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Topic: Pete Wilsher and 'Driftwood' Steels? |
David Langdon
From:
West Bridgford, Nottingham Notts, United Kingdom
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Posted 19 Feb 2008 5:12 pm |
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It was the recent post from Jim Kerr of Springfield guitars that has spurred me on to ask the whereabouts of Pete Wilsher these days.
Apart from being a well known excellent player here in the UK he went on to manufacturing Driftwood pedal steel guitars.
I only saw one of these up close. It was a left handed model made for the sadly missed Mart Jenner.
Pete moved to South Africa, I think, but I'd heard he'd returned to the UK.
Is anyone in contact with him, or has anyone got an example of this rare keyless steel?
I don't know what happened to Mart's steel, I presume it may be in Australia where he moved to before he died.
I think it might be interesting for the forum to see some of the advanced design that was in these steels way back in the 70s.
I shall have to hunt out a picture.
Any information would be of interest.
Dave. |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 19 Feb 2008 5:50 pm
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David
May I ask what happened to Martin? This sounds ominous. He and I both had guitars made by the late Dick Knight, and I did sessions alongside Mart in the '70s.
He played the left-handed steel you mention at the Everly Brothers Reunion concert at the Albert Hall in the early-eighties.
I, too, have lost touch with Pete Willsher. I remember him well from the days when he worked alongside Jim Frost and my first guitar-mentor, Peter Dyke in the Burns of London shop at St Giles Circus. He and I worked in the same area through the '70s and '80s. A good chap - it'd be great to get news of him.
_________________
Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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David Langdon
From:
West Bridgford, Nottingham Notts, United Kingdom
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Posted 20 Feb 2008 3:50 am
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Roger, I'm not sure about the circumstances of Martin's death. I think he had a couple of Dick Knight guitars, I'll see if I can find some old photos of him when he played with Barbara Dickson.
As for Pete, perhaps something will reveal his present location. |
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Ken Byng
From:
Southampton, England
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Posted 20 Feb 2008 4:30 am
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Martin Jenner has been gone for about 10 years or so. Life for him towards the end in the UK was not so good. He emigrated to Australia, and I think that's where he passed away.
Martin's pedal steel ended up in a local music shop in Southampton, and I helped to sell it for them. Martin came to a pub that I was playing at in Bournemouth some years back. The big gigs had dried up and he didn't look in very good shape.
He was an excellent 6 string guitarist, and obviously was with some pretty big names throughout his career.
Pete Willsher played the Driftwood guitar, but it was designed and produced by Jerry Evenden. Jerry was a keen enthusiast, and had the technical engineering know-how to produce a pedal steel guitar. Pete's expertise was in the promotion side. I heard he was a police officer in South Africa, but I did see him in the UK a few years ago at a music fair where he was on the Hughes & Kettner stand promoting their amps.
Last edited by Ken Byng on 21 Feb 2008 12:21 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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John Roche
From:
England
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Tony Smart
From:
Harlow. Essex. England
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Posted 20 Feb 2008 6:24 am
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I've always wanted to thank Pete for helping me get started on Pedal Steel.
In the mid 1960's as a youngster, Pete helped me get hold of Steel LP's from a little cubby-hole shop in Soho. The fellow in there would order stuff from the States, which was unheard of at the time.
When he was at the Burns-Baldwin shop, Pete was a real nice bloke and gave me a lot of encouragement which I never had the chance to thank him for.
So if you do read this Pete, you won't remember me, but a belated sincere thank you.
Tony |
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Ken Byng
From:
Southampton, England
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Posted 20 Feb 2008 11:52 am
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I used to bump into Pete often on the Fullers circuit and as well as being a great player, he was a great person. He was a good looking guy in his prime and used to attract the ladies like a magnet.
He used a thumb pick and bare fingers on pedal steel. I could never do that myself, but it worked for him. Hopefully I can get Pete to participate on the Forum or at least update us on what he is doing steel-wise these days.
