in it is the live DVD performance of Sweet Memories by The Time Jumpers, with Jon Hughey on steel as you all probably know. That song makes me cry!

I guess I'm just looking for lots of names of great pedal steelers to get inspiration from and just for some great stuff to listen to. I want to pack my ipod full of the stuff and fill my house with steel guitar music (and hope my wife doesn't throw me out)...a great dobro player I've recently found is Jerry Douglass who I've been flogging and I love Rob E G too...I've been learning lots of his stuff on the lap.

So thank you for all the recommendations from everyone, that's exactly what I was hoping for and that will give me tonnes of stuff to look for and listen to and get lots of inspiration from so I can't wait to get into some of it

[Duncan Hodge]

Hello Ben.
Your goal with the pedal steel should always be to have some fun and make some pleasing music. The rest will come and you will eventually find "the guy" who sez to a little part, or maybe a great big hunk, of your brain; "Hey, that's the guy/gal that I want to sound like". The rest, as they say is, or will say, is "history".
Just play it and have as much fun with it as I have had.
Duncan

[Benjamin Wolfram]

THAT is exactly what my goal is...with any instrument! Amen to that

[Duncan Hodge]

Have a beautiful ride my Aussie friend.
Your Friend in Florida,
Duncan

[Mike Holland]

Greg Leisz

[Benjamin Wolfram]

Well I went straight out to The Last Record Store on Smith Street today (thanks heaps Shane) and got myself a copy of Jimmy Day - Steel And Strings and I love it...amazing stuff! Also while I was waiting for my wife to get her hair cut I sat and youtubed a bunch of stuff on my phone and one of my favourites was definitely Paul Franklin, the guy is exciting to watch and listen to.

At the record store though it got interesting, I just asked the guy there if he could recommend anything else and then asked if there was any pedal steel stuff around which wasn't as "country" as most of the other material...and he pointed me to a guy called Robert Randolph. I don't know if this will spell my demise on this forum but I've gotta say as soon as I put in the Robert Randolph album it blew me away, not because it was outrageous pedal steel playing but because the whole band was outrageous and it was so much fun to listen to straight away. It's some crazy mixture of blues, rock, funk, and with the lead guy playing pedal steel in a more dirty blues way which was fantastic I'm not sure how this guy rates with you guys but I sure dug it a lot...having said that everything else I've listened to has been amazing too but I'd love to know of any other "left of centre" type pedal steel players around.

It's all good though and I'm loving the ride so far, so cheers to that

[Franklin]

Benjamin,

Welcome to the steel guitarists world! Thanks for listening to the Time Jumpers. YouTube is a great resource for discovering the instruments players.

Go to Youtube and search for "The Players". You may enjoy what we do outside of the country box.......The band is about instrumentals....Mostly playing R&B, Jazz, and Blues material......

I am envious of anyone experiencing the listening part for the first time! What a great ride that is....

I believe after you do some in depth research on each player, you'll find the "center" guys earned their reputations by exploring everything musical throughout their career. They all became influential because of their "left" of center approach....

Robert Randolph is a "great" blues steel guitarist......Great playing is not genre specific.....

Buddy Emmons alone has recordings like "Suite Steel" (70's rock) several Jazz CD's, western swing, country, big band, and the infamous "Black Album" (As far as I am concerned it is the cornerstone of steel recordings). His session work alone has covered everything from classical to folk......Its much harder to excel at everything which is why Buddy's name is always included in the "must listen to" group.

Check out the two "Area Code 615, CD's" with Weldon Myrick.

A lot of these players can be viewed on youtube....I would add Danny Sneed, Mike Smith's "Dreams Of India" CD, Tommy White, Terry Crisp's latest CD, Randy Reinhard, Buck Reid, Wayne Dahl, & Randle Curry to the list......

Paul

[Ben Jones]

Robert Randolph is a controversial figure on this forum but you are still allowed to like him
You see he's on my list of top players.

Randolph comes from the 'sacred steel' tradition, so you might youtube that to see some more. Chuck Campbell is an amazing player in that tradition. Dan Tyack too. I wish i knew more. That is a style I am very interested in and need to learn more about.

as for more left of center players:
Susan Alcorn is awesome.

The tendency here on the forum is to favor country only but If you can appreciate Jimmy Day AND Robert Randolph, I think thats great. They are two of the most soulful and expressive players, and actually have alot in common.

[Mike Perlowin]

I'd love to know of any other "left of centre" type pedal steel players around.

You should check out Susan Alcorn. (She has some You Tube videos.) Susan is as left of center as you can get. Talk about not being country- Her music isn't even planet Earth. You'll either really love her or hate here. There doesn't seem to be any in-between.

I'll list some other maverick players later.

[David Mason]

Well, I was going to stay out of it, but: my fave two would be the aforementioned Mike Perlowin, and Dave Easley. They are not left-of-center - They are not out-of-the-box, they are not of the species which made the box factory.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... uitar&aq=f

Among the "normal" guys, Doug Jernigan is incredibly peppy, Gary Brandin with the Vanduras has got a really unique surf/noir mood thing working, b0b's got 'em all here:
http://pedalsteelmusic.com/music.html
Jernigan: "Country Jazz Steel Guitar" and "Jazz by Jernigan"; Perlowin: "Spanish Steel" & "West Side Story"; Easley: "3now4"; Vanduras - "In the Dark." I hate this, because you insult half the forum by not picking them.... Dan Tyack and Dave Ristrim made great rock 'n' roll steel CD's, "Blackened Toast" & "Crisis at the Theme Park." Don't forget to save some money to, ahem, buy a steel guitar too....

