The Steel Guitar Forum

And, I forgot to add Don Helms on Hank Williams' records. Brett, Emmons S-10, Morrell lapsteel

Ben,

your have a good one there, John Hughey has a very unique sound. Jimmy Day in the Ray Price early 60's was also very recognizable.

Mike

Red Rhodes was pretty easily recognizable, as was Jerry Garcia...

Gotta be Speedy West, followed by Don Helms.
Then Buddy and Lloyd in equal measures.

But nobody sounds like Speedy. You hear him, and you just know.

I have never misidentified Buddy E. or John Hughey on any recordings I've heard. So for me, they are the most recognizable.

Weldon Myrick, took a while, but I can tell now...

Of course It's also fun to pick out Jay Dee, Buddy, and the unmistakeable Jimmy Day in the XM-13 music stream.

Ralph Mooney and John Hughey are the first that come to mind.
Richard

For me it'd have to be Ralph Mooney. He was my first big influence and remains the same today. Ralph Rules!!

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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

Most of those mentioned above are recognizable to me also....but I have to name the one who was the "First" most commercially recognizable steel guitarist, primarily because of his recordings with Eddy Arnold more than 50 years ago, "Little Roy Wiggins"!

Like Don Helms, who was the "next" most recognizable steeler, they have both helped feed my family during my career by my shameless "cover" of their "original" styling!

As has been said.......many do it better, but they did it first!

www.genejones.com


Edited for clarification: This topic is about the most "recognizable" steel players, not about one's "favorite" steel players!
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 28 September 2004 at 01:40 PM.]</p></FONT>

None of those are nearly as distinctive as Earnests intitial post

When Don Helms played Hank's songs, he ended many of them with a high signature 3 repeated notes in harmony of the root chord. He often used 7th chords that were not followed up with the expected resolved progression. Does anyone else hear this, or am I wrong?

John Hughey. Ralph Monney.

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84 SKH Emmons Legrand D10
session 400'rd Steelin for my Lord.

John Hughey...tone in his hands, not his guitar or amp.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Terry Downs on 27 September 2004 at 06:14 PM.]</p></FONT>

Leon MacAulife !! (sp)

Johnny Sibert ! I love that sound on Carl Smith's early records !

In my opinion, the two most recognizable sounds are Jerry Byrd and Buddy Emmons, but then; they're my favorites!

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“Big John” Bechtel
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The most recognizable sound award has to go to Don Helms and Ralph Mooney. I would recognize them in a dark room with my hands tied behind my back.

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kd...and the beat goes on...

Style seems to be what everyone is posting about. Tone is a completely different subject.

What if every player was recorded playing the same few chords, whose tone would be instantly definable? I could pick out Byrd and Emmon's, the rest is a crap shoot.

Every players picking style helps define who they are, more than their tone. In my opinion they ALL have a great tone to compliment their style.

Paul

John Hughey,Don Helms

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Tonewise, you can pick out Eric Heywood in one chord (Calexico, Son Volt, Richard Buckner, Jayhwaks)

Mr.Mooney

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Pete Drake and Ralph Mooney

If the question was what the most recognizable steel 'style', I'd say Emmons or Day or Franklin or Green or Mooney or (enter icon of the steel guitar). But I have heard too many *perfect* imitation of styles to be able to tell for sure. I can usually tell the difference between Buddy and Day on old Price records. But I have sat in the Den in Nashville with both Buddy and Randy Reinhart playing and if I closed my eyes I couldn't tell you who was on at the moment.
With Nashville stuff at the moment, I know that I can't tell the difference between Paul Franklin and folks like Mike Johnstone (and neither can his father, so I don't feel bad).

While Lloyd has such a recognizable style, it is so imitated that sometimes it's hard for me to tell for sure. The same goes for most of the Nashville icons (Weldon, Hal, etc.).

The guys that I am pretty sure of right off the bat are Sneaky Pete (actually, I am 100% sure of him), Jerry Byrd, and Pete Drake (Paul gets pretty close, but his underlying technique gives him away every time).



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www.tyack.com

I think the 5th string B to C# raise ("Emmons" or "Day" Pedal Steel Guitar setup respectively), is the single most "recognizable" steel sound.
As a tie for second place, I would list the half fret slide up, and/or the 12 fret octave slide up (any tuning pedal or non-pedal).
Note: This analysis rules out the player, and focuses on the instrument.

Pete Drake...on Lay Lady Lay by Bob Dylan -- Pass Me By by Johnny Rodriguez -- Blanket On The Ground and What I Have In Mind by Billy Jo Spears -- Stand By Your Man, D-I-V-O-R-C-E, etc. by Tammy Wynette - etc.