Tony
You can email Pete direct on info@willwin.com
KB |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 20 Feb 2008 12:03 pm
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Ken
At the very least, if you do contact Pete, please pass on my very best wishes. It's been years since we last spoke, but I remember him very fondly. If you can get him participating on the Forum, so much the better!
When I was recording with Peter Sarstedt in the late-1960s, Pete was the guy they'd call to play steel when it was needed.
RR |
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Ken Byng
From:
Southampton, England
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Posted 20 Feb 2008 12:07 pm
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Hi Roger - most of the guys from our generation all knew Pete really well. He was a real steel guitar enthusiast and had his own unique style and tone. I could tell his playing instantly on the radio or on disc.
I have sent him a link to this page, so he will see all of the comments concerning him.
Ken |
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David Langdon
From:
West Bridgford, Nottingham Notts, United Kingdom
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Posted 20 Feb 2008 12:50 pm
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I would like to add to Ken's remark about Pete's distinctive sound. He played on Barbara Dickson's 'Answer Me' on the solo with Gordon Huntley playing the into chimes. I'm also pretty sure it was Pete playing on 'Afternoon delight' (can't remember the band name) a lovely little solo on a pop song. Otherwise it was probably BJ Cole.
I'll see if I can get some photos.
I found a Utube video of Barbara Dickson with Martin playing his Driftwood steel on 'Answer me' also some of him with his Dick Knight guitar. |
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David Langdon
From:
West Bridgford, Nottingham Notts, United Kingdom
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Posted 20 Feb 2008 2:20 pm
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I found a photo on the back of Pete's album called 'Steel Seasons'.
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Micky Byrne
From:
United Kingdom (deceased)
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Posted 21 Feb 2008 12:15 am
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I also knew Pete Willsher very well. He was using his Driftwood steel on my wife Julie's session for a television advert for a Chocolate bar called "banjo" in the late 70's. Dave Peacock from Chas and Dave was on Bass with an old Fender bassman combo, with 4 speakers, but only one was working  . Keith Nelson was on banjo.Pete and I met at various gigs, and I replaced him for a few months after he left a band called Nashville county, which featured Pete and Steve Simpson on their LP. Pete used to come to an East London pub, I played in on a sunday on route to his own gig. I remember him admiring my engraving on my Sho-Bud. Pete later went on to a Bennett 12 or 14, I can't remember. He had his own tuning with a C# somewhere in the middle. At one gig where both our bands were playing (Hemel Hempstead)Pete was playing that rare ZB keyless 12 string that used to belong to Red Rhodes. I think Eric Snowball got it over because I had seen it in his Steel Mill shop previously. Pete was never a D-10 player. As far as I know he's still on the Bennett, and back living in Essex.
Micky Byrne United Kingdom |
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Paul Frank Bloomfield
From:
Greece
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Posted 21 Feb 2008 12:58 am Pete Wilshire
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I enjoyed reading this thread especially Micky's
bit on Pete playing Red Rhodes key-less ZB,I did
ask some time ago if anyone had any info on it as,
like Micky said, I remember it at Eric's shop
before Eric stripped it down and did something else
to it. Here's a photo of Pete playing it on a TV
show, I don't know who or what they were but the
only two others I know are Johnny Young at the back on acoustic guitar and my mate,Dave Coomber on bass.
Hope it brings back some memories.
If you zoom in on Pete you can get a good view of the key-less ZB.
All the best
Frank. Corfu
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Ken Byng
From:
Southampton, England
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Posted 21 Feb 2008 5:44 am
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| Looks like Jonny Young and Luce Langridge in the band. |
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Tony Smart
From:
Harlow. Essex. England
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Posted 21 Feb 2008 6:31 am
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Ken, the email address just bounces 'em back.
It is correct -I've checked on the website |
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Paul Frank Bloomfield
From:
Greece
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Posted 21 Feb 2008 10:17 am The Band Line-up
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Hallo Ken
I've just e-mailed Bob Dixon as he I.D.'d the band
once for me but(as usual !) I miplaced it.