Among non-pedal, Debashish Bhattacharya reigns supreme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PstTVuJP ... PL&index=3
"Calcutta Slide Guitar 3" would be the one to get, thar.

[Tim Heidner]

If you liked Paul Franklin and if you also happen to like Dire Straits you should get the Dire Straits On The Night DVD, PF does some nice work and the camera work is pretty good, too. The music is excellent, of course. Paul's solo in On Every Street is killer!

[Tim Heidner]

Robert Randolph is a controversial figure on this forum but you are still allowed to like him
You see he's on my list of top players.

why's he controversial, Ben Jones? Seems pretty talented to me.

[Clete Ritta]

Go to the top of the forum mainpage..find steel radio.com and have a listen I am sure you will find some one who sparks your interest.

+1 What David said.

This is more what to listen to than who. I love variety in music.
I have it on all day. I often find myself looking at the playlist when a great song comes on I have never heard. The variety is huge, and all songs have one thing in common: they feature the steel guitar. I listen to just about every artist listed here on steelradio.com

Clete

[John Billings]

Do yourself a favor, and see if you can find a copy of the video, "An Evening of E9th." Lloyd Green and Tommy White. Not only do you get to listen to incredible playing, but you get to watch them playing it! I have played this for heavy metal guitarists, and they sat there enthralled, barely sayin' a word the whole time.

[David Mason]

We will be happy to spend all your money - just keep asking!

[Austin Tripp]

Don't know if anyone has mentioned it yet but do a youtube search for Steelpicker which is Bill Fergusons channel, he has hundreds of videos of nothing but steel guitar at its best, Hal Rugg, Weldon Myrick, Buddy Emmons John Hughey etc. You name it he has it.

Austin

[Ben Jones]

Robert Randolph is a controversial figure on this forum but you are still allowed to like him
You see he's on my list of top players.

why's he controversial, Ben Jones? Seems pretty talented to me.

I'm not sure exactly why people have a problem with him but any thread mentioning him usually ends up in a three page brawl on this forum. Search his name here and read the comments for yourself tho. I adore his playing, its what I aspire to.

Ben, Sneaky Pete Kleinow is one of the more original and unorthodox players. You might enjoy his playing. Look for that double live Gram Parsons/Burrito Bros record that came out a few years ago. He was one of a kind.

[Brett Day]

If you wanna hear some great steel, check out Randle Currie's steel work on Brad Paisley's records, and also Tim Sergent and Gary Morse's steel work with Dierks Bentley.

Brett

[Joe Casey]

Let me add someone Russ Hicks....Hicks and Crawford..Together Something else.. Russ alone something else..

[Jim Cohen]

If you have an interest in jazz, I suggest you rummage around the videos and mp3's at www.steelguitarjazz.com You'll hear loads of great players.

[Storm Rosson]

LLoyd Green
Buddy Emmons
Jimmy Day
Jaydee Maness
Sneaky Pete Kleinow
Robert Randolph
Chuck Campbell
Ralph Mooney
Tom Brumley
Jon Hughey
Buddy cage
Al Perkins
Red Rhodes

If I may add to this list...Lloyd Maines,Curly Chaulker,Mike Perlowin, Julian Thorpe, Rusty Young, Weldon Myrick, Danny Dugmore,Buddy Charlton, Jimmy Crawford,Barbara Mandrell, and if you can find him recorded ,Wayne Gailey, Weird Harold Akins,Johnny Hogan,Fred Justice, Chuck Back,Jim Bob Garrett,"Big" Ben Keith,Donny Buzzard,Herb Steiner, ....and a busload more ...at least

[Richard Sinkler]

I have to thank Paul Franklin for taking the time to post here (you don't see the greats posting very often). The Dire Straits and Notting Hillbilly videos are some of my all time faves (see these on YouTube). I remember when I was a drummer, prior to PSG, and going to the Fillmore West in San Francisco and seeing Area Code 615, in what I understand was their only live gig (don't know that for sure). I remember being mesmerized by Weldon even before I really knew what a pedal steel was. For sure, look into John Hughey (my all time fave), Buddy Emmons, Hal Rugg, Jimmy Day, Sonny Garrish (another of my all time faves, and one of my major influences), Bobby Black, JayDee Maness, Tom Brumley, Buddy Charelton, Lloyd Green, Curley Chalker, Gosh, too many to remember. YouTube is going to be your best friend, and best way to see all these greats. Of course, let's not forget Paul Franklin, one of the best ever.

[Chip Fossa]

I'm in. Here's my $.02.

Bobby Black and Ernie Hagar [both on early Commander Cody albums]

Doyle Greshim - Early Jimmy Buffet albums, and actually a "Coral Reefer".

Bill Keith - Early Jonathan Edwards albums.

Just others not mentioned already. Can't think of them right now.

[Roger Crawford]

Ummmmm...Mike Johnson?

[Bill Dobkins]

As for as someone to learn from I would pick Bruce Bouton.