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Topic: "Lonesome Roads" Al Perkins lap steel |
Tim Victor
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 29 Nov 2010 1:04 pm |
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Hi folks! New Forum member, first post...
I'm a middle-aged guy who used to play out once upon a time, but I've mostly just been playing for my own entertainment and therapy lately--a multi-instrumentalist if you're charitable enough about what it means by "able to play" a given instrument, and finally getting around to approaching steel.
I'm just starting to learn, trying to get down the basics of picking, blocking, and bartending with a 20"-scale Epiphone Les Paul Pee Wee on my lap strung E-G-A-C-E-G. I've been going through my music collection listening for great steel playing, trying to pick up something about playing styles and instrument sounds to decide which way to go from here, and was totally knocked out by the steel on Dwight Yoakam's song, "Lonesome Roads." Al Perkins is credited on the album This Time with dobro, lap steel, and pedal steel and he's the only steel player listed so I figure it must be him, right?
Anyone with some well-educated ears or maybe inside knowledge of the gig who can tell me a little about what instrument he's playing there? He does the tone knob "boowa" thing at the start and end of the song, but the part I love is where he plays it straight in the solo and under the final chorus. Big and fat with lots of sustain, clean and clear as a tropical lagoon...
Last edited by Tim Victor on 1 Dec 2010 1:10 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Tim Victor
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 29 Nov 2010 5:56 pm A different version
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Thanks for the very helpful reply and also for the welcome. I'm happy to be here.
The track that you gave a link for is a great reference because that sounds like a Fender to me too but that's not the version I was listing to. I was wondering because it doesn't sound very much like that, so that's handy for comparison.
I don't know how to use ilike the way you did, but you can hear the studio recording from This Time if you have free plays left on Rhapsody. The Amazon sample clip only includes a couple of licks right at the start but maybe that's enough to convey the idea.
The studio track has a darker, cleaner, almost woody tone, much more Hawaiian sounding. In places it reminds me a bit of a marimba or even a Fender Rhodes piano,
I'll definitely drop a note to Al and see what he says as you suggest. If that's him then he's got both my favorite pedal and non-pedal tracks so far btw, "Torn and Frayed" being my pedal steel pick at this point.
Oh, and many thanks for your steel pages as well. I've been referring to them a lot! |
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Tim Victor
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 29 Nov 2010 6:08 pm Maybe a link to ilike
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| Let's see if this works: Lonesome Roads |
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Tim Victor
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 1 Dec 2010 1:07 pm The man says...
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According to Al: likely a 6-string Magnatone lap steel through a Risson tube amp.
His most gracious reply:
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Hello Tim, Thanks for your message!
Dwight Yoakam's "Lonesome Roads" song was recorded with a lap steel, not
sure which one, but sounds like my Magnatone single neck 6 string through a
tube amp. Since it was recorded in Los Angeles, and I had already moved to
Nashville, I probably did not fly my Risson STA out there. I either borrowed
one from Risson in CA, or used a similar type amp with a 12" speaker from
Pete Anderson's collection. More likely, it was the latter.
Also, they always use premium mics, like RCA ribbons or the German tube
types.
Any of the other pedal steel tracks would have most likely been played on my
Anapeg 11 string keyless guitar from Bisbane, Australia. Prior to 1991,
and after 1972, all my pedal steel tracks were played on a ZB Custom 11
string.
Keep up the good work, we need all the steel players we can get to keep it
going!
Al Perkins
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