Who is Your Favorite Steel Guitar Player?

Brian Adams · Post by **Brian Adams** » 2 Aug 2017 12:35 pm

Buddy Emmons: Mainly for his tour de force album "Minors Aloud" with one of my guitar heroes, Lenny Breau.

Maurice Anderson: As a music student in the mid-70s I played lead trombone in the college jazz band. One of our tasks was to serve as the backup band for guest artists headlining the annual Reno International Jazz Festival finale concert. Being a jazz festival, the artists were mostly well-known sax or trumpet men, but one year (1975?) there's this pedal steel player setting up, named Maurice Anderson. Huh? Did he show up at he at the wrong gig or something? The festival organizer, a music professor, smiled and winked knowingly, saying only "Just you wait."

We had rehearsed Reece's charts beforehand, all straight ahead swingin' roaring bebop, without him, not knowing what instrument he played. At the concert, he sits down at his steel out front, nodded to the bandleader, and off we went! Some of us could hardly play, we were so astonished by what Reece was playing. This was the first live pedal steel I had ever heard, and what he did with that instrument, in concert, in front of 600 hard-core jazz junkies, blew the mind of this 20-year-old kid.

Tim Heidner · Post by **Tim Heidner** » 2 Aug 2017 2:35 pm

Probably have to go with Junior Brown non pedal and Gary Carter pedal.

Brian Adams · Post by **Brian Adams** » 2 Aug 2017 2:58 pm

I will add Red Rhodes and Sneaky Pete Kleinow.

Bobby Nelson · Post by **Bobby Nelson** » 6 Aug 2017 2:13 am

Non-pedal: Don Helms Jr Brown & Kayton. I saw Jr at the Double Door in Charlotte in the 90's - Man is he good!

Pedal Jimmy Day

Lee Wilber · Post by **Lee Wilber** » 6 Aug 2017 5:39 am

I looked through all the names of the best steel players and did not see Jor Wright named at all. Hes my favorite. Lee

C. E. Jackson · Post by **C. E. Jackson** » 16 Aug 2017 6:00 pm

Thanks to everyone for the posts. We have many different great favorites.

C. E.

Bill Groner · Post by **Bill Groner** » 18 Sep 2017 9:28 am

After hearing Chuck Lettes play Goldfinger I have changed my favorite Pedal Steel player and Lap Steel player to him. WOW!

George Keoki Lake · Post by **George Keoki Lake** » 18 Sep 2017 11:53 am

NON PEDAL: DICK McINTIRE, BILLY HEW LEN
PEDAL: (The awesome) BILL STAFFORD !

These are merely my favourites. However the steel guitar is such a unique musical instrument, trying to pick a 'favourite', (living or dead), is mighty impossible....agree ?

C. E. Jackson · Post by **C. E. Jackson** » 22 Sep 2017 9:48 am

Nostalgia again finds me looking at a book by my favorite steel player, Don Helms:
SETTING THE WOODS ON FIRE 2005.

Interesting Information:
1. Estimate of number of steel
guitar players in the world in 1984.
2. Don's list of steel guitar players
in 2005. Look on the list and you will
probably find your name.

If anyone has an estimate of the number of steel players in the
world in 2017, please share the number.

The book is excellent and great reading, if you can find a copy.

C. E.

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 22 Sep 2017 12:16 pm

Rusty Young.
I know he's not the most technically advanced - he even says so himself. But he is responsible for fueling the fire for so many, on dobro, lap, and PSG, and is a personal favorite. He always seemed to play the perfect part for the song, which oftentimes was anything but straight ahead country. I just can't deny him the #1 spot on my list.

Mark Roeder · Post by **Mark Roeder** » 25 Sep 2017 8:34 am

Like potato chips, it's hard to pick out just one.......
let's say Jeremy Wakefield because he hooked me into learning steel through Wayne Hancock's recordings....I still listen to Steel Guitar Caviar regularly....

Chris Walke · Post by **Chris Walke** » 27 Sep 2017 5:31 am

Mark Roeder wrote:Like potato chips, it's hard to pick out just one.......
let's say Jeremy Wakefield because he hooked me into learning steel through Wayne Hancock's recordings....I still listen to Steel Guitar Caviar regularly....

I still like to spin the Biller & Wakefield disc. Hot stuff indeed!!

Mark Roeder · Post by **Mark Roeder** » 27 Sep 2017 6:30 am

Yes B & W too

I think they are all both out of print, too bad

Nic Neufeld · Post by **Nic Neufeld** » 27 Sep 2017 11:43 am

I'm still in the "discovery" phase but my favorites right now are Jules Ah See, Jerry Byrd, and Sol Ho'opi'i. I'll probably have another 5 favorites at least by the end of the year, ha. But 10 years of listening to a couple Alfred Apaka albums (almost exclusively of other Hawaiian music), it's Jules' style that I most naturally want to internalize and mimic.

Jean-Sebastien Gauthier · Post by **Jean-Sebastien Gauthier** » 27 Sep 2017 12:04 pm

Mark Roeder wrote:Like potato chips, it's hard to pick out just one.......
let's say Jeremy Wakefield because he hooked me into learning steel through Wayne Hancock's recordings....I still listen to Steel Guitar Caviar regularly....

Same thing for me!

Mark Helm · Post by **Mark Helm** » 27 Sep 2017 4:19 pm

Well, Jerry Byrd, Don Helms, Speedy West...

And John Ely, too...

C.E. Jackson's pretty darn good, too!

