The Steel Guitar Forum

A Pedal Steel History book has to be two things:
[1] A history of the development of the steel guitar.
[2] A history of the manufacturers of steel guitars.

To my mind, [2] is more important. You need a lot of photos of steel guitars and a chapter on each manufacturer. Speculation as to the origins of the steel guitar only needs the first chapter. That part is boring.

(3) notable players up to this point

The chapter on Buddy Emmons will take up over two thirds of the book! Make the cover black.

and of major importance is how buddy emmons..and i suppose jimmy day, to some extent...but more importance to buddy, chose what strings, tuning, and bends influenced what could be played, and then demonstrated to the masses how beautiful this could sound...with technique that very few to this day come close to. don't get me wrong...i'm nowhere in the picture, but i've heard some that are!

THIS BOOKS GONNA BE REAL THICK FOR SURE AND WILL TAKE UP A LOTTA PRACTICE TIME READING THIS BABY IF ITS GOONA DO ALL YOU GUY'S WANT AND NEEDS TO BE I'LL GO TO SLEEP SEVERAL DAYS BEFORE I FINISHED ALL THAT





TOMMY YOUNG
MAX-TONE MODIFICATIONS
WHEN YOUR GUITARS TONE HAS TO BE ITS VERY BEST
662-328-5742 tyoung52@wildblue.net

yes tommy....but please stop shouting..!!

I appreciate all the what-when-who questions that anyone concerned with the history of the pedal steel must ask. In fact, I imagine my preface will address the unique complications of this project (i.e. who are the important players, makers, etc.). My intentions are to corroborate everything that goes in the book, so the finished product points toward the depth of the real history of the instrument. This goes to say that I will ask the people who know; then, the names that come up most often will be included.

At this, macro, stage of research, I am more concerned with gathering as much primary information as possible. Yes, I am currently looking for the details of the early structural development of the instrument, but all legitimate information is welcome.

Happy New Year,
Brandon Barker
pedalsteelhistory@gmail.com

will there be need for info about steelguitar in all it's ins and outs in Europe too?
JJ

A Pedal Steel History book has to be two things:
[1] A history of the development of the steel guitar.
[2] A history of the manufacturers of steel guitars.

To my mind, [2] is more important. You need a lot of photos of steel guitars and a chapter on each manufacturer. Speculation as to the origins of the steel guitar only needs the first chapter. That part is boring.

I can't say I agree with those priorities; to me the music and the musicians are a much more interesting (and important) part of the story than the different makes of instruments, though that's an important part too of course. And presumably part of the idea of such a book is to get the story out there to people who are NOT steel players who are unlikely to want to get bogged down in the particulars of this make and that make.

And just the origins of the pedal steel, from other string instruments played with a slide around the world, to hawaiian and blues and other "non-pedal" styles seem worth more than a chapter. And then, to me at least, what seems most interesting is how the pedal steel and it's music developed over the years (with the musical evolution of it's players tied to the developments in the instrument itself, tuning changes etc.). The fact that this is all recent enough so that many of the principle people are around to talk about it first hand makes it seem especially important that we get it all down now. Of course there's lot of examples of this out there, just not collected in one place. To my mind maybe some of the most fascinating writing about pedal steel out there is Buddy Emmon's liner notes to the 70's reissue of Steel Guitar Jazz (with 4 Wheel Drive). He talks about the changes that came from experimenting with tunings and pedals etc. AND ties it in with the music he was playing/recording as those experiments happened. And of course Lloyd Green is as eloquent and articulate about the history of steel as he's lived it as one could possibly be. To me the idea of someone tying all the amazing first hand knowledge that's out there together in one place, with some historical/musicological perspective is pretty exciting. Brandon, if you do even half the job that your mentor Charles Wolfe has done in his work it should be amazing. My hat's off to you!

But I'm sure we all agree that a comprehensive book on the subject is long overdue, I know there's been mention of a few other at least tentative efforts at this and notice that nobody's mentioned those efforts here. I suppose it's possible that if there are other books already underway this may spark some friendly (I hope) competition. Anybody?

