What songs gave you an "ah ha" moment?

Jeff Metz Jr. · Post by **Jeff Metz Jr.** » 11 Aug 2016 4:37 pm

I am slowly picking up more pieces to the puzzle that is Pedal steel guitar.
What songs did you learn that taught you a special lick, or brought you to a better understanding of how things work? Thanks

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 11 Aug 2016 5:06 pm

"Bar Hoppin'" Lloyd Green.

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 11 Aug 2016 5:42 pm

If you play pedal steel guitar........ WHY do you tend to
search out 'special licks'?

Why not learn to play as much of a single tune that you can do in E tuning then punch a pedal in order to expand your melody options? Out of this.......the technique for using the pedals will appear as clear as day.

Rich Upright · Post by **Rich Upright** » 11 Aug 2016 7:49 pm

Buddy Cage with the New Riders.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 11 Aug 2016 7:50 pm

"Bar Hoppin'" Opened my mind to half pedaling the A pedal, and using the 2nd and 3rd pedal Great tune with a lot of good stuff!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWNZ3iT-33E

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 11 Aug 2016 9:30 pm

Ray Montee wrote:If you play pedal steel guitar........ WHY do you tend to
search out 'special licks'?

.

I'd say because they're such a big part of what is memorable about the instrument. And also, because steel instrumentals aren't exactly flooding the charts right now.

Tim Russell · Post by **Tim Russell** » 11 Aug 2016 10:00 pm

Hmmm...

Taught me "special licks" & Ah-ha moments.

Probably when I first heard Buddy's Night Life w/ Ray Price, I thought that was absolutely the coolest, sweetest thing I'd ever heard. And then, when someone gave me Buddy's "Steel Guitar" album, the one with the rainbow on the front, there is so much in the way of cool licks & overall great playing that I gleaned from that album.

Also, my father worked at a radio station where they received promo records, and there were a bunch of Lloyd Green 45's there collecting dust...I was around 12 or so at the time, I spotted them, scooped them all up and played them until they were worn out!

San Antonio Rose, Feelings, and Stainless Steel were a few of my favs. from those 45's.

Tony Glassman · Post by **Tony Glassman** » 11 Aug 2016 11:03 pm

"I Love You Because" - Carl Smith's 25th Anniversary album featuring Curly Chalker. The rest of the tunes include either Chalker or Big Jim Murphy and for me became a C6th seminar.

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 17 Aug 2016 9:33 am

"Rick Nelson's Garden Party,and Dwight Yoakum's I Sang Dixie...Both songs featuring the late Tom Brumley!

Rex Mayfield · Post by **Rex Mayfield** » 18 Aug 2016 5:36 am

Memories To Burn by Gene Watson!

MIchael Bean · Post by **MIchael Bean** » 19 Aug 2016 9:06 am

Ray Montee wrote:If you play pedal steel guitar........ WHY do you tend to
search out 'special licks'?

Because learning one simple technique or lick can open up a whole world for you, and make you think in another way, once you know how it's done. Everything is based on or inspired by something else.

For example, Lloyd Green's solo in the Byrds' "100 Years From Now" showed me the doublepicking technique that is now a regular part of my playing.

Tony Glassman · Post by **Tony Glassman** » 19 Aug 2016 10:16 am

Ray Montee wrote:If you play pedal steel guitar........ WHY do you tend to
search out 'special licks'?

Because "licks" are often gateways to musical approaches that are new to a player. If a player can learn, emulate and dissect that one special lick, the knowledge acquired can often be reapplied in unexpected ways. In essence, new licks can expand one's musical thought process.

Dave Hopping · Post by **Dave Hopping** » 19 Aug 2016 1:51 pm

Don Williams' "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend".The main solo is pretty accessible to a beginner,although there are some just-plain-gorgeous subtleties in it if you dig deep.Somebody told me Lloyd Green played on the session.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 19 Aug 2016 2:17 pm

Yes, it was Lloyd. That was the first song on my first lesson from Mike Auldridge.