I await his reply.
All the best
Frank. Corfu |
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Ken Byng
From:
Southampton, England
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Posted 21 Feb 2008 11:23 am
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Guys - I only gave the email contact from the web site, and Tony is right - the emails just bounce back.
I'll try to locate a more up to date contact for Pete.
It is Jonny Young's outfit in the photo (post Dave Crane obviously with Pete in the band). I saw them in a pub in London, and they threw Country Boy at Pete.  He did OK. |
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Paul Frank Bloomfield
From:
Greece
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Posted 21 Feb 2008 11:25 am Question ?
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Ken or Micky or both
This is for you two,this is another photo Eric gave
me of Gordon, Eric and now the question,Eric said it was
Pete Wilshire but looking at the other photo's of Pete I can't see any resemblence,so, could it be
Pete Haywood?? and ,of course, Tom Brumley.
Any idea's guys ?
All the best
Frank. Corfu
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Ken Byng
From:
Southampton, England
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Posted 21 Feb 2008 12:02 pm
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Frank - that is definitely Pete Willsher alongside Gordon, Eric and Tom.
All tall guys by the way. That was in a clean shaven period of Pete's life. Definitely not Pete Heywood!!
Ken |
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nick allen
From:
France
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Posted 22 Feb 2008 4:06 am
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I finally found an article clipped from the old UK "Guitar" magazine (which Adrian Legg used to write a lot for) - an interview with Pete Willsher by Mark Moffatt, in which he talks about starting the Driftwood guitar company, supposedly to manufacture steels, six-string guitars and basses(?).Also gives his tuning & copedent, which to me as a NON-pedal player seem quite unusual. (Tuning 1 to 12 is E-C#-A-F#-D-A-F#-E-D-C-A-D)
No date on the article, but I think it would have been mid-70s?
Off the topic, but relating to some of the above posts, when I first got into country music I used to go see the Jonny Young Four at the Nashville Rooms out in West Kensington or wherever it was... I remember he had a tall blond guitarist with a heavily modified Gretsch... was Luce Langridge the bass player or the drummer? I remember the name, but can't remember which one he was - I think drummer, though. Memory does, if not fade, become rather distorted...
Nick |
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Ken Byng
From:
Southampton, England
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Posted 22 Feb 2008 4:19 am
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| Luce was the drummer. I can't remember the bass player's name, but for many years Dave Crane was the lead player and Pete Willsher took over from him. Pete used to 'band hop' on a regular basis. |
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Paul Frank Bloomfield
From:
Greece
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Posted 22 Feb 2008 6:38 am Johnny Young's bassplayer
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Hallo guys
I can definetely tell you that the bassplayer was
my good mate Dave Coomber, he also used to work in
Erics shop but got married and disappeared up country
somewhere.
Ken, thanks for clearing the identity up,looks like
he put some weight on eh?(that is the Pete Wilshire photo ).
All the best
Frank. Corfu |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 22 Feb 2008 7:09 am
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I'm sorry I missed being a part of that photo - I was yards away at the time, and it was at the Albert Hall, taken when Tom was there with Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band.
I remember the gig well - Tom played beautifully, although James Burton was sadly missed as a vital part of Rick Nelson's 'legend'. It was the same line-up as the 'Live At The Troubadour' album.
Pretty ZB there, eh?
RR |
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Paul Frank Bloomfield
From:
Greece
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Posted 22 Feb 2008 7:16 am
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Hallo Roger
That must have been some gig eh? wish I could have
been there. If you zoom in on the photo of the ZB you should
see that the 3rd and 4th string tuner is missing,
can you throw any light on why he would have done that ?
All the best
Frank. Corfu |
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Paul Frank Bloomfield
From:
Greece
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Posted 22 Feb 2008 7:22 am
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Roger
Sorry ! it's the 4th and 5th tuner thats missing
Frank |
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