Most recorded steel players – some non-scientific statistics

[Per Berner]

I decided to create a catalog of my CDs and LPs, and while doing so I also noted who played pedal steel on them. So, here's a list of the most recorded steelers on my albums (country music from the early sixties to the early 2010s, mainly), but please note that many 60s recordings lack musician credits (I suspect Pete Drake, Hal Rugg, Lloyd Green and a few others are a bit under-represented):

Paul Franklin 77
Weldon Myrick 70
Lloyd Green 65
Buddy Emmons 52
Sonny Garrish 50
Pete Drake 40
Hal Rugg 22
Dan Dugmore 22
Al Perkins 20
Janne Lindgren 20
Greg Leisz 20
John Hughey 20
Steve Fishell 19
Hank Devito 17
Lucky Oceans 16
Jimmy Day 16
J D Maness 16
Tom Brumley 15
Mike Johnson 11
Ralph Mooney 10
Russ Pahl 9
Bruce Bouton 8
Tiny Olson 8
Lloyd Maines 8
Norm Hamlet 7
Dicky Overbey 7
Curly Chalker 7
Herb Steiner 7
Jesper Lindberg 7
Bobby Black 6
Doyle Grisham 6
Marty Muse 6
Denis Delorme 6
Jimmie Crawford 5
Kenth Larsson 5
Terry Crisp 5
Don Helms 5
Tommy White 5
Robby Turner 5
Stu Basore 4
Larry Sasser 4
Ricky Davis 4
Fats Kaplin 4
Tommy Spurlock 4
Gary Brandin 4
Robbie Springfield 3
Jeff Newman 3
Bob Lucier 3
Russ Hicks 3
Ben Keith 3
Johnny Cox 2
Joe Goldmark 2

[scott murray]

interesting… you’ve got quite a collection! the Praguefrank website has a lot of session personnel listed chronologically by artist which could help fill in the blanks.

[Brett Day]

Dennis Delorme played steel with Prairie Oyster. And I see where Sonny Garrish has played on a few records too! I'd love to know how many records Sonny played on!

[Chris Templeton]

Wow! A lot of work to collect those, Pat.

[John Larson]

Not seeing Sneaky Pete or Buddy Cage, need some Flying Burrito Brothers and New Riders of the Purple Sage in your collection

[Chris Templeton]

"Contract"- NRPS
Buddy Cage on steel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGhsTC1JOgQ

[Per Berner]

Not seeing Sneaky Pete or Buddy Cage, need some Flying Burrito Brothers and New Riders of the Purple Sage in your collection

...never cared for country rock, so they will not be missed.

[John Larson]

Not seeing Sneaky Pete or Buddy Cage, need some Flying Burrito Brothers and New Riders of the Purple Sage in your collection

...never cared for country rock, so they will not be missed.

Ah, to each their own. Which are the records you have that Greg Leisz plays on?

[Per Berner]

Greg Leisz: K D Lang, Rosie Flores, Dwight Yoakam, Carlene Carter, Tish Hinojosa, Jim Lauderdale, Heather Myles, Pam Tillis and a few others...

[Joe Goldmark]

Interesting. That looks about right except that I suspect that Hal Rugg is on more albums than you think.

Joe

[Per Berner]

I'm sure you're right, Joe. I will check out Praguefrank's site to fill in some gaps. Bet I'll find a bit more of Pete Drake and Jimmy Day as well.

Weldon is perhaps a little too high up the list for it to be statistically correct. The reason for that is my nearly complete set of Moe Bandy albums, with mr Myrick on just about everyone of them (doing a stellar jobb)...

[Terry Wood]

Great! It's interesting if I am correct 22 of these Steel Guitarists are Steel Guitar Hall of Fame members too. A lot of talented players listed here. Thanks for sharing this!

[Ricky Davis]

I'm not a hall of fame-r...but from 1990 to 2010, I was on easily over 25 CD's.
Ricky Davis