The Steel Guitar Forum

Let’s not forget the tremendously talented Ernest Bovine showed us how to play Bach on pedal steel. Many years later I’m still amazed!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2vz_1lC51z0

yep, guys not a bad player is he?

Great playing from Doug. Great to hear the pedal steel in this context again. Thanks for the heads up David.

I was lucky enough to meet Doug in London in the '70s. He came and sat in with our band, in the absence of guitarist Billy Bremner.

I'd never heard such remarkable steel playing! I was relieved that I hadn't brought my ZB with me that night.

I'm pleased to call him a friend.

fantastic playing. I'm a big fan of his Beach Boys covers too!

Buddy Emmons was playing what I always assumed was Bach since at least the early 60s. does anyone know the title of this piece he played?
https://youtu.be/oVA8jOHdehk

You know that took some serious work. Wow!

WOW! Like Joe said, had to be some serious work. Thanks for posting this David.

Would Buddy have learned this by ear or could he read music well enough to do it? Either way, a prodigious achievement.

I'm pretty sure E's reading skills were basic at best. I believe his astute ears enabled him to tackle serious music when precision was key and improv played no part.

Doug, on the other hand, is a sight-reader which puts him in a tiny minority in the steel guitar world. We were emailing today and, he told me, he'd zipped through the six French Suites already (on piano, I'm assuming!!) before breakfast.

That'll keep things sharp! (I think all I managed was hex-tuning my 9th string-lower before breakfast. )

Doug is in a class of his own, nobody plays the tunes he can. Buddy might have been able to, but it would be from memory, Doug reads it.Besides playing classical, he plays jazz standards extremely well, check out My Cherie Amour on You Tube. I've been lucky to play with him a few times, what a treat, can't wait to do it again

Awesome music and no doubt a master sight reader.

Doug is a phenomenal musician. I’ve had the pleasure of playing with him a fair amount in the band at the Arizona steel show.

Lots of credits including Donna Summer’s conductor and pianist back in her heyday.

Here’s a newspaper article from a few years ago. https://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-l ... story.html

I enjoy his take on Schubert's Ave Maria even more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJPDTrCkLzg

David Higginbotham wrote:Let’s not forget the tremendously talented Ernest Bovine showed us how to play Bach on pedal steel. Many years later I’m still amazed!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2vz_1lC51z0

I watch that a few times a year to be amazed/inspired/humbled!!