Basilh,

Thanks for posting that piece on early steel history; that's full of interesting stuff, and as you point out, very well documented.

Is there more where that came from? What is your magazine that you mention, is it an academic journal of some kind?

If so, I must say that the piece is surprisingly readable!

thanks again...

Thanks Pete, the magazine is Aloha Dream subscribed to by Hawaiian guitarists, discographers, historians and others interested in things Hawaiian.

basilh wrote:Thanks Pete, the magazine is Aloha Dream subscribed to by Hawaiian guitarists, discographers, historians and others interested in things Hawaiian.

...and is very informative, entertaining and scholarly. Anyone who has the slightest interest in Hawaiian music should subscribe.

Thanks Basil (and Alan), I'll check it out...

And please don't forget to include a substantial section on Sacred Steel, which evolved in the Keith Dominion and Jewel Dominion black churches in parallel to, and largely apart from, Hawaiian and Country musics. Steel guitar has become a huge part of their religious tradition and is totally integral to every church service. You definitely want to be in touch with Bob Stone, who is also a professional folklorist and who has written extensively on sacred steel, as well as having produced major video documentaries on the subject.

Oh, and there's a lot of examples of steel guitar in jazz at www.SteelGuitarJazz.com

Baz posted the most elaborate history of the steel guitar, emanating from Hawaii and then describing its early development, that I have ever read. Thanks Baz


Brandon says,

I am a folklorist finishing my PhD at the University of Louisiana. I studied under Dr. Charles Wolfe at MTSU and am taking up his torch with this project as he understood that no complete book on the pedal steel has ever been written.

Will this project be your dissertation for the PhD?

I wish you well.

Aloha,
Don

Don you mean these articles that I use as a basis for my lectures and demonstrations on the subject.

Hawaiian Guitar History

Slack Key History
(A compendium of information garnered from various sources)

Or do you mean the ones published in our magazine ?

This sounds like a great idea! Just a few days ago my Dad and I were searching for sound clips and trying to figure out when the split pedals (A&B pedals) were first used. The best we could come up with was 1959, on recorded music.
It would be nice to have a resource handy to answer questions like that.

It would be nice to have a resource handy to answer questions like that

This is that resource. I got over 20 hits from a search of "Split Pedals"
Some of the more relevant :-
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum5/HTML/006283.html
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum5/HTML/007716.html
http://steelguitarforum.com/Archives/Ar ... 08103.html

"Half a Mind" Ernest Tubb 1958 featured Buddy Emmons with the split pedals
(Found it on this great resource right HERE)

A pedal steel history book is indeed long overdue, and I look forward to reading this someday. Not to drift off topic here but I think a biography (or autobiography)of Buddy Emmons would be equally interesting.

I think a serious book like this is critical to the development of the instrument. This forum has been critical to lifting the "shroud of mystery" about pedal steel especially. But I think a single, self-contained reference book could open up the instrument to even more people. I wish Brandon the very best in this endeavor.

I'm sure there will be lots of opinions on what are the "critical" things that "must" be covered in such a book, but no book can ever cover "everything" - editorial decisions eventually must be made. IMO, that doesn't seriously diminish its value. Once the ice is broken, others can add to the library.

I remember when the first major 6-string guitar books came out in the 70s and 80s - especially Tom Wheeler's "The Guitar Book" in 1974. I think they had a major effect on that instrument's development, including the vintage guitar business. What they did was put knowledge in the hands of a much wider group of people, who now could act with more authority. Look out - when this kind of info becomes more readily accessible, make sure you already have your lifetime supply of cool vintage steel guitars.

Baz,
The article I was referring to was the one Anthony Lis wrote for your magazine, "The Steel Guitar in Early Country Music," which was included in this thread.

Aloha,
Don

Still not PEDAL Steel. but what led up to it ..

From Aloha Dream February 2008 ..








Forgive the goof on the first page .. it should be numbered 11 ![:I]

Bobbe seymour Could Tell You A Lot. SONNY.

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