Jeffery Self · Post by **Jeffery Self** » 27 Sep 2017 7:54 pm

There sure is a lot of familiar names on that list Mr. Jackson!!
So many faves, where does one start!!

Clyde Mattocks · Post by **Clyde Mattocks** » 27 Sep 2017 8:43 pm

Did you guys even listen to my audition tape?.....Oh, you did!....Never mind.

C. E. Jackson · Post by **C. E. Jackson** » 28 Sep 2017 5:50 am

Mark Helm wrote:Well, Jerry Byrd, Don Helms, Speedy West...

And John Ely, too...

C.E. Jackson's pretty darn good, too!

Mark, this old civil engineer never expected to see his name on this favorites list.
Thanks for the kind words.

C. E.

Jeffery Self wrote:There sure is a lot of familiar names on that list Mr. Jackson!!
So many faves, where does one start!!

Jeffery, Don planned to add names that were omitted and names of new players in the 2nd edition of the book,
but passed away before the 2nd edition was published. Maybe someone else will publish an updated list soon.

C. E.

In my post of 9/22 above, Don's book stated that there were possibly 7,000 steel players in the world in 1984.

If anyone has an estimate of the number of steel players in the
world in 2017, please share the number.

Maybe b0b or Brad can give us a current estimate.

C. E.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 9 Oct 2017 4:13 pm

Let me amend my previous post: I adore Big Jim Murphy's playing! Redd, as well, is a telecaster force of nature and a terrific guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7n6jcSP06w

Andy DePaule · Post by **Andy DePaule** » 11 Oct 2017 5:34 am

I just got the new Jerry Byrd CD from Germany a few weeks ago. Really good, but is he really the best? Yes yes I know this is like saying bad things about the lord! but as great as he is, Is he the best ever?
Not in my opinion, and that is not to take anything away from him. Heck I couldn't buff his shoes.
However for me it's often the person I'm hearing at the moment. Some of my favorites are guys right here on the forum, Doug Beaumier on Sleepy Lagoon or many other tunes, Andy Volk. So many I can't name them all. Mike Neer or Bob Lee are somewhat out of the box at times and I love to hear them because they can always carry it off so well and entertaining with class.
I'd just never be able to say this or that person is "The Best".... Even steelers who are less than proficient will do something great at times.
Really not many I can't learn something from or just sit back and enjoy.
Thats my 2Â¢ worth and worth at least 1Â¢.

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 11 Oct 2017 5:48 am

Andy De Paule wrote: However for me it's often the person I'm hearing at the moment.

Seldom wrong and right again, Andy.

For me, my "favorite" is very highly correlated to the type of music I'm likely to be listening to. At any given moment, it is NOT likely I'm listening to something I don't like. All the more so in this age of digital music where you can literally insulate yourself from stuff you don't like. I'd never even heard this "Jason Aldean" until he hit the news in the last 10 days.

If you can't stand Hank Williams, you aren't likely to nominate Don Helms. Who would say "Jules Ah See" if they had no affinity for pre-1960 Hawaiian music?

I don't want to hear much of the last 50 years worth of music by anybody, so I'm not likely to nominate Lloyd Green or Hal Rugg. That's much more a comment on my personal taste in music than a comment on Rugg's or Green's talent.

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 11 Oct 2017 7:01 am

Never heard Gabby play anything that was not top-notch. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of stuff available featuring his awesome chops on steel.

Steve Pawlak · Post by **Steve Pawlak** » 11 Oct 2017 7:58 am

Nic Neufeld · Post by **Nic Neufeld** » 18 Dec 2017 9:22 am

Nic Neufeld wrote:I'm still in the "discovery" phase but my favorites right now are Jules Ah See, Jerry Byrd, and Sol Ho'opi'i. I'll probably have another 5 favorites at least by the end of the year, ha. But 10 years of listening to a couple Alfred Apaka albums (almost exclusively of other Hawaiian music), it's Jules' style that I most naturally want to internalize and mimic.

I was right...preferences do sort of change at the drop of a hat when you're first getting started and discovering new genres of music!

Jules is awesome. The live Tapa Room stuff, that's just about my ideal steel guitar sound...full of midrange and played with abandon...he's still my number 1 favorite.

While I have enormous respect for Jerry Byrd and his playing, he probably drops a little further down my list, not for any really critical reason, but there's a style or sound he has that is very sweet, if I'm using the right term. Seems to have some common ground with country, although perhaps that's more Jerry's influence on country steel playing than the other way around! Definitely an influential figure though...one of my favorites of his is Waikiki Chickadee that he does on a resonator on Youtube (in his 80s!). Sol Ho'opi'i is also great but I find myself being less directly influenced as I'm staying out of his tunings, and some of his pieces are just so frenetic and fast, I'm way out of range. I did find out my uncle remembers seeing him play at a church in Southern California when he was a kid (late 40s, early 50s?).

Couple new additions. While at first I thought of Andy Iona as a trailblazer who wrote a bunch of great songs but his steel playing was a bit dated and less advanced...perhaps all those things are true, but I've come round on his music and playing. Lots more single note melodies than some later players who got more harmonically complex, but he has a wonderful "singing" style that gets stuck in my head. I wish there was more information about him online. I was scanning through very old recording transfers on archive.org from him, and came across a song entitled "Do Not Forget Me (Mal Polna Oe Iau)". Indeed, we should not...

Lastly, from the "more recent" column, the one chap who would tempt me to pedals, our own basilh. Love to listen to his playing which is very unique...if I ever, years from now, end up with a Fender 400 or 1000, it's his fault!

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Maybe not Jerry Byrd?

Re: Maybe not Jerry Byrd?