The Steel Guitar Forum

The riff for Steve Earle's "Guitar Town" stands pretty high here as well, played by one of Earle's session guys - not sure which one.

Probably the guitar riff that will get the most
immediate recognition from a crowd is "Sweet Home
Alabama".

I agree with the post about Don Helm's playing on any
Hank record. That was instant identification after
only two notes. As a kid back in the days when they would let you try out a record in a record store, I would put on any MGM yellow and black disc just to
see if they all had "that sound".

Richard Bennett. He played the cool lick on "Guitar Town"

was Neil Diamond's guitar player for forever and created a ton of hooks for him.

Reggie Young would be my #1 on this.... he is hook central in multiple genres.

Pete Anderson would be another...

Andrew Gold would be a good one for his work with Linda Ronstadt... his "your no good" solo and licks are what made those songs go over...

Les Dudek "old judge jones" and his licks on Ramblin Man are some of the most memorable.

Danny Kortchmar, Jay Graydon, Larry Carlton...

shoot... just take Carlton's intro lick on the 4 tops "keeper of the castle"

those are a few folks still alive that could really fill your head with info!

Showing my age here, but the fiddle intro to Hank Snow's I'm Movin' On instantly identifies that song.

George Harrison had many: Day Tripper, In My Life, I Feel Fine, etc....

George isn't returning my calls.

Vince Gill's "Look At Us"

No steel guitar, questionable for the hit it turned out to be.

Vince Gill's "Look At Us" No steel guitar

I'm sure you don't mean that, Les ... you must be thinking of some other song ...

Your right Gregg about Pretty Woman. Buddy Harman told me that Boots, Charlie McCoy, and Wayne too all played it together even though some are back in the mix. Roy O. came up with the lick he said.

Flame away, I don't care. Jerry Garcia's intro on "Teach Your Children" is awesome and it caught my attention years ago. Also Al Kooper's organ intro on Dylan's Positively 4th Sreet comes to mind.

Also, not sure if Fred Carter played on any actual Band tracks, although he was the lead guitarist in Ronnie Hawkins' Hawks before Robbie Robertson joined up. He was in the Hawks around 1960...The Band didn't start cutting records as The Band until 1968, long after Fred moved to Nashville to become a session guitarist.

I wouldn't dream of flaming. But I remember looking at the liner notes to see who the steel player was. I was also impressed by it. I can't remember who it was. I'd swear that if it was Jerry I'd have remembered. Maybe not.

John Hughey on Conway Twittys' version of "I Just Destroyed the World I'm Living In". It starts on the 10th string open and goes past the frets on strings 3&5.

Jim Cohen wrote:Ok, well, who created the intro guitar hook for The Temptations', 'My Girl'. Has to be an all-time classic riff.

Pretty sure that was Joe Messina. Who woulda thought an arpeggio could be so effective.

What a great idea for an article!

-eric

It was definitely Robert White on My Girl. That's talked about in the "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" documentary. A must see musician movie.
Does anyone know who played guitar on Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl"? That's a classic. Also, the opening lick on the Hollies' "Long Cool Woman"?

Lots of great ideas everyone. Much appreciated. Eric Oxendine played bass on Brown Eyed Girl. I'm tracking down who conceived and played the solo. I've already touched base with Elliott Randall, Amos Garrett, Bud Isaacs and Louie Shelton, who played on the Monkees early hits.

Here are some Guitarists that played on records that made hot licks. Al Bruno,James Burton,Roy Nickols,Don Rich & Buck Owens himself.Merle Haggard,Don {Tunason}Lee,Jerry Cole.On Steel Guitar Red Rhodes,Tom Brumley,Jerry Stevens,Blackie Taylor,Jerry Hayes,Art Sanchez,Carl West, Jay Dee Maness and Carl Walden. Leo J.Eiffert,Jr. & Pigeons.

Good Lord, lots of good ones mentioned, but there are so many. James Burton has already been mentioned, but not for Dale Hawkins' "Susie Q", which has to be one of the most recognized licks in history. His playing graces so many hits it's unimaginable.

Albert Lee. From Emmylou to Patty Loveless to Carlene Carter to whomever - tons of great stuff, and although he's hardly unknown, he's also not a household name.

Steuart Smith, with Roseanne Cash, Rodney Crowell and many others. Great player, definitely not a household name.

Ike Turner on tons of 50s blues and R&B - this was his session and A&R period. Similarly, guys like Glen Campbell and Roy Clark in their salad days. Yeah, I know, probablly not gonna be very easy to get ahold of.

Freddy Weller with Paul Revere and the Raiders in the late 60s, and others.

George Barnes on tons of cool rockabilly stuff in the 50s, of course he's no longer with us.

David Lindley with Jackson Browne - of course, he's hardly unknown, but also not a household name by any stretch and seems pretty accessible.

Jimmy Colvard with Dave Dudley and others.

Of course, Steve Cropper, Grady Martin, and Reggie Young already mentioned.

Jimmy Nalls, David Bromberg, David Grissom, and so many others all over stuff. I don't know where you stop, I could go on all night.

Of course, on steel, it seems to be mostly session players. Most of us know the cast of characters, right?

The story goes that on The Eagles more rocking tunes,
Joe Walsh and Don Felder would come up with the hooks and Henley and Frey would write the songs around them.

Earnest Bovine wrote:If Grady Martin had called in sick on the day Roy Orbison recorded "Pretty Woman", and they had called Frank Zappa as a sub, would it have made any difference to the bottom line?

Well, since Andy said he wants to interview them, I guess not.

Suzy Creamcheese, walkin' down the street
Suzy Creamcheese, the kind I'd like to meet

Hafta go with Pee Wee Charles on this one - I don't think "Edmund Fitzgerald" would have been what it is without that haunting steel reminiscent of metal bending, 'wind in the wires', and just eeriness.

I have heard more recent versions of this song, (Gord's gold II, live concerts) and, nothing against Mike Heffernan, but the keys are no substitute for the steel in the song.

Just my $.02


Landon

I've always thought one of Weldon's most inventive creations was on "I'm A Lover, Not A Fighter" .

Mathew Fisher who played the organ opening to "Whiter Shade of Pale" just won a huge lawsuit in England where the judge ruled that the organ part had become such a recognized part of the song to the point that Fisher was entitled to a full share of the royalties. A LOT of money!!!

This situation is different than just a short guitar hook at the start of a record. The organ part goes on for a minute plus. He had received no royalties since the 60s when the record was cut.

Personally I think that the session musicians have always deserved to have a bigger cut of the money made as a result of their creativity.

I understand Jerry Reed did alot of session work on guitar at one time. It would be hard for me to believe that he had done nothing memorable. Also, I had heard that Marty Robbins played the guitar solo when either a tube or a fuse blew in the amp creating the first fuzz tone. That oughta count for something, too. But Mr. Robbins probably won't return your calls, either, I bet.

Your're referring to "Don't Worry 'Bout Me" sung by Marty, but that was Grady Martin playing bass that blew the speaker, but he's also a difficult interview.