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 19 Aug 2016 5:18 pm

Panama Red from the album of the same name, and Hello Mary Lou and Dead Flowers from the Home, Home on the Road live album.. New Riders of the Purple Sage.. I never stopped playing, EVER, all day and all night- every day and night until I could play those songs perfectly.. After that things opened up and came so much more easily, and I was on my way, playing 5 -6 nights a week with a good band.. Those cool Buddy Cage licks on those 2 albums, were my personal "A-HA moment"!
Buddy tough me how to play, but doesn't know it... bob

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 20 Aug 2016 9:25 am

The first couple of bars of Buddy's ride on Adalida by George Strait; took me places on strings 1 and 2 that I'd never been. I think it might be old hat for the pros on here, but it was new to me.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 20 Aug 2016 2:49 pm

Tim Russell wrote:Hmmm...

Taught me "special licks" & Ah-ha moments.

Probably when I first heard Buddy's Night Life w/ Ray Price, I thought that was absolutely the coolest, sweetest thing I'd ever heard.

+1 on that for me too! It's also an excellent example of what can be done when a player doesn't take the easy way out and "just play the melody"!

Come to think of it, that little jazz progression intro would also work great on many blues numbers. You could just as well use it on "Crazy", "One For My Baby", "Georgia", etc., etc.

My "ah-ha" moment on C6th was Emmons playing "Witchcraft". I thought that dropping down 2 frets for the np IV chord was a real revelation, as was the np I chord in the V position.

Jerry Foster · Post by **Jerry Foster** » 21 Aug 2016 4:21 am

when I heard Fred Justice play America the beautiful, all I can say is WOW. J.D,Foster

Bud Angelotti · Post by **Bud Angelotti** » 21 Aug 2016 6:23 am

I just re-heard "Take Me Home Country Roads", John Denver, after many years.
A-HA!
Not only a great song, the steel part is just a perfect example of understatement.
A very simple yet effective steel part to start, then the steel just more or less plays the melody which in this case, is just perfect as ensemble to the singing and the song. IMHOP
Anybody know who played steel on this track?

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 21 Aug 2016 9:52 am

For me, it was the second movement of a 6 part piece called "Capriccio Espagnol." The entire piece is on my Soundcloud page. https://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin
The movement in question starts at around 1:22.

The piece is in F. It ends on a trill between the notes F and G. I played them in =strings 7 and 6, on the 11th fret, and when I did, it hit me: I didn't have to figure out how to play it. I knew instinctively.

After busting my ass studying and woodshedding for 37 years, I now know how to play this instrument.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 21 Aug 2016 10:29 am

Bud Angelotti wrote: Anybody know who played steel on this track?

I'm not sure, maybe Eric Weissberg?

Randy Schneider · Post by **Randy Schneider** » 21 Aug 2016 5:35 pm

Joachim Kettner wrote:
Bud Angelotti wrote: Anybody know who played steel on this track?
I'm not sure, maybe Eric Weissberg?

Indeed!

The liner notes for John Denver's Greatest Hits lists 'Eric Weissberg, banjo and pedal steel guitar' for Take Me Home, Country Roads.

Terry Niendorf · Post by **Terry Niendorf** » 21 Aug 2016 9:14 pm

I'm with Rex - Memories to Burn by Gene Watson.

Bill Bertinot · Post by **Bill Bertinot** » 23 Aug 2016 11:41 am

I Fall to Pieces - Sneaky Pete (Linda Ronstadt)
Cherokee - Buddy Emmons
New Riders of the Purple Sage 1st Album - Buddy Cage

Gary Hoetker · Post by **Gary Hoetker** » 23 Aug 2016 3:20 pm

Ray Price and The Cherokee Cowboys "Each Time" Unissued 1966 Here is the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z25idl85H58

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z25idl85H58

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