The Steel Guitar Forum

One of the first players to turn me on to PSG was Ben Keith who has played with Neil Young for almost 4 decades now. I know alot of folks have strong opinions on NY's music but I always found it interesting and covered alot of styles and Ben's steel playing always brought out the mood in the songs. I have tried to search the web to find out more about his playing style, tunings, equipment and if any of his playing has been tabbed with no success.

Just thought I would throw it out here and see if there is any feedback on Ben Keith's steel playing.

Thanks
Bill

Bill you are a man of impeccable taste!

I too am a huge Ben Keith fan (and Neil Young too)... from Patsy Cline and Faron Young, producing that first Jewel album and of course all these years with Neil, Ben is a musical giant...and still sounding great on (I'm pretty sure) the same S10 wood neck Emmons you see on the Harvest album artwork... saw him with Neil in Spokane last Oct. and he was killer on dobro, pedal steel, Ricky lap steel, vocals and some rock-solid rhythm work on Tele as Neil did his thing

If you haven't seen the concert film/DVD of a few years back called "Heart of Gold" you should check it out. It was filmed here at the Ryman Auditorium and there's a lot of great shots of Ben playing that old Emmons and you can really watch him play. He's plenty loud in the in the mix too with that unique and awesome tone he gets.

One of my favorite musicians, period. Ben's solo on Albuquerque is one of my favorite musical moments.

Glad to see some folks with similiar taste. I have been a long time Neil fan, the reason I started to learn guitar when I was 9. I have every video, cd, record Neil ever played on. I agree the Harvest DVD is outstanding. Ben was instrumental in getting Neil to go to Nashville to record the Prarrie Wind album.

Ben had been a significant contributor to his sound from harvet on. To add to Ben's credits, he even played Sax with Neil's Blue Notes.

I know there once was a book for Harvest called Off the Record which supposedly had all of the Harvest steel parts, Its a shame we dont see more of this. It would be amazing if Ben put out arrangements for the songs he played on.

Bill

Neil's song's and voice were better than those of a lot of country-rockers who got more fame and publicity. Ben's steel work was also quite good, equal or better than a lot of the more famous stuff.

Can you imagine "Heart of Gold" without Ben Keith's steel playing? I can't, and that goes for pretty much everything I've ever heard. Musicians talk and talk about "playing for the song", but he is all about that. A totally consummate and mature musician right from the get go. IMO, of course.

I agree. I have those records too. Heart of Gold without Big Ben playing PSG would be like "Teach" without Garcia's playing. It was the steel playing in Heart of Gold that caught my attention the first time I heard it. Several years ago Neil was on Austin City Limits with his band. Great music. Ben was playing steel, and he had Rufus Thibedeau playing fiddle.

Does anyone know if Ben has ever been interviewed? I would imagine he would have a lot of insight given the folks he's worked with and the styles of music he played. But there seems to be very little information about him.
What gear does he use?
What tunings etc?

Bill

Every time I've seen Ben Keith on TV, or on a record cover (back of one of the early Neil Young albums I have), he's been playing a S-10 Emmons push/pull. I imagine he's playing close to a basic E9th tuning, but I'm not sure. Somewhere I read a rather lengthy article about Ben, where he was being interviewed. He talked about the old times with Neil Young and more. I can't recall where I read that, but it was on the Internet.

Here's some stuff I just dredged up on Google:

http://www.thecoolgroove.com/ben.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Keith

Ben Keith is the reason that I took up pedal steel. When I first heard Harvest that was it for me. I began to seek out everything that he's played on, and they all have one thing in common. He only plays what's needed to bring out the feeling of the song. Check out his playing on Graham Nash's old album, "Wild Tales". It doesn't get much better than that. He also put out a great Christmas album a while back called "Seven Gates". The way Ben plays has been an inspiration for me.

I always thought Ben's playing with Neil Young was sparse to say the least. My favorite playing by him is on that Christmas album.

If my memory serves me correct, Ben Keith did the steel behind Patsy Cline in "I Fall to Pieces", one of my favorite pieces of steel artwork.

The first songs I ever played the steel on a live gig were" Heart Of Gold" and "Out On The Weekend" at an event in Neil's honor called "NEILFEST"

I just did a complete service on Ben Shaffle's (Big Ben Keith's) guitar. It is a divided aluminum neck Emmons P-P S-10 3 pedals-1 knee lever, black and in rough cosmetic condition, but plays and sounds GREAT! (now). Probably a '68.
It is set up Emmons pedals, (ABC) and the one knee lever is a left going right to lower the Es. All that is really needed to make a million a year he states. Being the producer of "Jewel" doesn't hurt.
A really wonderful guy and friend of forty years, (or more) his respect is highly deserved.

Bobbe Seymour
Steel Guitar Nashville
615 822 5555

Bobby - thanks for the insightful info. I hope Ben knows he has a lot of fans here.

BTW - I saw recently that his Christmas album Seven Gates was being re-issued, I hope its true.

Bill

I'll ask him,

Pete Finney wrote:If you haven't seen the concert film/DVD of a few years back called "Heart of Gold" you should check it out. It was filmed here at the Ryman Auditorium and there's a lot of great shots of Ben playing that old Emmons and you can really watch him play. He's plenty loud in the in the mix too with that unique and awesome tone he gets.

Neil Youngs' "Heart of Gold"...is GREAT!! I have it on DVD. It's also, on my DVR list. I thought, that was an excellent show. The new stuff, is great...& of course, the classic stuff...is Awesome! Heart of Gold, Old Man, The Needle..., etc. It all sounds Great. I'm so happy, Neil is okay...& is still with us. Sounds like the operation...was a total success! Neil seems, A-OK...& VERY coherant!!

I'm a big fan, of Neil...& Ben's playing, always seems to fit..."just right." Seems like a nice guy, too...from hearing him talk, on the DVD.

If you're a fan of Neil Young, I highly recommend buying the DVD.

Thanks for the headsup.
It's in the mail

Ok I got the DVD, and it's only some still shots with the original Heart of Gold recording. Huh? I must have bought something that was mislabeled. It was a used Amazon purchase. I hope I can return.

Also found this on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDHMaWIY7n4

Be sure to hang inthere for Ben's solo about 2/3 into it.

Steve Hamill wrote:Ok I got the DVD, and it's only some still shots with the original Heart of Gold recording. Huh? I must have bought something that was mislabeled. It was a used Amazon purchase. I hope I can return.

Also found this on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDHMaWIY7n4

Be sure to hang inthere for Ben's solo about 2/3 into it.

Steve,

You Definitely, bought the Wrong DVD.

Here's the link to the "Real" DVD, "Heart of Gold"...on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Neil-Young-Heart- ... 889&sr=1-1

Take care...& hope you buy it. It's Great!

Howdy Steve,

Do yourself a BIG favor. Buy it NEW!! It's worth every penny. There are 2 DVD Disks, here. The 1st [main] DVD...is the Concert/Film. The 2nd DVD...is a bonus disk.

Take care...

I just watched the Neil Young Heart of Gold concert on cable. WOW, whaqt great music Ben Keith puts down on both backup and melody. The video does a good job of showing his playing.