Pete Drake

Gary Walker · Post by **Gary Walker** » 28 Oct 2001 6:33 pm

I might as well ad my .02c worth on dear Pete. I first heard him about late 1960 or early '61 on Moon Mulligan and Bill Anderson's records. He had a different approach to fills on the C6 and it was a cool sound and I bought his Starday records. It did not approach the speed of sound but was nice listening. IMHO he was not a great player but he had the knack for coming up with the right thing to help the sessions produce hit records and his success cannot be denied. It's not being good that counts but being right and he was.

Henning Antonsen · Post by **Henning Antonsen** » 29 Oct 2001 2:05 am

Ever heard Jim Reeves' "A Railroad Bum", "I Won't Forget You", "Most Of The Time" and "Blue Side Of Lonesome"? Well, that's Pete playing steel, ca 1962. I love his phrasing and tone on these recordings, and I've never heard anyone play quite like that... I think they're all done on the C6th. Does anyone know for sure? And does anyone know what kind of equipment he used during the early sixties?

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Henning Antonsen
Emmons LeGrande III

Bob Carlson · Post by **Bob Carlson** » 29 Oct 2001 8:30 am

Donny, I don't want argue with you, you make a good point that his tuning wasn't much differant....but to me you make It sound like Pete wasn't a BIG part of early pedal steel. No matter how small the differance In his tuning, once you heard It, you knew It was differant, and without a differant sound you didn't play on as many records as Pete did.

Bob Carlson.

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 29 Oct 2001 9:31 am

What did that one "different" pedal do?

Johan Jansen · Post by **Johan Jansen** » 29 Oct 2001 9:51 am

Wasn't it Hall Rugg on Rose Garden (Lynn Anderson?)
JJ

Mike Weirauch · Post by **Mike Weirauch** » 29 Oct 2001 10:23 am

Bob Carlson · Post by **Bob Carlson** » 29 Oct 2001 12:36 pm

I didn't think I'd ever want to learn the C6th tuning, so I bought an SD10 when I took up the steel. I wish I had It now though.

So It,s your turn Donny.

Bob Carlson.

Johan Jansen · Post by **Johan Jansen** » 29 Oct 2001 1:28 pm

sorry , Mike

I always thought that ....
Johan

Larry Miller · Post by **Larry Miller** » 29 Oct 2001 4:00 pm

Call me crazy, but I love Pete Drakes' playing, and what he has contributed to the history of country music!!! Cuckoo...Cuckoo

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 29 Oct 2001 4:53 pm

Well Bob, I would never try to minimalize Pete's contributions. No, he wasn't an Emmons, but he did come up with a lot of sounds people hadn't heard before on PSG. Pete, played a different kind of steel. It wasn't what we were used to hearing. I've heard many people and players down Pete, but he was one of my idols when I started. There were many innovators on steel who sounded just a little bit different, and didn't aspire to do what everyone else was trying to do. Players like Pete, Red Rhodes, Sneaky Pete, and even Jerry Garcia didn't want to copy others, and they kind of had their own elementary style. There are those who play great, and those who play commercial, and the one's who play commercial have just as much (and sometimes even more) success.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again...style outsells talent more often than not. The average Joe often can't comprehend virtuosity, but he does recognize "different".

(Bobby...I'll e-mail you that "different" change of Pete's.)

Gary Harris · Post by **Gary Harris** » 29 Oct 2001 6:23 pm

I'm told by one of Nashville's producers that when Pete arrived on the Nashville scene some of the established session steel players laughed at him. It didn't take very long for Pete's playing to be in demand. He was taking session dates from those that laughted at him. It became Pete's time to laugh, all the way to the bank.

Paul Graupp · Post by **Paul Graupp** » 29 Oct 2001 7:22 pm

Donny: Could I get a ME-TOO on that e-mail pedal info ?? Got me curious !!

Regards, Paul

Eddie Lange · Post by **Eddie Lange** » 29 Oct 2001 8:05 pm

Lloyd played on Rose Garden. Some of my favorite Pete Drake C6 is on Jim Reeves' Good and Country album. Stuff like Little Ole Dime, Lonely Music, talking steel on I've Enjoyed As Much Of this As I Can Stand.

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The Young Steelkid

Mike Weirauch · Post by **Mike Weirauch** » 29 Oct 2001 8:24 pm

Eddie, when this thread came up, I asked Lloyd if he played on Rose Garden and he said no, that he was booked on another session that day but did all of the rest of Lynn Anderson's recordings. He said Pete did that session.

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 30 Oct 2001 4:56 am

Mike is correct...Lloyd told me that Pete played on"Rose Garden".

Bill Cunningham · Post by **Bill Cunningham** » 30 Oct 2001 5:21 am

Henning:
is the song you are thinking of "Anymore" by Bobby Lord? The intro sounds like the stock single string E9 chromatic lick starting on string 3. But it has a different timbre as its doone with C6 pedals on this record.

Henning Antonsen · Post by **Henning Antonsen** » 30 Oct 2001 6:31 am

Bill,
Nope - read my post again... These are Jim Reeves records.

The original LP is entitled "The Country Side Of Jim Reeves", RCA Camden 1962.

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Henning Antonsen
Emmons LeGrande III

Marco Schouten · Post by **Marco Schouten** » 30 Oct 2001 6:32 am

I copied this from the website of Mike Meese:

Ray Cothren wrote:
My wife likes a singer named Liz Anderson (Lynn's mom) and has 5 or 6 albums. I think these records are circa 1960's. Since I've had to listen to them, I've always wondered if that was Lloyd Green playing steel?

"Ray,

Yep. I played on most or all of Liz Anderson's (Lynn's mom) RCA and later Chart recordings. While I've never heard many of Liz's recordings you can assume that if any track sounds like Pete Drake, it is (there were no Pete Drake clones in the 1960's, only Pete). Otherwise it is probably me playing the steel. Ray, you probably know that Liz wrote many of the Lynn Anderson hits which we recorded, including Lynn's very first Chart Records recording, 'Ride, Ride, Ride,' which went to # 1 on the charts. I was leader on all of Lynn's records so Liz was sitting in the studio at Columbia 'B' when we cut that very first record to make sure I didn't screw things up. Lynn was only 18 years of age. So long ago!
And you might know that the first session I ever missed with Lynn - I was recording with Freddie Hart that night - produced the biggest hit of her career, 'Rose Garden.' Pete Drake was hired to play on that session and although he never again recorded with Lynn he always reminded Glen Sutton - Lynn's husband and producer - that 'Rose Garden' wouldn't have been a hit
without him. Hmmm. Could be. Thanks for the memory, Ray.

Lloyd"

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Steelin' Greetings
Marco Schouten
Sho-Bud Pro III Custom

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 30 Oct 2001 3:56 pm

Wow! That's enlightening. (ROTFLMAO!) I guess about a hunert tousand people thought that was Lloyd! (S'pose any of 'em will change their opinion of 'ol Pete, now?)

Smiley Roberts · Post by **Smiley Roberts** » 30 Oct 2001 3:59 pm

Bill,
"Anymore",(w/ Pete on it) was by Roy Drusky, not Bobby Lord.

Bob Carlson · Post by **Bob Carlson** » 30 Oct 2001 4:26 pm

Liz also wrote "All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers" for Hag. First big hit, thus the name of his band.

Bob Carlson.

Bob Carlson · Post by **Bob Carlson** » 30 Oct 2001 4:30 pm

Liz also wrote "All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers" for Hag. It was his first big hit, thus the name of his band.

Bob Carlson.

Larry Miller · Post by **Larry Miller** » 30 Oct 2001 5:02 pm

There were two Pete's on "Rose Garden" actually, Pete Drake on Steel and Pete Wade on Electric Lead Guitar

Eddie Lange · Post by **Eddie Lange** » 31 Oct 2001 3:37 pm

God, I just cannot believe that was not Lloyd. It is so funny because a guitar player(the great Leroy Glazier) and myself were just talking about the great stuff that Lloyd played on Rose Garden on Sunday!

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The Young Steelkid